EU alarmed by reports on arbitrary arrests in Ethiopia

Brussels [Belgium], December 8 (ANI/Sputnik): NGO reports on arbitrary and extrajudicial arrests of Ethiopian citizens based on their ethnicity are "alarming" to the European Union, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel said on Wednesday.
The latest Ethiopia Human Rights Report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Amnesty International addressed the problem of arbitrary arrest and detention without charge in Ethiopia based on ethnic prejudice amid the continuing civil conflict with the rebel Tigray region.
"Reports by [EHRC] and [Amnesty International] about mass arrests and detentions of Ethiopian citizens on the basis of ethnicity and without charge are alarming. A ceasefire [in Tigray] should be the primary objective of all parties to the conflict," Borrel said on Twitter.
On Monday, Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a joint statement condemning arbitrary arrests and detentions in Ethiopia and calling on all parties to try to negotiate a sustainable ceasefire.
Since its beginning in November 2020, the Tigray civil conflict has claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than 2 million people. As the conflict unfolded, people of Tigrayan origin were targeted for being associated with the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front. According to rights groups, thousands of civilians have been detained and arrested without charge, kept in poor conditions, tortured, and deprived of basic rights. (ANI/Sputnik)