Thousands held in crackdown
2005-06-13 19:46
Addis Ababa - Ethiopian police have arrested more than 3 000 opposition supporters in a crackdown following deadly clashes last week during protests over alleged election fraud, a human rights group said on Monday.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) gave the figures as an official at the capital's only morgue said the death toll from election-related violence now stood at 36, up from the 30 reported at the weekend.
"We have a total of 36 cases related to the disturbances of last week," said Yerdaw Ashagari, medical director at the Menelik hospital in Addis Ababa.
Thirty-five of those deaths came from Wednesday's violence in which police opened fire on crowds during protests over the May 15 polls, he said. One person was killed last Monday during clashes on the first day of the protests.
In a vast police crackdown fuelled by the protests, the human rights group said more than 3 000 supporters and members of the opposition had been detained, most since Monday.
"There are several thousand currently under arrest, more than 3 000 now," said an EHRCO official on condition of anonymity, adding that a precise figure was impossible to ascertain given ongoing detentions.
"Anyone who has shown some support to the opposition during the election by going to public rallies is being targeted now to be arrested," the official said.
There has been no official comment from the government on the arrests since Friday when officials defended their actions, including Wednesday's police shootings, as necessary to preserve the peace.
On Saturday the main opposition group, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) alleged that some 3 600 of its supporters had been detained in a military camp outside Addis Ababa.
In addition, the group said its chairperson, Hailu Shawel, and main spokesperson, Ledetu Ayalew, have been confined to their houses under virtual house arrest since Saturday.