Mass detentions in Ethiopia

2005-06-15 22:18

Addis Ababa - Ethiopian police on Wednesday confirmed for the first time that large numbers of detainees rounded up in a crackdown on post-election violence are being held at a military base south of the capital.

The Ethiopian federal police said those in custody at the Zewai military base include members of the opposition, which the government blames for last week's deadly clashes, but could not provide an exact number.

"Some people have been arrested since last week (and are) in Zewai camp," said police spokesperson Mulugeta Shiferaw. "They are those who are responsible for the incidents."

No figures yet for people detained

"Employees, workers and members of the opposition are some of the people who are detained," he said, adding a precise figure on those being held in Zewai was not available due to the constant arrival and departure of prisoners.

"The figures are changing daily, even every hour," Mulugeta said in the government's first comments on the whereabouts of the thousands of detainees opposition groups and human rights watchdogs say have been rounded up.

He said detainees were not being ill-treated and were being processed and released as quickly as possible but stressed investigations on some of those arrested took time.

"People will be investigated as soon as possible and then released," Mulugeta said. "It can be half a day, it can be a week, it depends on the cases."

Politician killed

The crackdown began in earnest last on Monday after students began protesting alleged ruling party fraud in May 15 polls in defiance of a government ban on demonstrations in the capital.

The protests led to clashes with security forces in which at least 36 people were killed in Addis Ababa. The government on Tuesday confirmed an opposition politician elected to parliament was killed by police at the weekend in southern Ethiopia.

Earlier on Wednesday, a leading human rights group said the mass arrests of opposition members and students had spread to at least nine cities outside the capital and thousands of detainees were at risk of abuse.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Ethiopians were "increasingly at risk of arbitrary arrest and torture" citing what it called the country's history of prisoner mistreatment.

- AFP