Category: Legal Rights

KAMPALA — Allies of Ethiopia’s federal military are looting property and carrying out mass detentions in Tigray, according to eyewitnesses and aid workers.

The accounts raise fresh concern about alleged atrocities more than three weeks after the warring parties signed a truce that diplomats and others hoped would bring an end to suffering in the embattled region that’s home to more than 5 million people.

Tigray is still largely cut off from the rest of Ethiopia, although aid deliveries into the region resumed after the Nov. 2 cease-fire deal signed in South Africa. There’s limited or no access into the region for human rights researchers, making it difficult for journalists and others to obtain information from Tigray as Ethiopian forces continue to assert control of the region.

Eritrean troops and forces from the neighboring Ethiopian region of Amhara — who have been fighting on the side of Ethiopia’s federal military in the Tigray conflict — have looted businesses, private properties, vehicles, and health clinics in Shire, a northwestern town that was captured from Tigray forces last month, two aid workers there told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of safety concerns.

Several young people have been kidnapped by Eritrean troops in Shire, the aid workers said. One said he saw “more than 300” youths being rounded up by Ethiopian federal troops in several waves of mass detentions after the capture of Shire, home to a large number of internally displaced people.

“There are different detention centers around the town,” said the aid worker, who also noted that Ethiopian federal troops were arresting people believed to be “associated” with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, the political party whose leaders led the war against the federal government.

Civilians accused of aiding Tigray forces are being detained in the southern town of Alamata, according to a resident there who said Amhara forces had arrested several of his friends. A former regional official said Amhara forces are also carrying out “mass” arrests in the town of Korem, around 20 kilometers north of Alamata, and in surrounding rural areas.

Both the Alamata resident and the former regional official, like some others who spoke to AP, requested anonymity because of safety concerns as well as fear of reprisals.

The continuing presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray remains a sore point in the ongoing peace process, and the U.S. has called for their withdrawal from the region.

The military spokesman and government communications minister in Ethiopia didn’t respond to a request for comment. Eritrea’s embassy in Ethiopia also didn’t respond.

Eritrea, which shares a border with Tigray, was not mentioned in the text of the cease-fire deal. The absence of Eritrea from cease-fire negotiations had raised questions about whether that country’s repressive government, which has long considered Tigray authorities a threat, would respect the agreement.

A subsequent implementation accord, signed by military commanders in Kenya, states that the Tigray forces will disband their heavy weapons “concurrently with the withdrawal of foreign and non-(federal) forces from the region.”

Yet aid officials, diplomats and others inside Tigray say Eritrean forces are still active in several areas of Tigray, hurting the peace process. Eritrean troops have been blamed for some of the conflict’s worst abuses, including gang rapes.

Tigrai Television, a regional broadcaster based in the Tigrayan capital of Mekele, reported on Nov. 19 that Eritrean soldiers killed 63 civilians, including 10 children, in an area called Egela in central Tigray. That report cited witnesses including one who said affected communities were being prevented from burying their dead.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the importance of implementing the peace deal, “including the withdrawal of all foreign forces and the concurrent disarmament of the Tigray forces” in a phone call Monday, according to State Department spokesman Ned Price.

Four youths were killed by Eritrean forces in the northwestern Tigray town of Axum on Nov. 17, a humanitarian worker told the AP. “The killings have not stopped despite the peace deal … and it is being carried out in Axum exclusively by Eritrean forces,” the humanitarian worker said.

A statement from Tigray’s communication bureau last week said Eritrea’s military “continues committing horrific atrocities in Tigray.” That statement charged that Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki “is bringing more units into Tigray though [he is] expected to withdraw his troops” following the cease-fire deal.

The brutal fighting, which spilled into the Amhara and Afar regions as Tigray forces pressed toward the federal capital last year, was renewed in August in Tigray after months of lull.

Tigray is in the grip of a dire humanitarian crisis after two years of restrictions on aid. These restrictions prompted a U.N. panel of experts to conclude that Ethiopia’s government probably used “starvation as a method of warfare” against the region.

Ethiopian authorities have long denied targeting civilians in Tigray, saying their goal is to apprehend the region’s rebellious leaders.

Despite the African Union-led cease-fire, basic services such as phone, electricity and banking are still switched off in most parts of Tigray. The U.S. estimates hundreds of thousands of people could have been killed in the war marked by abuses on all sides.

The cease-fire deal requires federal authorities to facilitate “unhindered humanitarian access” to Tigray. The World Food Program said Friday it had sent 96 trucks of food and fuel to Tigray since the agreement although access to parts of central and eastern Tigray remains “constrained.”

Unhindered access into Tigray has not yet been granted despite the number of trucks going into the region, with several restrictions remaining in place, an aid worker said Friday. There are limits on the amount of cash humanitarian organizations can take into Tigray, while checkpoints and military commanders impede the movements of aid workers within the region, the aid worker said.

Source: Voice of America

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — The U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday condemned Iran’s repression of peaceful demonstrators following the death of Mahsa Amini and voted to create a high-level investigation into the deadly crackdown.

Despite heavy lobbying by Tehran and a last-minute effort by China to undercut the resolution, a broader-than-expected majority of the 47-member council backed launching a probe of Iran’s response to the protests.

Thunderous applause erupted when the resolution passed with 25 votes in favor, 16 abstaining and six countries — Armenia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Pakistan and Venezuela — opposed.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the vote, saying it showed the top U.N. rights body “recognizes the gravity of the situation in Iran.”

“The fact-finding mission established today will help ensure that those engaged in the ongoing violent suppression of Iranian people are identified and their actions documented,” he said in a statement.

Dozens of nations backed session

The vote came at the end of an urgent session requested by Germany and Iceland with the backing of 50 countries to discuss the situation in Iran, rocked by two months of protests.

Those demonstrations were sparked by the death in police custody of Amini, 22, after she was arrested for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress rules for women based on Islamic law.

Iran denounced the Western countries behind Thursday’s meeting.

Europe and the United States “lack the moral credibility to preach … on human rights,” said Khadijeh Karimi, Iran’s deputy of the vice president for women and family affairs.

“Reducing the common cause of human rights to a tool for political purposes of specific groups of Western countries is appalling and disgraceful,” she added.

Iranian authorities have grown increasingly heavy-handed in their response to the demonstrations as they have spread across the country and swelled into a broad movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since 1979.

Offer to visit

During Thursday’s session, U.N. rights chief Volker Tuerk insisted that “the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force must come to an end.”

Tuerk, who told reporters he had offered to visit Iran but had received no response from Tehran, said more than 300 people had been killed since Amini’s death.

Norway-based group Iran Human Rights has put the toll above 400, including more than 50 children.

Around 14,000 people, including children, have been arrested over the protests, Tuerk said, describing this as “a staggering number.” He also decried the fact that at least six death sentences had been handed down to demonstrators.

A long line of Western diplomats took the floor in Geneva on Thursday to denounce the crackdown in Iran.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on all countries to back the independent international fact-finding mission into all abuses connected with the protests, to ensure “those responsible can be held to account.”

“Impunity prevents justice – justice for sisters, sons, mothers. They have names. Jina, Abolfazl, Minoo,” she said, listing some of the many killed.

She told reporters that the investigation would collect evidence toward holding perpetrators to account, although it remained unclear under which jurisdiction they would be tried.

“If we don’t collect the evidence today … justice will never come to the victims,” Baerbock said.

Icelandic Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir agreed, telling reporters that the council vote was “about respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Rights groups also celebrated the vote, with Amnesty International describing it as historic, while Human Rights Watch said it was “a welcome step towards accountability.”

Iran received backing from some countries, with Pakistan, Venezuela and others decrying growing politicization in the council, and China’s Ambassador Chen Xu warning against “turning human rights into a tool to intervene into other countries’ internal affairs.”

China also put in a last-minute bid to change the text of Thursday’s resolution, asking that the request to establish an investigation be removed. Only six countries supported that effort.

Source: Voice of America

Emergency services descended en masse to north London this afternoon after violence broke out on the streets of Islington.

Pictures and video show a large crowd centred on White Lion Street, near Angel Station.

Several members of the group are shown fighting — while carrying poles and other makeshift weapons.

Crowds could be heard shouting, as buses were halted in the street by their presence.

Some people in the crowd held their hands in the air, crossing them at the wrist, shouting ‘stop’.

Other protesters sat in the street, blocking traffic from moving past.

In video footage from the scene, a line of police officers could be seen standing together close to the crowd.

A large police presence swarmed on to the site near Angel tube station

Later on, the protesters stood close to the police line, shouting and raising their hands in the air again, with the group pushing against officers.

As the pushing continued and became stronger, the police line broke, with officers moving the protesters back.

As officers attempted to clear the street so that traffic could pass through safely, the group continued to chant and shout.

The disorder is close to the Eritrean Embassy, with at least one person in the crowd spotted waving an Eritrean flag.

Officers were then seen trying to disperse the group, shouting ‘get back’, with some pushing protesters back along the street.

Former BBC journalist and African specialist Martin Plaut earlier advertised a protest outside the Eritrean Embassy, condemning Eritrea’s occupation of the Tigray region in the north of the country.

The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

A demonstration that has “developed in a violent direction,” and where 160 people have been detained.

Copenhagen Police informs BT

“There are several policemen who have been hit by stones when they stood between them,” says Henrik Brix, who is the head of duty at the Copenhagen Police.

The demonstration took place in connection with an Eritrean cultural festival, where a group of demonstrators tried to attack the festival.

“We are talking about some people with a background from Eritrea, who apparently have different views on something,” the warden asserts, without elaborating on what it is about.

He emphasizes, however, that at present no one has been seriously injured. Neither by police officers nor protesters.

The demonstration also meant that most of the afternoon and evening has been closed off between Folehaven and Vigerslevvej, but according to the warden it is open to traffic again.

However, the demonstration is still ongoing, where, according to the warden, there are still 50 demonstrators on site.

The police will be on site for the duration of the demonstration.

The 160 detainees have been taken to various locations with the police in Copenhagen.

“Here we are trying to find out what each of them has done,” he emphasizes.

It is too early to say whether any of them will be produced in constitutional hearings.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

During the riots against the Gießen Eritrea Festival last Saturday, 26 festival helpers and visitors were injured. In addition, seven police officers suffered minor injuries, according to the police report.

The central Hessian chief of police, Bernd Paul, announced that a working group headed by the state security agency should now investigate. Gießen Mayor Alex Wright was appalled by the escalation of violence. When asked by the FFH, he said: “We strongly condemn violence.”

Giessen mayor condemns violence in the strongest possible terms

“I don’t want to see anything like that in Gießen anymore,” says Alexander Wright to FFH

Sudden attack on Hessenhallen

The attack on the Hessenhallen was carried out by around 100 people, it hit helpers and visitors to the cultural festival planned for the evening. According to the police, the attackers were participants in a meeting that was thematically directed against the cultural event. The attackers climbed over barriers and suddenly attacked people with batons, iron bars, knives and stones.

There are regular protests because of the festival – critics consider it a propaganda event by the autocratic government in the African country of Eritrea. According to the police, the attackers came from all over Germany and possibly beyond.

Police spokesman: The attacks were probably planned

“The perpetrators came from Hesse, from all over Germany and in some cases from beyond,” says Jörg

Stones were also thrown at police officers

Police forces who were already on site were also attacked by the people and stones thrown at them. The raid-like attack could only be managed by the police with the use of police tools (including pepper spray and a baton) and the involvement of other emergency services from other Hessian police headquarters and the riot police.

High level of violence and aggressive behavior

There were repeated isolated attacks on emergency services and other people afterwards. The attackers repeatedly showed a high level of violence and aggressive behavior. There is much to suggest that the attacks were planned actions.

Vice-Chief of the Gießen Public Order Office: That was very aggressive

“It was very aggressive and emotional and the people also had weapons like knives with them,” said Jürgen Drewes, describing the situation in the Hessenhallen on Saturday evening

300 officers on duty at the Hessenhallen in Giessen

The situation was calmed down late on Saturday evening, in particular due to the intensive deployment of around 300 officers. The identities of around 75 people who may be involved in the attacks on the Hessenhallen have been determined. A similar number of dismissals were granted. Evidence such as batons and stabbing weapons were seized.

Chief of Police condemns acts in the strongest possible terms

The chief of police in Central Hesse, Bernd Paul, condemned the violent attacks in the strongest possible terms: “There is no justification for these acts. I assure you that we will use all the means at our disposal to try to identify the perpetrators and hold them accountable. My thanks go out to them I would like to expressly thank all the police officers deployed who, using their health, mastered the difficult operation on the night of Sunday excellently.”

Investigation into dangerous bodily harm

A working group of state security is now investigating, among other things, on suspicion of bodily harm, dangerous bodily harm, property damage and serious breach of the peace. The police are currently investigating clues and videos. Further information to the Gießen Süd police station on 0641/7006-3555 or by email to ppmh@polizei.hessen.de

The first balance of the police after the riots on Saturday evening

After an initially peaceful demonstration in downtown Gießen against the festival, the situation escalated before an Eritrea concert in the Hessenhallen. According to the police, many people climbed over the fence to the Hessenhallen and attacked construction workers there. According to the police, iron bars and knives were also used. Stones were thrown at police forces, who then used batons and pepper spray. The Central Hesse police needed reinforcements from Central Hesse, Frankfurt am Main, North Hesse, East Hesse, South-East Hesse and South Hesse, as well as the Hessian riot police. The Eritrea culture festival has been politically controversial for years, it was then canceled in the evening by police order, and the counter-demonstration was ended by the organizer after the incident.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online