Ethiopia: Up to 70,000 detained in Oromo region alone

ESAT News (January 5, 2017)

The Ethiopian regime announced on Wednesday that it has released 10,000 prisoners in the Oromo region but local opposition political party says up to 70,000 people still remain in jail.

Mulatu Gemechu of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress told the Associated Press that an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 people have been detained in the Oromo region in recent months.

He says prisons are full and some people are now being held at private residences.

The regime declared a state of emergency early in October following a yearlong anti-government protests mainly in the Oromo and Amhara regions where at least 1,500 people were shot and killed by security forces.