Ethiopia: Rights league accuses gov’t of inciting ethnic conflict

ESAT News (February 27, 2017)

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) renewed its call to the international community to demand the Ethiopian regime to stop inciting war among ethnic groups.

The League alleged that the Somali region special forces led by the federal security forces “have been engaged in a cruel war for the past six months against the people of Oromo in east and east- west Hararge Zone, Eastern Oromia, Guji, Borana and Bale, South Oromia zones, Southern Oromia of Oromia Regional State.

According to reports, the Somali region special forces, also known as Liyu Police, had made several  incursions into Hararghe, Bale and Guji areas in the Oromo region killing and abducting several people and raiding cattle.

In a skirmish in Bale last week, the League said 19 residents were killed by the Liyu police while the locals killed 35 members of the Liyu police. Dozens of others were wounded on both sides.

The League said based on information it gathered from informants, over 200 civilians have been killed in the region in the past six months while about 150 others have been abducted.

“The HRLHA further requested that members of the UN Human Rights Council urge the Ethiopian government to allow the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteurs to visit the country to assess the human rights situations of political prisoners and others in detention centers all over the country,” the League said in a statement.

It also called upon major donor governments, including the USA, UK, Canada, Sweden, Norway and Australia “to make sure that their aid money is not used to train the Ethiopian Government’s killing squads to dehumanize the citizens of Ethiopia.”