Internment camps in Ethiopia
Internment camps in Ethiopia during the prime ministership of
Tigrayans
In April 2021, 500 ethnic Tigrayans were held under arbitrary arrest based on their ethnic identity in an Addis Ababa detention centre.[8] Conditions were described as "miserable" by a health worker, with around 30 detainees per room. None of the detainees had been brought before a judge as of May 2021.[7] A wave of arrests of ethnic Tigrayans and of journalists took place in July 2021. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) stated that it was monitoring the detentions.[9]
In September,
In November 2021, a wave of ethnicity-based arrests of Tigrayans including "dozens of priests, monks, deacons and others" took place.
Mirab Abaya massacre
Based on its investigation including "26 interviews with prisoners, medical personnel, officials, local residents and relatives, and on a review of satellite imagery, social media posts and medical records", The Washington Post found that on one day in November 2021, 83 Tigrayan prisoners were executed in the Mirab Abaya detention camp, which held from 2000 to 2500 Tigrayan soldiers and former soldiers, by about 18 of the camp guards. The victims' bodies were piled in a mass gave near the camp entrance. The massacre stopped when Girma Ayele, a colonel, arrived. Girma stated that the guards suspected of the killings were arrested.[15]
Officials in Mirab Abaya made announcements on loudspeakers requesting locals to kill any escapees. Among a group of prisoners who escaped from the camp during the massacre, most were lynched by a group of local residents.[15]
The EHRC stated that it was investigating the massacre.[15]
Abuses and killings
Torture and beatings were systematic at the camps.[2] In the Abbadi camp in November 2020, guards stated in response to a request for the purchase of insulin for a detainee with diabetes, "We are not here to treat you; we are here to kill you. We are gathering the Tigrayan refugees here to kill them."[1]
Numbers
In November 2021, Salsay Weyane Tigray estimated 20,000 to 30,000 detentions of Tigrayans outside of war zones.[2] African Citizens estimated the number of Tigrayans held "just for the crime of who they are or where they come from" to be 40,000 on 26 November 2021.[16] On the same day, Clark, Lapsley & Alton estimated 30,000 Tigrayan civilians detained in Addis Ababa, 15,000 Tigrayan military detained since late 2020, and unknown numbers of Tigrayans held in western Tigray and elsewhere in Ethiopia.[3]
Eritreans
In July 2022, Eritrean refugees were held in detention camps near Debarq in Amhara Region and near Alemwach.[4]
Amharas
During the War in Amhara, Amharas were held in detention centres that were overcrowded and had insufficient access to medical care, leading to two hundred deaths in September 2023 due to a cholera outbreak.[5][6]
Terminology
The 2020s camps holding Tigrayans were described as concentration camps by Jonathan Hutson, writing in Salon.com, who argued that the term was justified on the basis of thousands of adults and hundreds of children being "held in harsh conditions, systematically starved and beaten because of their ethnicity and with no judicial process or valid legal pretext" by Ethiopian security forces.[1]
In November 2021, on online social media, journalists, politicians and pro-government activists called for Tigrayans to be held in what they referred to as concentration camps.[13] Online footage of the detention centres for Amharas in September 2023 described them as concentration camps.[6]
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention stated that the 2023 camps holding Amharas were concentration camps.[6]
Locations
Locations of the internment centres include the Awash Arba and Awash Sebat detention centres in Afar Region;[2] a detention centre near Gelan Condominiums in Addis Ababa;[9][2][6] an Abbadi warehouse compound in Mai Kadra;[1] a camp at Mirab Abaya;[15] and a camp holding Amharas in September 2023 in Tulu Dimtu according to the Amhara Association of America.[6]
References
- ^ Wikidata Q125771844. Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2024.
- ^ Wikidata Q125771289. Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2024.
- ^ a b Clark, Helen; Lapsley, Michael; Alton, David (2021-11-26). "The warning signs are there for genocide in Ethiopia – the world must act to prevent it". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- ^ Wikidata Q125776798. Archivedfrom the original on 4 August 2023.
- ^ Wikidata Q125791341, archivedfrom the original on 4 May 2024
- ^ Wikidata Q125776827, archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2024
- ^ a b Paravicini, Giulia; Endeshaw, Dawit; Houreld, Katharine (2021-05-07). "Ethiopia's crackdown on ethnic Tigrayans snares thousands". Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 2021-07-13. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
- ^ Fasil, Mahlet (2021-05-10). "News: Tigrayans repatriated from Saudi Arabia kept in detention, police unwilling to comment". Addis Standard. Archived from the original on 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
- ^ a b "News Analysis: Fresh wave of arbitrary arrest of Tigrayans in Addis Abeba; Rights commission says it is monitoring the situation, Fed. police deny arrests target Tigrayans". Addis Standard. 2021-07-05. Archived from the original on 2021-07-13. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
- Wikidata Q125772161. Archivedfrom the original on 4 May 2024.
- Wikidata Q125771336. Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2024.
- ^ Anna, Cara (2021-11-08). "People fleeing Ethiopia allege attacks, forced conscription". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
- ^ Wikidata Q125771296. Archivedfrom the original on 19 November 2021.
- ^ Ross, Eric; Hill, Nat (2021-11-20). "Genocide Emergency: Ethiopia". Genocide Watch. Archived from the original on 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
- ^ Wikidata Q125771263. Archivedfrom the original on 4 December 2022.
- ^ Mustapha, Ogunsakin (2021-11-26). "Group warns UN over imminent genocide in Ethiopia". Citizens' Gavel. Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-11-27.