AEPAC Remarks on Mass Detention in Ethiopia

May 24, 2022

Borkena 

American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee chairman, Mesfin Tegenu, on Tuesday expressed concern on mass detention in Ethiopia. 

The remark from the chairman reads as follows: 

“The American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC), along with several of its partner organizations, is deeply concerned by the Government of Ethiopia’s recent mass detention of Ethiopian citizens across the country. We join with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and other respected institutions internationally in opposing these actions.

Based on published reports, over 4,500 people are detained in the Amhara region alone, including journalists, critics of the government and patriots who have been fighting for the survival of the nation against TPLF aggression for over a year. These actions could tarnish the progress made by the Ethiopian government in steering the country towards peace, democracy and the rule of law. We, therefore, request that the government reverses course.

As an organization dedicated to advancing a positive relationship between the U.S. and Ethiopia, AEPAC firmly believes these arbitrary mass arrests are not consistent with democratic values and contradict American interests in the Horn of Africa region.

We also unequivocally condemn the actions of the TPLF terrorist group, including forcibly recruiting fighters, as they prepare for another surge of aggression in an attempt to sabotage peace and stability in Ethiopia and the horn of Africa.”