Ethiopia: Mass arbitrary arrests target Tigrayans, says UN rights office

Over the past week, mass arrests of people reportedly of Tigrayan origin have continued in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and elsewhere, the UN rights office said on Tuesday.

Over the past week, mass arrests of people reportedly of Tigrayan origin have continued in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and elsewhere, the UN rights office said on Tuesday. The alert from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) comes as the World Food Programme (WFP) described the aid situation for vulnerable people in Tigray as "hand-to-mouth".

Citing reports, OHCHR said that at least 1,000 individuals are believed to have been detained by police officers in the last seven days, on suspicion of being linked to the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). "Many of those detained have not been informed of the reasons for their detention, nor have they been brought before a court of law or other tribunal to review the reasons for their detention, and have not been formally charged", said OHCHR Spokesperson Liz Throssell.

Each of the five UN agencies will provide a specific set of expertise to the coalition, which includes more than 50 partners from non-Governmental Organizations to civil society and foundations. The coalition will work to restore the school meals and other health and nutrition programmes that were in place before the COVID-19 crisis, expand them to reach an additional 73 million children who were not covered before the pandemic, and establish standards to raise food quality while linking them to local food production, where possible.

The UN agencies have committed to work with Governments to achieve the coalition's goals by providing technical and operational support where needed and advocating for funding and better data on the impact of school health and nutrition programmes. (ANI)

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