Amnesty International has appealed to Ethiopian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally release” four human rights defenders and drop charges against them.
The rights workers Bereket Daniel, Bizuayehu Wendimu, Nahom Hussien, and Daniel Tesfaye were held for their work documenting forced evictions.
They are staffers of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO)arrested on Thursday while investigating cases of forced evictions in the capital Addis Ababa.
They were accused of not having the necessary permission to carry out their work, Amnesty said.
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s regional director said “Nobody should be criminalised for carrying out crucial human rights work.”
“By brazenly arresting these four human rights defenders, the Ethiopian authorities are clearly trying to prevent them from exposing the cruelty of the state’s ongoing forced evictions in Addis Ababa,” he added.
The Ethiopian government is yet to react to the matter. The rights group said the Ethiopian police had informed the EHRCO that they were not permitted to carry out rights investigations in the region, and were only allowed to offer humanitarian aid.
