Since June 2016 E.C, a large number of people have been detained without a court order based on ethnicity in Wolkite city in the central region of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) announced.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) stated in a statement issued yesterday, November 6, 2024, that residents are being held in six different locations of detention: the Wolkite Cultural Hall, the Zone Police Station, Abeshge Police Station, Welega Special Force Camp, Darge Police Station, and Ilala Kebele in Amaya District.

(EHRCO) announced that the detainees have not appeared in court and efforts to get answers from local security officials regarding the matter have been unsuccessful.

In its statement, (EHRCO) did not specify which ethnic group members were being detained without a court order based on their ethnicity.

Additionally, (EHRCO) stated in its announcement that many people have been killed and arrested by both militants and government security forces in the Amhara, Oromia, and Benishangul regions.

Regarding the current conflict in the Amhara region, it was reported that on October 27, 2024, subsequent to the hostilities between the government forces and armed groups in the town of Addis Qdam within the Awi ethnic zone, numerous individuals, including elders, were executed without legal proceedings. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) indicated that these individuals were extrajudicially killed under allegations of supporting the armed group.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Council announced that arrests without court orders in the region are continuing and those who have been arrested have not been brought to court. (EHRCO) pointed out that many innocent people have been killed, injured, and property destroyed in attacks by armed groups on the borders of the Eastern Showa zone in the Oromia region, specifically in areas known as Derba, Kure, and Bitisi in Birbirsa and Gale kebele in Dugda Boru district.

It has been reported that a large number of individuals are being detained without court orders at police stations in Almu District in the Benishangulgumz Region Metekel Zone and have not been brought to court.

(EHRCO) called on the governments of the regions to pay sufficient attention to stopping the massive human rights violations and fulfilling their responsibility to protect citizens properly. The EHRCO urged them to investigate the human rights violations and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Council also called on the Federal Government to halt the killings, injuries, destruction of property, hostage-taking, and illegal arrests by the government security forces and armed groups operating in various areas, and to hold the perpetrators accountable by law.