Nine UN members are being held in Addis Ababa
A spokesman for Addis Ababa police said police were only arresting "supporters" of the TPLF. "Therefore, there are no ethnic motives."
At least nine United Nations staff and relatives are being held in the Ethiopian capital , Addis Ababa , a UN spokesman said today.
UN security officials have visited detained staff members and the United Nations has asked the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry to release them immediately, a New York-based spokesman said .
The conflict, which has been raging for more than a year, in northern Ethiopia between the government and forces in Tigray, which is close to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), has intensified in recent weeks. The TPLF and its allies are threatening to advance into the capital.
Ethiopia declared a state of emergency on November 2nd. The measure allows the government to arbitrarily arrest, without a court order, anyone suspected of collaborating with a terrorist organization. Parliament designated the TPLF a terrorist organization earlier this year.
According to the APE-MPE, the representative of the Ethiopian government Legese Toulou and the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dina Mufti have not responded to requests to comment on this.
"We are watching the arrests of hundreds of Tigris in Addis Ababa," Daniel Beckele, head of Ethiopia's Human Rights Committee, told Reuters today.
Addis Ababa police spokesman said today that the police only arrest "supporters" of the TPLF. "Therefore, there are no ethnic motives."
