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16 UN national staff detained in Ethiopia, six others released
The United Nations said it was working with the Ethiopia government to secure immediate release of their staff.
The United Nations said Tuesday that 16 staff members have been detained in Ethiopia’s capital while six others held earlier have been released, as the conflict in the East African nation worsens.
“There has been no explanation” for the detention, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York. “Our staff on the ground is working with the national authorities,” he said, noting the detentions occurred “over the last few days.”
Ethiopia recently declared a state of emergency as rebel fighters advanced toward the capital, Addis Ababa. Fighting in the yearlong conflict between the federal army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front has escalated since the start of October, with the rebels advancing steadily south.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Nov. 8 that the government was detaining people “in a manner that appeared to be based on identity and ethnicity,” following widespread arrests after the state of emergency was declared.
UN security officers “have visited the detained colleagues,” Farhan Haq, another UN spokesman, said earlier on Tuesday. Formal requests have “also been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs” seeking “the immediate release of the detained personnel.”
A U.S. special envoy, diplomat Jeffrey Feltman, is in Ethiopia to try to advance talks on ending the civil war. The African Union earlier warned that the window of opportunity for a political solution to the conflict is narrowing.
