Security officers Arrest 4,500 in Amhara region

ADDIS ABABA – More than 4,500 suspects accused of destabilizing the Amhara regional state have been arrested, according to a state-run Ethiopian News Agency.

Desalegn Tassew, head of peace and security said the arrests were made since the operation to enforce law and order which started last week, says ENA’s report.

Desalegn said 910 individuals were suspected of trying “to destabilize the region by colluding with renegade forces,” while 1, 780 members of the regional security force were arrested for failing to discharge their responsibilities.

He also said least 210 suspects in homicide cases, and 40 convicts, who escaped prisons on several occasions, were also among the arrested individual.

The remaining, he said, were suspected of spreading lawlessness both in group and at individual level.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says many of the arrests were carried out without proper court warrants and that many of the detainees have not been visited by family members.