Ethiopia to charge 121 prisoners with terrorism

Ethiopia to charge 121 prisoners with terrorism

07 April, 2011 | Barry Malone (Reuters)
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* More than 200 ethnic Oromos held, says HRW

* Government says 121 "rebels" will be charged

ADDIS ABABA, April 7

(Reuters) - Ethiopia's

government on Thursday

said it was preparing to

charge more than 100

prisoners with terrorism

and

dismissed calls by a rights

groups to release them

immediately.

The government said it had arrested 121 people in March and
accused them of being members of the outlawed Oromo Liberation
Front (OLF) rebel group.

Campaign group Human Rights Watch said the arrests were part of
a government crackdown on opposition campaigners from
Ethiopia's Oromo ethnic group.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is Washington's closest ally
in the Horn of Africa but has come under increasing criticism from
rights groups accusing him of crushing dissent.

Opposition officials in the capital Addis Ababa who did not want to
be named told Reuters they suspected the arrests were motivated
by government fear of a public uprising.

Ethiopia's government defended the arrests and said there was no
limit to how long the suspects could be held as long as they were
regularly remanded by the courts.

"They are being held on suspicion of OLF membership while
prosecutors prepare charges against them for terrorist activities,"
government spokesman Shimeles Kemal told Reuters.

"Ethiopia has the right to defend itself against terrorism and these
groups have no right to question that ... Nobody was arrested only
for involvement in opposition politics," he added.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament on Tuesday that some
"terrorists" were using membership of political parties to cover up
their activities.

He said Eritrea was stepping up attempts to destabilise Ethiopia by
arming rebel groups including the OLF.

The OLF has been fighting since 1993 for more autonomy for the
Oromia region. The Oromo are Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group with
27 million out of a population of 80 million.

Oromia produces most of the coffee in Africa's biggest grower,
along with oil seeds, sesame and livestock, which are all key exports.

Human Rights Watch said Ethiopia had arrested more than 200
Oromos since March.

"The authorities should immediately free the Oromo opposition
members unless they can bring credible charges against them," the
New York-based group said in a statement.

Opposition parties said their supporters had been arrested in recent
weeks.

"We have more than 80 people detained since mid-March," Merera
Gudina, leader of the Oromo People's Congress, told Reuters. "The
government, however, says they are members of the OLF. The
arrests are ongoing."

The main opposition coalition, Medrek, last week named 68
Oromos it said were being held without charge because of their
political affiliations. (Additional reporting by Aaron Maasho, editing
by Andrew Heavens)

Courtesy