I am herein appealing to your good offices for your swift and timely action to ensure
the safety of Tigrayan university students who are currently arrested in Addis Ababa and other regions of Ethiopia because of their Tigrayan identity.
Deeply concerned for their safety and security, I am asking representatives of the international
community to visit the detention centers to ensure their safety and to make sure they have legal
representations and protection in accordance with national and international law.
I am most concerned over the news of the systematic and planned ethnic profiling of Tigrayans
across Ethiopia. I fear the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, including these
university students, is now in danger. The massive campaign against Tigrayans has been intensified and is getting worse by the days. I call upon your esteemed office to make an immediate intervention to save the lives of these innocent students and Tigrayans throughout Ethiopia.
As you may be aware, new directives are being given by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali to city officials to take measures against Tigrayans as they see fit. Following the directives, thousands of businesses owned by Tigrayans in Addis Ababa and many other cities have been shut down and countless Tigrayans have been systematically arrested, tortured, forcibly disappeared and executed.
This has been going now for weeks and I have now learned that these innocent Tigrayan students are facing the same fate because of their identity.
The people of Tigray are fighting for survival, peace, liberty, freedom, and self-administration. Contrary to the fundamental demand of the Tigray people, Abiy Ahmed’s government is actively engaged in vicious hate propaganda against Tigrayans by calling Tigrayans “day time hyena, weeds and cancer” and this has also put Tigrayan students at great risk. The Ethiopian government is openly committing genocide, ethnic cleansing and Tigrayans are being treated as criminals, because of their ethnic background. As well, Tigrayans who arrived from Saudi Arabia are being treated as prisoners of war.
I respectfully appeal for your intervention to ensure that their legal and human rights are respected in
accordance with the international human rights law.
I hope that our request will receive your kind consideration.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,