ETHIOPIA ―
We are deeply alarmed by the brutal killing of three Eritrean asylum seekers by a prison guard in Addis Ababa’s Lafto district on January 22nd.This horrifying incident followed the federal government’s mass arrest of Eritrean asylum seekers in the capital. When 37 detainees allegedly attempted to escape, prison guards responded with deadly force, mercilessly gunning down Hanibal Solomon Gurja and Ataklti Isaias Habtesion on the spot. A third victim later succumbed to his injuries due to deliberate medical neglect.
Even more disturbingly, eleven others suffered gunshot wounds and remain imprisoned without medical care, leaving them vulnerable to infections and life-threatening complications.
The Abiy Ahmed administration’s refusal to reveal the identity of the third victim and its shocking decision to withhold the bodies of the deceased from their grieving families only deepen the injustice of this atrocity.
This blatant disregard for human life and dignity demands urgent condemnation and accountability.
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