Wazema Daily News, Feb 26
Transportation on major roads in the violence-wracked Amhara region has been restricted in several areas, sources told Wazema. Below
1) Transportation on major roads in the violence-wracked Amhara region has been restricted in several areas since Sunday, sources told Wazema. The sources said there were closures and restrictions on major roads that connect the regional capital Bahir Dar to the historic city of Gondar and Dessie to Woldiya, administrative seats of South Wollo and North Wollo zones. The Federal security Command Post that enforces the state of emergency in the region ordered the temporary closure of the road between Debre Birhan city and Dessie, claiming that government security forces were taking measures against "extremist" elements, a reference to the Fano militia battling government troops since last year. The closure of major roads and transport restrictions come amid the government's claim that the security situation in several zones had improved.
2) Amnesty International said Monday that the extra-judicial killing of civilians by the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) in the Amhara capital Bahir Dar in August and October 2023 "could amount to war crimes". In a new report, Amnesty has revealed that government soldiers extrajudicially killed six civilians in Abune Hara and Lideta neighbourhoods of kebelle (subdistrict) 14 in the city on August 14. Amnesty said six people, including five civilians, were also extrajudicially killed in Sebatamit area of the city on October 10 and 11. One of them, a patient receiving treatment, was killed at a health centre, according to the report. The widespread impunity in the country encourages perpetrators of grave atrocities, Amnesty said. Amnesty urged the government to urgently open an independent investigation into the human rights violations in Bahir Dar and other areas of the region.
3) Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will visit Kenya on Tuesday for the first time since President William Ruto came to power in August 2022, Kenya’s Daily Nation reported. According to the report, a Kenyan diplomat said Abiy had not visited Kenya because he was angered by President Ruto's speech during his inauguration that the former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta would mediate the war between the Ethiopian government and the then Tigray rebels. Abiy felt that Ruto should have consulted him in advance before talking about Kenya's role in mediating the war, the diplomat was quoted as saying. The Ethio-Kenyan Joint Ministerial Commission met in Addis Ababa last week and signed several bilateral agreements.
4) The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Ethiopian security forces detained French journalist Antoine Galindo in Addis Ababa last Thursday. In a statement on Monday, CPJ said the journalist with French website African Intelligence, was detained alongside a political officer with the Ethiopian opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Bate Urgessa, while conducting an interview. Galindo and Bate were currently held at the Bole Sub-City Police Station, the report said, adding that Galindo appeared before the Addis Ababa City Administration Bole Division Court on Saturday on allegations of "conspiring" with two armed groups to "incite unrest in the capital". CPJ urged the Ethiopian authorities to "immediately and unconditionally release" Galindo. Galindo’s detention was "yet another example of the dismal press freedom record in Ethiopia," said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa programme.
5) The Ethiopian opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has called for an independent investigation into the arbitrary killing of civilians, including the four monks and priests at the Orthodox Church’s Ziquala Monastery in East Shewa zone, Oromia region, last week. In statement, OLF said the Oromia regional government and the Federal Government should take responsibility for the massacres, adding that the government must protect the lives and security of citizens. The government blamed OLF for the killings. OLF also urged the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to reconsider its role as peacemaker in conflicts, to keep off politics and avoid interference in conflicts between the government and the opposition.
6) The Chief Executive Officer of the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, Mesfin Tassew, has called for the deregulation of African aviation to lower travel costs, the Financial Times reported. Mesfin said the continent must implement an agreement to allow free the use of airspaces to increase competition among airlines and reduce travel costs, the report quoted him as saying. According to Mesfin, the aviation restrictions on the continent were a "big obstacle" to the Ethiopian Airlines and all other airlines in expanding their services. In 2018, 37 African countries signed an agreement to liberalise their aviation, but a single African air transport market was yet to be implemented.
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