Addis Ababa — Three members of the US Congress have written a letter urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen to impose sanctions on individuals responsible for human rights abuses in Western Tigray, in Ethiopia. Specifically, the Congress members are calling for visa blocking and financial asset control sanctions against Colonel Demeke Zewdu and Belay Ayalew, who have been identified by Human Rights Watch as central figures in ongoing arbitrary detention, torture, and ethnic cleansing in West Tigray. The members of Congress also underscored that human rights groups have documented ongoing human rights abuses by all parties involved in the conflict since it began in November 2020. Human Rights Watch has urged the federal government to suspend, investigate, and appropriately prosecute commanders and officials implicated in serious rights abuses. The government also accused HRW that it has chosen "a specific area and repeatedly prepared reports to achieve a different political mission under the guise of human rights agenda."

Source: Ethiopian News July 25, 2023 17:36 UTC