Ethiopia s government on Friday announced an amnesty for some of the country's most high-profile political prisoners, including opposition figure Jawar Mohammed and senior Tigray party officials, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed spoke of reconciliation for Orthodox Christmas.
The government said in a statement on the amnesty that dialogue is the key to lasting unity. Ethiopia will make sacrifices to this end. It was the most dramatic move yet by the government after the country s deadly Tigray war entered a new phase in late December when Tigray forces retreated into their region amid a military offensive and Ethiopian forces said they would not advance further there.
The war in Africa's second most populous country highlighted the deadly ethnic tensions that pose the greatest challenge to Abiy's rule.
The state broadcaster EBC named both Jawar and opposition figure Eskinder Nega, who were detained in July 2020 after deadly unrest over the killing of popular Oromo artist Hachalu Hundessa, as those granted amnesty. Eskinder, the leader of the Balderas party, left a detention center on Friday evening.
But Tuli Bayis, a lawyer for Jawar of the Oromo Federalist Congress Party and others, told The Associated Press that they refused to leave the prison facility as the order for their release came late in the day.
They had security risks, so they preferred to leave the correction facility in daytime, Tuli said, he was not sure why the order for their release came now. We have heard it is an amnesty, that is what we know for now. The ministry of justice of Ethiopia said the amnesty for Jawar and Nega was granted to make the upcoming national dialogue successful and inclusive. Ethiopian lawmakers on December 29 approved a bill to establish a commission for national dialogue amid international pressure for negotiations to end the war.
The state broadcaster has also named several senior officials with Tigray s ruling Tigray People's Liberation Front party as being granted amnesty and said they will be released soon. They include Kiros Hagos, Abay Woldu, Abadi Zemu, Mulu Gebregziabher and Sebhat Nega. They were arrested in late 2020 when government forces captured most of the Tigray region shortly after war erupted between Tigray forces and Ethiopian ones.
The ministry of justice said that the TPLF detainees were granted amnesty based on their age and health condition. Friday s announcement came a day after the United States said its outgoing special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, met with Ethiopia's prime minister to push for a negotiated end to the war.
A cessation of hostilities and a lasting ceasefire, as well as a credible and inclusive national dialogue and reconciliation process are what the parties should do with Friday's development, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The UN chief said he also looks forward to a meaningful improvement in humanitarian access to all areas affected by the year-long conflict after his last contact with prime minister Abiy. An estimated 9.4 million people in Tigray and neighboring Amhara and Afar were in need of food assistance, according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric last month. He warned that if humanitarian supplies, fuel and cash are not delivered very soon, some UN agencies and aid organizations will have to halt operations in the Tigray region.
It is estimated that tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war between Ethiopian forces and Tigray forces that once led the country in November 2020. Abiy's government, who had won the Nobel Peace Prize a year ago, was wrestling with the challenges of various ethnic tensions as a result of the prime minister's sweeping political reforms.
The reforms have eroded with the war. Ethiopia s government has tried to restrict reporting on the conflict and arrested some journalists, including a video freelancer accredited to The Associated Press, Amir Aman Kiyaro.