Tigrayans are currently being profiled and targeted. Tghat spoke to some Tigrayans of Addis Abeba. According to them, the sense of fear among Tigrayans is big. Targeted Tigrayan arrests and injuries and house searches are very common and increasing. If you have any Tigrayan marks (such as a Tigrayan hairdo, face scar, or anything like that), or if you are found speaking Tigrinya, security people can stop you, inquire you, search you and your phone for contacts and to see what you have exchanged. You can then be taken away to jail or concentration camps. There are also reports of ordinary people ganging up and attacking Tigrayans.
Some people are writing their testimonies on twitter and facebook too. We present two here. @__Mahlet (https://twitter.com/__Mahlet) writes: “Today I found out that my 35 yr old cousin who has been in Addis Ababa since he was a teenager and has no involvement with TPLF or any politics/politician was arrested after a targeted home search where they found nothing. We have no idea where they took him too.”
She also adds: “his wife is Oromo and they have one daughter together. They left his wife but arrested him. They targeted his home based on his name and ethnicity. Even though they found nothing, they took him and provided his wife with no information on where they were taking him. ”
Another twitter user, @HakiRedda (https://twitter.com/HakiRedda) writes “house ransacked by 4 uniformed and 5 random men because apparently I could be hiding a long range missile in my jewelry box. Ethiopia where one’s name is a liability. No they don’t need a warrant.”
@HakiRedda is daughter of a prominent Tigrayan politicians who fought under the EPRP, a political party considered “pan-Ethiopian” and which was eliminated by the TPLF. So even that does not save you from being profiled, targeted and searched. In Abiy Ahmed’s Ethiopia one’s Tigrayan roots is, apparently, is a crime. Testimonies like these are very common.
