Both sides urged to respect human rights

Amnesty International on Monday called on Ethiopia and Eritrea to make human rights protection a priority of the ceasefire in their border war and the continuing peace talks. "As the two governments and the international community respond to the consequences of the war, including massive displacement of civilians on both sides, as well as the drought and famine affecting the whole region, Amnesty International is appealing to the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to ensure that their own practices fully conform to recognised principles of human rights and humanitarian law," Amnesty said in a statement. Amnesty said it was examining complaints of human rights and humanitarian law violations in the most recent fighting where independent verification "is frequently lacking". The Amnesty report came as Ethiopia on Friday accused its northern neighbour of subjecting male Ethiopians aged between 18 and 50 held in "concentration camps to hardships and sufferings through coerced hard labour". In a report monitored by the BBC, Ethiopian radio quoted the Ethiopian embassy in as saying that at least 26,000 Ethiopians were held in the camps where conditions were poor. Amnesty said that while Ethiopia had ratified the Geneva Conventions and given the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to its Eritrean prisoners of war (POWs), it was still pressing Eritrea to abide by the conventions and grant ICRC similar access to Ethiopian POWs. "In Eritrea, an immediate issue of human rights and humanitarian concern is the holding in newly established camps of several thousand Ethiopian civilian residents in Eritrea in the past month," Amnesty said. "Those in these 'internment' camps were reportedly restricted and prevented from leaving. At least 7,500 were said to be held, including some 2,000 in one camp alone at Sheketi near the capital, Asmara." It noted than an estimated 3,500 Ethiopians sent to camps after being displaced by the fighting had been allowed to return voluntarily under ICRC auspices. In a related development, a Tigray radio report on 8 July said 786 Ethiopians had returned home last week via Rama in northern Ethiopia. It described the majority of them as being elderly, disabled, children, women and expectant mothers.