APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopian police regulars are usually known for being overzealous in breaking up civilian demonstrators in and around Addis Ababa but this time around they have been staging their own quiet protest by refusing to report for work.
Ninety eight police officers have abandoned their posts to protest alleged mass arrests against Amhara residents in an exercise which has caused tension in the capital.
The Addis Ababa police commission Monday announced that its 98 members have by going AWOL betrayed their sacred call to duty in the interest of maintaining law and order.
They have apparently refused to cooperate with the authorities in the arrest of civilians who are protesting the egregious human rights situation in the Amhara region where ongoing unrest has intensified in recent weeks.
Right activists have accused the Ethiopian security forces of heavy-handedness in dealing with protesters and civilians while fighting rebels.
“The betrayal came after ongoing mass arrests and other practices especially in Addis Ababa amid continued fighting between Fano fighters and the government forces in the Amhara region,” a police officer told APA on condition of anonymity.
Mass arrests have been carried out in Addis Ababa and it is known that schools were filled to capacity with detainees.
Some of them were released last month while others were taken to Awash Arba and Awash 7 as well as Hossana and other areas where they are still held.
Although the police have been used to effect the arrests, their members have reportedly grown weary of the mammoth task of continuing to hold detainees.
According to Commander Zewdnesh Belay, Director General of Human Resource Development of the city said some of the police officers have refused to return to their jobs in the last one month.
The letter written by this commander orders the policemen who are said to have been absent from their duties for more than seven days to be dismissed and hand over their items before being arrested and detained for insubordination.
Uniformed officers who are not part of the protests have been chasing protesting police personnel since last Tuesday.
MG/as/APA