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June 8, 2000 MISTREATEMENT AND DETENTION OF ETHIOPIANS IN ERITREA Reliable reports have confirmed that thousands of Ethiopians (at least two thousand have been sighted at Shikete, 25 kms southwest of Asmara) have been rounded up by the Eritrean government and detained in conditions that are deplorable. The exact number of Ethiopians living in Eritrea is not really known but some sources state that the number is close 65,000. SOCEPP rejects the Eritrean government claim that the round up was made to protect the Ethiopians from the wrath of Eritrean civilians. Similar reasons were also given back in 1991 when thousands of Ethiopians were brutally deported from Eritrea. The detainees at Shikete have stated that they were forcefully rounded up and, in some cases, beaten. It is obvious that the Ethiopian civilians who had lived and worked in Eritrea for years are being victimized because of their national origin and being used as scapegoats for the actions of the government in Addis Abeba in connection with the ongoing war. SOCEPP has in the past denounced such detentions and deportations perpetrated by both warring governments since such actions violated the human rights of the people. SOCEPP once again calls on the Eritrean government to immediately cease the beating and rounding up of Ethiopians and to close the holding camps. Mistreatment of civilians in times of war is an act condemned by international law. SOCEPP
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