February 1, 2006 (NAIROBI) --  Ethiopia has detained thousands of members of the country's Oromo ethnic group, a number of whom are being held incommunicado and
may be at risk of torture, a human rights group said on Tuesday.

Amnesty International said that widespread arrests of the Oromos in the southern Oromia region, the capital and elsewhere began during a crackdown on opposition leaders and sympathizers that started after political unrest last year.

The London-based group identified by name 11 Oromo students among the thousands of detainees about whom it said that it was particularly concerned, as they had not been able to track them.

"All those named above are detained incommunicado at a number of different locations, and are at risk of torture or ill-treatment," it said in an urgent appeal to its members to write Ethiopian authorities to demand their release.

Amnesty said that the round-up of Oromos began on November 9 about a week after opposition protests against alleged government fraud in disputed May elections turned lethally violent in the capital and then spread to other towns.

The demonstrations in Oromia followed a call by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebel group for protests against the Addis Ababa government.

"Most of those taking part were secondary school students, some of them children under 18 years old, but teachers, farmers, businesspeople and others have also been detained in connection with the demonstrations," Amnesty said.

"Those detained have reportedly been accused of links with the OLF, although none of them has yet been charged," it said, adding that while some had been released "the whereabouts of many ... are not known".

It called on Ethiopian authorities to either charge or release the detainees and investigate alleged brutality and mistreatment that it said had been reported against some.

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060201-044623-1704r