United Nations decries 'shocking' Christian-Muslim clashes in Ethiopia
The Hindu
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she was "deeply distressed" by the violence that erupted late last month in northern Ethiopia
The United Nations human rights chief voiced alarm on May 7 at the recent deadly clashes between Muslims and Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia and called on authorities to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she was "deeply distressed" by the violence that erupted late last month in northern Ethiopia, reportedly killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 100 others.
“The clashes began in Gondar city in the Amhara region on April 26, reportedly in connection with a land dispute, before quickly spreading to other regions and the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa,” she said.
The Islamic Affairs Council of Amhara said the funeral of a Muslim elder had been attacked, describing the scene as a "massacre" by heavily armed "extremist Christians".
The cemetery where the attack occurred neighbours a mosque and a church and has been the subject of an ongoing dispute between Muslims and Orthodox Christians, who are the dominant group in Ethiopia. "I understand two mosques were burnt and another two partially destroyed in Gondar," Ms. Bachelet said in her statement.
“In the apparent retaliatory attacks that followed, two Orthodox Christian men were reportedly burnt to death, another man hacked to death, and five churches burnt down” in the southwest of the country,” she said, adding that other regions had since seen clashes.
“In all, police had reportedly arrested and detained at least 578 people in at least four cities in connection with the clashes,” she said.