Africa-Press – Ethiopia. Amnesty International has urged Ethiopian authorities to “urgently engage in negotiations” with striking healthcare professionals and to “unconditionally release those detained,” warning that the ongoing work stoppage has “severely restricted patients’ right to access healthcare” across the country.
In a statement issued on Friday, the rights group said the strike, now in its second week, has caused a “massive disruption to the provision of much-needed healthcare services.” Amnesty’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, said the government “must not further prolong the crisis,” and stressed that “both the government and healthcare professionals must engage collectively and constructively in negotiations to settle this dispute.”
Amnesty also called for an “end [to] harassment and intimidation against the medics” and repeated its demand for the “unconditional release” of all healthcare workers detained in connection with the strike.
“Now is not the time for grandstanding and draconian clampdowns,” said Chagutah. “Authorities must urgently come to the negotiation table, with the aim of resolving outstanding issues and allowing resumption of healthcare services.”
Citing an online movement of healthcare professionals, Amnesty reported receiving a list of 212 medical workers who have been arrested nationwide since the strike began on 12 May. According to the organisation, “family members and lawyers” interviewed said detainees were arrested without being informed of the reasons for their detention. Police also “searched their homes without presenting a search warrant,” reportedly citing a “search for weapons and explosives.” Amnesty noted that those interviewed said only electronic devices were confiscated during the operations.
Among those detained is Dr. Mahlet Guuesh, a pathologist who, according to Amnesty, “was not actively employed at the time of the strike.” The group said she had recently appeared in a BBC podcast where she shared her experience and was detained a few days later. Amnesty stated she is among “at least 20 healthcare professionals” currently held incommunicado at the Addis Abeba Police Commission headquarters.
One of Dr. Mahlet’s family members previously told Addis Standard that authorities have charged Dr. Mahlet Guuesh, along with eight other individuals, with “inciting riot and unrest” and “collaborating with anti-peace forces” in connection with the ongoing nationwide strike by health professionals. He said Dr. Mahlet was taken from her residence in Addis Abeba by individuals identified by her family as “one in Addis Abeba Police uniform and four in civilian clothes,” without a court summons, on Monday, 19 May.
The family member said Dr. Mahlet appeared before the Federal High Court, Arada Division, on Wednesday, 21 May, alongside eight co-defendants. Prosecutors filed charges that included “inciting riot and unrest” and causing patient deaths due to a “work stoppage strike.”
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) cautioned that responses to the ongoing nationwide walkouts “must not lead to human rights violations,” and urged dialogue to resolve the situation.
Earlier today, the Ethiopian Federal Police confirmed the arrest of 47 healthcare professionals, whom it accused of exploiting recent “salary and benefits” demands in the health sector as a “cover” to coordinate what it described as “illegal strikes” and acts that “endanger patients’ lives.” The police alleged the detainees were involved in “conducting illegal strikes,” and “inciting others to stop working,” while “endangering patients’ lives by exposing them to death and danger.”
Describing these detentions, Chagutah said: “The incommunicado detention of at least 20 healthcare professionals at the Addis Abeba Police Commission headquarters for demanding adequate pay and conducive working conditions is shameful and deeply troubling.” He added that the “police’s baseless allegations of incitement to violence reflect a disturbing authoritarian pattern of using arbitrary detention to silence dissent and intimidate those who speak out for their rights.”
Amnesty said it interviewed three family members of detainees, who “expressed deep concerns for the well-being of their loved ones,” and claimed that the Addis Abeba Police Commission has “continued to defy court orders permitting visitation.”
The organisation also urged authorities to increase public health investment, stating that the government must “allocate the maximum available resources to critical public services, such as health, in line with the government’s international human rights obligations.”
Amnesty said healthcare workers have spent over five years demanding “fair pay, improved working conditions, and better institutional support.” According to the group, specialist doctors in Ethiopia earn about USD 80 per month, with lower wages for general practitioners, nurses, and other health professionals.
The organisation noted that issues such as a lack of health insurance, delayed salaries, and inadequate protection against occupational risks have been “repeatedly raised” by medical workers. These challenges, it added, have been exacerbated by a sharp decline in government healthcare spending, which fell to 2.85% of GDP in 2022—well below the 15% benchmark set by the Abuja Declaration.
Amnesty finally urged authorities to “cease their crackdown on healthcare workers lawfully exercising their right to peaceful assembly” and to “release all those arbitrarily detained.” It also called for an end to “all forms of crackdown on dissent,” including the targeting of human rights defenders and journalists.
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