Save the Children condemns violence against children in Ethiopia

Source: Save the Children Alliance
Date: 09 Nov 2005

Save the Children condemns violence against children in Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, 9th November 2005 - Save the Children today expressed deep concern about the damaging impact the ongoing political instability and violence is having on the overall well-being of Ethiopia's children and young people and called for all sides to respect and protect their rights.
Save the Children is particularly concerned that many children and young people have been targeted in the violent incidents of the past week in Addis Ababa and other towns around Ethiopia. The international media has reported that thousands of children and young people have been arrested and detained and some wounded in the course of these incidents. Save the Children deplores this situation and calls on all parties to immediately end all violence towards children and young people and to take necessary steps to prevent their involvement in violence in the future.
Save the Children calls for the rights of children and young people caught up in the violence to be protected in line with international standards including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (to which Ethiopia is a signatory).
In particular, Save the Children calls for the following immediate action: - all sides to take all possible steps to respect and protect the rights of children and young people and to minimise the negative impact of the political instability on their lives;
- the government of Ethiopia to fulfil its commitments to protect the rights of children, as laid out in the CRC and other human rights treaties; including an immediate and impartial investigation into human rights violations and bringing to justice all those who commit human rights violations including security forces personnel; and the provision of appropriate services for those children who are caught up in the violence.
- the rights of children and young people arrested and detained to be upheld; including an end to the indiscriminate arrests of children; the immediate release of children detained without charge; detention to only be used as a measure of last resort; the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the right to remain silent, the right to legal assistance and counsel and to have a parent or guardian notified of their whereabouts.
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For more information please contact:
Save the Children Press Office: 0207 012 6841
Email address: Press@savethechildren.org.uk
Notes to Editors
Save the Children fights for children in the UK and around the world who suffer from poverty, disease, injustice and violence. We work with them to find lifelong answers to the problems they face.
For more information about Save the Children, please visit the website: www.savethechildren.org.uk