Thread by @GebremeskelGeb

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Urgent!
*******

THREAD: #FreeGenetBirhanuManjus

Genet Birhanu, a selfless #Tigrayan humanitarian activist & CEO of Tinsae Tigray Humanitarian Organisation, was detained half an hour ago. This is for the 2nd time Abiy Ahmed's agents are detaining Genet within few months.

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Half an hour ago, the police arrived at Genet's office. They found her helping #Tigrayan university students whom @AbiyAhmedAli abandoned without anyone giving them food & shelter.

@amnesty @AmnestyEARO @hrw @LaetitiaBader @KenRoth @mbachelet @mukeshkapila @wdavison10

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Then, the police took her & the #Tigrayan university students who were there just receiving humanitarian aid from Genet.

@JosepBorrellF @JanezLenarcic @AnnLinde @eucopresident @EUinEthiopia @USEmbassyAddis @USAmbUN @SFRCdems

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Genet & her team have been helping IDPs in Tigray for several months. The team has managed to fundraise millions of ETB from the #Tigrayan diaspora in the past 9 months.

@SamanthaJPower @Refugees @UNHCREthiopia @ICRC @ICRC_Africa @ICRCEthiopia @EthioHRC @DanielBekele

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Tinsae Tigray being led by Genet has delivered humanitarian aid worth millions of ETB to IDPs in Tigray over several rounds.

@AP_Africa @AFPAfrica @ReutersAfrica @BBCAfrica @AJEnglish @France24_en @cgtnafrica

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Genet has always been at the forefront when Tinsae Tigray was delivering humanitarian aid to the IDPs in Tigray. She was there with her team when the humanitarian aid was transported to and distributed in the IDP centres in #Tigray.

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I personally have been communicating with her on the issues of the humanitarian catastrophe in the IDP centres in Tigray. She shared with me her firsthand accounts of the gravity of the tragedies.

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She was delivering the humanitarian aid to the IDPs during an extremely trying times and at the risk of her life. She told me that she would not transfer the aid to local agents and just return back to Addis.

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She would rather spend several days in the IDP centres in order to distribute the aid by herself directly to victims. Practically, trying to distribute the aid by herself has always been very challenging for her. But, she never gave up doing so.

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She was getting ready to go back to Tigray holding humanitarian aid to remote parts where no one ever dared to go. Unfortunately, the Ethiopian government blocked all land & air transportation to Tigray following the heavy military defeat his forces suffered in Tigray.

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Few months ago, Tsegazeab & Meron, Addis Ababa based #Tigrayan humanitarian activists, were abducted from their residences by forces loyal to Abiy Ahmed.
Later, Meron was found detained at a police station in Addis Ababa. Genet was always there to get Meron freed.

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Meron was released on bail [paying a huge chunk of money] after she suffered two weeks in the prison being separated from her 3 yrs old baby.

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The whereabouts of Tsegazeab has been not known yet. There are rumours that he was taken to the concentration camp at Awash Arba.

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It was when Kibrom Berhe, a #Tigrayan politician, was waiting for the release of Meron from the detention centre that a group of federal police beat him up and abducted one of his friends who was sitting next to him at a cafe in Bole sub-city in Addis Ababa.

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Then, it was Kibrom Berhe's turn to be abducted by Abiy Ahmed's agents from his home in Addis Ababa. When his wife visited a police station in Addis, she was told that they released him. But, he was transferred to the concentration camp at Awash Arba.

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I plead with the international community to give serious attention to the persecutions of ethnic #Tigrayans throughout Ethiopia.

#FreeGenetBirhanuManjus
#FreeTsegazeabAbugida
#FreeKibromBerhe

@Haavisto @AnnLinde @HLundquist @SweinEthiopia @NorwayinAddis @IrlEmbEthiopia