Soap actor Znah-Bzu Tsegaye flees Ethiopia - BBC News

 

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Image copyrightSEW LE SEW

Image captionThe actor is the latest high-profile Ethiopian to flee the country

Prominent Ethiopian actor Znah-Bzu Tsegaye has sought asylum in the US after leaving the country about two months ago, he told Voice of America.

The actor was in a weekly soap opera Sew Le Sew on state television.

He left because of "repeated harassment and for being Amhara" reports the opposition Zehabesha website.

Human Rights Watch says security forces killed at least 100 people at protests in the Amhara region in August but the government denies this.

• Africa Live: BBC news updates
• What is behind Ethiopia's wave of protests?
• The Oromo protests and Ethiopian unity

In an interview with Voice of America's Amharic service, the actor said the Ethiopian security forces had carried out "atrocious actions" and he had decided not to return home until the "regime is changed".

"It is sad to respond with bullets to people's demand for their rights," he added.

At the root of the recent demonstrations in Amhara is a request by representatives from the Welkait Amhara Identity Committee that their land, which is currently administered by the Tigray regional state, be moved into the neighbouring Amhara region.

The Oromo people in Ethiopia have also been protesting against the government, saying they have been excluded politically and economically.

During the Rio Olympics, marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa crossed the line in second place with his arms above his head in solidarity with Oromo activists.

He said he wanted to seek asylum after the high-profile anti-government protest, and he is now in the US.

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Israel police chief: 'Natural' to suspect Ethiopians of crime - BBC News

•  August 2016
 
• From the sectionMiddle East

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionThe Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews said Roni Alsheich's remarks were "intolerable"

Israel's police commissioner has been criticised for suggesting it is natural to suspect Israelis of Ethiopian descent of crimes more than others.

"Ethiopian Jews are Israeli Jews in every way," said Roni Alsheich when asked to address allegations of police violence and racism against them.

But, he added, "studies the world over... have shown that immigrants are invariably more involved in crime".

Mr Alsheich nevertheless stressed that he was working to curb "over-policing".

Members of Israel's Ethiopian community, who account for about 130,000 of the country's eight million population, called for the commissioner to be sacked.

Last year, thousands took to the streets to protest against alleged police abuses after a video emerged showing two officers beating an Ethiopian-Israeli soldier.

• The plight of Ethiopian Jews in Israel
• Operation Solomon: Airlifting 14,000 Jews out of Ethiopia

At a meeting of the Israel Bar Association in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Mr Alsheich was asked why Ethiopian-Israelis appeared to be singled out by his force.

"Studies the world over, without exception, have shown that immigrants are invariably more involved in crime than others, and this should not come as a surprise," he responded.

Research had also shown that young people in general were more involved in crime and that "when the two come together, there's a situation in which a given community is more involved than others in crime, statistically speaking", he added.

The commissioner said this had been the case "in all the waves of immigration" to Israel, and "also with regard to [Israeli] Arabs or [Palestinians in] East Jerusalem".

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image captionLast year, thousands of Israelis of Ethiopian descent protested against alleged police abuses

"When a police officer comes across a suspicious person, his brain suspects him more than if he were someone else. It's natural," he continued.

"We know this. We have started to deal with this."

The Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews said the remarks were "intolerable" and reinforced "stereotypes that portray all young people from our community as delinquents and criminals".

The legal advocacy group Tebeka accused Mr Alsheich of "in effect declaring that the whole community was a community of criminals" and giving "justification to the police for their systemic racism and violence toward Ethiopian-Israelis".

"We are not migrant workers, we are Jews who returned to their country after some 2,500 years in exile," Gadi Yibarkan, an activist who was involved in last year's protests, told the Times of Israel.

He added that the commissioner had made it seem "understandable that police officers deal violently with black people and Arabs".

Following the criticism, the police force issued a statement saying that Mr Alsheikh "had no intention of offending Israelis of Ethiopian origin".

It added: "The remarks were said, openly, with the intention of correcting and improving [the force]."