Ethiopian doctors face arrests during strike over pay and conditions
In mid-May, at a hospital in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, two police officers stormed the emergency ward where Dr. Tewodros* was on duty. Days earlier, he had joined a nationwide strike by public health workers protesting poor pay and harsh working conditions. The government had declared the strike illegal, setting the stage for confrontations between authorities and medical professionals. The officers told him they were taking him in for questioning without explanation. His colleagues tried to intervene, but the police dragged him out and held him at a nearby station for over three weeks. “That was the moment I felt helpless. That was the moment I was ashamed of my country,” he told Al Jazeera. He described being crammed into a cell with 15 others, denied contact with his family and even basic hygiene. Rights groups say his case was […]
