US citizens trapped in war-torn Tigray are being detained and interrogated by Ethiopian authorities while trying to leave the country, interviews with fleeing people and family members show.
Leaked emails by US officials say that the Ethiopian government, citing national security grounds, insisted on holding and questioning US citizens from Tigray — a stance, they say, that caused Washington to abort plans to airlift Americans from the region last year.
The lucky few to escape the region, cut off from the outside world for two years as government forces battled Tigrayan rebels, told AFP they had been singled out and interrogated when attempting to leave.
💭 ‘መደመር’ ልጆቿን ትበላለች – ‘Medemer’ (Synergy) Eats Her Children
💭 Minnesota man detained in Ethiopia, family pleads for help: “I am absolutely concerned for his life”
Tashitta Tuffa is President and CEO of Metropolitan Transportation Network, based in Fridley.
Tashitta Tufaa’s family says he spent the last two weeks of 2022 in Ethiopia and was preparing to board a return flight to America when he was detained at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.
“My uncle was actually with my father. They were supposed to board the same flights and both of their passports got confiscated for some reason,” said Nuurasuu Tufaa, Tashitta’s son. “I got a phone call from my mother hearing that he’s suddenly been detained. It was very scary news. I didn’t know what to do.”
Ethiopia is currently designated as a level 3 or “reconsider travel” advisory by the U.S. State Department. Despite that, Nuurasuu says his family called his father back to his native country.
“He went back home to visit my sick grandmother and his dear aunt passed away while he was there,” said Nuurasuu Tufaa. “My father has no political alliances that I’m aware of. He just wanted to spend time with his mother.”
Nuurasuu says he’s not just concerned for the well-being and safety of his father, but also for his business that provides services to countless people across Minnesota.
“I don’t know where he’s been the last 36 hours and I’m very concerned. I am absolutely concerned for his life. I am very scared, not been able to get much sleep to be honest,” Nuurasuu said. “He’s a business owner. He employs hundreds of Minnesotans. Every day, thousands of Minnesotan kids who study in public schools depend on Metropolitan Transportation Network to bring them to and from school. The lives of those kids and those workers will greatly be affected by his absence.”
The Tuffa family says they’ve been working with federal officials to try and bring Tashitta Tuffa home safely.
“It’s very hard and devastating. So what we’re trying to do now is get in touch with the United States embassy in Ethiopia and get them to locate my father and secure his release and make sure that he’s safe,” Nuurasuu said.
In a statement, Senator Amy Klobuchar told WCCO “My office is in contact with Mr. Tufaa’s family regarding this deeply concerning the situation. My team has reached out to State Department officials to make sure this case is prioritized and we will continue working to bring Mr. Tufaa home safely.”
In addition, Congressman Dean Phillips told WCCO’s Esme Murphy that he and his office spent most of New Year’s Eve working on the situation and plan to escalate the case to the Secretary of State on New Year’s Day if there wasn’t a resolution.
In the meantime, the Tufaa family says they’ll do everything they can from the other side of the world.
“We’re on the phone basically 24/7, not getting any sleep. It’s very hard. It’s my dad, you know. I love him a lot and I just want him to be back. I just want him to be with us. So, what we’re trying to do now is get in touch with the United States embassy in Ethiopia and get them to locate my father and secure his release and make sure that he’s safe,” Nuurasuu said. “I’m eternally grateful for all of them and their cooperation in making sure that my father’s safe.”
US citizens trapped in war-torn Tigray are being detained and interrogated by Ethiopian authorities while trying to leave the country, interviews with fleeing people and family members show.
Leaked emails by US officials say that the Ethiopian government, citing national security grounds, insisted on holding and questioning US citizens from Tigray — a stance, they say, that caused Washington to abort plans to airlift Americans from the region last year.
The lucky few to escape the region, cut off from the outside world for two years as government forces battled Tigrayan rebels, told AFP they had been singled out and interrogated when attempting to leave.
😈 1984 Thought Police! Wow. Now it’s illegal to pray?!?
💭 Arrest of Catholic woman protester for silently PRAYING outside abortion clinic sparks debate between her supporters who condemn ‘thought crime’ and critics who accuse her of harassing women patients in ‘buffer zone’
Anti-abortion group director was arrested for praying outside abortion clinic
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, 45, charged with four counts of violating buffer zone
She was arrested by police after she said she might have prayed in her head
Supporters said arrest was ‘thoughtcrime’ but critics say she harassed women
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, director of anti-abortion group March for Life UK, was arrested after being accused of violating the council’s ‘buffer zone’ which bans protest nearby.
She was confronted by a police officer when she was standing on the street outside the BPAS Robert Clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham.
The protestor, 45, was charged with four counts of violating the abortion clinic ‘buffer zone’ after she admitted that she might have been praying silently while standing outside.
She had been standing there some time, and was not carrying a sign, when an officer approached after a complaint from a member of the public on December 6.
The West Midlands Police officer told the campaigner that he had to caution her and then asked her: ‘What are you here for today?’
‘Physically, I’m just standing here,’ Mss Vaughan-Spruce, from Malvern, Worcestershire, replied.
‘Why here of all places? I know you don’t live nearby,’ the officer asked.
She responded: ‘But this is an abortion centre.’
The officer said: ‘Okay, that’s why you’re stood here. Are you here as part of a protest? Are you praying?’
She denied she was protesting but when asked if she was praying she said: ‘I might be praying in my head, but not out loud.’
The officer then arrested her on suspicion of failing to comply with a public spaces protection order.
She is now due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on February 2 charged with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order.
Ms Vaughn-Spruce’s arrest has already sparked a fierce debate, with supporters saying she has effectively been arrested for ‘thoughtcrime’, a term which her legal representatives ADF UK used.
ADF UK are a British branch of American the conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, who have campaigned and lobbied against the right to an abortion and against the decriminalisation of homsexuality in the States.
‘Still surreal to observe a thought crime arrest in the West,’ said data scientist Justin Co on Twitter.
‘Good Lord. The thought police are with us,’ tweeted Tobye Pierce.
But John Michael Leslie criticised Ms Vaughn-Spruce, accusing of her harassing women.
He wrote on Twitter: ‘No, you’re in violation of if you repeatedly harass women going to a family planning clinic who might be asking for abortion advice.
‘”Praying in her head” is the spin from her supporters.’
Mrs Vaughn-Spruce said: ‘It’s abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind.
‘Censorship zones purport to ban harassment, which is already illegal. Nobody should ever be subject to harassment.
‘But what I did was the furthest thing from harmful – I was exercising my freedom of thought, my freedom of religion, inside the privacy of my own mind.
‘Nobody should be criminalised for thinking and for praying, in a public space in the UK.’
MPs voted to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics in October after Labour proposed an amendment to the Public Order Bill to make it an offence to intimidate or harass anyone within 150 metres of the buildings.
Anyone found guilty of breaching the zone to intimidate, threaten or persuade women will face a fine or six months’ imprisonment, increasing to two years for repeat offences.
Talking to Tucker Carlson on American news channel Fox News today she said: ‘To be arresting somebody for what they’re thinking… it’s actually quite surreal.
‘The amount of people that have used the word “Orwellian” to me to describe this, likening it to the 1984 novel – and it’s really seemed like that to me from start to finish.’
Carlson said: ‘Arresting someone for praying is an act of evil. Period.
‘And it just breaks your heart to think of all the people in charge… who are standing by and allowing this to happen.’
‘Isabel’s experience should be deeply concerning to all those who believe that our hard-fought fundamental rights are worth protecting,’ said Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for ADF UK.
‘It is truly astonishing that the law has granted local authorities such wide and unaccountable discretion, that now even thoughts deemed “wrong” can lead to a humiliating arrest and a criminal charge.’
‘Isabel, a woman of good character, and who has tirelessly served her community by providing charitable assistance to vulnerable women and children, has been treated no better than a violent criminal.
‘The recent increase in buffer zone legislation and orders is a watershed moment in our country. We must ask ourselves whether we are a genuinely democratic country committed to protecting the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of speech.
‘We are at serious risk of mindlessly sleepwalking into a society that accepts, normalises, and even promotes the “tyranny of the majority”.’
As part of her conditions for bail, Vaughan-Spruce was told that she should not contact a local Catholic priest who was also involved in pro-life work – a condition that was later dropped.
Police also imposed restrictions, as part of her bail, on Vaughan-Spruce engaging in public prayer beyond the PSPO area, stating that this was necessary to prevent further offences.
A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: ‘Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, aged 45 from Malvern, was arrested on 6 December and subsequently charged on 15 December with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO).
‘She was bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 2 February 2023.
‘The PSPO creates a zone around a specific facility to protect women from harassment by any means if they are seeking a medical procedure or advice at an abortion clinic.’
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