Amnesty demands release of striking health workers in Ethiopia

Amnesty International urged Ethiopia on Friday to "unconditionally release" striking health workers, as police announced the arrest of 47 people for "endangering patients' lives".

Health workers have been on a massive strike since May 12 in the east African country, where even specialist doctors earn as little as $80 a day, according to Amnesty.

The rights NGO said 20 health workers were being held at police headquarters in the capital Addis Ababa, including Mahlet Guuesh, a doctor who was recently interviewed by the BBC.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty's director for east and southern Africa, called the detentions "shameful and deeply troubling" in a statement.

"Amnesty International calls on the Ethiopian government to cease its crackdown on healthcare workers lawfully exercising their right to peaceful assembly, and to release all those arbitrarily detained for speaking out for their rights," it said.

Critical voices often face repression in Ethiopia.

On May 15, the health ministry said health worker strikes were "prohibited" and that "the government's patience in resolving the issue with an open mind has its limits."

On Friday, police announced the detention of 47 people for "organising an illegal strike", "creating chaos in the health sector" and "endangering patients' lives", according to state broadcaster EBC.

A doctor at a hospital in Addis Ababa, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told AFP that 90 percent of medical services had been disrupted by the strikes at his facility.

"We have no political goals; we are on strike simply because we cannot survive and live in the current conditions," said another health worker in the capital.

A third of the population in Ethiopia -- a country of about 130 million -- lives below the poverty line, which the World Bank sets as less than $2.15 per day.