Nusrat Ghani – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to promote the safety of students in Ethiopia who are campaigning for democracy and human rights.

Grant Shapps

We remain deeply concerned about the deaths that followed the student protests in early May 2014 in Oromiya State in Ethiopia, and have raised our concerns with the authorities at the highest levels. We sought assurances that any members of the security forces who are found to have used excessive force are held to account, and that measures will be put in place to avoid further such incidents.

The UK Government takes allegations of human rights abuses very seriously. We regularly raise democracy and human rights concerns , including at the highest level of the Ethiopian Government.