(July 14, 2014, (BBC))--A legal battle has been launched by an Ethiopian citizen who claims the UK has helped to fund a "brutal" resettlement programme in his country.
The man, who can only be referred to as "O", won permission to seek a judicial review at London's High Court. He wants a ruling that the UK acted unlawfully by providing aid to Ethiopia without assessing its human rights record.
The UK government has denied funding the programme. The case arises from Ethiopia's decision to resettle individuals from rural communities into new and larger "communes", known as the Commune Development Programme (CDP), in an attempt to reduce poverty.
'Violations'
In a report in 2012, the New York-based group, Human Rights Watch, said around 70,000 indigenous people from Ethiopia's Gambella region were being moved against their will to places lacking food, farmland, healthcare and schools.
The court ruled that "O" had an arguable case against the UK's secretary of state for international development that should go to a full hearing. Read more from BBC »
The man, who can only be referred to as "O", won permission to seek a judicial review at London's High Court. He wants a ruling that the UK acted unlawfully by providing aid to Ethiopia without assessing its human rights record.
The UK government has denied funding the programme. The case arises from Ethiopia's decision to resettle individuals from rural communities into new and larger "communes", known as the Commune Development Programme (CDP), in an attempt to reduce poverty.
'Violations'
In a report in 2012, the New York-based group, Human Rights Watch, said around 70,000 indigenous people from Ethiopia's Gambella region were being moved against their will to places lacking food, farmland, healthcare and schools.
The court ruled that "O" had an arguable case against the UK's secretary of state for international development that should go to a full hearing. Read more from BBC »
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