Eritreans in Ethiopia demonstrate over abuses back home

A woman dressed in the colors of the Eritrean flag stands symbolically chained, at a demonstration by Eritrean refugees and dissidents outside the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, June 23, 2016. Hundreds of Eritrean refugees and dissidents in Ethiopia have demonstrated against alleged human rights abuses committed by Eritrea's government, and supporting a new U.N. report that accuses it of crimes against humanity over the last 25 years. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene) (The Associated Press)

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Eritrean refugees and dissidents, some holding Eritrean flags, demonstrate outside the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, June 23, 2016. Hundreds of Eritrean refugees and dissidents in Ethiopia have demonstrated against alleged human rights abuses committed by Eritrea's government, and supporting a new U.N. report that accuses it of crimes against humanity over the last 25 years. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene) (The Associated Press)

Eritrean refugees and dissidents, some holding Eritrean flags and some dressed as Eritrean military to illustrate beatings and torture, left, demonstrate outside the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Thursday, June 23, 2016. Hundreds of Eritrean refugees and dissidents in Ethiopia have demonstrated against alleged human rights abuses committed by Eritrea's government, and supporting a new U.N. report that accuses it of crimes against humanity over the last 25 years. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene) (The Associated Press)

Hundreds of Eritrean refugees and dissidents in Ethiopia have demonstrated against alleged human rights abuses committed by Eritrea's government.

They protested Thursday outside the headquarters of the African Union in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The demonstrators said they support a new U.N. report that accuses Eritrea's government of crimes against humanity, including enslavement, rape and torture, over the last 25 years.

Bashir Isaac Abdulla, an organizer of the demonstration, said many Eritreans want to flee "dire conditions" in the East African country.

The protesters carried banners calling for the indictment of Eritrea's president, Isaias Afwerki, who has been in power since 1991.

Similar protests are occurring in refugee camps across Ethiopia, which has no diplomatic relations with neighboring Eritrea.

Eritrea rejected the U.N. report, saying it lacked solid evidence.

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