Ethiopia at a 'crossroads'

LONDON - Mass street protests that saw dozens of people shot by Ethiopian security forces over the weekend could spill into civil war if the Government fails to reform land use policies, a veteran Ethiopian opposition politician has warned.

Merera Gudina, leader of the Oromo People's Congress, said the East African country was at a "crossroads".

"People are demanding their rights," he said.

"People are fed up with what the regime has been doing for a quarter of a century. They're protesting against land grabs, reparations, stolen elections, the rising cost of living, many things.

"If the Government continue to repress while the people are demanding their rights in the millions that (civil war) is one of the likely scenarios," Mr Gudina said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Washington DC.

More than 90 people were shot dead by security forces in protests across Ethiopia's central-western Oromiya and northern Amhara regions at the weekend, according to opposition officials and residents.

Mr Gudina said thousands of people were arrested in Addis Ababa, after the Government used "massive and excessive force" to shut down demonstrations that had spread there. Other activists estimated that 3000 protesters had been detained.

"There have been no attempts at negotiation from the Government, no engagement with the opposition or the people. So far, their only response is bullets," Mr Gudina said.

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein urged Ethiopia on Wednesday to allow international observers into Oromiya and Amhara. He also said allegations of excessive use of force across the two restive regions must be investigated and that his office was in discussions with Ethiopian authorities.

Protests began in November in the town of Ginchi in Oromiya over a government plan to allocate farmland to Addis Ababa for development, potentially displacing large numbers of Oromo farmers, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia.

The plan was scrapped but protests flared again over the continued detention of opposition demonstrators.

 Source: fijitimes.com