Ethiopia’s rulers have redoubled a repressive policy that is
failing. Instead of looking for ways to alleviate the pent-up frustrations of
the ethnic Oromo and Amhara populations that spilt out in demonstrations over
the past 11 months, a six-month state of emergency has been announced, allowing
the deployment of troops and bans on protests.
The latest
confrontation was tragic and emblematic of the Government’s wrong-headed use of
force. On October 2, in Bishoftu, a town 25 miles southeast of Addis Ababa, an
enormous crowd gathered to celebrate Irreecha, the festival that marks the end
of the rainy season and onset of the harvest.
Since last
November, protests have been rising among Ethiopia’s approximately 40 million
ethnic Oromos, fuelled by anger over plans for reallocating their land,
political disenfranchisement and detention of opposition activists.
Antigovernment chants began at the festival and security forces responded with
teargas. In previous protests, teargas has foreshadowed live ammunition. When
the teargas in Bishoftu was followed by the sound of gunshots, panic ensued.
Many people were killed when they fell into deep trenches and drowned or were
trampled.
According to
Human Rights Watch, Ethiopian forces have killed more than 500 people during
protests in the past year.
In announcing
the state of emergency, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn blamed “anti-peace
forces” and “foreign enemies”, whom he claimed are trying to destabilise
Ethiopia.
But
Ethiopia’s human rights abuses and political repression must be addressed
frontally by the United States and Europe, no longer shunted to the back burner
because of co-operation fighting terrorism.
Source: Royal Gazette
No comments:
Post a Comment