ESAT News
(February 11, 2016)
The US State Department on Tuesday renewed its call to the
Ethiopian government to respect the democratic rights of citizens and refrain
from silencing dissent.
“We reaffirm our call on the
Ethiopian Government to refrain from silencing dissent, and to protect the
constitutionally enshrined rights of all citizens – including the right to
gather peacefully, to write, to speak freely as voices of a diverse nation,”
State Department Spokesperson, John Kirby said at a press briefing.
Responding to a
question regarding the demonstration on Monday by Ethiopians who demanded the
Obama administration to press the Ethiopian government to open an independent
probe into the killing of demonstrators in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, John
Kirby, who avoided to answer the question directly, said the US remains “deeply
concerned about the situation in Oromia, particularly following the recent
widespread protests, many of which escalated into violent clashes between
security forces and protesters. The government’s heavy-handed response resulted
in the death of numerous protesters and the arrests of many others, including
journalists and political party leaders. We’ve raised our concerns both
publicly and privately with the Government of Ethiopia, and there is universal
agreement that the loss of life, including police officers and local officials,
was unnecessary.”
“I think we all
understand that these protests are about more issues than just the plan,” he
said, referring to the integrated master plan to widen the capital city limit
to farming communities that faced with serious opposition by the Ethiopians,
particularly by the Oromo community. “We’re concerned by the continuing
stifling of independent voices there in Ethiopia and the arrests. They have a
chilling effect on a much-needed public consultation to resolve legitimate
political grievances there,” the spokesperson said.
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