http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-10/key-u-s-africa-ally-faces-further-unrest-after-scores-killed
Key U.S. Africa Ally Faces More Unrest After Scores Killed
William Davison wdavison10
August 10, 2016 — 7:01 PM EDT Updated on August 11, 2016 — 10:34 AM EDT
Ethiopian government seen unlikely to make concessions
Demonstrations involved country’s two largest ethnic groups
Ethiopia, a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamist militants in
East Africa, faces the prospect of further unrest after a crackdown on
anti-government demonstrations held by its two largest communities
over the weekend that Amnesty International said left 97 people dead.
Security forces opened fire on protesters in the country’s Amhara
region, with the worst bloodshed in the northern city of Bahir Dar
where at least 30 people were killed in a day, the London-based rights
group said Monday. Deaths were reported in at least nine towns in the
Oromia region, where demonstrations by Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group
began in November, according to Amnesty. Communications Minister
Getachew Reda acknowledged there’d been fatalities, without being
specific, and said the protests were illegal.
The unrest signals an increasing challenge to the government in
Ethiopia, which the U.S. considers a bulwark in the Horn of Africa, a
region troubled by failing states, and has used as a base for military
drones. With Africa’s fastest-growing economy, Ethiopia is part of an
internationally funded African force battling al-Qaeda-linked
militants in Somalia and also has peacekeeping troops in South Sudan
and Sudan.
“This is a precarious time for the ruling party,” Michael Woldemariam,
an assistant professor of political science at Boston University,
said, citing the size and spread of the protests and the violence that
has accompanied them.
Farmer Evictions
Under the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front,
security forces have killed more than 400 people and arrested tens of
thousands in Oromia since protests began in November over the eviction
of farmers for infrastructure and investment, New York-based Human
Rights Watch said in June. Oromo complaints include the killings and
arrests of demonstrators and federal control of the region’s security.
The government is unlikely to change its strategy, according to Harry
Verhoeven, who teaches African politics at Georgetown University’s
School of Foreign Service in Qatar. “Many inside the cabinet and
security services fear reforms would encourage even more radical
protests aiming to overthrow the regime,” he said by phone from Doha.
The U.S. Embassy in the country on Monday expressed concern over the
crackdown, urging the government to respect the rights of citizens to
gather peacefully.
‘Excessive Force’
Mulatu Gemechu, the deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress,
said that the government’s actions may worsen the violence. His
organization said 86 Oromo protesters were killed by security forces
on Aug. 6.
“If the government goes on like this and uses excessive force, to
defend themselves people will probably take another action,” he said
by phone from the capital, Addis Ababa. No deaths were reported in
that city, although videos show police beating protesters with batons
in the main square, Amnesty said.
Under the EPRDF, a former rebel movement that took power in 1991 after
overthrowing a military regime, Ethiopia is a federal state designed
to give autonomy to ethnic groups. The Oromo and Amhara communities
together make up more than half of Ethiopia’s 100 million population,
Africa’s second-largest after Nigeria. Activists from both groups
claim that ethnic Tigrayans, who comprise 6 percent, dominate an
authoritarian government.
Government officials say that four regional parties jointly run a
ruling coalition, which controls all 547 parliamentary seats along
with allied groups, while cabinet positions are apportioned on
population size. Ethiopia’s last major political crisis was in 2005
after an opposition coalition claimed victory in a disputed election
and police shot dead almost 200 protesters in the capital.
Businesses Attacked
Tigrayans and their businesses were attacked on Friday and Saturday in
Gondar city and people from that group were told to leave Amhara, said
Berhe Hagos, a resident.
“They think if you’re from that ethnic group you benefit from the
government,” he said. “People are being humiliated based on race.”
Protests spurred by claims from activists that Tigray state annexed
Amhara territory over two decades ago are a threat to the federal
system, according to Verhoeven. Wolkait district became part of Tigray
when boundaries were drawn along ethno-linguistic lines for a 1994
constitution.
“It’s quite explosive as the perception risks being that of a Tigrayan
elite abusing its power,” Verhoeven said. “Claiming the bankruptcy of
ethnic federalism is potentially a banner under which many Ethiopians
can unite.”
Received on Thu Aug 11 2016 - 20:24:42 EDT