http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/international/389686/after-the-protests-anger-still-boils-in-northern-ethiopia
After the protests, anger still boils in northern Ethiopia
August 20, 2016 - 3:28:46 pm
A demonstrator (L) dressed in military fatigue joins members of the
Oromo, Ogaden and Amhara community in South Africa as they demonstrate
against the ongoing crackdown in the restive Oromoand Amhara region of
Ethiopia on August 18, 2016 in Johannesburg. (AFP / GULSHAN KHAN)
Bahir Dar, Ethiopia: The demonstrations are crushed but anger remains
in Bahir Dar, capital of Ethiopia's northern Amhara region, where a
fortnight ago security forces killed at least 30 protesters, according
to a human rights group.
"I would say at least 50 people!" said Getachew, a protester who saw
bodies arrive at the city hospital on August 7.
Dressed in black, Getachew is mourning his younger brother Abebe, 28,
who he says was shot twice -- once in the back of the head and once in
his side -- as Ethiopian security broke up the protests with gunfire
and gas.
"The 'Agazi' were on the rooftops. They started to shoot in the crowd.
The police was launching tear gas," Getachew said, referring to
Ethiopia's feared special forces with their distinctive red berets who
were deployed to help crush the protests in Bahir Dar.
As he spoke Getachew scrolled through photographs of victims -
including his brother -- on his mobile phone.
Like many of the protesters, Abebe was wrapped in an old green, yellow
and red Ethiopian flag, but without the central star imposed on the
flag by the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) when it took power in 1991. The wearing of the old flag is a
patriotic rebuke of EPRDF rule.
Getachew was one of the few willing to speak following the protests in
Bahir Dar, and even he would not give his full name.
- Fear and mistrust -
This small, pretty town on the edge of Lake Tana and close to the
source of the Blue Nile is still in shock after the killings. The
tourist hotels are deserted, the tour guides idle and the fear of
government reprisals is palpable.
"If I start talking in a café, the Kebele [local government officials]
will know it. We cannot trust our neighbours or our friends," said one
tour guide who did not want to be identified.
Since the demonstrations, arrests have multiplied, said Getachew.
"Five friends of Abebe were arrested after they went to his funeral.
We don't know where they are," he said.
In the village of Dangla, just south of Bahir Dar, resident Andualem
said there had been security sweeps and stark warnings.
"They go door to door to give extreme warning not to go out to
demonstrate otherwise you will be killed," said Andualem. "They say:
Keep your children and your life."
Mobile internet and social networks have been blocked to prevent the
predominantly young activists from the decentralised protest movement
from organising further demonstrations.
Many of the young protesters are angry at a government that has been
in charge for almost their whole lives and that is seen to favour the
minority Tigrean community who occupy key positions in government, the
security services and public companies.
"There is a tangible development. You can't deny the roads, the
buildings, the power supply but the VIPs are all from Tigray. Tigreans
dominate economically and socially. All the industries are in Tigray,"
said Ashenafi, a young Amhara protester.
- Ethnic federalism failing -
The government's decision to join the northern province of Welkait to
the Tigray region was the immediate trigger for the Amhara protests,
but they have occurred at the same time as others in the Oromo region
where regular, sometimes deadly, demonstrations have happened since
November over land rights.
Together, Oromo and Amhara people make up over 60 percent of the population.
The demonstrations are a challenge to the EPRDF's model of "ethnic
federalism" intended to give representation and a degree of
self-determination to the multitude of ethnic groups in Ethiopia.
"Ethnic federalism is not working because it is not implemented
equally," said Molla Wasie of the opposition Agaw Democratic Party.
"Things are getting more and more tense. The government and the
opposition should come together and find a solution."
The Bahir Dar demonstrators are still angry. Following the protests,
the authorities gave a low figure of just seven dead, while human
rights group Amnesty International said 30 had been killed. Locals say
the number was higher still.
"They did not apologise for the people killed. They do not feel
guilty. All they say is that if somebody comes out, they will take
action," said Ashenafi. "I do not see any sign that they will change."
AFP
Received on Sat Aug 20 2016 - 09:04:31 EDT