http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/2.1198/ethiopia-security-forces-kill-400-since-november-group-says-1.414858
Ethiopia security forces kill 400 since November, group says
By Samuel Gebre
Bloomberg
Published: June 16, 2016
Ethiopian security forces have killed more than 400 protesters and
arrested tens of thousands of people since unrest began in the
nation's Oromia region in November, Human Rights Watch said.
Authorities used "excessive and unnecessary lethal force" and mass
arrests and there was mistreatment in detention, the New York-based
advocacy group said Thursday in a report. Access to information was
also curbed as authorities acted to quell "largely peaceful"
demonstrations that were sparked by the clearing of land for an
investment project, the group said. Ethiopian Communications Minister
Getachew Reda didn't answer phone calls seeking comment.
"Ethiopian security forces have fired on and killed hundreds of
students, farmers, and other peaceful protesters with blatant
disregard for human life," Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at
Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
The demonstrations, triggered by concern over a blueprint for the
expansion of the capital, Addis Ababa, have become one of the biggest
challenges to Ethiopia's ruling coalition since it came to power after
unseating a military regime 25 years ago. Protesters feared the plan
would displace farmers from the Oromo community, the country's largest
ethnic group, and benefit a "small elite," Human Rights Watch said.
The government shelved the plan in January.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said in a report it had counted
173 deaths in the Oromia region, including 14 security members and 14
officials, Fana Broadcasting Corp. reported on June 11.
Human Rights Watch said the government deployed military forces in
Oromia for crowd-control as protests stretched into December, while
security officers "repeatedly fired live ammunition into crowds with
little or no warning or use of non-lethal crowd-control measures."
Many of those killed were students, including children younger than
18, according to the group.
While many of the thousands of students, teachers, opposition
politicians and others who were arrested have been released, an
"unknown number" remain in detention without charge or access to legal
counsel, according to Human Rights Watch. Former detainees said they
were tortured or mistreated when detained in places including military
camps, while several women alleged that they were raped or sexually
assaulted, the group said.
Access to schools and universities has also been disrupted due to the
presence of security forces and the arrests of teachers and students,
according to Human Rights Watch. Some places of learning were closed
for weeks in a bid to deter protests, it said.
The report is based on interviews in Ethiopia and abroad with more
than 125 protesters, witnesses and alleged victims of abuse.
Received on Thu Jun 16 2016 - 13:33:57 EDT