Fatal Ethiopia stampede seen reviving unrest in U.S. partner
William Davison, (c) 2016, Bloomberg(c) 2016, Bloomberg
October 4, 2016
The Ethiopian government's deadly mishandling of a protest at a
cultural event by the Oromo people threatens to reignite
demonstrations across the country's largest region and worsen
political risk in one of the U.S.'s key African allies.
The Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia estimates as many as 100
people were crushed to death or drowned on Sunday as they fled from
regional police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to
disperse a crowd in Bishoftu city, 28 miles (45 kilometers) southeast
of the capital, Addis Ababa.
Oromo protesters had crossed their arms -- a symbol of resistance by
Ethiopia's largest ethnic group that's been demonstrating for almost a
year -- as they chanted anti-government slogans and threatened to take
over a stage where traditional leaders were due to speak. Government
spokesman Getachew Reda put the death toll at 55 and said some of the
protesters were responsible for the stampede.
"People are now angry and we expect a huge backlash in Oromia," said
Milkessa Midega, a doctoral candidate at the Center for Federal
Studies at Addis Ababa University. "This is going to inflame another
round of deadly protests."
The U.S. considers Ethiopia a bulwark in the Horn of Africa, a region
troubled by failing states. With one of Africa's fastest-growing
economies, Ethiopia is part of an internationally funded African force
battling al-Qaida-linked militants in neighboring Somalia and also has
peacekeeping troops in South Sudan and Sudan.
Protests that began over the eviction of farmers and arrests of
leaders have led to 600 Oromo being killed by security forces since
November, according to the rights association. Since July 31, there
have also been fatal anti-government demonstrations in Amhara,
Ethiopia's second-most populous region. Combined, they present a major
challenge for the ruling coalition that's controlled Africa's
second-most populous nation for 25 years.
Oromo angry at the Bishoftu tragedy have already started demonstrating
across the sprawling central region in towns including Ambo, according
to Milkessa, who attended Sunday's event. He said youthful protesters
were angered by government efforts to control which traditional
leaders spoke at the annual Irreecha celebration. The danger of people
getting crushed in the ditches if force was used was obvious, Milkessa
said.
The leaders of the Oromo wing of the ruling coalition were replaced
last month amid government pledges to combat corruption and
maladministration. Government opponents say senior officials of
Tigrayan ethnicity control the Oromo politicians that lead the region
of about 35 million people.
The Bishoftu incident was described as a "massacre" by influential
activists such as U.S.-based Jawar Mohammed, executive director of the
Oromia Media Network, who disseminates videos and reports of protests
to more than 1 million Facebook followers. He says the military shot
and caused the deaths of as many as 600 people and on Sunday called
for five "days of rage" across the region.
Crowds stoned vehicles traveling between the towns of Modjo and
Shashemene on Sunday and the road was effectively closed to traffic on
Monday, said Sara Negash, a passenger in a targeted bus. At Hagere
Mariam in southern Oromia, protesters burned a customs office and
police station, according to Getachew.
There was a heavy police presence and most shops were shut on Tuesday
in Burayu, an Oromo town on the edge of Addis Ababa, after protests
that began there late Monday. Dangote Cement equipment was burned and
government buildings destroyed in unrest in two other locations in
Oromia that led to deaths, the pro-government Fana Broadcasting Corp.
said on its website, without saying how many people were killed.
There will probably be a shift in resistance tactics after the tragedy
as the Oromo "intensify their struggle for freedom and equality," said
Awol Kassim Allo, a lecturer in law at the University of Keele in the
U.K.
"I think yesterday's event marks a significant turning point in the
struggle of the Oromo people," he said.
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.