https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ethiopia-meets-protests-with-bullets/2016/10/11/0f54aa02-8f14-11e6-9c52-0b10449e33c4_story.html?utm_term=.c2e63ad6958c
The Post's View
Ethiopia meets protests with bullets
By Editorial Board
The Post's View
October 11 at 7:05 PM
ETHIOPIA’S RULERS have redoubled a repressive policy that is failing.
Instead of looking for ways to alleviate the pent-up frustrations of
the ethnic Oromo and Amhara populations that spilled out in
demonstrations over the past 11 months, Ethiopia’s authorities on
Sunday announced a six-month state of emergency, allowing the
deployment of troops and bans on demonstrations. Already, rights have
been severely restricted; the state of emergency will bottle up the
pressures even more, increasing the likelihood they will explode anew.
The latest confrontation was tragic and emblematic of the government’s
wrongheaded use of force. On Oct. 2, in Bishoftu, a town 25 miles
southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, an enormous crowd gathered to
celebrate Irreecha, an important festival that marks the end of the
rainy season and onset of the harvest. Since last November, protests
have been rising among Ethiopia’s approximately 40 million ethnic
Oromos, fueled by anger over plans for reallocating their land,
political disenfranchisement and detention of opposition activists.
Anti-government chants began at the festival, and security forces
responded with tear gas. In previous protests, tear gas has
foreshadowed live ammunition. When the tear gas in Bishoftu was
followed by the sound of gunshots, panic ensued. Many people were
killed when they fell into deep trenches and drowned or were trampled.
In August, at least 90 protesters were shot and killed by Ethiopian
security forces in the regions of Oromia and Amhara. All told,
according to Human Rights Watch, Ethiopian security forces have killed
more than 500 people during protests during the past year.
In announcing the state of emergency, Prime Minister Hailemariam
Desalegn blamed “anti-peace forces” and “foreign enemies” whom he
claimed are trying to destabilize Ethiopia. But attempts to point to
foes abroad masks the truth that unrest is being fueled by a deep
sense of anger at home. The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary
Democratic Front, the target of the rage, would do better to confront
the root causes than to answer with bullets and tear gas. The violence
threatens to shake foreign investment that has been a pillar of
Ethiopia’s development agenda. In recent days, businesses owned by
foreigners have been attacked; Africa Juice, a Dutch-owned firm, was
set alight last week by a crowd of hundreds in Oromia.
Ethiopia’s human rights abuses and political repression must be
addressed frontally by the United States and Europe, no longer shunted
to the back burner because of cooperation fighting terrorism. With the
state of emergency, Ethiopia’s leaders are borrowing a brutal and
counterproductive tactic from dictators the world over who have tried
to put a cork in genuine popular dissent. It won’t work.
Read more:
The Post’s View: Ethiopia’s regime has killed hundreds. Why is the
West still giving it aid?
The Post’s View: Ethiopia silences its critics with a deadly crackdown
on dissent
Letters to the Editor: America’s complicity in Ethiopia’s horrors
Olympian Feyisa Lilesa: From Rio to America, I will keep fighting
Ethiopia’s oppression
Received on Tue Oct 11 2016 - 20:31:38 EDT