Hailemariam Threatened to Crush Protesters in Oromia

Published: Feb 25, 2016 Filed under: Ethiopian News Politics - 17,717 Views

Ethiopia’s prime minister has threatened to crush secessionist forces accused of stoking protests in the Oromia region, where security forces have reportedly killed hundreds of demonstrators. Protests began in Oromia—home to the Oromo ethnic group—in November 2015 over plans to expand the territory of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Oromo farmers raised concerns that increasing the size of the city would lead to forced evictions and loss of arable land.

The plans were dropped in January, but the protests continued and around 200 people have been killed so far, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released on Monday. The Ethiopian embassy in London told Newsweek that the HRW report is not credible and is based on “malicious statements, false accusations and unsubstantiated allegations from opposition propaganda materials.”

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said on state television that “destructive forces” in Oromia, backed by neighboring Eritrea, “are on a mission to subvert the system and change the government,” the BBC reported on Wednesday. “The government has realized there is need to take a decisive action based on law,” said Desalegn. Eritrea fought a war with neighboring Ethiopia over the country’s borders between 1998 and 2000, resulting in the deaths of around 100,000 people but only minor border changes.

The Oromo are the majority ethnic group in Ethiopia, making up 25 million of the country’s total population of 74 million at the last census in 2007. Oromos have clashed with the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) before: An October 2014 report by Amnesty International said that at least 5,000 Oromo were arrested between 2011 and 2014 on the basis of suspected opposition to the government.
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Image: Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, pictured at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, January 30, has said that secessionist movements in the Oromia region will not be tolerated.Tiksa Negeri/Reuters