Tuesday, October 11, 2016

#OromoProtests

Merkel signals support for Ethiopia's protesters in visit

PUBLISHED: 14:29 GMT, 11 October 2016 | UPDATED: 14:30 GMT, 11 October 2016

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled support for protesters demanding wider freedoms in Ethiopia during a visit to the country on Tuesday, saying "a vibrant civil society is part and parcel of a developing country."

After meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Merkel said Germany has offered to train Ethiopia's police to deal with the sometimes deadly demonstrations that have caused one of Africa's best-performing economies to declare its first state of emergency in 25 years.

"We are already working in Oromia to de-escalate the situation there by offering mediation between groups," she said, referring to the region where protests have simmered for nearly a year.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, is welcomed by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country's newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

"I would always argue for allowing people of a different political opinion ... to engage with them and allow them to express their views because, after all, a democratic experience shows that out of these discussions good solutions usually come," Merkel said.

The Ethiopian prime minister responded by suggesting his government may increase dialogue. "We have shortcomings in our fledgling democracy, so we want to go further in opening up the political space and engagement with different groups of the society," he said, noting that the East African country's huge youth population has created "dissatisfaction and desperation."

But the prime minister also sounded a note of defiance. "Ethiopia is committed to have a multi-party democracy as per our constitution. And Ethiopia is committed to have human rights observed. ... But Ethiopia is also against any violent extremist armed struggling groups," he said.

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency Sunday, faced with widespread anti-government protests. More than 50 people died last week in a stampede after police tried to disperse protesters. The incident set off a week of demonstrations in which both foreign and local businesses with suspected government ties were burned, and one American was killed in a rock attack.

Merkel said the German business community has criticized the business climate in Ethiopia, and she expressed hope that the government will discuss the criticism openly.

At least 500 people have been killed in anti-government protests over the past year, according to Human Rights Watch. The protesters demand more freedoms from a government accused of being increasingly authoritarian.

The United States and others have called on the government to use restraint against protesters, and the U.N. human rights office has asked for access to allow independent observers into the troubled Oromia region.

On Monday, Ethiopia's president announced during a Parliament session that the country's election law would be amended to accommodate more political parties and opposing views.

But the country's internet service continues to be largely blacked out after last week's unrest.

Merkel's African tour, with stops earlier this week in Mali and Niger, is also meant to highlight the global migration crisis and security issues. Ethiopia is one of the world's largest hosts of refugees, with an estimated 780,000 from nearby Somalia, South Sudan and elsewhere.

Ethiopia's prime minister appealed for German support.

Merkel also inaugurated the new African Union Peace and Security Council building in the capital, Addis Ababa, constructed with German funding of 27 million euros. It is expected to be the base for coordination of peacekeeping missions.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-left, and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, center-right, inspect the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country's newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-right, inspects the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country's newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, is welcomed by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, center-left, as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country's newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/ Mulugeta Ayene)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, inspects the honor guard as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country's newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, right, inspect the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country's newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

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FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 file photo, Ethiopian soldiers try to stop protesters in Bishoftu, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting Ethiopia on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country's newly declared state of emergency after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo, File)

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FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 file photo, protesters chant slogans against the government during a march in Bishoftu, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting Ethiopia on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country's newly declared state of emergency after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo, File)

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Youths play football at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia's government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country's first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

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Ethiopian men read newspapers and drink coffee at a cafe in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia's government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country's first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

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A security guard sits near a gate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia's government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country's first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

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A woman walks on bridge to a station of the city's light railway, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia's government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country's first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

#OromoProtests

German leader calls for Ethiopia to open up politics after unrest

By Andreas Rinke and Aaron Maasho | ADDIS ABABA

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Ethiopia on Tuesday to open up its politics and ensure police do not use heavy-handed tactics against protesters, after more than a year of unrest that rights groups say has led to about 500 deaths.

Merkel, who spoke at a news conference with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, arrived in Ethiopia after a fresh flare-up near the capital of the clashes that have cast a shadow over a nation with one of Africa's fastest-growing economies.

The violence prompted the government to declare a nationwide state of emergency on Sunday. It says the death toll cited by rights groups is exaggerated and blames the wave of violence on "armed gangs" backed by foreigners.

Western states, which are among the biggest donors to what is still a poor nation, want their companies to win deals in Ethiopia but have become increasingly concerned by the government's authoritarian approach to development.

"I made the case that you should have open talks with people who have problems," Merkel told Hailemariam, adding that police should respond proportionately to protests.

Last week, protesters ransacked or burned about a dozen mostly foreign-owned factories, flower farms and other sites, accusing the government of building on seized land and stifling opposition.

Opponents blamed police for provoking a stampede at a festival in Oromiya that killed at least 55 people on Oct. 2.

"In a democracy there always needs to be an opposition that has a voice - in the best case in parliament," Merkel said, during the visit which a German diplomat said included a meeting with members of civil society groups and opposition politicians.

"ALTERNATIVE VOICES"

Opposition parties failed to win a single seat in parliament in the 2015 election, accusing the government of rigging the vote - charges which it denies. There was just one opposition lawmaker in the previous assembly.

"The government is not using extreme violence. If it happened, we will investigate the units involved," the prime minister responded.

Addressing parliament the day before Merkel arrived, Ethiopia's president called for an amendment to the election law to allow "alternative voices" to be heard - an offer that senior opposition figure Merera Gudina said was "too little, too late".

Merera, chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress, from a region where protests have raged, said Merkel should push for the release of political prisoners and a national dialogue.

The government denies it detains people for their politics.

In another show of German discontent, a diplomat said Addis Ababa had proposed that Merkel address parliament, but Berlin refused because it lacked any opposition members.

The diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the message being sent was that there was "no business as usual".

The German-based human rights group Gesellschaft fuer bedrohte Voelker said Merkel should have been even tougher.

"With more than 500 suspected dead, Merkel should have insisted on an independent United Nations investigation to make clear that the brutal oppression of government critics is turning the country into a powder keg and will force more people to flee," said Ulrich Delius, the group's African expert.

The international community has praised Ethiopia for its economic achievements and development strategy. Under this, healthcare and other types of social support have spread across a country where most people rely on subsistence farming that has been hit by severe drought in the past two years or more.

PACE OF GROWTH AND REFORM

A nation still renowned in the West for a devastating 1984 famine exacerbated by the policies of the then Marxist government, Ethiopia has been one of Africa's fastest-expanding economies for the past 15 years of so. In 2015, growth was 10 percent.

But the lack of public space for criticism has risen up the agenda for Western powers. U.S. President Barack Obama told his Ethiopian hosts in Addis Ababa last year that greater political openness would "strengthen rather than inhibit" development.

The government said at the time it ensured political freedoms but differed over the pace of reforms that Washington wanted.

Till now, Chinese firms and financing have been a major driver of growth, building high-rise towers and a metro system in Addis Abba, and constructing a new railway that links the capital of the land-locked nation to Djibouti port.

Western investors have also secured deals. Britain's Diageo and Heineken of the Netherlands have bought breweries, Dutch and Belgian firms run flower farms and companies such as Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) are starting to source clothes from Ethiopian plants.

Merkel also visited the headquarters of the African Union, which are in Addis Ababa. She called for the body to try to solve the conflict in Libya and also urged African states to increase efforts to fight Islamist militants.

(Writing by Edmund Blair and Madeline Chambers; editing by David Stamp, Pravin Char and Peter Millership)

#OromoProtests

EU calls for dialogue with Ethiopia as state of emergency declared

Ethiopia declares state of emergency as violence intensifies in Oromia state.

By Ludovica Iaccino
October 10, 2016 17:18 BST

Oromo protest — In Focus: Addis Ababa master plan threatens Oromos self-determination IBTimes UK

The European Union (EU) has called for dialogue with Ethiopia, where anti-government protests have led to the alleged death of hundreds of people. The country recently declared a state of emergency as violence is intensifying in Oromia, the country's largest state.

"Today's parliamentary session offers the opportunity to open the way for an inclusive dialogue in response to the grievances of the population. This should lead to a comprehensive reform package," said a EU's spokesperson in what is believed to be the first address on the ongoing unrest since last year.

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"Violence, whichever side it comes from, has no place in this endeavour. Now it is time for all forces, inside and outside Ethiopia, to restore calm and join in ensuring that Ethiopia can pursue the path of democracy and development."

It is believed the state of emergency, declared for the first time in 25 years, will last for six months. The announcement came days after at least 55 people died in a stampede at a religious festival in Oromia in October.

In its latest report released on 8 October, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said security forces have killed "more than 500 people during protests over the course of the last year" in Oromia and in the Amhara region.

The organisation added journalists and activists face harassment, surveillance, and criminal charges, and called for an independent and impartial investigation into the violence.

The government has always rejected these figures claiming that people who perished during protests were killed by "anti-peace" forces. Authorities recently blamed forces in Egypt and Eritrea for the ongoing unrest.

Ethiopia Oromo Oromia — Ethiopian soldiers react as Oromo protesters flash their gesture in BishoftuTiksa Negeri/Reuters

Protests in Oromia and Amhara

Demonstrators first took to the streets of Oromia in November 2015 to voice their dissent against a government draft plan that aimed to expand the boundaries of the capital Addis Ababa.

They argued the so-called "Addis Ababa master plan" would lead to the forced evictions of Oromo farmers and would undermine the survival of the Oromo culture and language.

The Ethiopian government scrapped the master plan, following increasing agitation. Protests are continuing, with people call ing for self-rule, the liberation of political prisoners and the end of what they perceive to be a military regime in the region. This includes an end to an alleged crackdown by security forces on "peaceful and unarmed" demonstrators, mainly students and farmers.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other rights groups claimed security forces killed killed at least 100 people in the Amhara region during anti-government protests held in August. The government had denied the allegations of violence. Protests erupted in Amhara after thousands took to the streets of Gondar and Bahir Dar to protest over the administration of disputed territories.

Members of the Welkait Tegede community demanded their lands be administered by the Amhara region, instead of the Tigray state.

Protesters, who identify themselves as ethnic Amhara – Ethiopia's second largest group – clashed with police during the demonstrations, labelled as the biggest anti-government unrest Ethiopia has witnessed in recent history.

#OromoProtests

https://www.nrk.no/urix/etiopia---blodig-oppror-i-stadig-meir-lukka-land-1.13174537

Monday, October 10, 2016

#OromoProtests

Ethiopia: UN experts call for international commission to help investigate systematic violence against protesters

GENEVA (10 October 2016) –United Nations human rights experts today urged the Ethiopian authorities to end their violent crackdown on peaceful protests, which has reportedly led to the death of over 600 people since November 2015. They further called on the Government to allow an international commission of inquiry to investigate the protests and the violence used against peaceful demonstrators.
“We are outraged at the alarming allegations of mass killings, thousands of injuries, tens of thousands of arrests and hundreds of enforced disappearances,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard. “We are also extremely concerned by numerous reports that those arrested had faced torture and ill-treatment in military detention centres.”
“In light of the lack of progress in investigating the systematic violence against protesters, we urge the Ethiopian Government to allow an international independent commission to assist in shedding light on these allegations,” they stated.
The human rights experts highlighted in particular the 2 October events in Oromia, where 55 people were killed in a stampede.
“The deaths in the Oromia region last weekend are only the latest in a long string of incidents where the authorities’ use of excessive force has led to mass deaths,” Mr. Kiai said noting that peaceful protests in the Ahmara and Konso Wereda regions have also been met with violence from authorities.
“The scale of this violence and the shocking number of deaths make it clear that this is a calculated campaign to eliminate opposition movements and silence dissenting voices,” he added.
The UN Special Rapporteurs voiced particular concern over the use of national security provisions and counterterrorism legislation - the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation 652/2009 - to target individuals exercising their rights to peaceful assembly.
“This law authorises the use of unrestrained force against suspects and pre-trial detention of up to four months,” Ms. Callamard noted while warning that many of the killings could amount to extrajudicial executions. “Whenever the principles of necessity and proportionality are not respected in the context of crowd control, any death caused by law enforcement officials is considered an extrajudicial execution,” she stressed.
The Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances urged the authorities to immediately disclose the whereabouts of those disappeared and emphasized that" all allegations of enforced disappearances must be thoroughly and independently investigated and perpetrators held accountable".
Ethiopia’s current wave of mass protests began in the Oromia region in November 2015, in response to the Government’s ‘Master Plan’ to expand Addis Ababa’s boundaries, which would lead to the displacement of Oromo farmers. In Konso Wereda, the protests started in mid-December 2015 after the annexation of Konso into the Segen Area Peoples Zone. Protests later spread to other areas of the country, including the Ahmara region.
“Curtailing assembly and association rights is never the answer when there are disagreements in a society; rather, it is a sign of the State’s inability to deal with such disagreements,” Mr Kiai said. “Suffocating dissent only makes things worse, and is likely to lead to further social and political unrest.”
The experts underlined the urgent need to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the violence. A group of UN experts made a similar call* in January 2016, which went unheeded, they noted.
Mr. Kiai, Ms. Callamard and the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances call has been endorsed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, Victoria Lucia Tauli-corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez and the Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Roland Adjovi.
(*) Check the experts’ January statement: http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16977&LangID=E
ENDS
The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Welcomepage.aspx
UN Human Rights, Country Page – Ethiopia:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/ETIndex.aspx
For more information and media requests, please contact Ms. Marion Mondain (+41 22 91 79 540 /freeassembly@ohchr.org).
To view this press release online, visit:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20663&LangID=E
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Sunday, October 9, 2016

#OromoProtests

Ethiopia declares state of emergency over protests

Government declares a state of emergency effective immediately following violence and unrest in Oromia region.

Oromia has experienced protests since November 2015 as people have called for wider political freedoms [Reuters]

Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency following months of often violent anti-government protests, especially in the restive Oromia region.

"A state of emergency has been declared because the situation posed a threat against the people of the country," Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said on state-run television on Sunday.

Local media said the state of emergency, declared for the first time in 25 years, will last for six months.

What is triggering Ethiopia's unrest?

Earlier on Sunday, the state Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the state of emergency was effective as of Saturday evening as a means to "deal with anti-peace elements that have allied with foreign forces and are jeopardising the peace and security of the country".

It added that that the Council of Ministers discussed the damage by the protests across the country and declared the state of emergency in a message delivered to Hailemariam .

Protests reignited this week in the Oromia region - the main focus of a recent wave of demonstrations - after dozens of people were killed in a stampede on October 2, which was sparked by police firing tear gas and warning shots at a huge crowd of protesters attending a religious festival.

The official death toll given by the government was 55, though opposition activists and rights groups said they believe more than 100 people died as they fled security forces, falling into ditches that dotted the area.

According to government officials, factories, company premises and vehicles were burnt out completely or damaged during the rioting. Many roads leading to the capital, Addis Ababa, were reported to be blocked.

Ethiopia's government, a close ally of the West, has often been accused of stifling criticism by arresting and detaining thousands of people.

According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch group, at least 500 people have been killed by security forces since anti-government protests began in November.

The government has denied that violence from the security forces is systemic, and in August, rejected a United Nations request to send in observers, saying it alone was responsible for the security of its citizens.

Months of protests

The anti-government demonstrations started in November among the Oromo, Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, and later spread to the Amhara, the second most populous group.

Though they initially began over land rights, they later broadened into calls for more political, economic and cultural rights.

Both groups say that a multi-ethnic ruling coalition and the security forces are dominated by the Tigray ethnic group, which makes up only about 6 percent of the population.

The government, though, blames rebel groups and foreign-based dissidents for stoking the violence.

Source: Al Jazeera News And News Agencies

Self Determination,Freedom, Equality and Democracy For Oromo people In Ethiopia

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

#OromoProtests

Merkel signals support for Ethiopia's protesters in visit

#OromoProtests

German leader calls for Ethiopia to open up politics after unrest

#OromoProtests

EU calls for dialogue with Ethiopia as state of emergency declared

Ethiopia declares state of emergency as violence intensifies in Oromia state.

Protests in Oromia and Amhara

#OromoProtests

Monday, October 10, 2016

#OromoProtests

Sunday, October 9, 2016

#OromoProtests

Ethiopia declares state of emergency over protests

Government declares a state of emergency effective immediately following violence and unrest in Oromia region.

Months of protests

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Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Merkel signals support for Ethiopia's protesters in visit

German leader calls for Ethiopia to open up politics after unrest

RELATED COVERAGE

EU calls for dialogue with Ethiopia as state of emergency declared

Ethiopia declares state of emergency as violence intensifies in Oromia state.

Protests in Oromia and Amhara

Monday, October 10, 2016

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Months of protests