Unrest in Kobo and Robit, Northern Wollo, Ethiopia continue

Uprising, unrest, tension continue in Kobo and Robit, Northern Wollo, Ethiopia. Ethiopian regime forces are using excessive force, several people killed including some regime soldiers. (ESAT News)

More deaths of civilians as security forces quash protests in various parts of Ethiopia

Addis Abeba – This week has seen a return to the killings of civilians by Ethiopia’s security forces following protests in east and northern parts of the country; a massive anti-government protest was also held in southern Ethiopia.

Moyale, Duga Bora and Welkite

On Monday, one civilian was killed and three more wounded in Moyale town, in Guji zone in southern Ethiopia, when security forces opened fire at a group of youngsters returning from a local football match, according to  VOA Amharic, which quoted Hussein Guyu, the local administrator. The federal security forces were involved when a skirmish erupted following the football match.

And on Tuesday January 23,  at least three people were killed in Dugda Bora (Alem Tena) Woreda in east shewa zone of the Oromia regional state. According to Boran Hunde, a resident in the nearby Mojo town who spoke to Addis Standard , protesters took to the streets on Tuesday to “demand for justice” for the “continued displacement of our people and the killings of civilians in southern and eastern parts of the country in Ethiopia Somali and Oromia regional states.” But, according to Boran, federal security forces have began telling the protesters to disperse and “have quickly started shooting at protesters.” He says he fears there could be more causalities among the many wounded who were rushed to Meki and Adama hospitals.

On the same day on Tuesday a massive anti-government protest took place in Welkite city, the administrative city of the Gurage Zone in southern regional state. Thousands came out to the streets protesting against the city administration’s failure to deliver a promised hospital. On October 3/ 2010, Ethiopia’s then Minister of health Dr. Tewodros Adhanom, laid a corner stone to launch the construction a 90 million birr hospital intended to provide service within 60 kilometers of radius of the town of Welkite. Eight years later, residents say the project has been diverted and the city remains without a hospital.

Weldiya

These two incidents on Monday and Tuesday followed another killings by security forces in Weldiya, some 510 km north of the capital Addis Ababa, in Amhara regional state, on Saturday January 20.  Officials of the regional state said seven people, including one police officer, were killed; but activists and residents of the city who spoke to the media say the number is higher than seven. Among the victims were  Gebremeskel Getachew, who his brother described as having been killed “riddled with five bullets,” and Yosef Eshetu, a nine year old boy who was pictured riding on a pickup car along with others shortly before he was killed.

Kobo

The killings in Weldiya have set in motion further protests in Kobo town, about 50 km north of Weldiya;  anti-government protests including the destruction of state owned and private properties were happening starting from Tuesday (some residents say it began already on Monday.)

According to Yemiru Yifrashwa, a businessman who runs spare parts shop, the protests began peacefully on Tuesday when “thousands of the city’s residents took to the street to protest against the killings in Weldiya.” According to Yemiru, who spoke to Addis Standard by phone, the “harsh response from security forces triggered anger among many young people in the city.” He said there were arbitrary arrests on Tuesday and Wednesday nights “when members of the federal army began searching for young people by going door-to-door; they have detained many of the city’s young people and took them God knows where.” On Thursday, according to Yemiru, “many people have come out to the streets in anger and started burning and destroying properties belonging to party affiliated companies.”

So far, Yemiru said about “eight people are killed, three of them on Wednesday.”  However, Commander Amare Goshu, chief of the north Wello zone police department said only three people were killed and nine more were wounded in Kobo.And among the properties that have been damaged so far are Zeleke mechanized farm, which is one of the many businesses under Tiret Corporate, a conglomerate owned by the regional state. However, properties belonging to ethnic Tigray business were also targeted in the protest, as was reported by the VOA Amharic  after speaking to Gezay Gebreyesus, a Tigrayan businessman who left the town and who lived in the town for 21 years.

In a televised message through the Amhara region TV station, Gedu Andargachew, president of the region also admitted the death of civilians and property damages both in Weldiya and Kobo. The president blamed it on the regional state’s failure to deliver on its mandates, which led to “piles of grievances.” “This is ANDM’s problem,” he said referring to the party governing the region. “The result of this conflict is loss of lives, property damages and hindrance on civilians from pursuing a peaceful life.”  He promised that the party will work closely with religious leaders, elders and rank and file administrative members if the region to “restore peace.”

The release of political prisoners in Ethiopia – too good to be true?

Lovise Aalen questions the sincerity of the Ethiopian government’s promise to release political prisoners, and argues that this move is a result of internal power struggles, rather than the desire to improve the country’s reputation.

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(Democracy in Africa) — The Ethiopian regime has surprised the world by stating that they will release political prisoners. This comes from a corner of the world where news about politics and human rights is normally of the bad kind. Human rights organisations like Amnesty hope this may signal the end of an era of bloody oppression in Ethiopia’s history. Others look at this as a desire to improve the international image of a country with a great economic growth, but poor political reputation. Seen in context, however, the prospects seem bleaker. It is uncertain what the regime means by ‘political prisoners’ and if they at all admit it has such prisoners. This move is not an outcome of international pressure, but a result of internal power struggles, which are currently taking place within the ruling party.

Protests in the two largest regions of Oromia and Amhara since 2015 have challenged the ruling party of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) more than expected. The EPRDF, which has been in power since the end of the 1991 civil war, has been dominated by the late TPLF leader and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. He made sure to suppress tensions and conflicts between the different fractions, and managed to keep the coalition together. When Meles Zenawi died in 2012, the much less dominant Hailemariam Desalegn, the leader of the party representing various southern Ethiopian groups took over as prime minister. He was elected as a compromise candidate, who could balance the interests of the various factions and maintain the status quo. He apparently managed this well until recently. The two presidents of Amhara and Oromia, who also represent EPRDF, have since this summer partly supported the protests. They have demanded genuine regional self-rule and an end to TPLF’s dominance.

Since the protests, the EPRDF has gone through what they call a “deep reform” to address causes of the political crisis. In a statement, the executive committee on 30 December 2017 identified the lack of democracy and distrust internally in the party as one of the main causes of the crisis. This has in their view led to poor leadership and governance, which in turn is the cause of the protests. In other words, the EPRDF has not identified the lack of fundamental political and civil rights, and real multi-party elections as part of the problem.

The statement about the release of ‘political prisoners’ is a result of this reform discussion. At a press conference with leaders of all the four EPRDF parties, everyone confirmed that they had gone through an open, honest, and serious discussion and had turned every stone to find solutions to the political crisis. The joint press conference also served the purpose of appearing to be coherent coalition, with all parties behind the same political line. Prime Minister Hailemariam stated that ‘as a step towards securing national consensus and widening the democratic platform, it is decided that charges against arrested politicians and individuals should be dropped or that they should be pardoned’. This formulation is open enough to accommodate very different interpretations. International news agencies, except for one agency, were quick to convert this to ‘all political prisoners should be released’. Reuters did not use the word ‘political prisoners’, but referred to the dropping of charges or pardoning  of ‘dissident politicians’ currently under prosecution. Their interpretation proved to be more in line with the formulation of the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, the statement created international attention and expectations that the Ethiopian regime must think twice about how this will be handled and possibly fulfilled or retracted. This has already led to an immediate revision of the press release.

In an Amharic language article published by Fana Broadcasting Corporation, which is considered a mouthpiece for the EPRDF, a revised statement from the prime minister was published. All references to political prisoners or arrested politicians were replaced by ‘some individuals who are arrested for committing a crime’. International media later published statements from the Ethiopian government suggesting that the Prime Minister was misquoted. With this, EPRDF is not admitting that they have political prisoners, thus continuing the policy of rejecting that there are prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia. As a result, it is still uncertain who will be released and pardoned. Are they the few prominent opposition politicians, who may possibly be pacified through a national dialogue process, or are they the thousands of civilian demonstrators who were arrested during protests?

The prime minister also promised to close and turn the Maekelawi prison in Addis Ababa into a museum. The prison has allegedly been the centre of torture and political imprisonment. In the same breath, he stated that a new prison, with international standard will be constructed. This, along with the nuances and revisions of the Ethiopian news reports, in a political context where control and oppression is part of everyday life, makes it hard to believe that this will bring real and fundamental changes towards democracy in Ethiopia.