By Jeremy Luedi Mounting violence in Ethiopia has seen over 500 killed, as protests against the government’s economic and human rights policies continues. The tensions at the heart of the crisis are systemic ones, yet what makes the violence particularly worrisome is that foreign investors have become prominent targets. Foreign businesses are being systematically attacked…
German chancellor Angela Merkel is received with military honours in front of the presidential palace next to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 11 October 2016. Source: PA Key Points The proposals seek to offer a more representative electoral system and military institutions and will be spearheaded by the prime minister, but…
A state of emergency has been imposed and the government accuses foreign forces of instigating unrest. Ethiopia It has been hailed as an oasis of political stability and a model of growth in Africa but for the past year, Ethiopia has been in the news not because of its economic successes, but because of insecurity…
Press Statement John Kirby Assistant Secretary and Department Spokesperson, Bureau of Public Affairs The United States takes note of the Government of Ethiopia’s October 8 declaration of a State of Emergency in response to recent protests and violence in the Oromia and Amhara regions. We are troubled by the potential impact of the decision to authorize detention…
By Alemante Gebre-Selassie The country’s deadly protests stem from ethnic division, endemic corruption and high youth unemployment. The world must support calls for a new government ‘A further factor fuelling the protests in Ethiopia is youth unemployment and the sense of hopelessness it has engendered.’ Photograph: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters The deadly protests that have rocked Ethiopia over…
Biftu Bole Lutheran Church holds a prayer and candle ceremony for protesters who died in the town of Bishoftu. (Tiksa Negeri/Reuters) By Editorial Board 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…
EYEWITNESS / This is Africa, and nobody cares how many protesters the dictatorial government kills. Not the UN, not the State Department, not Black Lives Matter, and not CNN TimesofIsrael In the Amhara region, the eye of the storm, an Israeli witnesses deadly clashes that threaten to plunge the nation into chaos BAHIR DAR, Ethiopia:…
By J. David Thompson U.S. Representatives push for legislation targeting Ethiopia after Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch document human rights abuses. A bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives has proposed legislation targeted at the government of Ethiopia, after Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented hundreds of cases of alleged human rights abuses. House Resolution…
African Arguments An ex-cabinet minister in the Ethiopian government and former president of Oromia Regional State explains why the current turmoil has come as no surprise. Scenes from the recent protests. Credit: Jawar Mohammed. For over two decades, the Ethiopian government has been walking with its eyes shut towards the edge of the cliff. It is now…
Anuradha Mittal The past weeks have seen an escalation of ongoing protests across Ethiopia—including widespread acts of resistance like citizens shaving their heads in solidarity with jailed opposition leader Bekele Gerba and stay-at-home protests that have turned bustling cities into near ghost-towns. Despite the undeniable peacefulness of these actions, state violence and repression has continued.…