07/01/2020

Ethiopia threatened with civil war

(Press Release)

Following the violent deaths of several demonstrators in the course of the suppression of protests in Ethiopia, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns of an impending civil war in the country. The human rights organization accused the Ethiopian security forces of fueling further tensions following the murder of a popular Oromo singer – instead of trying to de-escalate. Specifically, the STP criticized the arrest of two prominent Oromo activists and politicians. "If anything happens to the detainees in custody, there will be a civil war in Ethiopia," stated Ulrich Delius, the STP's Director, in Göttingen on Wednesday. The STP further emphasized that torture and violent deaths in custody are still commonplace in Ethiopia. The human rights organization urgently called on the local embassies of European states and the United States to visit the detainees in prison to help protect them. After all, no one could want an outbreak of violence, ethnic tensions, or an increase in human rights violations in the Horn of Africa.

Following the murder of the dedicated Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa on Monday evening, at least seven members of the Oromo population group got killed when the security forces tried to break up public protests yesterday. Further, largely unnoticed by the world public, the prominent Oromo activist Jawar Mohammed and the respected Oromo politician Bekele Gerba were arrested. "We are seriously concerned about their safety in Ethiopia's prisons, as the security forces seem to have been looking for a reason to arrest the well-known Oromo personalities for some time," Delius said. On June 9, 2020, the local authorities had already warned Jawar Mohammed not to organize public demonstrations. The popular co-founder of the nationwide television station Oromo Media Network (OMN) is considered a dedicated critic of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. With 1.9 million followers on Facebook, he is feared by the authorities. "Jawar's popularity is one more reason to fear for his safety. Even under Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia is far from being a constitutional state," Delius said.

OMN was forced to shut down its operations, and access to the internet was blocked in large parts of the country on Tuesday, making it more difficult to organize further demonstrations. Further, the respected Oromo politician Bekele Gerba was arrested. He had only been released in February 2018 after several years of imprisonment for political reasons. Because of his commitment to the rights of the Oromo, the former English professor at the University of Addis Ababa – who looks back on many years of involvement in the Oromo Federalist Party – was mistreated and tortured in prison.

The situation in Ethiopia is very serious, the STP emphasized, stressing that the international community of states has been blinded by the Nobel Peace Prize of Abiy Ahmed for too long. There has been a massive increase in tensions in the multi-ethnic state for months now, and there is not much confidence in the Prime Minister. "The violent suppression of public protests, a traditional approach of Ethiopian dictators, will bring neither peace, stability, nor human rights to the Horn of Africa."