Ethiopian police massacre

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On October 18, 2006 an independent report said Ethiopian police massacred 193 protesters, mostly in the capital Addis Ababa, in the violence of June and November following the May 2005 elections. The information was leaked before the official independent report was handed to the parliament. The leak made by Ethiopian judge Wolde-Michael Meshesha found that that the government had concealed the true extent of deaths at the hands of the police.^[1] This leak also brought more accusations that the opposition party which provoked the riots was trying to damage the reputation of the government by leaking the inquiry unlawfully. Gemechu Megerssa, a member of the independent Inquiry commission, which Mr. Meshesha once worked with, said Mr. Meshesha taking the report "out of context and presenting it to the public to sensationalise the situation for his political end is highly unethical."^[2]

Contents 1 Death Toll 2 Independent Inquiry 3 Prisoners 4 References

[edit] Death Toll

The official report described by the parliament and the government gave the exact same details as the leaked inquiry. It said that 193 people had been killed, including 40 teenagers. Six policemen were also killed and some 763 people injured. Police records showed 20,000 people were initially arrested during the anti-government protests.^[3] However various witnesses from the Kinijit (CUD) opposition party members have testified that CUD leaders assured them of a demise of Zenawi's party & government in order to start an armed rebellion. The witnesses stated that CUD leaders encouraged them to start military training and planing to overthrow the government.^[4] The commission members living in Addis Ababa also criticised the government saying;

"We are not saying the government was totally clean. The government has a lot to be accountable for. The mentality of the police needs to be changed, and then we will be able to minimize those kinds of casualties in the future. Building of [democratic] institutions is required, but that is going to take time. [So] The government was not prepared to tackle violence like that which took place last year. They could have brought an alternative way of dispersing rioting crowds."^[5][6]

[edit] Independent Inquiry

But, the Independent Inquiry's members added, Mr Meshesha's trip to Europe and reporting of out of context information was "dishonest" politics as well as insensitive to the process of developing Ethiopia's young democracy. The Commission said Ethiopians need to solve their problems themselves so that this kind of violence wouldn't reoccur. It encouraged Ethiopians to respect authority work together, and directed the government to "think seriously" about changing the mentality of the police.^[7]

Despite the post-election complications, the Carter Center, US Government and British MPs continued to praise the democratic process in Ethiopia. After meeting with some opposition parties, the British MPs stated that the Ethiopian government should stand firmly against those who try to use "undemocratic and unconstitutional means" to change government.^[8]

Presently, all except 20 of the elected opposition members have joined the Ethiopian parliament along with EPRDF party members. The other top opposition parties, UEDF and UEPD-Medhin, are working with the government for negotiations on the democratic process.^[9] Opposition parties are still represented in the Ethiopian Parliament, where representatives from Oromia State hold most positions, and representatives from Amhara State hold the second most positions, in correlation with the comparative population of the corresponding states.^[10] Various opposition parties including UEDF, UEPD-Medhin, Somali People's Democratic Party (SPDP),EDL, Gambella People's Democratic Movement (GPDM), All Ethiopian Unity Organization (AEUO),Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM)and Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front (BGPDUF) hold positions in the parliament.^[11]

[edit] Prisoners

Currently, some of the main opposition party's (CUD) leaders are in jail for an alleged attempt to overthrow the government and initiating the post election violence. All of these charges are denied by CUD leadership both in Ethiopia & international, and the European Union continues to plea for the political prisoners to be released after a speedy trial. Some of these elected CUD officials endure very harsh conditions inside Ethiopia's poorly maintained prisons and they are at risk of various medical complications. As a result of the violence after the elections, many thousands were arrested and imprisoned, even though some have been freed few still remain in prison. Up to the end of 2005, around 8,000 Ethiopian rioters were freed.^[12]

[edit] References