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Brutal clampdown by Ethiopian regime
Earlier this month at least 46 people in Ethiopia were shot dead, including women and children, and hundreds of others were wounded in a police crackdown on protests supporting the main opposition grouping, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD).
The attacks on demonstrators took place in the capital, Addis Ababa, but there are also reports of police clashing with protesters in the towns of Awassa, Dessie, Debre Berhan and Bahar Dar. Thousands were rounded up and sent to detention centres. Although the police now claim to have released some 8,000 people, they have given no figure for the total being held. Several thousand more are believed still detained in harsh conditions.
The CUD had called for non-violent protests against the alleged rigging of the May elections. It is boycotting the newly formed parliament and the government has stripped its elected representatives of parliamentary immunity. Amnesty International is appealing for the release of 24 opposition leaders held for two weeks without charge. Other oppositionists are in hiding, with a total of 58 people now charged with treason. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that eight independent journalists have been imprisoned and are facing prosecution, with the government claiming they “violently undermine the constitutional order in the country.”
The events are a continuation of similar protests that took place in June over the rigging of the election, when at least 42 people were killed and hundreds wounded by the police. The ruling elite was clearly taken aback by the size of the opposition vote, especially in Addis Ababa and other urban areas. Because the opposition coalition CUD is based on parties that are divided among themselves, relying on largely on ethnic groupings opposed to the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), it was expected to attract limited support. According to Africa Confidential, “the CUD was just as startled [as the EPDRF] when it swept the board in Addis Ababa.”
After challenges over the election results dragged on for weeks, the government finally announced that it had won 296 seats in the 547-member Parliament, with the opposition gaining 176 seats. The protests held by the CUD this month claimed that their share of seats should have been much higher. They were attempting to draw attention to their claims of election fraud at the African Union summit meeting that was taking place in the Ethiopian capital.
Read More
http://wsws.org/articles/2005/nov2005/ethi-n25.shtml
The CUD had called for non-violent protests against the alleged rigging of the May elections. It is boycotting the newly formed parliament and the government has stripped its elected representatives of parliamentary immunity. Amnesty International is appealing for the release of 24 opposition leaders held for two weeks without charge. Other oppositionists are in hiding, with a total of 58 people now charged with treason. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that eight independent journalists have been imprisoned and are facing prosecution, with the government claiming they “violently undermine the constitutional order in the country.”
The events are a continuation of similar protests that took place in June over the rigging of the election, when at least 42 people were killed and hundreds wounded by the police. The ruling elite was clearly taken aback by the size of the opposition vote, especially in Addis Ababa and other urban areas. Because the opposition coalition CUD is based on parties that are divided among themselves, relying on largely on ethnic groupings opposed to the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), it was expected to attract limited support. According to Africa Confidential, “the CUD was just as startled [as the EPDRF] when it swept the board in Addis Ababa.”
After challenges over the election results dragged on for weeks, the government finally announced that it had won 296 seats in the 547-member Parliament, with the opposition gaining 176 seats. The protests held by the CUD this month claimed that their share of seats should have been much higher. They were attempting to draw attention to their claims of election fraud at the African Union summit meeting that was taking place in the Ethiopian capital.
Read More
http://wsws.org/articles/2005/nov2005/ethi-n25.shtml
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