Press Statement
October 27,
2019
The news coming from Ethiopia this week is extremely
disturbing and alarming. Dozens of people are ruthlessly killed based on their
ethnicity and faith. At least 67 people have died, according to reports,
out of which 54 were stoned to death and remaining died from gunshot from
police. The violence had started after Jawar Mohammed, executive director of Oromo Media Network (OMN)
and prominent activist, posted a note to his over a million
followers on his Facebook page that police had circled his house and tried to
withdraw his security forces this Wednesday around 2 AM Ethiopian time. Many of
his followers in different parts of Oromia region marched on the streets
stating their loyalty to Jawar, which then escalated into violence. Dozens of
people were violently killed by crowds of youth, businesses and places of
worships were burned to the ground.
According to DW
Amharic, in Dodola,
14 people were killed since Wednesday. Residents told DW that, many whose
houses had been burnt by mob, are still taking shelter in Churches. In Bale, in
two days nine people were buried while two bodies had been sent to families
elsewhere. AHRE has videos of helpless citizens who took shelter in churches
begging the outside world for help. The number of recorded videos and audios
from ethnic minorities is deeply disturbing to hear. Several others have been
killed in different parts of Oromia, including in Sebeta, town located in the Oromia
Special Zone Surrounding the capital, where eight ethnic Gamos were violently
killed two days ago.
In an extremely worrying
development, a video is circulating on social media today where a group of
people had summoned a large number of people in Bale Robbe, Oromia region. They
instruct the crowd, among other things to evict ‘Neftegnas and Dorzes’, terms
largely used to describe Amhara and Gamo ethnic group respectively. They also
say, “we will no longer trade with Neftegnas and Dorzes; anyone who refuses
order shall be cursed. in addition, they warn against eating with, worshiping, and
living together with the Neftegnas. The video was in afaan Oromo and AHRE has
not independently verified the translation, however different sources have
similar translation.
AHRE has released many
statements for the past couple of years alerting international institutions and
the government about increasing ethnic based attacks, violence and
displacement. Executive Director of AHRE, Mr. Yared Hailemariay, says that “Having closely followed these unfortunate
incidents, AHRE strongly believes that the current situation is grave and
particularly different because the killings have occurred at the same time in
different parts of Oromia, including in the outskirts of the capital city;
because of the tensioned political climate between the prime Minister and Jawar
Mohammed and in general the weak nature of the central government; and because
the video circulating will likely lead to more killings.” He also says that
“The death toll and violence does not
seem to abate and AHRE was still receiving unconfirmed reports of violence in
Oromia when preparing this report.” Majority of the deceased are ethnic
minorities and Christians.
There are a number of
cases where police have ceased a high number of firearms; local news has
reported about these firearms repeatedly in this year alone. This is
particularly worrisome because officials and police have collaborated in the
attack against minorities in recent violence, which worsens the already
dangerous situation.
Therefore, it is with
utmost urgency and gravity, that we alert the international community about the
looming threat of civil war and likelihood of genocide in Ethiopia. Action must
be taken swiftly by government forces, international community and all
concerned bodies. We urge and alert all concerned bodies that every important
action must be taken immediately to avoid civil war in the country.
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