I didn’t want to mention this before now, but the opposition party here in Ethiopia called for strikes and protests all of this week. The last time there were protests (in June) the government retaliated by opening fire and killing 37 people. Yesterday nothing happened. Today things are a little different.
I heard early this morning that people were protesting in Merkato, an area of town where there are a lot of small traders and where the shootings took place earlier in the year. At first there were just a few protestors. But the numbers grew.
While I was meeting with an Italian who works for UNIDO this morning he received a call from the Italian embassy to say that the police were shooting. Later I heard from a colleague that people were honking their horns to protest and some students threw stones. The police retaliated with arrests, confiscating drivers’ licenses, and gunfire. Five students were killed. A bullet for a stone. It is inexplicable, especially when I hear that the government does have less fatal options at their disposal including rubber bullets, water cannons, and of course batons.
The irony is that Ethiopia is the home of the African Union and is currently hosting several African heads of state for an AU conference. The AU is supposed to be an institution that encourages democracy and now we have the hosts shooting people who simply wish to voice a dissenting opinion.
The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fetir to celebrate the end of Ramadan is either tomorrow or the next day (it depends on the moon so will not be decided until tonight). It will be a public holiday in Ethiopia and all offices will be closed. As I said in an earlier posting, a large crowd will gather in the National Stadium to pray. I just hope that it remains peaceful. The rumor is that the opposition is waiting until after the holy month of Ramadan is over before the big protests start.
Leaving the office today the streets were empty. Shops are all closed, and even the taxis are not running, stranding many people in downtown Addis. I managed to switch hotels into the Hilton, which has much better security. (I am guessing that many faranji are leaving Ethiopia immediately). I am on the executive floor and feel quite spoiled given what is going on outside. I am leaving on Thursday and will stay in the hotel as long as things are not safe outside.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4395874.stm
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Wow, scary. We're so insulated in this country that it's hard to imagine much of the rest of the world operates in those ways. I suppose the worst we have to fear here for dissent is being thoroughly discredited, called unpatriotic, or having the safety of our loved ones (a la Plame) thrown in jeapordy...unless our civil liberties keep eroding as religious fanatacism and fascism take hold...
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