In Ethiopia, this year’s Irreecha festival brought peaceful but powerful protest as the Oromo people marked the anniversary of last year’s massacre at Bishoftu. More than 1.5 million people were expected to attend the annual thanksgiving celebration. Despite the rainy skies, they came; once there, the crowds chanted anti-government slogans…
A new letter signed by 39 members of the European Union Parliament asks for a full inquiry into human rights violations in Ethiopia, while calling into question the accuracy and impartiality of a controversial report completed by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission in April. The letter to Federica Mogherini, High…
Federal prosecutors in Ethiopia maintained their argument Tuesday that their terrorism case against Merera Gudina, head of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), need not be separated from a file that includes charges against other defendants that his defense says have nothing to do with Merera. Merera was arrested in November…
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said Tuesday that 669 people were killed in the waves of protests that began in 2015, the majority of them in the volatile Oromia region. Dr. Addisu Gebregziabher, head of the EHRC, said the numbers were based on investigations of incidents in Oromia, as…
Ethiopia will maintain its state of emergency for an additional four months, following a parliamentary vote Thursday that approved the extension. The Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) said the measure passed unanimously after Ethiopian Defense Minister Siraj Fegessa made his case for additional time before lawmakers still concerned about unrest in…
Back in November, Jawar Mohammed of the Oromia Media Network (OMN) said he thinks that the Ethiopian government wants him dead. “Right now, I am probably the most wanted person by the Ethiopian government and I think the government is willing to kill me if they have a chance,” Mohammed told…
It was a Valentine’s Day to remember for Ethiopian athlete Feyisa Lilesa, who was reunited with his wife and children in the United States on Tuesday. Feyisa, an Olympic silver medalist in Brazil whose raised-arm protest in solidarity with the Oromo people helped to bring global awareness to Ethiopian human…
Ethiopia’s Oromia region was hit by a 5.2 magnitude earthquake on Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey. The Euro-Med Seismological Centre (EMSC) measured the quake at 5.3 magnitude. The moderate earthquake happened about 7:30 p.m. local time and was centered in the Oromo-populated district south of Addis Ababa, in…
At least 16 news sites and the WhatsApp messaging app were blocked in Ethiopia between June and October, in what human rights organization Amnesty International says is evidence of deliberate and systematic government measures to crush dissent. Amnesty published research Tuesday that showed a correlation between protests and clashes, and the…
In response to the arrest of longtime Oromo leader Merera Gudina, the Amnesty International organization swiftly condemned the decision of Ethiopian authorities on Thursday. “The arrest of Merera Gudina is an outrageous assault on the right to freedom of expression and should sound alarm bells for anyone with an interest…
Ethiopia’s state of emergency dramatically reduces access to information about the Oromo population from within the country, where independent journalists and bloggers have been silenced for weeks. From outside Ethiopia, however, Oromo journalists and activists continue to provide news of what’s happening behind the veil of tightly controlled state media….
Monday’s newsfeeds blew up with the news that U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, on one of his last campaign swings ahead of Tuesday’s elections, insulted Somali-born immigrants in Minnesota. But it will be Tuesday that matters and what Trump – the Republican opponent of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary…
Ethiopian officials have released 2,000 people detained during recent weeks of violent protests amid the nation’s current state of emergency. Minister of Defense Siraj Fegessa, speaking at a press briefing on Sunday, declined to say how many people in total had been picked up during mass arrests that followed the…
A U.S. citizen whose communications were monitored by Ethiopian agents from afar is appealing his case, on the grounds that Ethiopia must be accountable for illegal spying that relied on state-sponsored malware to infect his home computer. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit focused on defending civil liberties and…
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging the Ethiopian government to ensure “the protection of fundamental human rights,” the AP reports. A Ban spokesman said Monday the Secretary General “reiterates his call for calm” and urges inclusive dialogue in Ethiopia. The United States also has expressed its concern over Ethiopia’s…