Ethiopian police massacre
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The 2005 Ethiopian general election violence, known generally as the Ethiopian police massacre, refers to the killing of civilians by government forces during June and November 2005 which led to the deaths of 193 protesters and injury of 763 others, mostly in the capital
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
, following the May 2005 elections in
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. More than 30,000 people were detained by security forces following the election, most released in 2006. The first violent incident was flashed on 7 June 2005 at 11:20 when the police force had arrested one 4th year student Mesafint Endalew, at the main campus. Following the arrest many students marched to the police station in the camp. Despite the student released in the moment, the students immediately escalate their question towards the election votes. Protests of the results were supposedly led by the
Coalition for Unity and Democracy The Coalition for Unity and Democracy ( Ge'ez : ቅንጅት ለአንድነት እና ዴሞክራሲ), commonly referred to by its English abbreviation CUD, or occasionally CDU; its Amharic abbreviation, used in Ethiopia, is Qinijit; in Englis ...
(CUD), began on 1 November 2005, and have prompted more than 60,000 arrests. Live gunfire from government forces has been directed at protesters and bystanders. All the top opposition leaders were arrested, as was the mayor-elect of Addis Ababa.


Aftermath


Death toll

On October 18, 2006 an independent report said Ethiopian police massacred 193 protesters. 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 the government had concealed the true extent of deaths at the hands of the police. Gemechu Megerssa, a member of the independent Inquiry commission, whom Justice Meshesha once worked with, criticized Justice Wolde-Michael's act, stating that by taking the report "out of context and presenting it to the public to sensationalise the situation for his political end is highly unethical". The official report described by the parliament and the government gave exactly the same details as the leaked inquiry. It said that 200 people had been killed, including 6 policemen. Some 763 people were also injured. Police records showed 20,000 people were initially arrested during the anti-government protests. The commission members living in Addis Ababa also criticised the government:
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 emocraticinstitutions is required, but that is going to take time. oThe 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.
But, the Independent Inquiry's members added, Wolde-Michael's trip to Europe and reporting of information out of context 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 recur. It encouraged Ethiopians who respect authority to work together, and directed the government to "think seriously" about changing the mentality of the police.


Reactions

Despite the post-election complications, the Carter Center, US Government and British MPs continued to praise the democratic process in Ethiopia, but have each demanded the release of CUD leaders. 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. The other top opposition parties, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) and the
United Ethiopian Democratic Party-Medhin Party The Ethiopian Democratic Party () is a political party in Ethiopia. The result of no less than five mergers of liberal and conservative liberal opposition parties, it could trace its roots to the Ethiopian Democratic Union, which mounted armed m ...
(UEPD-Medhin), are working with the government for negotiations on the democratic process. 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. Various opposition parties including the UEDF, UEPD-Medhin,
Somali People's Democratic Party The Somali Democratic Party (SDP; so, Xisbiga Dimuqraadiga Soomaalida), formerly the Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party, was a political party in Ethiopia, created by the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) ...
, EDL, Gambela People's Democratic Movement,
All Ethiopian Unity Party The All Ethiopian Unity Party was a political party in Ethiopia founded in 2002. Members split off of the All-Amhara People's Organization over whether or not the party should remain ethnically-oriented. At the legislative elections on 15 May 2005 ...
,
Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement The Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement om, Warraaqsa Federaalistii Uummata Oromoo, OFDM) was a political party in Ethiopia, created in 2005 by Bulcha Demeksa to further the interests of the Oromo people as an alternative to the armed Oromo ...
and the Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front hold positions in the parliament.


Prisoners

Until June 2007, many of the main opposition party's (CUD) leaders were detained 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 and internationally, and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
advocated for the political prisoners to be released after a speedy trial. Some of these elected CUD officials endured 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 the vast majority have been freed, some still remain in prison. Up to the end of 2005, around 8,000 Ethiopian rioters were freed.


See also

* Amhara genocide *
Gimbi massacre On 18 June 2022, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) was accused of massacring over 500 Amhara civilians in the Gimbi county of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Witnesses said that the OLA intentionally targeted ethnic Amhara people. This attack is part ...
*
Metekel conflict The Benishangul-Gumuz conflict was an armed conflict mostly in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in Ethiopia that started in 2019, until peace agreement signed between the rebel groups and the government of Ethiopia in October 20 ...
*
Mai Kadra massacre The Mai Kadra massacre was a massacre carried out during the Tigray War. Ethnic cleansing and mass murders were carried out on 9–10 November 2020 in the town of Mai Kadra in the Tigray Region of northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. ...


References


External links


In pictures: Ethiopia clashes
(BBC)
Ethiopian protesters 'massacred'
(BBC) {{DEFAULTSORT:2005 Ethiopian Police Massacres Police massacres Massacres in Ethiopia Political repression in Ethiopia Protest-related deaths 2005 deaths Addis Ababa Protests in Ethiopia