The UN on Friday called for an independent investigation into deadly weekend violence in Ethiopia, where more than 50 people died in a stampede triggered when police clashed with protesters.
“There is clearly a need for an independent investigation into what exactly transpired last Sunday,” said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations human rights agency.
Such a probe was needed “to ensure accountability for this and several other incidents since last November involving protests that have ended violently,” he told reporters in Geneva.
His comments came after a religious festival in the restive Oromia region, to the south of Addis Ababa, ended in tragedy when police fired tear-gas on anti-government protesters, sparking panic in the massive crowd and triggering a stampede.
Protests have subsequently broken out in several parts of the Oromia region and elsewhere, some targeting foreign companies which are regarded as supporting and being backed by the central government.
Medical sources and authorities gave differing death tolls of between 52 and 58, however the opposition believes it is much higher.
“We call on the protestors to exercise restraint and to renounce the use of violence,” Colville said, stressing also that “security forces must conduct themselves in line with international human rights laws and standards.”
He criticised authorities for reacting to the unrest by cutting access to the mobile internet network in parts of the country, including in the capital Addis Ababa.
Instead, he said, the government should “take concrete measures to address the increasing tensions, in particular by allowing independent observers to access the Oromia and Amhara regions to speak to all sides and assess the facts.”
Ethiopia is facing its biggest anti-government unrest in a decade, from the majority Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups which feel marginalized by a minority-led government.
International rights groups estimate at least 500 demonstrators have been killed in a bloody crackdown on protests over the past 10 months.
Source: AFP
