NAN-F-11
Emergency
Addis Ababa, Oct. 17, 2016 (Reuters/NAN) Ethiopia has imposed curbs on its opposition, including travel restrictions on diplomats and a dusk-to-dawn curfew around major projects in new measures that follow the declaration of six-month nationwide state of emergency.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn declared the state of emergency earlier this month, saying “months of unrest threatened the Horn of Africa nation’s stability.’’
More than 500 people have been killed in protests in the Oromiya region and other areas since 2001.
The report said this started due to anger over a development scheme for the capital sparked broader anti-government demonstrations over politics and human rights abuses.
The state of emergency has been effective since Oct. 8.
In a new directive, opposition parties were barred from issuing statements deemed to pose a threat to the “sovereignty, security and the constitutional order of the country” to both domestic and foreign press.
The raft of measures include granting security services powers to stop and search suspects, and search homes without court authorisation.
Contacting opposition groups branded “terrorist movements” has been forbidden. Ethiopia has designated five groups, including two armed secessionist movements, as terrorists.
The violence in Oromiya, Ethiopia’s largest and most populous region, and to a lesser extent in Amhara province, has overshadowed the success story of one of Africa’s fastest growing economies.
The latest flare-up in Oromiya followed a stampede on Oct. 2 in which at least 55 people were killed. (Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited Damilola Oyewole/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu)