Over 400 Oromo protesters were killed in November 2015, and thousands others were arrested by Ethiopian security forces during widespread protests against the government’s proposed expansion of the capital Addis Ababa expected to impact on Oromia farming communities.
These figures and other forms of abuses, disputed by the Ethiopian government, were detailed by Human Rights Watch in a reportthey released on Wednesday calling on the Ethiopian government to support an independent investigation into the killings, arrests and abuses.
The Ethiopian government strongly disputed the figures saying only 173 people died, including 28 policemen and officials as cited by a Commission on Human Rights, reportsAFP.
“The Ethiopian Council of Human Rights is not a friend of the government and has registered only 103 names (of victims) … Human Rights Watch is very generous with numbers when it comes to Ethiopia,” the spokesman for the Ethiopian government, Getachew Reda, said referring to another figure by the independent Ethiopian Council of Human Rights.
“Overall, the security forces behaved in a very professional and responsible manner, but there are always a few bad apples,” he added.
Human Rights Watch observed that while the protests have largely subsided since April, the government crackdown has continued as many of those arrested remain in detention and hundreds have disappeared.
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