Government Ethiopia

On October 18, 2006 an independent statement said Ethiopian police massacred 193 protesters, mainly in the capital Addis Ababa, in the violence of June and November following the May 2005 elections.

The report was released before the official independent report was given to the parliament. The leak made by Ethiopian judge Wolde-Michael Meshesha found that the government had hidden the true extent of deaths at the hands of the police.

This leak also brought more accusations that the opposition party which aggravated the riots was trying to damage the reputation of the government by leaking the inquisition illegally.

Gemechu Megerssa, a member of the independent Inquiry commission, said Mr. Meshesha taking the report “out of context and presenting it to the public to exaggerate the situation for his political end is highly unethical.

The occurrence is just one of many instances of human rights violations in Ethiopia in recent times. In relation to the riots, some of the top leaders of the opposition CUD party were arrested on charges of stirring the violence and “outrage against the constitution.”

The Ethiopian court convicted 38 of the top CUD leaders. Nevertheless after various negotiations to solve the deadlock via a political agreement, the convicted CUD leaders signed a document accepting their “mistakes” and a responsibility ranging from partial to full accountability for the post election violence.