http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/ethiopia-unrest-continues-day-deadly-stampede-161003130002688.html
Ethiopia: Unrest continues a day after deadly stampede
PUBLISHED 03/10/2016
Violence erupts again during protests after 52 people were crushed to death when police fired tear gas at a festival.
Demonstrators have clashed with police in central Ethiopia a day after a deadly stampede at a religious festival that started when police fired tear gas and warning shots.
Protesters blocked roads in several towns in the Oromia region on Monday as the Ethiopian government declared three days of mourning to ease tensions in the region after at least 52 people were killed in Sunday's chaos.
Witnesses said many people were crushed and others fell into ditches as they tried desperately to escape the police. Shoes and clothing littered the scene of the disaster, as a small group of angry residents dug for bodies in a deep ditch.
"We're digging because people are buried inside the ditch. Fifty-two dead is a lie," Dagafa Dame, one of the diggers, told AFP news agency.
Oromo activists called for "five days of rage" after the stampede.
Live rounds
Clashes between security forces and protesters continued Monday morning in Bishoftu and Ambo, an Ethiopian government official and witnesses told The Associated Press.
"Some people tried to come out en masse this morning to protest the deaths of holiday-goers on Sunday and also demand the release of people arrested during the celebrations," said Nimona Negash, a tuk-tuk driver in Bishoftu, where the disaster occurred.
"Today's protesters were peaceful but dispersed by police violently. I'm not aware of any deaths this morning, but it was violent. But I'm aware of live bullets used this morning in other vicinities of this town."
Negash said family members of people who died in Sunday's stampede and others looking for their loved ones were flocking to Bishoftu, 45km south of the capital Addis Ababa, creating tension there. He said he heard some 200 people had been arrested.
"I went to the place where the accident happened this morning, and I've seen people being pulled out," he said. "More and more people are coming out of a deep ditch. I saw seven bodies being pulled out then left the scene as I was unable to watch more."
'Not out of control'
Fikadu Tessema, a spokesman for the Oromia region, said on Monday some groups were trying to "continue the violence that they orchestrated on Sunday".
He said they were trying to blame the deaths on security forces who fired live rounds. "I can assure you 100 percent that all the 52 victims died of a stampede and didn't have bullet wounds on their bodies," he said.
"The current situation in Oromia is not out of control. We are taking measures to bring back our peace."
Oromia has experienced violent, sometimes deadly anti-government protests since November 2015 as people call for wider political freedoms and the release of detained opposition figures and journalists.
Ethiopia's government, a close ally of the West, has been accused often of silencing dissent and at times blocking internet access.
The US recently spoke out against what it called the excessive use of force against protesters, calling the country's situation "extremely serious".
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Ethiopia declares official mourning after stampede
Protests continue in Oromia after 52 people killed in a stampede after police fired tear gas and warning shots.
Ethiopia has declared three days of national mourning after a stampede at a religious festival in Oromia, which started after police fired tear gas and warning shots, killed at least 50 people.
The Government Communication Affairs Office said in a statement that flags across the country and at Ethiopian embassies and consular offices would be lowered to half-mast starting from Tuesday, the state news agency reported.
"The country declares the mourning following the death of people who lost their lives because of the violence instigated by anti-peace elements," the government said.
Oromo opposition leaders say the stampede was sparked by police firing tear gas and shooting in the air to disperse people at the festival. Sections of the crowd had started to shout anti-government slogans and make anti-government gestures, according to media reports.
Witnesses said people were crushed, and others fell into ditches as they tried desperately to escape the police.
The Associated Press news agency reported clashes between security forces and protesters on Sunday evening and on Monday morning in the towns of Bishoftu and Ambo after the incident.
"Some people tried to come out en masse this morning to protest the deaths of holiday-goers on Sunday and also demand the release of people arrested during the celebrations," said Nimona Negash, a tuk-tuk driver in Bishoftu, where Sunday's disaster happened.
"Today's protesters were peaceful but dispersed by police violently."
He said family members of people who died in Sunday's stampede and others looking for their relatives were flocking to Bishoftu, creating tension there.
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch group at least 500 people have been killed by security forces since anti-government protests began in November. Though demonstrations started among the Oromo, Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, they later spread to the Amhara, the second most populous group.
Both groups say that a ruling coalition is dominated by the Tigray ethnic group, which makes up about 6 percent of the population.
Authorities have blamed rebel groups and dissidents abroad for stirring up the protests and provoking violence.
The government has denied that violence from the security forces is systemic, though a spokesman has previously told Al Jazeera that police officers "sometimes take the law into their own hands", pledging an independent investigation.
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front ruling party in August rejected a United Nations request to send in observers, saying it alone was responsible for the security of its citizens.
A government statement on Sunday said "those responsible would face justice".
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/ethiopia-declares-official-mourning-stampede-161003111911111.html
Received on Mon Oct 03 2016 - 10:47:34 EDT