Getachew Reda, Ethiopia’s communication minister, debates Lencho Bati, committee member of the Oromo Democratic Front.
By Al Jazeera,
More than 400 Oromos have been killed and tens of thousands arrested since November, a recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) found.
The Ethiopian government says that some protesters who are from Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group have died, but HRW is “very generous with numbers”, and that protests have been overrun by armed groups.
The latest round of protests began over a government plan to expand Addis Ababa, the nation’s capital, to parts of the surrounding Oromia region. The government’s plan has since been cancelled, but protests have continued over what Oromos say is the long-standing marginalisation of the Oromo people.
So is the government guilty of a violent crackdown on the Oromos? In this week’s Arena, Getachew Reda, the country’s communication affairs minister, debates with Lencho Bati, an executive committee member of the Oromo Democratic Front.
The Fact
Ethiopian security forces have killed more than 400 protesters and arrested tens of thousands more with blatant disregard for human life during widespread protests in the Oromia region since November 2015. The international community turn a blind eye as always and let the regime to get away with it. Does the word ‘Double Standard’ ring a bell?
