Ethiopia says Oromia protests crackdown claims are ”lies”

Ethiopia has dismissed allegations it is violently suppressing protests in its restive Oromia region as an “absolute lie”. About 200 people have been killed in the protests since November, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The unrest began over government plans to expand the capital’s administrative control into the region. The government later dropped the plan, […]

Ethiopia has dismissed allegations it is violently suppressing protests in its restive Oromia region as an “absolute lie”.
About 200 people have been killed in the protests since November, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The unrest began over government plans to expand the capital’s administrative control into the region.
The government later dropped the plan, but protesters dismissed the decision as “too little too late”.
Oromia is Ethiopia’s largest region, surrounding the capital, Addis Ababa.
Many people in the region complain of being politically and economically marginalised in a country where the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition has ruled since 1991.
But Ethiopia’s Communications Minister, Getachew Reda, said it was a “stroke of magic” for HRW to release a report “from half way across the world”.