2016-18 Ethiopian state of emergency
A State of Emergency was declared on Sunday, October 9, 2016 by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, although the state of emergency reportedly took effect on Saturday, October 8, 2016. The state of emergency authorizes the military to enforce security nationwide. It also imposes restrictions on freedom of speech and access to information. Media have reported the state of emergency’s duration was announced for six months. The Constitution of Ethiopia provides for a six-month state of emergency under certain conditions. The government’s declaration of state of emergency followed massive protests by the Oromo and Amhara ethic groups against the government, which is controlled by people in the Tigrayan ethnic group, a smaller ethnic minority. It is the first time in approximately 25 years that a state of emergency has been declared in Ethiopia. In March 2017, Ethiopia’s parliament voted to extend the state of emergency for another four months.
Historical Background
, one of the oldest states in the world, has a great history of victory against the colonial powers. Ethiopia's more than 80 ethnic groups have lived together in harmony for generations. The diversity of ethnicity is beautiful, but it has also negative impacts in the unity of the state.After the downfall of Mengistu Haile Mariam's military regime in 1991, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front took over power. The first thing it did was to implement a Federal system of government in the country. It was not an easy task to implement a federal government system in a country like Ethiopia. This is because the country was a unitary state for more than three thousand years. Another reason for difficulty is that federalism is based on ethnic and language backgrounds.
After implementing the federal system, there was different ethnic based conflict. The source for those conflicts goes to natural resources, lands, and others factors. In some scholars view those are not the main factor for the ethnic conflicts, “it’s because of the implementation of ethnic based federalism.”
A couple of months before the state of emergency was declared, U.S. State Department officials criticized Ethiopia for how it was dealing with protestors. U.S. Ambassador on human rights Tom Malinkowski wrote "security forces have continued to use excessive force to prevent Ethiopians from congregating peacefully, killing and injuring many people and arresting thousands."
Oromo opposition and Amhara resistance
After 25 years of leading this country, the Ethiopian government is facing opposition from all directions of the country. The two major ethnic groups—the Oromo and the Amhara—together represent approximately 61.4% of the country’s population, and the Oromo started a resistance movement against the Tigray-dominated government that began in November 2015. This movement went to different parts of the country. Corruption, poor administration, injustice, lack of equal economic benefits and losing their land in the name of investments are some of the causes that triggered the movement.The situation with the opposition became particularly difficult in October 2016. Due to corruption in the country, human rights violations and lack of equal economic benefits, the opposition has been accepted by most protesters. On October 2, there was an annual Oromo religious festival called Irreechaa, a festival where people from the entire Oromia region come and give thanks to their God in a city named Bishoftu. Bishoftu is approximately 50 km from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. During this festival people all Oromo people come to give thanks to their god.
In this event, people started shouting and showing different signs and protesting the government.
Police fired tear gas into a crowd of people protesting the government at this festival, which was attended by approximately two million people; this resulted in a stampede and more than 50 deaths.
Political Implication
Those who supported what the government did to stop the opposition say “it was the right and the only decision to stop further destruction and conflicts between different ethnic conflicts. And the government is responsible to protect the country peace so the measure taken was right and necessary.” Whereas another group that strongly blames the government for the measure taken during the festivals says “people have the right to express their feeling anywhere and anytime. So the government needs to respect this right of their own people.”Although it is not clear if the measure taken by the government was necessary or not, or proportional or not, this was an immediate reason that led the people all over the Oromia region to go out for the opposition. People started to burn the government property and also foreign investor’s property.
After the government’s call for an immediate council of minister’s meeting, the government declared a six-month state of emergency. Due to this, most rights will be suspended. The police may arrest people without court arrest warrant and search any house they suspect without search warrant. The following is also prohibited by the government according to this declaration of a State of Emergency: Any kind of demonstration and meeting, watching Ethiopian Satellite Television, writing articles which will incite people to go for opposition, having any communication with the opposition groups outside the country, having any sign of opposition on mobile phones and laptops, and accessing websites which criticize the government.
This action of the government is getting support as well as opposition. These who support the declaration of State of Emergency say that it’s a decision which will save the country from civil war and ethnic conflicts. Whereas some scholars don’t agree with this, saying that the civil war in the country wouldn’t happen. The opposition is targeting the ruling government and not an ethnic group.
FDRE Constitution
According to the Ethiopian constitution, the council of ministers has the power to declare the State of Emergency under three conditions: 1) during foreign invasion, 2) during a natural disaster or natural epidemic, and 3) when there is a breakdown of the country’s law and regulation which will endanger the constitutional order.The impact of the declaration on the society
The declaration of State of Emergency creates fear in most people. Most adults in the country have a bad experience with states of emergency. During the dictatorial Derg regime the government used violence to quell dissent. There was a state of emergency in which they put curfews on cities. During this time, the police went to different houses and did whatever they wanted. Due to this bad memory, most people get home early. Whereas, others have said “it’s a key to safety”, and the country’s security became better after the declaration of the state of emergency.However, most business in big cities of the country have decreased due to the blockage of internet services. Tourist traffic outside the capital city, Addis Ababa, decreases due to different security reasons. Additionally, most people who live in cities prefer to stay home or go home early rather than working. Most economists also predict that this declaration will highly affect the income of the only internet service provider in the country called Ethio telecom.