Sun, Dec 6 2020
EDITORIALS ETHIOPIA Editorial: Ethiopia must end intimidation campaign against academics and activists The arrest warrants against diaspora-based dissidents underscores the escalated intolerance for free expression in Ethiopia. It is part of the Abiy administration’s increasing reliance on relentless propaganda and violence to intimidate and ultimately silence independent voices. By THE AWASH POST 1 day ago4840 views 0  On November 28, 2020, the Ethiopian government issued arrest warrants for prominent scholars and activists based in Western countries. This action marked a significant escalation in a vicious intimidation campaign against independent voices, particularly critics of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Among the accused are Ezekiel Gebissa, professor of History at Kettering University in the United States, and Dr. Awol Allo, Senior Lecturer in Law at Keele University in the United Kingdom. The Federal Police Commission told the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that it had issued warrants for eight individuals accused of using “various media platforms to disintegrate the Ethiopian state” and 27 military officers accused of “embezzlement and unlawful enrichment.” The use of the legal system to silence critical voices and eliminate political adversaries by the Abiy administration is not new. Over the last year, authorities locked up every prominent opponent of the prime minister, subjecting leaders of political parties, journalists, and other dissenting voices to prolonged detention without charges and politically motivated show trials. However, the profile of individuals included in the latest series of politicized prosecutions shows the government has escalated intolerance to dissent and opposition. It also indicates a sinister political agenda that aims to discredit publicly, slander, and vilify individuals with significant voice and authority. Four of the eight individuals accused of “destroying Ethiopia”–Ezekiel Gebissa, Awol Allo, Etana Habte, and Tsegaye Ararssa–are Oromo academics based in the West who have played an active part in supporting the Oromo protests of 2014-2018. This pro-democracy social movement played the single most critical role in ushering Abiy to power. The other four named–Daniel Birhane, Fitsum Birhane, Alula Solomon, and Senait Mebrahtu–are Tigrayan activists and TPLF supporters. During the Oromo protests and before Abiy’s rise to power, these two groups stood for contrasting causes. Nevertheless, their opposition to the war in Tigray has made both sides “enemies” of the Abiy administration. The Oromo academics included in this indictment saw the war in Tigray as a continuation of the same kind of violent repression and crackdown carried out by Abiy in the Oromia region since late 2018. Although expressed with different tones, this group opposed the war because the differences between the two sides are political, and there is no justification to take the country to war to resolve a political dispute. For example, in several interviews with the BBC, Al Jazeera, and other international media outlets and opinion pieces, including one for the Awash Post, Dr. Allo expressed that there can be no military solution to an ideological and political problem. And he urged the two sides to seek a peaceful and amicable political resolution. An independent voice who first supported Abiy’s reforms and famously nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, Allo became one of the premier’s most outspoken critics as Abiy turned increasingly authoritarian and walked back on his original promises of reform and democratic transition. While it is not yet clear what evidence the government has against the academics and activists it is seeking to arrest, the crime they are accused of – “disintegrating a country using the media” – is a spurious allegation designed to criminalize dissent and opposition. By reframing their opposition to the war against Tigray as synonymous with support for the TPLF, a political party that governed Ethiopia ruthlessly for nearly three decades and is widely despis
