ConflictBarometer_2015

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
ETHIOPIA (OLF / OROMIYA)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1992
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
OLF vs. government
secession
The violent crisis over the secession of Oromiya region between
the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), its armed wing, the
Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), and the government continued.
Throughout the year, OLA continued to attack government
forces in Oromiya region. The OLF claimed its fighters killed
13 government soldiers and injured another 15 during an
attack on July 20 in Bokko, Fadis district. On August 21,
government soldiers attacked residents of Oda Bultum district,
West Harerge zone, whom they had accused of assisting
OLA fighters. Six days later, OLA militants ambushed and destroyed
a truck carrying government soldiers on the highway
linking Harer and the capital Addis Abeba in Kara Garbu, West
Harerge, killing three soldiers and injuring another nine. On
August 29, OLA militants reportedly shot dead three soldiers
in Gaba Jimata, East Welega zone. On September 13, OLF
stated to have killed 20 soldiers, wounded more than 22 others,
destroyed a military truck, and seized seven AK-47 rifles
in numerous attacks in Gemechis, Midaga, and Hawi Gudina
Woredas in East and West Hararghe zone in early September.
OLF claimed to have killed at least 33 and injured at least
22 in the zones of East and West Hararghe as well as East
Welega from September 18 until the end of the year.
Ethiopian forces repeatedly crossed the border to Kenya
chasing OLA militants. On May 24, a Kenyan civilian was shot
dead during gunfire between government forces and OLA
militants in Sessi, Moyale region, Kenya. Since May, Ethiopian
soldiers repeatedly abducted Kenyan police reservists on
several occasions in Sololo, Marsabit County, allegedly accusing
them of hiding OLF members in the border area. After
having chased OLA militants to northern Marsabit, Kenya,
Ethiopian soldiers engaged in fighting with Kenyan police
forces on November 20, killing three of them. Furthermore,
they reportedly abducted 24 Kenyan civilians from villages
in northern Marsabit. The next day, the Kenyan Defense Force
deployed tanks in the border region.
On December 7, Ethiopia and Kenya, supported by UN and
the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), set
up the ''Marsabit County of Kenya-Borana zone of Ethiopia
Integrated Cross Border and Area-based Program'' in order to
end border conflicts.
jar
ETHIOPIA (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 2005
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
AEUP, Arena, EDP, ERP, Ginbot 7,
MEDREK, Semayawi Party, UDJ vs.
government
system/ideology, national power
The conflict over national power and system/ideology between
various opposition parties and the government led
by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) escalated to a violent crisis ahead of the elections on
May 24. The opposition mainly consisted of Semayawi Party,
All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP), Unity for Democracy and
Justice (UDJ), Arena Tigray for Democracy and Sovereignty
(Arena), Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP), the Ethiopian Raie
Party (ERP), and Ginbot 7, which were partly organized in the
Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (MEDREK).
In the elections, the EPRDF won all 547 parliamentary seats
and 1,966 of 1,987 regional council seats, stripping the opposition
of the one parliamentary seat it had held since the
2005 elections. All opposition parties rejected the election
process and results, citing obstacles in campaigning and
registering candidates with the National Election Board of
Ethiopia and reporting serious harassment of their members
by armed government forces on election day. The African
Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) to the 24 May
2015 Parliamentary Elections in the Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia called the elections credible despite minor
irregularities.
On January 25, at least 26 people were injured when the
police dissolved a UDJ demonstration in the capital Addis
Ababa. On April 22, the government held a rally to commemorate
the 28 Ethiopians killed by the Islamic State in Libya [→
Syria, Iraq et al. (IS)]. After some demonstrators had thrown
stones at the police, the latter responded with tear gas and
batons. At least seven policemen were injured and eight
Semayawi members were arrested. On May 17, authorities
prohibited a demonstration by the Semayawi Party.
Between March 3 and 24, at least seven opposition members
and two of their family members were arrested by public
authorities. On April 1, authorities confiscated the passport
of Semayawi chairman Yilkal Getnet. On May 16, Tesfahun
Alemnew, public relation head of the AEUP, was reported
missing. On election day, two MEDREK observers were killed
in the towns of Kofele and Arsi, Oromiya State, while the
work of other opposition observers was hindered by armed
government forces in Addis Ababa and the cities of Hawassa,
SNNPR, as well as Mekele, Tigray Region. MEDREK reported
that during the elections, 640 of its members were arrested,
66 beaten up, and 17 shot. In the aftermath of the elections,
four opposition members were killed. Samuel Awoke (Semayawi
Party) was stabbed in Debre Markos, Amhara Region,
on June 16, Tadese Abraha (Arena) was strangled in Mai Kadra,
Tigray, one day later, Brhani Erebo (MEDREK) was found dead
in Hadiya, SNNPR, on June 19, and Asrat Haile (MEDREK) was
beaten to death on July 4 in Ginbot district in SNNPR.
At the end of November, students started protests similar to
those in early 2014 in different cities in Oromiya against a
so-called master plan to expand Addis Ababa into Oromiya
State. Opposition members claimed that at least 25 students
had been killed in clashes with the police by mid-December,
while hundreds had been arrested. The government confirmed
five deaths.
On July 18, Ginbot 7 leader Berhanu Nega left the United
Kingdom to unite with other opposition members in Eritrea
[→ Ethiopia Eritrea]. Four days later, Ginbot 7, TPDM,
and ADFM formed the coalition United Movement for the
Salvation of Ethiopia Through Democracy. On August 21,
the Ethiopian National Transition Council and the Ethiopian
National Youth formed the Government of Ethiopia in Exile
Organizing Committee with the aim to ensure a peaceful
transition to democracy.
Throughout the year, the government continued to put journalists
and opposition members on trial under the 2009
Anti-Terrorism Law. For example, on March 15, the sentences
of Daniel Shibeshi (UDJ) and Yeshiwas Aseda (Semayawi
Party) as well as Abrasha Desta (ARENA) were increased to 14
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