“Such a Brutal Crackdown”

near Ambo town; Ganale, near Dodola town in Mirab Arsi zone; Urso in Hararghe; Adele in
Hararghe; and Taraloch, while others were previously unknown.
Human Rights Watch learned of large transfers of prisoners from local places of detention
to larger military camps between March 19-21, 2016, including Urso military camp. Due to
lack of access, Human Rights Watch was not able to corroborate these claims. Typically,
prisoners in military camps are more vulnerable to torture, are detained for longer periods
of time, and lack access to lawyers, relatives or any form of judicial review. 51
Arrests During Protests
Arrests often follow a similar pattern during the protests. Oromia police, federal police and
occasionally the military would arrest students during the protests, usually after throwing
teargas canisters. Where Oromia or Somali Region Special (“Liyu”) Police were involved,
they also made arrests. Arrests at protests were usually not targeted – security forces
would arrest whomever they could and then take them to the nearest detention facility,
witnesses said. Most detainees spent several weeks in detention and were then released
without charge. Human Rights Watch documented arrests at all 62 protest locations we
investigated.
There have been a few small protests in Addis Ababa. Security forces arrested 20 Addis
Ababa University students following a peaceful March 8 demonstration in front of the
United States embassy. The students were charged under the Criminal Code and Peaceful
Demonstration and Public Political Meeting Procedure Proclamation on charges of “inciting
the public through false rumors.” The charge sheet alleges that students:
…collectively protested while holding messages written in Amharic, English
and Afan Oromo which says “Schools should be for knowledge not for
military camp”; “Stop mass killing Oromos”; “Government should pull out
its military force from Oromia”; “Ethiopian military force is terrorizing
Oromo people”; “Government should not give land for the investors while
51 Amnesty International, “Because I am Oromo’, Sweeping Repression in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia,” October 10, 2014,
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/4000/afr250062014en.pdf (accessed May 19, 2016).
“SUCH A BRUTAL CRACKDOWN” 28