ETHIOPIA: MASS ARRESTS NEAR AMBO, SIGNS OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 002362

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: MASS ARRESTS NEAR AMBO, SIGNS OF
POSSIBLE POLITICAL UNREST

REF: ADDIS ABABA 1483

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JANET WILGUS. REASON: 1.4(D)


1. (C) SUMMARY. On August 25, Post received information of
mass arrests of up to 300 people in a small town in the
Oromiya region. In investigating the matter, Poloff was
given three very different reports on events from three
different sources. Though none could specify precisely the
cause of the unrest, sources all confirmed that large numbers
of people had been arrested in the town of Tikur Inchini and
are now in detention in the zonal capital of Ambo. Since the
May 2005 elections, the Ambo area has seen political
instability and public demonstrations, some of which have
resulted in civilian deaths. The latest disturbance came as
somewhat of a surprise since the situation in Ambo has
recently been mostly peaceful, and there have been some signs
that reconciliation between ruling and opposition party
members is possible. END SUMMARY.

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INITIAL REPORTS ON ARRESTS VARY WIDELY
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2. (SBU) On August 25, Dr. Merera Gudina, former head of he
Oromo National Congress (ONC) and current vice-chairman of
the United Ethiopian Democratic Force (UEDF),informed Poloff
that on August 23 and 24, Ethiopian federal police were
conducting mass arrests of civilians in the town of Tikur
Inchini, which is located in the Ambo zone of the Oromiya
region. Merera received word from sources in the area that
200-250 people had been rounded up over a two-day period and
detained in facilities 25 miles away in the zonal capital of
Ambo. Merera did not know what led to the arrests, and was
surprised as the area had been mostly calm in recent weeks.
In fact, he had recently visited Ambo to attend an ONC party
meeting, after which he had several peaceful and constructive
meetings with local ruling party officials. He said that an
ONC conference was scheduled to be held in Ambo on August 25,
but doubted that it was the cause of tension, since the
political situation had been calm. Many of the clashes that
have occurred in Ambo since the May 2005 elections have been
between police and students. However, Merera indicated the
current arrests came from a broad swathe of society,
including regional parliamentarians (from Merera,s former
ONC party),local government employees, businessmen,
students, teachers and farmers. Merera did not have any
other information on the arrests since he has been
&incommunicado8 with his party members since the events
started. When asked whether he would go to visit the area,
he replied that it would be "inadvisable at this time."


3. (C) Post contacted the deputy zonal administrator from
Ambo, Ato Dawa, to inquire about the events. Dawa confirmed
that arrests had been made, but was unable to confirm the
total number, saying "it is irrelevant at this point." He
said the source of the unrest was a large group of
"hooligans" that were rampaging through the town of Tikur
Inchini. He said they had stabbed one man (whom Dawa would
not identify),who is now hospitalized, and were attacking
the county militias in order to steal their guns. Dawa said
federal police were called in to apprehend the mob and took
them to jails in Ambo.


4. (C) Post also called the federal MP that represents Tikur
Inchini, Tolossa Tesfaye, to ask whether he had any
information on the matter. (NOTE: Tolossa is the deposed
chairman of the ONC party, but still maintains the position
of vice-chair. END NOTE) Tolossa said he had not heard of
the matter, but that he would look into it. Following phone
calls to the region, Tolossa reported back to Post that the
cause of the disturbance was two ONC regional
parliamentarians from that area, Elena Itchen and Mekonen
Wodajo. He reported that they had organized a large group of
people with the intention to "attack and do physical harm to
kebele (district) officials and others who were responsible
for past arrests of ONC members." He confirmed that the
group had stabbed one (unnamed) person, who is now
hospitalized. He did not mention anything about guns or
other weapons taken from the kebele militia. He said that
this led to the arrest of nearly 300 people from the town,
all of whom are being held in Ambo. Tolossa said that he
plans to visit the area on the weekend to investigate the

ADDIS ABAB 00002362 002 OF 002


matter. (NOTE: Tolossa phoned Post on Monday to say that he
visited on Saturday and confirmed what he had earlier heard
from contacts. He indicated, however, that the actual number
people detained is 280. END NOTE)

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COMMENT: JUST WHEN THINGS WERE LOOKING UP
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5. (C) The area surrounding Ambo has been a flash point since
the elections of 2005. A number of disturbances have led to
mass arrests in the area on several occasions, as well as
civilian fatalities resulting from clashes with police. The
area is a political hotbed that has traditionally supported
the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF),but voted heavily
for the ONC in the May 2005 elections. However, zonal
officials are appointed by the party that wins the regional
election, regardless of the result of the local vote. Thus,
the EPRDF zonal officials have administrative authority over
elected ONC representatives. This has increased tension in
the region and fueled student demonstrations. Prior to these
most recent arrests, the zone had been relatively calm, even
allowing for Merera to visit the area for ONC meetings,
something he had been reluctant to do in the past. Further,
there was a recent joint visit to Ambo by the ONC, the ruling
Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and
the opposition Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM),
with the purpose of investigating the government's reaction
to the demonstrations that occurred in the last year. The
arrests of this week are particularly disturbing, as they
occurred at a time when the local political situation seemed
to be cooling somewhat.
WILGUS