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. -------------- INITIAL REPORTS ON ARRESTS VARY WIDELY -------------- ¶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) -------------- COMMENT: JUST WHEN THINGS WERE LOOKING UP -------------- ¶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