UN queries use of lethal force against Protesters in Ethiopia

Ethiopia Protesters

The international community is asking questions about the lethal force meted out to protesters in Ethiopia last weekends.

Residents and opposition says 90 protesters were shot dead when demonstrators were chanting anti-government slogans and waving dissident flags in Oromiya.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that allegations of excessive use of such excessive force across the Oromiya and Amhara regions must be investigated and that his office was in discussions with Ethiopian authorities.

The demonstrations started as a small-scale, student protest over the government’s plan to expand the capital into adjacent farm lands of Oromiya, which is Ethiopia’s largest constitutionally autonomous state.

The state-run Ethiopian News Agency reported that illegal protests by anti-peace forces had been brought under control. It did not mention any casualties.