An independent voice who first supported Abiy’s reforms and famously nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, Allo became one of the premier’s most outspoken critics as Abiy turned increasingly authoritarian and walked back on his original promises of reform and democratic transition. And he urged the two sides to seek a peaceful and amicable political resolution.
Allo expressed that there can be no military solution to an ideological and political problem. Although expressed with different tones, this group opposed the war because the differences between the two sides are political, and there is no justification to take the country to war to resolve a political dispute.įor example, in several interviews with the BBC, Al Jazeera, and other international media outlets and opinion pieces, including one for the Awash Post, Dr. The Oromo academics included in this indictment saw the war in Tigray as a continuation of the same kind of violent repression and crackdown carried out by Abiy in the Oromia region since late 2018. Nevertheless, their opposition to the war in Tigray has made both sides “enemies” of the Abiy administration. During the Oromo protests and before Abiy’s rise to power, these two groups stood for contrasting causes. The other four named–Daniel Birhane, Fitsum Birhane, Alula Solomon, and Senait Mebrahtu–are Tigrayan activists and TPLF supporters. This pro-democracy social movement played the single most critical role in ushering Abiy to power. It also indicates a sinister political agenda that aims to discredit publicly, slander, and vilify individuals with significant voice and authority.įour of the eight individuals accused of “destroying Ethiopia”–Ezekiel Gebissa, Awol Allo, Etana Habte, and Tsegaye Ararssa–are Oromo academics based in the West who have played an active part in supporting the Oromo protests of 2014-2018.
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However, the profile of individuals included in the latest series of politicised prosecutions shows the government has escalated intolerance to dissent and opposition. Over the last year, authorities locked up every prominent opponent of the prime minister, subjecting leaders of political parties, journalists, and other dissenting voices to prolonged detention without charges and politically motivated show trials. The use of the legal system to silence critical voices and eliminate political adversaries by the Abiy administration is not new. The Federal Police Commission told the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that it had issued warrants for eight individuals accused of using “various media platforms to disintegrate the Ethiopian state” and 27 military officers accused of “embezzlement and unlawful enrichment.”
Awol Allo, Senior Lecturer in Law at Keele University in the United Kingdom.
Among the accused are Ezekiel Gebissa, professor of History at Kettering University in the United States, and Dr. This action marked a significant escalation in a vicious intimidation campaign against independent voices, particularly critics of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. On November 28, 2020, the Ethiopian government issued arrest warrants for prominent scholars and activists based in Western countries. The war in Tigray heightened the stakes and made Abiy’s tactics more visible to international onlookers, but the pattern of disinformation, intolerance, and repression we observe today has characterized Abiy’s time in office. The Ethiopian regime is by far the biggest source of a concerted and well-financed disinformation campaign.
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