Ethiopian group protest against their prime minister ahead of Brics summit

Brics leaders have been urged to put an end to the alleged genocide against one of the largest Ethiopian ethnic groups by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ahead of the start of the 15th Brics Summit on Tuesday, the All United Amhara Association in SA gathered at Innesfree Park with a long banner with Ahmed’s face crossed out with a black marker.

The group said the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner was allegedly committing genocide in the Amhara regions through drone attacks in recent weeks.

“We want to make sure the international community understands what is happening in Ethiopia, which is that the prime minister is dropping drones and committing world crimes on Amhara people, who are the second largest ethnic group in Ethiopia,” said the association’s spokesperson Demissie Desalean.

“Since he came into office, it is a continued war on Amhara people ... killing so many innocent people recently.”

The region has been gripped by instability since April when federal authorities disarmed the Amhara force after the two-year conflict with the neighbouring Tigray region. This led to Ahmed’s government declaring a state of emergency earlier this month which included a ban on public gatherings, warrantless arrests and a curfew. 

Desalean said such attacks by the government affected schools, farms, mosques and churches, which attracted a request from Amnesty International on Sunday to probe the deadly clashes.

“We are here today to expose those crimes and atrocities. Our history as the Amhara people has been diverted and told to many communities that we are actually the ones doing bad things in Ethiopia. The new generation is now misinformed,” he said.

Ethiopian delegates are expected to attend the Brics summit, with its prime minister previously stating his intentions to be an additional member of the Brics.

Desalean said the prime minister should be exposed for war crimes he has committed since winning the peace prize.

“We are here to show the world that Abiy Ahmed does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize given to him in 2019. He has not done anything except war crimes since then. We are here to show the world he is not fit to lead our country and he should actually be in the International Criminal Court and sentenced to prison.”

Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve international co-operation and peace in resolving the border conflict with neighbour, Eritrea.

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