Violence breaks out at Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany celebration
-21/01/06
An opposition
Violence breaks out at Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany celebration
-21/01/06
An opposition rally coinciding with a Christian festival in Ethiopia has spilled into violence, leaving t least one person dead and 22 wounded.
Reports from the scene say of the tens of thousands of people started chanting opposition slogans and throwing stones. The police then responded with live bullets.
Several opposition protests in the capital, Addis Ababa, have turned to violence since the disputed elections in May 2005, with demonstrators and authorities blaming each other.
The UK suspended direct aid to the Ethiopian government on 19 January 2006 over concerns about its commitment to human rights.
In the latest incident a civilian was killed when a protester threw a hand grenade at the authorities, police say. Other witnesses say the police over-reacted.
“I don’t really know what was happening to me. I was shot by the police twice, one on my stomach and one on my throat,” Wubishet Solomon, aged 16, told the Associated Press news agency yesterday.
Mr Solomon said that he was listening to religious music when the shooting started and the situation rapidly descended into panic and confusion.
To mark the Timkat (Epiphany) festival, tens of thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Christians march through the streets carrying replicas of the Ark of the Covenant, which they believe is kept safe in northern Ethiopia.
The Ark bears the Ten Commandments from church to church. It is a symbol of Godís protection, divine glory, and deliverance from slavery and oppression. For Christians its liberating light is seen to have fallen on Jesus Christ and his followers.
During a visit to Ethiopia earlier this week, UK Development Minister Hilary Benn said that all British aid to the country would now be earmarked for specific projects ñ following a “breach of trust” when more than 80 people were killed in opposition rallies in 2005.
The BBC reports that around 100 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers remain in prison on charges ranging from treason to “genocide” in connection with the unrest.
Western governments tried to bring the opposing Ethiopian parties together, but with limited success. They have pushed for economic liberalization, but this has opened up further social and political divisions.
The Ethiopian Tewahido Church is an Oriental Orthodox church in Ethiopia which was part of the Coptic Church until 1959. It was then granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Pope Cyril VI.
The only pre-colonial Christian church of Sub-Saharan Africa, it claims a membership of some 36 million people across the world, and is the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches.
While Epiphany is not as prominently celebrated in the West, John the Baptist’s blessing of Jesus in the River Jordan is cause for intricate and grand commemoration in Ethiopia. Timkat is the most important festival in the country’s calendar.
[Related to Ethiopia on Ekklesia: Ethiopian Mennonite leader delves into politics; Campaigners challenge Band Aid lyrics – “The problem in Ethiopia today is not that nothing will grow, the problem is that the coffee that they are growing is worthless because of the mismanagement …”; Governments must learn tsunami lessons, says Christian agency; Brown: Debt summit progress down to churches; UN warns of worsening situation in Darfur – implications for Ethiopia; Religious leaders commit to stem African violence; Church leaders appeal to Blair’s Africa Commission; World Bank poverty drive has failed]
Violence breaks out at Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany celebration
-21/01/06
An opposition rally coinciding with a Christian festival in Ethiopia has spilled into violence, leaving t least one person dead and 22 wounded.
Reports from the scene say of the tens of thousands of people started chanting opposition slogans and throwing stones. The police then responded with live bullets.
Several opposition protests in the capital, Addis Ababa, have turned to violence since the disputed elections in May 2005, with demonstrators and authorities blaming each other.
The UK suspended direct aid to the Ethiopian government on 19 January 2006 over concerns about its commitment to human rights.
In the latest incident a civilian was killed when a protester threw a hand grenade at the authorities, police say. Other witnesses say the police over-reacted.
“I don’t really know what was happening to me. I was shot by the police twice, one on my stomach and one on my throat,” Wubishet Solomon, aged 16, told the Associated Press news agency yesterday.
Mr Solomon said that he was listening to religious music when the shooting started and the situation rapidly descended into panic and confusion.
To mark the Timkat (Epiphany) festival, tens of thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Christians march through the streets carrying replicas of the Ark of the Covenant, which they believe is kept safe in northern Ethiopia.
The Ark bears the Ten Commandments from church to church. It is a symbol of God’s protection, divine glory, and deliverance from slavery and oppression. For Christians its liberating light is seen to have fallen on Jesus Christ and his followers.
During a visit to Ethiopia earlier this week, UK Development Minister Hilary Benn said that all British aid to the country would now be earmarked for specific projects – following a “breach of trust” when more than 80 people were killed in opposition rallies in 2005.
The BBC reports that around 100 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers remain in prison on charges ranging from treason to “genocide” in connection with the unrest.
Western governments tried to bring the opposing Ethiopian parties together, but with limited success. They have pushed for economic liberalization, but this has opened up further social and political divisions.
The Ethiopian Tewahido Church is an Oriental Orthodox church in Ethiopia which was part of the Coptic Church until 1959. It was then granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Pope Cyril VI.
The only pre-colonial Christian church of Sub-Saharan Africa, it claims a membership of some 36 million people across the world, and is the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches.
While Epiphany is not as prominently celebrated in the West, John the Baptist’s blessing of Jesus in the River Jordan is cause for intricate and grand commemoration in Ethiopia. Timkat is the most important festival in the country’s calendar.
[Related to Ethiopia on Ekklesia: Ethiopian Mennonite leader delves into politics; Campaigners challenge Band Aid lyrics – “The problem in Ethiopia today is not that nothing will grow, the problem is that the coffee that they are growing is worthless because of the mismanagement …”; Governments must learn tsunami lessons, says Christian agency; Brown: Debt summit progress down to churches; UN warns of worsening situation in Darfur – implications for Ethiopia; Religious leaders commit to stem African violence; Church leaders appeal to Blair’s Africa Commission; World Bank poverty drive has failed]