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Our Life and Times by Kevin A. Barry and Mary Holmes
May 2001
Ethiopian massacre
Copying a page from the manual of the old Stalinist military dictatorship,
the Ethiopian government has responded to student protests with gunfire,
killing at least 58 youths and wounding 250 during the night of April
17-18.
For ten days, more than 3,000 students had gone on strike to demand 1) the
reopening of a suppressed student newspaper, 2) student representation on
decision- making bodies, and 3) an end to the presence of armed police on
campus.
On April 11, soon after the strike began, police launched an attack during
which 45 students were wounded. Afterwards, government officials announced
that they had agreed to most of the students' demands. However, students
refused to end their strike because the government gave no firm timetable
for implementing the changes.
At this point, the government issued an ultimatum threatening force if the
students did not end the strike. As police moved in a second time,
thousands gathered to back the strikers, by this time not only university
students, but also high school and working youth.
They refused to back down, resisting attempts to disperse them. It was
these youth whom police massacred. Afterwards, the government shut down the
university for an indefinite period.
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