Riots in Addis Ababa (04/19/01)

I don't know if it was picked up by the news channels in the States; I didn't see any mention of it on CNN's website.

First, I'm fine and not in any danger. In a weird kind of way, I have been just missing trouble all along this trip.

As Adam, Dotan, and I headed into Mozambique from South Africa, an outbreak of cholera swept across the country. Then, shortly after we crossed Mozambique, which was recovering from the previous year's floods, the rains came again. And many of the roads we travelled are yet again impassable.

And then, just a couple of weeks after I visited Zanzibar, there was a political demonstration and 14 people were shot dead by the police.

I can give more examples, but you get the idea.

So, perhaps I have stayed in Ethiopia too long, and my luck in avoiding the hot spots has run out :-)

Here is a brief summary based on what I can glean from local news and the reports of friends and neighbors. Also, one of my new friends is a student at the University. I may have some things confused, or even completely wrong, so if you are really interested you may want to seek out other sources as well.

Last week, some students at the University of Addis Ababa had a small rally/demonstration. They were making certain demands of the administration, including things like being able to have certain student organizations and being able to have a say in the selection of future University presidents.

The demonstration was peaceful, until the administration called in the police to break it up. They did so, but in the process 45 students were sent to the hospital. One died as a result of jumping from a building. No police or other civilian injuries were reported.

The demonstration was focused strictly on things related to campus life.

The following day the administration attempted to divide the students into those who would attend school and those who would protest. And apparently were refusing to engage in any discussion of the students' demands. The ironic thing is that many of the people in the school administration were themselves student protesters 30 years ago!

Well, as I mentioned in an earlier journal entry--the worst thing you can do is ignore an Ethiopian child. The same is true for its students. Rather than pacifying the situation, the students were now enraged at being ignored.

As best I can tell, over the weekend they organized a march for this week. However, many other groups seized upon the students' cause, turning it into a political situation.

There is a lot of unrest brewing in Ethiopia due to high unemployment, hunger, and the strain of the transition to a capitalistic economy.

On Wednesday, yesterday, a march near the University turned into pandemonium. Thousands of people were in the streets, most of whom were not students. What ensued was rioting, looting, turning over of cars, etc. Five people died, and movement of traffic in much of the city came to a standstill.

Most of the looting and rioting took place in the Piazza area which is about 1-2 km from the University. It is also the area where a lot of cheap hotels for tourists are located--and is where I spent my first several days in Addis.

My friends were all quite nervous about the violence continuing and/or escalating and last night was a very quiet night. In addition the past several days have been quite hot (in the 90s) and dry. I remember reading somewhere that more violent crime is commited when the temperature is 92 degrees than any other time -- apparently it is hot enough to drive people crazy, but not so hot as to inhibit them from moving.

I don't know, but yesterday (and today) were miserably hot days. And tempers flared. Ironically, I have been in the Piazza district almost every day I have been in Addis. But yesterday, I was making some last minute repairs on my bike in another part of town. And today, I finished the maintenance and stayed well clear of Piazza.

In addition, all school was called off today, for university students as well as primary and secondary schools.

I am hopeful that things will remain calm for the sake of my friends and of Ethiopia. I should be making my exit from Addis on Saturday. But it is a strange feeling to be in capital of the country whose citizens pride themselves on the low level of violence here.

Well, that is all for now. It may be a while before my next entry. Your comments, suggestions, corrections, insights are all welcomed.

Warm Regards,

Jim