A report submitted to Ethiopia’s parliament has revealed that a total of 669 people died in recent unrest in the East African country.
The year-long unrest in Oromiya, Amhara and SNNP regions was as a result of what protesters say was the infringement on their political rights by the government.
To deal with the growing agitation and its associated violence the government imposed a state of emergency last October.
The country’s parliament then sanctioned a full-scale investigation to be undertaken by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
The findings were presented on Tuesday.
According to the report 462 protesters and 33 security personnel were killed in the unrest.
The head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Addisu Gebregziabher told lawmakers in parliament that security personnel were “negligent” in controlling protesters at a festival which led to a stampede that killed many.
Ethiopia has already announced an extension to the nationwide state of emergency by four months.
Source: Africafeeds.com