Epiphany processions turn into protest demonstrations in Ethiopia

ESAT News (January 20, 2016)

Ethiopian orthodox Christians celebrating Timket (Epiphany) used the occasion to denounce human rights violations in their country and the brutal killing of protesters in the Oromia region.

The Orthodox Christians who came from various ethnic groups seized the opportunity of the Epiphany processions to condemn the brutal regime for killing over 150 peaceful protesters in the Oromia region in the past two months of persistent protest against the minority government. The protesters chanted slogans and sang patriotic songs encouraging Ethiopians to rise against tyranny and fight for their democratic rights.

Residents of Addis Ababa who planned to come out to the epiphany procession wearing black clothes as assign of mourning were threatened not to do so by government security forces. The tyrannical government had also trained its party members for one week to spy and identify those who would protest at the holiday procession.

The Western Hararghe town of Meisso, the center of the ongoing protest in the Oromia region in the last few days, had also turned the occasion into a protest rally against years of marginalization and oppression of the people of Oromo by the oligarchic government.