INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
COLUMBIA POLITICAL REVIEW // SUMMER 2020
THE ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT’S LATEST COMMUNICATIONS SHUTDOWN DERAILS THE COUNTRY’S TRANSITION INTO DEMOCRACY Roshan Setlur // Columbia College ’23 April 13, 2020
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s Ethiopia experiences the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic during a time of civil unrest, an unendurable amount of pressure has been placed on the country’s healthcare system. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has responded to this crisis by declaring a national state of emergency, delaying
on January 7 in the Kellem Welega, West Welega, and the Horo Guduru Welega zones of Oromia, all notably under federal military control. This shutdown has been deemed a violation of international law by blocking the essential exchange of information during the global effort to curtail the spread of COVID-19. The Ethiopian government has infringed upon Article 19 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the U.N.-sponsored treaty that protects the right to freedom of expres“The shutdown is a draconian extension of the sion and access to information. decades-long armed conflict between the Oromo The shutdown is a draconian exLiberation Front and the Ethiopian government.” tension of the decades-long armed conflict between the Oromo Liberation Front and the Ethiopian government, occurring against the backdrop the government’s transition into a de- telephone lines in western Oromia. of the nation’s transition into democmocracy. Ethiopia’s lockdown has not Under the pretense of security con- racy. In order for Ethiopia to become only postponed the national election cerns, the shutdown was put in place fully democratic, the nation must, 27
scheduled for August, but has also exacerbated the long-standing political tension in Oromia, the nation’s largest state. On March 27, 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released a statement highlighting its concerns about the Ethiopian government’s widespread shutdown of internet access and