The November and December 2015 protests in the
Oromia Region that resulted in the killings of over 100 people by government forces. The 2015 protests were later followed by a police crackdown and the arrests of hundreds of opposition members. According to diplomatic, NGO, and opposition sources, hundreds of thousands of people marched in more than 200 towns and cities in the vast
Oromia State, in protest at "the government's draconian and ever-escalating repression". This resulted in at least 148 people being killed on 5 and 6 August. On 2 October 2016, more protests occurred where an estimated two million people were attending the annual
Irreechaa festival in
Bishoftu in the Oromia region. while others claim stones and bottles were thrown. People died in a
stampede as a result of police using tear gas, rubber bullets and baton charges, On August 6, hundreds of protesters marched on
Meskel Square in
Addis Ababa and shouted "we want our freedom" and "free our political prisoners".
Kaliti Prison 23 imprisoned Oromo protesters died in
Kaliti Prison after a fire broke out, wherein 21 died from carbon monoxide poisoning and 2 were killed by security force after an attempt to escape.
Protest spread to Amhara Protests in the Oromia region spread to
Amhara Region in the summer of 2016. In July 2016, the Anti-terrorism task force detained members of the
Wolqayt Amhara Identity Committee (WAIC), a legally registered organisation. Soon after, protests erupted in many areas of the
Amhara Region, the historic ethnic center of the Ethiopian state and home to the spectacular
monolithic rock-cut churches of
Lalibela and medieval castles of
Gondar that attract tourists from all over. One of the biggest demonstrations took place was on August 1, 2016, in
Gondar city. Hundreds of thousands of people held a peaceful demonstration over the arrest of the WAIC members, government repression and protest Federal government encroachment in regional affairs. Protesters carried placards expressing solidarity with the
Oromo people. As they marched, they were heard to be chanting in
Amharic "በኦሮምያ የሚፈሰዉ ደም ደማችን ነዉ" which translates to “the pouring of blood in Oromia is our blood” and “the killings of our brothers in
Oromia needs to stop”. They also drew attention to the dispute over the administration of
Wolqayt Tsegede. A region that is currently part of the
Tigray state despite its citizens identifying as ethnic
Amhara. Further demonstrations soon followed in the
Amhara Region. Many protests spiraled into violence as security forces fired live bullets on protesters. On 5 August 2016, 50 student protesters were killed while protesting in the populous city of
Bahir Dar, the capital of the
Amhara Region and a major tourist destination. Evidence collected by Ethiopian Human Rights Project has so far shown that major protests took place in 6 of the 11 zones in the
Amhara Region. The zones included
North Gondar,
South Gondar,
Bahir Dar Special,
Agew Awi,
East Gojam and
West Gojam zones. Anti-government street demonstrations and "stay at home" protests took place in small
wereda towns and in some cases in rural
kebeles across the six zones. The protests that were ignited in the historic town of
Gondar, quickly spread to
Debarq,
Debre Tabor,
Metema, Ambagiorgis,
Wereta,
Simada, Gayint,
Bahir Dar,
Finote Selam, Burre, Enjibara,
Dangila,
Chagni, Tilili, Birsheleqo, Quarit,
Dembecha,
Amanuel,
Debre Markos and other towns. After the growing discontent in
Amhara Region and
Oromia Region the
Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning on 1 September 2016. The
Amhara Region included in the warning includes the city of
Gondar, a popular site for many Israeli tourists and an area where many Ethiopian Jews originated. The warning was announced a day after the
Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn's announcement on the state owned media
EBC and gave direct order for the Ethiopia Army forces to use any force necessary to bring order to the region. The protesters continued and several flower farms were burned down in
Amhara Region and clashes between security forces and local protesters continued. The
Ethiopian Government declared a state of emergency on 8 October 2016. On 16 October 2016, the government announced, restrictions and prohibitions on Internet usage, postings on Facebook, crossing the wrists above the head, diplomatic travel, fire arms and the viewing of media that the government deems to be “terrorist media”. There were also curfews in both regions from 18:00 to 06:00 to prevent further violence. The government crackdown was tough. Maina Kiai, a U.N. rights rapporteur, said "The scale of this violence and the shocking number of deaths make it clear that this is a calculated campaign to eliminate opposition movements and silence dissenting voices”. The Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 400 people were killed in protests over the next several months. As a continuation of the Amhara protest, two years later several protests were held in Northern
Wollo province. In January 2018, Ethiopian security forces killed seven people and wounded several others in the town of
Woldia, 500 km north of
Addis Ababa along the main road to
Mekele.
Nigussu Tilahun, the head of the Amhara region's communications bureau at the time, confirmed that deaths had occurred but did not say how many. A huge crowd of people were parading through the streets of the town for the annual
Timket festival, an
Ethiopian Orthodox Christian celebration of
Epiphany when a group of young men protested because the federal police forces prohibited them from making round dancing and chanting. A witness said police had fired into the crowd and the crowd began running in all directions. The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (
UNHRC) condemned the incident in
Woldia, stating that the incident “reportedly took place when the security forces tried to stop people from chanting anti-government songs and allegedly opened fire on them", and that "protesters reportedly later blocked roads and destroyed a number of properties.” This comes just two weeks after Ethiopia's ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, officially announced its intention to undertake reforms following protests that began in 2016. Seven people have also been killed in the northern town of
Kobo after security forces fired on a crowd who were reportedly protesting the killings in Woldia. A ten-year-old boy and two members of the defence forces were among those killed. Many more were injured in the incident. Protesters gathered around the town's police station to condemn the security forces' brutality at a religious ceremony in Woldia their not being held accountable in a court of law. Later on, thousands demonstrated, opposing the killings of innocent people at
Timket festival in Woldia and calling for an end to police beatings, with protests reported in
Habru districts of
Mersa,
Robit, Gobiye, all of the towns crossed by the main all-weather road from Addis Ababa to
Mekele. In
Mersa, around 10 people were shot dead. ==Reactions==