Doctors: At least 34 killed in 4 days of violence after Ethiopian election
15:20:55 EST Nov 3, 2005

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CP) - Riot police trying to put down a fourth day of protests against Ethiopia's disputed elections shot and killed three people Thursday and wounded 12, including children, doctors said.

State-run television, quoting federal police, said two people were killed. The renewed violence came a day after police shot and killed at least 31 people - a death toll that rose after eight people died overnight Wednesday and in surgery, said doctors who refused to give their names for fear of reprisals.

The government has said the casualty figure was exaggerated and blamed the opposition for the violence.

Thursday's victims were shot at Old Airport, a wealthy neighbourhood where many foreign expatriates live, according to doctors at the Black Lion and Zewditu hospitals. Sporadic gunfire was heard near the French and Dutch embassies. Elsewhere in Addis Ababa, stone-throwing protesters had earlier defied a heavy military presence.

The wounded included a seven-year-old girl who lost an eye after police hit her with a baton. An 11-year-old boy, Yarad Wubetu, was shot in the stomach when he came out of his home to watch police chasing a group of young men, said his mother, Lomi Bayia, a 33-year-old seamstress.

"I had told him not to leave the house, but he is a small boy and he was interested because of all the noise," she said.

Businesses were closed and taxis were off the streets.

The violence erupted over disputed May 15 elections that gave Prime Minister Zenawi Meles' Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front control of nearly two-thirds of parliament. Opposition parties say the vote and counting were marred by fraud, intimidation and violence, and accuse the ruling party of rigging the elections.

The elections had been seen as a test of Meles' commitment to reform. The Ethiopian leader has been lauded by the Bush administration as a progressive figure on the continent and a key ally in the war on terror. British Prime Minister Tony Blair appointed him to his Commission for Africa to help draft a blueprint for ending poverty and building democracy. But at home, Meles' government has little tolerance for dissent and has been accused of severe human rights abuses.

In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew denounced the violence.

"Canada calls on all parties to engage in an open and peaceful dialogue in a spirit of political reconciliation to promote a functioning, multi-party parliamentary democracy in Ethiopia," he said in a statement. "We have communicated our views to the Ethiopian government and have urged it to conduct an independent investigation into the recent killings as well as the ones that occurred last June following the elections.

"Canada also calls for, as essential elements of the reconciliation process in Ethiopia, the immediate release of political detainees and the due process of all others detained," Pettigrew added.

Britain's minister for Africa, Lord Triesman, also called for restraint from both sides and for an urgent, independent investigation into this week's violence.

The protests began peacefully Monday, when taxi drivers hooted their horns to show support for the opposition. Thirty drivers were arrested, sparking protests Tuesday that deteriorated into clashes between protesters and police that killed eight people and wounded 43 others.

Amid the protests, a New York-based media watchdog said authorities have threatened to arrest journalists and made statements that could endanger independent reporters in the capital. The government also appears to be using state media to smear foreign and independent media.

The international development agency ActionAid said Thursday police had detained its policy manager in Ethiopia, Daniel Bekele, for three days without charge or access to his lawyer. Other civil society leaders have also been detained during a crackdown on organizations suspected of not being pro-government.