As anger boils over among Ethiopia’s Oromo population after the killing of a revered singer, analysts and activists say swift action and transparency by the government are necessary to avoid further bloodshed.Hachalu Hundessa was shot dead in Addis Ababa this week in what police say was a targeted killing. Police quickly apprehended suspects. But few details have been released about Hundessa’s death, fueling suspicion.Protests in and around the capital city led to injuries and at least 52 people have been killed, according to the regional spokesman, Smoke rises over Addis Ababa skyline during protests following the fatal shooting of the Ethiopian musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, June 30, 2020, in this screengrab taken from a video.But a slow or heavy-handed government response risks a repeat of past protests among the Oromo ethnic group that led to hundreds of deaths, rights activists say. In November 2019, 86 people were killed in protests following allegations that security forces were plotting to attack Jawar Mohammed, an activist and co-founder of Oromia Media Network.“It’s absolutely key that the Ethiopian authorities respond to this by acting urgently to reduce tensions and to ensure that security forces do not make what could be a combustible situation worse,” said Laetitia Bader, Human Rights Watch’s Horn of Africa director, in an interview with VOA. “The government needs to order security forces not to use excessive force or to carry out arbitrary arrests including against protesters, as they’ve often done in the past.”As has been the case during past periods of unrest, Ethiopia’s government-controlled telephone and internet provider, Ethio Telecom, shut off internet access inside the country.Bader said this lack of access to information adds to the confusion.“It’s absolutely key for the government to make sure that as soon as possible it is providing accurate, timely information to the public on what they’re doing to investigate [the] killing, but also how they are responding to what could be a very tense situation,” she said.Protesters have been further angered this week as news spread that Jawar Mohammed was arrested and the domestic operations of his television network were shut down.A total of 35 people have been arrested in Addis Ababa, including Oromo leader Bekele Gerba.Merera Gudina, chair of the Oromo Federalist Congress, an opposition party, said the events show the urgent need for reform. He called for a commission with representatives from all sectors of society to oversee the way political opponents and protesters are treated in Ethiopia.“We want a more inclusive commission that can oversee the way the government is conducting its business, including the way the election board is running, the way the security sector, the army, the police, the militia and the way they are behaving,” Merera told VOA’s Daybreak Africa. “This is not the way. The government is not properly functioning. So, that is our worry.”James Butty contributed to this report
 
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