Special Forces police opened fire on April 18 on a similar demonstration by students at Addis Ababa University, killing at least 41 people and wounding more than 250 others. The government had disbanded the student council last December and banned the student newspaper. After the massacre, many students were rounded up and held in prison camps, and some were being tortured by government forces, according to reports. It's part of a nationwide pattern. Opposition politicians are being held in prisons without charges.
Journalists go missing or are imprisoned without cause.
There are some 15,000 political prisoners in Ethiopian jails. It's an appalling case that deserves to have attention called to it. The Bush administration could make a strong statement about Ethiopia's internal injustices as well as its destabilizing role in northeast Africa.