Why Ethnic Cleansing in Ethiopia Was Triggered by a Musician’s Murder but Did Not Arise from It.

On June 29, 2020, a man was fatally shot in the outskirts of Addis Ababa as he was driving home. The victim was Hachalu Hundessa, a musician and rights activist hailed from the Oromo, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia.

Through his music and activism, he energised the Oromo youth movement which was partly instrumental in dislodging the previous government from power. His murder generated widespread outrage and condemnation both from the youth who adored him, Oromo activists and politicians at home and in the diaspora, and from the wider Ethiopian society that recognized his stature as a cultural icon. Bringing his murderers to justice is the only way there is for bringing closure to his grieving family and to all those his life has touched.

The demonstrations that his death sparked soon spiraled into attacks by the Oromo youth — commonly referred to as Qeeroo, targeting ethnic minorities and Christians in the region. According to a report by the Washington Post, the death toll has reached 239 where targeted killings in the Oromia regional state accounted for the vast majority.

A sound analysis must certainly begin with how his death unleashed mob violence with unprecedented cruelty against groups that identitarian Oromo political movements have othered. There is indeed great value in…