The Ethiopian government [official website] declared a national state of emergency on Sunday. This is the first time that a state of emergency has been declared in the country in 25 years, since the ruling party came into power. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced the state of emergency to local news services and explained that the declaration will last for six months [BBC report]. The government accuses foreigners for stirring the civil unrest that has plagued the country and prompted violent protests over human rights and government land grabs.

The conflict between the Ethiopian government and protestors has been widespread. Tensions increased over the past week when at least 55 were killed in clashes between police and protesters at a festival. Last month Ethiopia’s opposition leader and leader of the Oromo ethnic group, Tiruneh Gamta, demanded the release of all political prisoners [JURIST report] “regardless of any political stand or religion or creed.” The Oromo ethnic group, representing the largest group among the protesters, is largely credited with starting the protests last November when the government announced its plan to expand the capital into the Oromia region. Although the Oromos initially started protesting against what they viewed as a plan to remove them from fertile land in the region, the protests started taking on a different theme even as the government dropped its plan to expand the capital—one calling for the release of political prisoners [Al Jazeera report]. According to rights groups, at least 500 people have been killed and thousands arrested since the unrest began. In January several Ethiopian rights groups called on the international community to address the killing [JURIST report] of protesters.