Statement from families of Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Gerba and other Oromo political prisoners

 Statement from families of Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Gerba and other Oromo political prisoners

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We would like to inform the Oromo public, Ethiopians, and the international community about a startling development around the safety of Oromo political prisoners currently held at Kality prison. We know there have been several reports of an imminent threat to their lives over the last few months but we would like to share with you one frightening incident that took place last week.

On the evening of Nov. 18, 2021, around 8:40 PM, a vehicle carrying several armed men with federal police uniform and three men dressed in civilian clothing entered the prison facility without the prior knowledge and authorisation of the prison administration.

The men asked the guards to take them to the cell where Jawar Mohammed and his colleagues were held. The guards refused to allow them access to the facility, and an altercation broke out. The commander on duty that night arrived and asked the men to leave the compound, which they did.

Over the last few days, we have been enquiring to establish the identity of these men and the motivation for their visit. We now have credible evidence that these men were security agents from NISS, led and directed by Mr. Kifle Ismalealem, the head of the counter-terrorism unit within NISS. Mr. Kifle used to work in the intelligence and nationality security team during EPRDF years, before he was suspected of working for the then Ginbot 7 party and removed from his post. He was reinstated after Abiy came to power.

We now know that Mr. Kifle was directed by Mr. Ingidaw Abebaw, the Acting Directory of Internal Security within NISS, and has been to Kality prison several times. Both Mr. Ingidaw and Mr. Kifle report to Mr. Temesgen Tiruneh, the Prime Minister’s Director of National Security.

We are extremely worried that either the government or elements within national security are trying to either assassinate or move the prisoners to unknown locations. The government has already changed the prison guards and there were efforts to remove the commander too.

It is absolutely critical that the Ethiopian government, countries in the region, and the international community look into this issue as a matter of urgency and ensure the safety of the political prisoners. Jawar, Bekele, and many others were jailed for political reasons and should be released immediately.