Killing Oromo will not stop the struggle for freedom!

 #US Embassy expresses concern over attacks in #Oromo special zone and north shewa in Amhara region

The US Embassy in #Addis_Abeba has raised concerns over reports of civilian casualties and displacement in the #Oromo special zone and North Shewa zone of the Amhara Region.

In a statement, Ervin Jose Massinga, the US ambassador to Ethiopia, urged all parties to refrain from violence that displaces people from their homes. "We urge the protection of civilians and a commitment to dialogue to address Ethiopia's complex political and security challenges," he said.

The statement comes a day after Arega Kebede, president of Amhara Region, held discussions with Ambassador Massinga on current peace and development activities in the region.

On 20 March, Addis Standard reported that multiple casualties had occurred in the Oromo Special zone in Amhara region, which local residents attribute to a series of coordinated attacks allegedly carried out by the "Fano" militia and regional police forces.

In the Jille Dhumuga district alone, locals claim 27 individuals lost their lives, and over 40 others sustained injuries in the attacks since 9 March.

Additionally, reports indicate that on 21 March, eight individuals were killed, and more than 20 were injured in an attack by militants in Ataye town, located in the North Shewa zone.

Residents of Ataye provided varying accounts, with one citing the involvement of elements described as militants, while another attributed the attack to the "Fano" militia.

Accountability for Perpetrators of State-Sponsored Crimes Under the Banner of “Koree Nageenyaa"

 Accountability for Perpetrators of State-Sponsored Crimes Under the Banner of “Koree Nageenyaa"

On February 23, 2024, REUTERS unveiled groundbreaking investigation results, revealing the most heinous acts committed by top Ethiopian government officials against innocent citizens of Oromia. Despite our continuous coverage of these atrocities over the years, the global community's response has been minimal or no response at all. The news report emphatically highlighted that "A secretive committee of senior officials in Ethiopia’s largest and most populous region, Oromia, has ordered extrajudicial killings and illegal detentions to crush an insurgency there."

Delving into the identity and actions of this clandestine committee, REUTERS revealed that the secretive group called, Koree Negeenyaa, began its operation in the aftermath of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s rise to power in 2018. The committee lies at the core of Abiy’s efforts to quell a longstanding insurgency by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Providing further insight into Koree Nageenyaa's composition, the report disclosed that it convenes in the Oromia regional offices of Abiy’s Prosperity Party and is led by Abiy’s former chief of staff, Shimelis Abdisa, who also serves as the president of Oromia region. Notably, Shimelis and other committee members are of ethnic Oromo descent. Fekadu Tessema, the leader of the Prosperity Party in Oromia, along with Ararsa Merdasa, head of security for Oromiya, and several other local political and security officials, are also part of this group, according to sources cited in the report. These security and party structures extend down to the woreda and kebele levels, operating in coordination to carry out these atrocious acts on innocent citizens. For example, at the zonal level, the officials overseeing various offices effectively serve as an extended arm or structure of the Koree Nageenya;

1. Head of Zonal Administration

2. Deputy Head of Zonal Administration

3. Head of Zonal Security and Administration Office

4. Head of Prosperity Party’s Zonal Office

5. Head of Zonal Police

6. Commander of the National Defense Force of Ethiopia at the Zonal levels.

The report also confirms that the initiation of Koree Nageenya began with the Prime Minister himself. It states that people familiar with the matter said the committee was formed at Abiy’s instigation. Abiy was briefed on at least one occasion in early 2022 about the committee’s activities. Additionally, the report adds that the Prime Minister was briefed twice by officials and Karrayyu elders, particularly on the killings of the Karrayu elders. The reports of the investigation in Oromiya confirmed that the massacre of Karrayu Gada leaders and elders were carried out by government security personnel. However, no one has yet been held accountable for it.

The findings also disclose that among the heinous and barbaric killings perpetrated by Koree Nageenya was the massacre of 14 Gada leaders in Oromia in 2021 that the government has previously blamed on OLA fighters. The report also revealed that an investigation by the EHRC earlier indicated the security men conducted the killings. Two EHRC sources familiar with the case told Reuters that high-ranking government officials gave the order to kill, according to local residents and witnesses.

As highlighted in the report, one of the alarming characteristics of the Koree Nageenyaa is its extreme secrecy. The security committee is little known beyond a tight official circle. Meetings occur two to three times a week with stringent security measures. According to the report, the building was emptied of other staff, attendees handed in their phones, and documents were collected at the end of each session. The fate of innocent individuals rests in the hands of these committee members, as stated by a former judge in the Oromia Supreme Court who remarked that the Koree Nageenya decides that a person needs to be detained. Then, they arrest them without a warrant, investigation, or due process.

Furthermore, according to the report, Koree Nageenya also perpetrated the killings and detention of peaceful protesters during the uprising following the death of the renowned Oromo artist Hachalu Hundessa. The report succinctly divulged that when a prominent Oromo singer, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, was killed in June 2020 in an attack the government blamed on Oromo rebels, clashes between protesters and police led to at least 200 civilian deaths and 5,000 arrests, according to the human rights groups. Oromia president Shimelis and regional Prosperity Party head Fekadu Tessema presided over a series of Skype calls with each of the 19 big cities and 21 zones of the region at this time, according to the two people who participated in some meetings of the Koree Nageenyaa. According to these two witnesses, Shimelis and Fekadu ordered some protesters arrested and others killed. According to one of these people, Shimelis ordered one of the zonal administrators to have his forces shoot protestors if the demonstrations got out of hand, according to one of these Koree Nageenya participants.

The REUTERS report is grounded in rigorous methodology, striving to reach every credible source. It interviewed more than 30 federal and local officials, judges, lawyers, and victims of abuses by authorities. Additionally, REUTERS reviewed documents drafted by local political and judicial authorities. These interviews and documents shed light on the workings of Koree Nageenyaa for the first time. Moreover, it contacted individuals who participated in the committee meetings, including Milkeessa Midhagsaa, who possessed first-hand information due to his previous position as a party leader. Furthermore, REUTERS presented its findings to the head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Mr. Daniel Bekele, who acknowledged the existence of Koree Negeenyaa by stating, “We documented multiple cases of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, torture, and extortion.”

What is abundantly clear from the report and our previous statements about these malicious and terrible acts of abuse, intimidation, torture, and extrajudicial killings is that they are conducted by formally organized government structures - a designated committee referred to as Koree Nageenyaa - and its tentacles extend up to the zonal, woreda, towns, and kebele administrations. This madness is driven by a purposeful mindset and carried out through conscious and clearly formulated plans that cannot evade legal accountability. Most disturbingly, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, torture, and extortion persist to this day in most Oromia Zones. These shocking atrocities are not being adequately addressed by human rights organizations or the media. We call upon the Oromo and the Ethiopian peoples, the peace-loving international communities, and human rights organizations to ensure that those responsible for these heinous crimes are held accountable for their dreadful actions.

Victory to the Masses!

Oromo Liberation Front

March 2024

Human Rights Watch accuses Ethiopian government of silencing dissent, targeting journalists

 

Human Rights Watch has leveled allegations against the Ethiopian government, asserting that it has been engaged in the arbitrary apprehension and confinement of opposition figures, journalists, and critics as part of an escalating effort to suppress dissent.

One case cited by Human Rights Watch occurred in February 2024 when plainclothes security officers detained Batte Urgessa, a spokesperson for the opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) political party, and French journalist Antoine Galindo as the two met for an interview at a hotel in the capital, Addis Abeba.

More than 24 hours later, they were brought before a court in the capital. The court granted police a request to detain Batte and Galindo until 01 March to pursue an investigation into unspecified allegations. Following international pressure, Galindo was released from a police station and allowed to depart Ethiopia on 29 February, 2024.

However, Batte’s detention was extended. On 01 March, prosecutors stated he was under investigation for suspected links to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the rights group said. The court ordered Batte to remain in custody until at least 06 March.

This is not the first time Batte has been detained. In March 2022,  Batte was arrested and held for one year. During that time, authorities repeatedly transferred him between detention facilities and denied him access to relatives and legal counsel.

He was only released after developing serious health issues that persist today, Human Rights Watch stated.

Seven other OLF opposition leaders detained in the months before Batte’s 2021 arrest remain in jail despite multiple court orders for their release, the organization added.

The detained leaders of the OLF include Mikael Boren, Kenessa Ayana, Dawit Abdeta, Lemi Begna, and Geda Gabisa, who remained in Oromia police custody long after they were freed by a federal court.

In addition, Ethiopian authorities have recently arrested at least five other prominent opposition politicians, Human Rights Watch said. Those detained include Christian Tadele, a member of parliament who has criticized the government’s actions  and Dessalegn Chanie, another outspoken opposition lawmaker .

The arrests coincide with mounting pressures on journalists in Ethiopia as well, Human Rights Watch reported.

“These latest arrests demonstrate that in Ethiopia today, no one is safe from arbitrary arrest and detention,” Human Rights Watch said. “Ethiopia’s long-time partners should condemn the spate of wrongful detentions and challenge the government’s growing intolerance of peaceful dissent.”

Ethiopia has recently been ranked as the third-worst country in Africa for the imprisonment of journalists in 2023, according to the findings of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The number of Ethiopian journalists in detention has risen to eight by the end of 2023, which CPJ said highlights the significant challenges facing the nation’s media environment.

National Dialogue without inclusion of key armed and non-armed stakeholders is a futile exercise

  Ethiopia is wrapping up preliminary work to launch, in a few months’ time, a national dialogue aiming to find amicable solutions to the multiple layers of the country’s political crises and forge national consensus on its future.
On 29 December 2021, the House of People’s Representatives announced its approval of Proclamation No. 1265/2014, establishing a National Dialogue Commission (NDC) followed by the appointment of eleven commissioners on 21 February 2022.

The NDC was initially met with collective dismissal and skepticism from major political parties, including a request from the Ethiopian Political Parties Joint Council (EPPJC), a coalition of more than 53 legally registered political parties, to “temporarily halt” the process and reconsider steps that will guarantee meaningful participation of key stakeholders and transparency of the process.

The best train for attempting a national dialogue to solve Ethiopia’s transitional political tensions left the station in 2018, when militarized violence broke out between federal and Oromia regional state forces, and then armed members of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front – better known today as the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). After that, Ethiopia has been nothing but an active scene of multiple violence, almost exclusively driven by bad politics. The culmination of that is the civil war that started in Tigray state in November 2020. Today, Ethiopia hosts multiple militarized violence, from north to south, from east to west. What is urgently needed is therefore a comprehensive roadmap for cessation of hostilities to end this violence involving state and non-state actors, followed by agreements for a ceasefire and genuine political negotiations.

The best experiences from around the world show that national dialogues stand a chance of success when facilitated by neutral parties. The world offers hardly any examples where a ruling party, which is a party to the very same problems dialogues should solve, micromanages the process, let alone chooses mediators in the form of commissioners. Even for such blatant transgression, the ruling party was repeatedly requested by opposition political parties and key stakeholders to ensure a transparent and inclusive process both during the drafting of the bill and the appointment of commissioners; no party outrightly rejected the ruling party’s commandeering of the process, though it is legitimate to do so.

he National Dialogue Commission, despite expressing interest in including armed groups engaged in active fighting with the government in the dialogue, has not taken any practical measures to engage them nor has it provided a clear roadmap on how to ensure their participation. 

It is clear that Without meaningful participation of the elite, demonstrated commitment of individual commissioners, as well as the commission’s commendable work so far regarding identifying participants from the wider population, and agenda gathering endeavors will have minimal impact on the success of the process.