Ethiopian security forces mercilessly murdered Abdeta Ahmed Reshid, a role model and pillar of the local community and father to a 6-year-old son.
Abdeta Ahmed Reshid, 32, was born and raised in Hararghe Zone, Bedeno District, Dodota Mojo village. As a result of his participation in the 2005 Ethiopian National Election as a candidate for the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), he was detained several times at the Bedeno district police station. Despite the difficulties he faced, he completed a preparatory school education and enrolled in Jimma University in 2008, where he received an Agro-Economics degree in 2011. However, the government officials of the area prevented him from being hired as a public servant because of his prior affiliation with the OFC.
He went with his parents to the Wollega Zone in 2013, where he was hired as a civil servant in the Kondala district. He worked hard in this position until the year 2018, when the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) returned to the country following the peace agreement made with the Ethiopian government in Asmara, Eritrea. However, the Asmara agreement and the return of OLF brought no good to Abdeta: he once again became a target of the ruling party due to his previous involvement with the opposition (OFC).
The peace agreement between the rival parties didn’t last long. Eventually, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) split from the OLF and created bases of operation mainly in the Wollega zone and engaged in conflict with the Ethiopian government (please read this report to understand the reason about the disagreement between OLA and the Ethiopian government: https://ollaa.org/between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place/). Since then, the region has been turned into a conflict zone, and the government has declared a state of emergency there. This caused the zone to come under command post rule, under which the government’s regular operations are constrained and the armed forces have greater power.
As a result, Abdeta was often taken into custody by command post officials who suspected him of collaborating with OLA fighters. In one instance, the command post officials detained him and demanded a 100,000-Birr ransom to free him. They released him when his family paid the exorbitant sum. Some public employees, like Abdeta, remained working while the majority of governmental servants evacuated the area because of the fighting between the OLA and the government. Government agents believed he stayed because of an affiliation with OLA fighters, and he was detained again after six months.
Speaking to OLLAA, a close relative affirmed that “he [had] no connection with either the OLA or the OFC after the 2005 national election.” His family members made numerous attempts to rescue Abdeta but were unsuccessful this time. On May 29, 2022, the command post soldiers killed him at the military camp and dumped his body outside.
His family begged for his body, so they could properly bury him. However, the authorities resisted, and after a number of arguments, they agreed to let the family bury him – but only in front of the camp where they had thrown him. The authorities wouldn’t let them transport Abdeta’s remains elsewhere and hold the burial in a public area, believing that doing so in a public place would instigate violence from the community. His family remains in misery and isolation in the wake of his passing.
The close relative who spoke to OLLAA said that “Abdeta used to teach summer classes for the village’s youth to help them improve their academic performance. He helped and motivated a lot of the young people in the neighborhood to succeed. His passing was extremely awful for everyone, not just his family.”
International Law
The right to life has been acknowledged as a fundamental human right by a host of international human rights conventions to which Ethiopia is a party, including the UDHR, ICCPR and ACHPR, and the FDRE Constitution. However, the security forces extrajudicially murdered Abdeta without following due process of the law. The security personnel’s irresponsible action is a clear violation of international human rights instruments and the Ethiopian Constitution.
Accordingly, the Ethiopian government must be held accountable as a state party to the aforementioned international human rights treaties.
