OLLAA has spoken with Aman Qaallu about his experience of being arbitrarily detained for over a year by the Ethiopian government.
Aman Qaallu Bati was born in 1983 in Kolfe district West Arsi of Oromia. Aman holds a university degree and he was a self-employed business owner at the time of his arrest.
On June 29, 2020, Hachalu Hundessa, a famous Oromo singer and activist, was assassinated in Addis Ababa. The following day, Aman was arrested, alongside several prominent Oromo political figures, such as Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba.
Following his arrest, Aman and the other prisoners spent two months and twenty days in detention at a school located near ‘Enkulal Fabrica’ in Finfine. He was then transferred to Kality Prison facility, where he remained for another year and five months.
During this time, Aman learned he was facing charges for “participating in acts of terrorism,” sedition–for labeling Abiy’s regime as neftegna (An Amharic term that is used to describe individuals who believe in a unitary system for Ethiopia, rather than the multinational federalist system that is currently in place). Aman was also accused of organizing the Oromo youth to revolt against the system and other ethnic groups. During his imprisonment, Aman reports that he experienced inhuman treatment at the hands of state agents. Finally, after close to two years of imprisonment, Aman was released from detention after the government chose to drop all charges against him. To this day, Aman has not received any form of reparations, including compensation, for his wrongful imprisonment.
International Human Rights law
International law, including the ICCPR, ACHPR, and the Ethiopian constitution, protects citizens from arbitrary arrests and detentions, which are arrests and detentions that are not in accordance with the procedures established by law. According to these legal instruments, victims of unlawful detentions are “guaranteed access to effective remedies and reparations, capable of providing restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.”