Children detained alongside their Mothers in Goro Dola District of East Guji Zone

Background

In the wake of the state of emergency imposed by the federal government in Ethiopia, thousands have been imprisoned on dubious grounds, according to a statement released today by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The Commission cited concerns that these detentions did not comply with the principles of “necessity, proportionality, and freedom from discrimination”. OLLAA shares these concerns, but also emphasizes that illegal detentions have been occurring on a large scale since well before the state of emergency was imposed.

Over the past year, OLLAA has received many reports of the illegal detention and arbitrary arrest of civilians, who are typically held on allegations that they are connected to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) through family members or acquaintances. Tragically, this includes mothers and their young children, some of whom have been detained for many months. 

Most recently, OLLAA has received a credible report of the illegal detention of eight mothers and their children at Goro Dola police station in East Guji Zone, Oromia, since 2020. This builds on OLLAA’s previous investigation of 176 individuals arbitrarily detained in Goro Dola prison. The report alleges that the women have been detained alongside their children due to allegations of their family members or husbands being members of OLA. Despite having children as young as 6 months old, they are allegedly being held in extremely poor conditions, putting the safety of both mothers and children at risk.

The information received by OLLAA is corroborated by an earlier report released by the EHRC in May of this year, alleging that babies and children as young as 5 months old are being held alongside detainees (without charge) in “unhygienic and overcrowded” police stations across Oromia. As this report confirms, the situation is ongoing and has only escalated since the state of emergency was imposed.

Legal Standards

Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Ethiopia ratified in 1991, states that States Parties must respect the rights of children “irrespective of the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.” The detention of children on the basis of their parents’ suspected political affiliation, or, in some cases, of the alleged political affiliations of their parents’ family members or acquaintances, is in direct contravention of this right. 

Section 2 of the Article goes further and states that States parties must “take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members.” 

The CRC also outlines additional measures to ensure the protection of rights of children in detention under article 37, which sets out, among other standards, that States have a duty to ensure:

(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;

(c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child’s best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances;

(d) Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action. 

The continued arbitrary detention of children without charges for over a year represents a clear violation of article 37(b). OLLAA is also concerned that these children’s rights to be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the person, as outlined under article 37(c), may also not be met.  After all, while one could argue it may be in the best interest of a child deprived of their liberty to be detained with parents, as noted in the CRC’s General Comment No. 10: Children’s rights in juvenile justice , “There is abundant evidence that the placement of children in adult prisons or jails compromises their basic safety, well-being, and their future ability to remain free of crime and to reintegrate.”  Finally, as noted in our previous report, none of these detainees have had access to counsel or the ability to challenge the legality of their deprivation of liberty. 

Detaining infants is also in contravention of Ethiopian law. According to Articles 36 and 40 of the Ethiopian Constitution, infants (defined as all persons under the age of 9) cannot in any circumstance be held criminally responsible, and stipulates that institutions such as courts of law must act according to the best interest of children. Detaining infants and their mothers without charge, or on allegations that are tenuous at best and blatantly discriminatory at worst, therefore can in no way be considered an acceptable or legitimate exertion of government authority.

Conclusions

Based on the Ethiopian government’s clear violations of both international legal standards and its own national laws, OLLAA calls for the release of all political prisoners, including the immediate release of mothers and children from illegal detention. OLLAA urges that the Ethiopian and regional governments be held to account for this grave breach of national and international law, and human rights standards.

The names of the eight women detained with their infant children can be found below:

No	Name of the Victims	Name of victim’s child	Age of the children	Gender	Place of detention	Date of Arrest	Reasons for arrest
1	Amina Usman Aliye	Rorisa Abdulahi	4	M	Goro Dola Police station	20/05/2020	OLA supporter
2	Arganne Nagessa Adola	Her female infant is Bilise Umar Abole	1	F	Goro Dola Police	27/07/2020	Her husband was suspected to be a member of OLA
3	Tekitu Denesho Jedala)	Museba Yusus Ebbo (2yrs)T Dida Yusuf Ebbo (aged 6 months.)	The first child is 2 years and the second child is 6 months	F and M	Goro Dola	20/07/2020	Unnamed member of her family joined OLA
4	Salado Abdi Chana)	Wabi Bati Dhugo	8 months	M	Goro Dola	20/07/2020	Her husband was suspected to be a member of OLA
5	Tinnattu Balela Dulecha	Ramadan Karjul Morka	3 years	M		20/07/2020	>>
6	Keta Gendo Jedala	Marara Abdo Hirbora .	2 years	M	Goro dola	20/07/2020	>>
7	Bacho Soddu Boru)	Churiti Busha or Qusha Ware	1 year	F	Goro dola	20/07/2020	>>
8	Adole Galchu Sora)	Bilisuma Guracha Deno and Sabbontu Gurracha Deno	1 year and 8 months and 3 years for the second child			11/08/2020	Reason not mentioned