OLLAA’s staff recently spoke with a family member of Muhammed Ahmad Shu’eeybii, who was brutally murdered by federal police forces.
Muhammed was a physician and father of three sons. He was born and raised in Dodota Mojo village, Bedeno district, East Hararghe Oromia Region. He graduated from Afran Qalloo College with a Diploma in Nursing and started working at Gara Muleta General Hospital. After serving for more than five years, he got the opportunity to improve his education to the degree level from Haramaya University. For this reason, he moved to a nearby town to the university called Awwaday with his family. He was helping his family while serving on a part time basis at the same time. After many ups and downs he managed to graduate in 2023 after three years.
Following his graduation, Muhammed started a journey to Finfine/Addis Ababa to get a promotion from Oromia Health Bureau and return back to the previous hospital. Unfortunately, on June 6, 2023, the federal police forces killed him on his way to Finfine/Addis Ababa.
One of the survivors narrates the incident as follows:
“We started our journey from Harar to Finfine (Addis Ababa) with a group of people by public transport. Unfortunately, the journey did not turn out as we had hoped. Everything changed when our car was stopped by three armed Federal Police Forces when we reached Western Hararghe Zone, Xulo Woreda, at a special place called Dhaga Cabsa. The police forces requested 10,000 Birr from the driver after pulling over the vehicle. As it was illegal, the driver refused to pay the money and sped off. Following the driver’s action, they opened fire towards the vehicle from behind and shot two of the passengers. Muhammed Ahmad Shu’eeybii was one of the two victims. The second victim has not yet been identified. The second victim died instantly. However, though Muhammed was badly injured, he was still alive at the time, begging the passengers to rush him to the hospital for medical treatment. The driver was forced to stop the car and have a look at the damage caused by the police officers. But the police officers, who were pursuing them from behind, caught up to them. The driver and passengers who spotted them approaching ran barefoot to the land of the nearby farmers and hid themselves to protect their lives.”
The local community who saw the incident came to the rescue. A person who did not want to be mentioned for security reasons informed OLLAA’s staff that, “when we came to the rescue two passengers had fallen in the car of which one of them died. The second victim was still alive and his clothing was fully washed by blood. Even if we attempted to use a bajaj (three-wheeler) to hasten him to the hospital, the cops would not permit it. He was shouting at the community members who were begging the policemen to save his life, saying, ‘I am a physician. I know I can be healed if you take me to the hospital.’ He passed away within two hours, nonetheless, due to the absence of medical care.”
His wife and the mother of his orphaned children Mrs. Magartu Jundi stated, “it is very hard to lose him and I am very worried about the future prospects of our children considering I have no income on my own.”
International Law
The right to freedom of movement and the right to life are fundamental human rights that are recognized and enshrined under international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) including the FDRE Constitution. These instruments recognize the right to life and move freely without any restrictions.
Furthermore, under international human rights law instruments, law enforcement officers are expected to be models for other members of the public in abiding by the law. It is therefore the Ethiopian government security forces’ duty to abide by the law, act within the boundary of the law and ensure the protection of rights against violations committed by anyone. The government is specifically obligated to defend its citizens against state armed groups to make sure that those who violate human rights—particularly the right to life and the freedom of movement—are held accountable.
