OLLAA has received a verified report that the extrajudicial killing of three civilians by Ethiopian military personnel took place in Nejjo town on 18th of July, 2021. According to the report, three civilians had been arrested two days earlier, with government military personnel in West Wollega alleging that they had taken part in a bombing accident that occured on a police car heading to the town of Gimbi.
The military personnel alleged that on the 16th July, while the Nejjo town police commander and his driver were traveling to Gimbi, they met a local man well-known to be severely mentally unstable by the name of Jawwe sleeping in the middle of the road. The commander and his driver alighted from the vehicle and lifted him off the road. As they were doing this, a bomb was thrown onto their police car from a nearby forest, destroying the vehicle. No one was injured.
With the apparent aim of taking revenge, the police officers from Nejjo police station arrested Mr. Jawwe and two others that they suspected of taking part in the bombing of their vehicle. These two individuals were Mr. Alemu Shifarraa and Mr. Abraham Dasta.
Mr. Alemu Shifarra was a resident of Nejjo town and worked at Nejjo bus station as a tutor. He is not known to be a member of any political party, and was married with two children. Instead, the late Mr. Abraham Desta was a resident of a small, rural administrative zone called Sombo Sadan Giittan, and was arrested on his way to Nejjo market.
According to the report received by OLLAA, the now-deceased individuals were detained for just one day before they were brutally and publicly executed by the command post head of West Wollega in the compound of Nejjo police station.
Legal Analysis on Extra-judicial Killings
Article 19 of the Ethiopian Constitution states that a person arrested or detained has the right to be brought to trial and informed of the charges against him within 48 hours of arrest, although extra time is allowed as required for travel to the court. The extra-judicial killing of arrested individuals violates the above article of the Ethiopian Constitution, as well as international human rights law.
According to the Ethiopian criminal code, if an individual can be deemed to be insane, they also cannot be held criminally responsible for their acts. Meaning that even in the case that a crime was committed by such an individual, it would still be outside the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system to prosecute. In the case of Jawwe, a man well-known to be insane, or at least severely mentally unwell, this raises serious questions. The arrest and almost immediate execution of Jawwe and the two other alleged suspects represents a serious breach of Ethiopian penal law. Extra-judicial killing is prohibited under Article 14 of the Ethiopian Constitution. Under the same article, everyone has the inviolable and inalienable right to life and security. OLLAA calls on the Ethiopian Government to investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.