OLLAA has received a credible report of the extrajudicial killing of Mr Birhanu Tolosa, a resident of Horo Guduru Wollega, in the Jimma Rare District. Mr Tolosa was a government employee working as a health officer at Jimma Rare District hospital.
According to this report, Mr Tolosa was arrested on October 21, 2021, alongside four friends named Baanee Nagarii, Guutaa Caraanaa, Balaay Xiiqii, and Cimdessaa Xaafa. Mr Tolosa and his four friends were detained at a local police station on allegations of supporting the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Mr Tolosa was also accused of providing injured OLA rebels with medical assistance. The report alleges that on 23rd October, 2021, at around midnight, the security forces took Mr Tolosa from the prison where he had been detained. They then allegedly killed him and threw his lifeless body in a place called Hallayyaa Qumburo, near a village called Gemede. Mr Tolosa’s dead body was found by locals early the next morning, on October 24th.
Mr Tolosa was 37 years old and a father to three children; two boys and one daughter, aged 7, 10 and 12 respectively, according to the report received by OLLAA. Mr Tolosa completed his undergraduate degree in public health at Jimma University five years ago, then went on to complete his second degree in China two years ago in the same field.
According to this credible report received by OLLAA, the late Mr Tolosa served his people passionately and diligently in his capacity as a senior health officer at Jimaa Rare District Hospital. An unnamed close friend testified in the report that Mr Tolosa had not been a member of any political party, andthat Mr Tolosa was very committed to his work at the hospital – even during the weekend.
According to a close family member who provided his testimony, the late Mr Tolosa was preparing to pursue a PhD, and had already been admitted to an unnamed university in China. The report also includes testimonies from the local community in Jimma Rare that Mr Tolosa was an honorable professional whose efforts during the current Covid 19 pandemic crisis saved the lives of many community members.
It is well known that doctors and other health professionals take a Hippocratic Oath to treat any patient irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious affiliations. In a country already suffering from a lack of health professionals, the extrajudicial killing of a respected medical professional like Mr Tolosa is unconscionable. OLLAA calls government security forces to be held accountable for such atrocities, and urges the immediate restoration of the rule of law in Ethiopia.