Fayo Ahimed: Raped by Two Police Forces

Fayo Ahimed (name changed) is a 14-year-old elementary school student studying in the fifth grade. Fayo was born in the rural area of South Eastern Oromia. She spends much of her time assisting her elderly family members with their work in the rural area. Fayo is a bright and ambitious student, and her family has always had high hopes that she would bring them out of poverty. Fayo dreams of a better future for her family. Most of Fayo’s family subsists on farming and livestock activities to make a living. Fayo has been a big help to her family, completing  chores and looking after their cows. Simultaneously, she has proved herself to be a dedicated student, and her family is proud of her hard work and commitment. OLLAA staff recently spoke with Fayo’s family and learned the devastating story of how two members of Ethiopian government security forces raped her at her own village.

 

Many other people had fled their homes in the village due to clashes between the Oromo Liberation Army and the Ethiopian government force. After hours of fighting, the government army took control of the village. Fayo’s family was at home when two government soldiers barged into their home carrying knives and other weapons. The family was terrified and tried to hide. The soldiers took Fayo away to another house and proceeded to rape her in turn. In the immediate aftermath, Fayo’s family pleaded with the local community for help, but no one responded. Instead, many people hid in fear while others fled.

Later that day, Fayo explained to her family how she had been raped by two members of the Ethiopian National Defense Force.  Fayo’s family took her to a nearby hospital for treatment. Family members told OLLAA staff they did not want the name of the hospital known for security reasons). After more than a week of treatment, Fayo has recovered from her physical injuries. However, the attack that she endured at such an early age has had a devastating effect on her life. It has caused her to drop out of school, and she has been left struggling with serious mental trauma.

Fayo was the victim of a devastating rape, committed by the government army. This brutal attack was a traumatic experience that Fayo and her family will never be able to forget. Fayo’s family have expressed hope that justice will be served and that such an incident will never happen again.

Tragically, Fayo’s experience is far from unique; such cases are becoming more common in the ongoing conflict in Oromia. OLLAA staff confirmed that there was another woman raped in the same village but afraid to speak about it. The conflict has taken a terrible toll on innocent civilians, with girls like Fayo suffering the most. It is an unfathomably cruel  reality that must be addressed by the government and by the international community.

International Law

Rape and other forms of sexual violence is prohibited under both human rights and international humanitarian laws.  The UN  Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Woman (CEDAW)  and  the Protocol to African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of Women in Africa (The Maputo Protocol) impose on the state parties the duty to refrain from and to protect women from gender-based  violence, including rape. Ethiopia is party to both instruments. More importantly, rape during armed conflict constitutes war crime, and hence it is an international crime. The FDRE constitution also protects women from any kind of sexual and gender-based violence.  Fayo’s case and others like hers  show the Ethiopian government’s clear violation of its international obligations.