OLLAA’s staff spoke with Ibsa G. (full name withheld at the request of the victim) regarding the series of rights violations he experienced while detained by the Ethiopian government.
Ibsa G. was born June 9, 1992 in Sokoru district, Jimma zone of Oromia. Ibsa reports that he was only able to attend school until the 10th grade, after which he was forced to drop out and flee to Eritrea due to pressure from the Ethiopian government, who suspected he had connections to the OLF. He returned to Ethiopia in 2018 following the signing of a peace deal between the OLF and the Ethiopian government. Since that time, Ibsa has been serving as an Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) member and working as a Sagalee Bilssumaa Oromooo (SBO) reporter.
Throughout his life, Ibisa reports that he was subjected to several illegal detentions, torture, and inhuman treatment, including following the rise of Prime Minister Abiy to power in 2018. His most recent arrest occurred at around 6 am on the morning of December 20, 2020, when heavily armed members of Ethiopia’s government security forces broke into Ibsa’s house and arrested him. They took him to Burayu prison facilities along with 10 other Oromo youths. There, they informed him he was suspected of supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the OLA. Ibsa and the other detainees were detained for eight days before being brought before the Burayu district court.
On February 22, 2021, after 57 days of imprisonment, the court declared Ibsa to be innocent of the accusations of supporting both the TPLF and OLA and issued an order for his release. However, the police refused to execute the order. Instead, Ibsa and the other detainees remained illegally held in prison until May 26, 2021, at which time, they were taken to a military training center in Awash Malkasa. Ibsa reports that he faced countless human rights violations while detained in the military camp with over 169 other inmates, including a severe asthmatic infection due to the conditions in the detention facility.
Later, Ibsa was transferred to prison facilities in Gelan, Oromia Region. Here too, Ibsa reports he was subjected to further human rights abuses of various types including torture. It was here that Ibsa witnessed his fellow inmates draw maps of their native Oromia provinces with their own blood across the walls of their prison cells. It was in Gelan’s prison that Ibsa and other detainees were denied access to see their family or a lawyer. Food and other basic needs were of poor quality and contributed to the already terrible conditions inmates had to suffer through.
On December 28, 2021, Ibsa was presented with a document by Ethiopian security personnel that stated that Ibsa and the other inmates agreed not to participate in any political activities, and would not speak out about their detention or the poor conditions in the prisons. It was only after signing this declaration that Ibsa was, at long last, released.
International Human Rights Law
Citizens are protected under international law from arbitrary arrests and detentions, which are arrests and detentions that are not in accordance with the procedures established by law. Certain rights are also guaranteed to those who have been detained, including the due process of law and access to counsel and one’s family. International law also contains a prohibition on torture and inhuman treatment. These rights are also protected under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the Ethiopian constitution.
In addition, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules) set out the standards for prison conditions, including that “All parts of a prison regularly used by prisoners shall be properly maintained and kept scrupulously clean at all times,” and that, “All accommodation provided for the use of prisoners and in particular all sleeping accommodation shall meet all requirements of health, due regard being paid to climatic conditions and particularly to cubic content of air, minimum floor space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”