Falls Church, Virginia (12/30/2021) — As previously reported by OLLAA, on December 1st, Ethiopian security forces interrupted the political and religious Gadaa ceremony in Motomoa/Karra village, Fantaalee District, Oromia. The security forces abducted 40 Karayu Oromo and killed 14 of them that afternoon, including the Abba Gada and Abba Boku, religious leaders of the Karayu. OLLAA has condemned these attacks as a form of religious targeting, and has called for the Ethiopian government and the international community to ensure that the victims and their families receive justice for this attack.
In the days immediately following the attack, the Oromia regional government issued a statement blaming the attack on the Karayu Abba Gada and others on the OLA; a claim that witnesses disputed. However, two members of the Ethiopian government have recently spoken out, reversing their initial accusation against the OLA and instead alleging that members of the Oromia regional government were behind the attack. Angaasaa Ibraahim, a Member of Parliament for the Oromia Region, has issued a statement alleging that the Oromia special police had carried out the massacre. He further alleged that the Oromia Police Commissioner, Ararsa Murdasa, had ordered the killings of the Karayu Oromos. Taye Dendea Aredo, Ethiopia’s State Minister for Peace, also issued a statement on December 26th in which he accused the Oromia regional government of planning and executing the attack against the Karayu’s Gadaa leadership. According to him, the regional government ordered the attack after receiving 600,000,000 EB from the Karayu community in exchange for guns. He alleged that, instead of providing them with the promised weapons, the Oromia regional government ordered their leadership to be executed.
OLLAA reiterates its call for the Ethiopian government to conduct an independent, thorough, and impartial investigation into the reported killings and the disappearance of the remaining Karayu leaders, and to ensure justice for the victims and their families. We further call on the international community to consider launching independent investigations into these allegations, as well as all other allegations of human rights abuses perpetrated against civilians throughout Ethiopia.
OLLAA is an umbrella organization that represents dozens of Oromo communities around the world.