Falls Church, Virginia (02/15/2022) – Since the TPLF withdrew from the Wollo Oromia Special zone in the Amhara region in December 2021, there have been reports of attacks against Oromo civilians by Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and Amhara police. On February 15, 2022, the Addis Standard released a report on a series of extrajudicial executions committed by Ethiopian security forces in the Wollo Oromia Special Zone of the Amhara region since that time, alongside continuing drone attacks. According to this report, since the zone–which is largely populated by ethnic Oromos–was reclaimed by the ENDF in December 2021, thousands of people had been arbitrarily detained and hundreds were executed by security forces. One witness reported that, “Upon entering the area they executed several people at random,” and that so many people died, “they collected the bodies with a bulldozer and buried them in a mass grave.” Witness reports also indicate that those persons were generally arrested under the pretext of supporting the TPLF and OLA. Others reported that, unless individuals detained were able to pay a bribe, they were accused of being a member of Shanee (A term the Ethiopian government often uses to refer to the OLA).
There have also been recent allegations of attacks committed by various groups against civilians in West Oromia and Benishangul-Gumuz, leading to the death of civilians and the destruction of their property. On February 12, 2022, OMN reported that the ENDF, Oromia Special Forces, and federal police recently launched an attack against civilians in the West Shewa zone, Oromia region, in which they burned down citizens’ homes and extrajudicially executed two children, aged 7 & 12. According to a report received by OLLAA from a credible source, the ENDF and Oromia Special forces have been conducting mass arrests and extrajudicial executions in the West Wollega zone. Another source reported that, on February 14, Amhara regional forces and Amhara militias committed an attack against civilians in the Abe Dongoroo district of Horo Guduru Wollega zone, which led to the death of 20 civilians, the destruction of 15 houses, and the displacement of 14,500 individuals. Finally, they also reported that Amhara regional forces and militias have been attacking Gumuz and Oromo civilians in the Benishangul-Gumuz region.
OLLAA condemns the targeting of civilians under the auspices of the Ethiopian government’s state of emergency, whose overbroad powers give Ethiopian security forces the authority to arrest anyone suspected of being connected to the OLA and TPLF (organizations that the Ethiopian government has deemed to be “terrorist groups”), and has led to further arbitrary arrests and detention of civilians. OLLAA further notes that the state of emergency cannot be used to justify extrajudicial executions.
OLLAA expresses its deepest sympathy for the victims of these attacks. We call on the Ethiopian government to protect the human rights of its citizens, including by launching independent, impartial investigations into allegations of human rights violations committed by all parties, and to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable. OLLAA also urges the international community to condemn these killings and detentions, to consider launching independent investigations into these attacks, and to take active measures to pressure the Ethiopian government to protect the human rights of its citizens.
OLLAA is an umbrella organization that represents dozens of Oromo communities around the world.