OLLAA has been investigating the identity of the young prisoners of war from the Oromia region who recently appeared on a live program by Tigray Media House as those captured during a hostile engagement. We are glad to have finally established the identity of one young girl from the Borana Zone of Oromia. Alongside this, OLLAA has recently published a report on young Oromos forced to join the Tigray war by government officials in various parts of Oromia.
OLLAA was able to reach out to family members of the identified girl who live in Dubuluk town of Borana Zone, Dubuluk District. According to a family member who spoke to OLLAA on the phone, the young girl’s full name is Xummee Duuba Halakhe Saara. Xumme was born and brought up in the Aanolee sub-location of Dubuluk district in Borana Zone, Oromia. She lost her father at the age of 10 due to a long illness, leaving her mother, Ms. Elema Duuba, with no other option than to give her up for adoption, due to poverty and other difficulties. Xummee was finally adopted by Mr. Boru Guyo, who is her immediate grandfather on her mother’s side.
According to Boru (not his real name for security reasons) Xummee was 15 years old when she joined the Ethiopia National Defence Force five months ago. Xummee’s grandfather did not have much in terms of property to give her, leaving her with few options for her future. Due to these difficulties, Xummee started selling khat at a very young age in Dubuluk town, which is exactly 100km from the border town of Moyale. She also went back to her mother’s home after facing difficult circumstances at her grandfather’s house.
According to the family member who spoke with OLLAA, Xummee was able to buy food and other basic necessities for her siblings with the savings she made from the khat business. According to our sources, five months ago Xumme was approached by Oromia police agents and was requested to join the Ethiopia National Defence Force, which she turned down. According to the family member who spoke with OLLAA, it was at this point that the blackmailing began
The account alleges that the local administrator was aware of the poverty facing Xummee at home. That evening, the unnamed Dubuluk administrator and local recruiters visited Xummee’s homestead, where they found her mother. According to the report, they promised her a lot of money and a piece of land if she convinced her child to join the Ethiopia Defence Force to fight against Tigray Liberation Forts. The source alleged that it was through such blackmailing that 15 year old Xuumee Duuba ended up in Northern Ethiopia two weeks later.
A photo of Xumme Duba with another unidentified Oromo young prisoner (photo credit: Tigray Media House).
Law on the Recruitment and Use of Children in Armed Hostilities
Children participate in armed forces or groups for various reasons. Some are abducted, threatened, coerced or manipulated by armed actors. Others are driven by poverty, or compelled to generate income for their families. In the above case, Xummee was manipulated and blackmailed into joining the Ethiopian Defence Force, according to a family member who spoke to OLLAA. Still others become involved for survival or to protect their communities. No matter their involvement, the recruitment and use of children by armed forces is a grave violation of child rights and international humanitarian law.
Article 1of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict states that: “States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not attained the age of 18 years do not take a direct part in hostilities.” Sub-section three of the same Article provides for safeguards when state parties voluntarily recruit minors to their national defence forces. These safeguards include that:
(a) Such recruitment is genuinely voluntary;
(b) Such recruitment is carried out with the informed consent of the person’s parents or legal guardians;
(c) Such persons are fully informed of the duties involved in such military service;
(d) Such persons provide reliable proof of age prior to acceptance into national military service.
The recruitment of Xummee by Ethiopian security agents clearly violates the minimum safeguards set out by the protocol and goes against international human rights standards.