Reshid Subi, 28, is a student born and raised in Bale Zone, Gasera District. He has been subjected to arbitrary arrest as he was held in prison for the last year on spurious charges.
In 2016, Reshid was involved in the “Qeeroo” social movement in and around Gasera district. In traditional Oromo culture, the term means “bachelor” or youth, but within the eponymous political movement, it symbolized the Oromo struggle for increased political freedom and greater representation in government. Since the current Prime Minister took office, the movement has been inactive, and Reshid has focused on his education.
However, on November 22, 2022, he was arrested and currently remains languishing in prison. According to a close friend, Reshid has been accused of collaborating with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed opposition group. Our source claims that the security forces are torturing Reshid to force him to confess to collaborating with the OLA. This is how they can find legal justification for his detention. Reshid is one prisoner among many who have been unjustly arrested and detained on spurious charges.
International Law
Ethiopia is a signatory to several international human rights documents, such as the UDHR, ICCPR, and ACHPR, which uphold an individual’s fundamental human rights to liberty, freedom from arbitrary detention, and the right to be treated with dignity while in custody. However, Reshid has been imprisoned and unlawfully detained with false allegations. This is against both the international human rights conventions as well as the Ethiopian Constitution.
OLLAA calls on the Ethiopian government to protect the human dignity of its detainees and release Reshid.