It has been nearly four years since the Ethiopian federal government installed military command posts in western and southern Oromia, leading to the killing of countless civilians at the hands of security forces. This culture of impunity has taken a toll on Oromia. Numerous Oromo Qeerroos and Qarrees, children, women, and elders have been executed in public without justification and the whereabouts of many others remains unknown. In one prominent example, Ethiopian security forces executed 14 Karayu Oromos in an act of political and religious targeting in December 2021. Their bodies were left in a field until they were found by their fellow villagers the next day.
The hardest thing for the Oromo is the fact that these killings are occurring on a daily basis, and yet, no one ever faces charges for their crimes. Although the Ethiopian federal and Oromia regional governments have a duty to guard the lives of their citizens, as Human Rights Watch has recently reported, there is a culture of impunity for abuses committed by security forces in Oromia which has “only emboldened unaccountable security forces and done nothing to prevent further harm.”
On June 18, 2022, about 340 civilians were killed in an attack in Tole kebele of Gimbi woreda, West Wollega zone, Oromia. Although initial reports indicated that the victims were all Amharas, later reports found the victims included ethnic Oromos, Amharas and Gumuz. It also should be noted that, around this time, other reports of attacks against Oromo civilians were released, which were largely ignored by the international media. Immediately following this incident, the Ethiopian federal and Oromia regional governments blamed the OLA for these killings, a claim which the OLA has denied. The OLA, alongside the leading Oromo political parties (the OLF and OFC) called for an independent investigation to be launched into the attack. One Amhara resident of the area was recorded by OMN saying he did not believe the OLA had committed the attack, and noting that Ethiopian security forces had been attacking civilians in the area. Following the massacre of civilians in Tole village, the Oromia regional government declared that they would align with Amhara regional security forces, who have previously been accused of committing genocidal acts in Tigray and other violent attacks against civilians in Oromia, in the name of “destroying the common enemy.” Since that time, OLLAA has received credible reports of a massive deployment of Amhara Regional Forces to western and central Oromia.
On July 4th, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed posted on Twitter about another mass killing in Oromia, this time of 150 civilians, in the Qellem Wollega zone, which he blamed on “Shene” (a term frequently used by the Ethiopian government to refer to the OLA). As with the previous attack, Odaa Tarbii, the OLA’s Spokesperson, again denied that the OLA was responsible for the attack, and instead claimed the Ethiopian government was responsible for the attack.
On July 5th, the day after the attack in Qellem Wollega, Hangasa Ibrahim, a Member of Parliament for the Oromia region, spoke on Facebook live, claiming that the recent attacks on civilians in Gimbi and Qellem Wollega were planned by the President of the Oromia Regional State, Mr. Shimelis Abdissa, Oromia Police Commissioner Mr. Ararsa Merdasa, and Oromia’s PP senior leadership Mr. Fikadu Tesema. He also called for an investigation and for accountability for those who “orchestrated” the attacks.
Media reports on the latest attack in Oromia have taken a remarkably different tone following the release of Mr. Hangasa’s post about these attacks. While early reports did not critically examine the claim that the OLA had perpetrated the attack against civilians in Qellem Wollega, those reports that were published on or following July 5th tend to note the conflicting claims about who perpetrated the attack, thereby helping to establish the need for an independent investigation in the eyes of the international community, with the New York Times even arguing that Mr. Hangasa’s Facebook live video had “bolstered” the OLA’s claims.
It is interesting to note the impact of Mr. Hengasa’s words on the international media, as it showed that they only took claims that the Ethiopian government may have been behind the attack seriously following a statement by an Ethiopian politician. To those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Hengasa, it may seem strange that his words could influence the international community’s perception of attacks inside Oromia, however, there are a couple of factors that made him an ideal person to raise such concerns. First, as a member of the Prosperity Party (Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s political party), his accusations that the Ethiopian government is behind the attack hold more weight than others’ comments would. Second, this is not the first time Mr. Hangasa has claimed the Oromia regional government is responsible for attacks that were initially blamed on the OLA. Following the Karayu massacre in December, the Oromia regional communications bureau immediately claimed the OLA had perpetrated the attack. On December 26th, Hangasa Ibrahim made another Facebook live post in which he alleged that the Oromia Police Commissioner had ordered the Oromia special police to carry out the Karayu massacre. Such claims were later borne out by reports of the EHRC, which found that Ethiopian security forces had committed the massacre, and later reported that some suspects of the killings who remained at large were “government officials.”
Oromia’s culture of impunity is well-known to the Oromo. Countless civilians have died at the hands of Ethiopian security forces since the rise of Prime Minister Abiy to power, and they have little faith that the perpetrators of these abuses will ever be held accountable. More must be done to combat this culture of impunity and to ensure that victims of extrajudicial killings and other abuses have access to justice. When individuals from within the ruling political party speak out about abuses committed by State agents, it becomes more likely that the international community will take these claims seriously and that bodies tasked with investigating allegations of human rights abuses, such as the UN’s International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, will examine these claims. While the Ethiopian government has a duty to launch independent investigations into allegations of human rights violations, and ensure perpetrators of such attacks are held accountable, we are gravely concerned that the Ethiopian government has consistently failed to do so, particularly in cases where the perpetrators of such attacks may be State agents.
It is only through independent and effective investigations that the cycle of impunity inside Oromia can be broken. It is therefore imperative that more Ethiopian politicians speak up when security forces violate the human rights of civilians inside Oromia.