OLLAA has received a credible report regarding the detention of Chaltu Asfaw Dhugama, a 29 year old Oromo women’s rights advocate, who was arrested on November 11, 2021 under the auspices of Ethiopia’s nation-wide state of emergency.
Chaltu Asfaw Dhugama is from Ginbi, western Oromia, and was residing in Finfinne/Addis Ababa at the time of her arrest. She is a devoted women’s rights advocate, and serves as the Head of Finance at Adoye Oromo Women’s Organization – a legally certified NGO that seeks to empower victimized Oromo women and girls by providing them with support, assistance and rehabilitation. The organization also works to restore and increase awareness of Oromo culture to the larger community.
According to her colleagues at Adoye Oromo, Chaltu had spent the morning of November 11, 2021, collecting data that would enable the organization to provide sanitary products and medications to women in prison. She then met up with some friends for lunch near the center of Finfinne/Addis Ababa. While at lunch, she and her friends were approached by three men, who Chaltu’s colleagues now suspect were intelligence officers, who demanded to see their identification. As the men were not in uniform, Chaltu refused their command. Shortly after that, five uniformed officers arrived on the scene, at which point Chaltu and her friends showed them their identification. Chaltu was then placed under arrest.
It took four days for Chaltu’s family and friends to track her down – finally learning she was being detained at a police station in the Piasa area. Due to Ethiopia’s state of emergency, which allowed for individuals to be detained without charges for as long as it was in effect, Chaltu was not brought before a court for more than three months. She has since been charged with violating Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law and has now appeared before the court on multiple occasions. According to her colleagues, even though the police have continually failed to introduce specific or tangible evidence, the court keeps granting the police additional days to investigate her case. It is unclear how long she will remain in detention.
This is not the first time Chaltu has been arrested. Two years ago, Chaltu and some of her colleagues were arrested and detained for a little over three months without any charges because of their work, although, at that time, their organization was not legally certified. As noted by her colleagues, in other countries, the work Chaltu has dedicated her life to would be recognized and awarded. However, in Ethiopia, rather than commend her, the government views her work (particularly that regarding prison conditions) as a threat to its reputation.
International Legal Standards
International law generally protects individuals from arbitrary arrests and detentions and entitles them to certain due process rights. However, international law does allow States to derogate from certain obligations contained in international human rights treaties during a state of emergency. Such measures often restrict the rights of persons deprived of liberty. It should be noted that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has held that the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Ethiopia is a party, “does not allow for State parties to derogate from their treaty obligations during emergency situations.” Article 6 of that convention sets out that no person may be arbitrarily arrested or detained.
In November 2021, the Ethiopian government declared a nation-wide state of emergency, whose broad powers allowed for the arrest of any person whom officials have “reasonable suspicion” cooperated with a terrorist group (generally referring to the TPLF and OLA) and detain them for as long as the state of emergency was in effect. Chaltu Asfaw Dhuguma, alongside numerous other Oromos, was arrested under the auspices of this state of emergency.
Following the announcement that Ethiopia’s state of emergency had been lifted on February 15, 2022, there were calls from the international community to release all prisoners who had been detained without charges under the state of emergency within 48 hours, the time prescribed under Article 19 of Ethiopia’s Constitution.
There is a global pattern of States using terrorist laws to target journalists, political opponents, and members of civil society. Since the Ethiopian government promulgated its first anti-terrorism law in 2009, numerous organizations have criticized the law as containing an overly broad definition of “terrorist acts” which does not comply with international legal standards. Although the law was replaced in 2020 with proclamation 1176/2020, critics have noted that the definition still criminalizes “similar categories of non-violent crime”, and that the law restricts the right to freedom of expression. In addition, the law imposes high penalties for individuals found guilty of terrorist acts. It remains unclear exactly how the government is alleging Chaltu violated its anti-terrorism law, but it is concerning to see a woman who has devoted her life to helping others charged with such a crime with little justification.