OMN has recently issued a report on the extrajudicial killing of Bati Ode, an 85-year-old farmer, by Ethiopian security forces.
According to this report, Bati Odi was a farmer from the Shala District of the West Arsi zone who played an important role as a peacemaker (Jarsaa Biyyaa) in his community by helping to solve conflicts between individuals and groups. According to his family, he had no connections to any political party and had never been arrested prior to the incident detailed below.
In mid-June 2022, Mr. Bati Odi was arrested at his farm by Ethiopian security forces, based on their suspicion that some of his children were members of the OLA. He was detained in the police station in Ajje town for just over a month. According to his family, during that time, he was never brought before a court of law.
On the evening of July 20, 2022, Mr. Bati was removed from the police office by members of the Ethiopian security forces, who took him outside of town and shot him. Following this act, they dumped his body in Ajje town. According to his family, who visited the detention facility the day before he was killed, the militias refused to let members of the local community retrieve his body in order to give him a proper burial.
According to the report, Mr. Bati Odi was one of six elderly men arrested in Ajje town in the past month based on their purported connections to the OLA. In addition, they claim that 150 other Oromo civilians from the area are currently in jail for “political reasons.”
International law
“Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one may be deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by law. In particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained”. This quote of Article 6 of the African Charter demonstrates that there is a certain obligation for Ethiopia to not arbitrarily arrest any of its citizens. However, Bati Ode was arrested without a mandate and detained without facing any kind of trial, which is a violation of his due process rights.
Also, Article 4 of the same Charter protects the right to life. Bati Ode was extrajudicially executed in Faji sole village. The right to life is viewed as a fundamental right under international law, and is also protected under Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.