OMN has issued a report about the arbitrary detention of eighteen Oromo civilians by government soldiers from Were Jarso woreda of the North Shewa zone. Of those detained, seventeen were extrajudicially executed by security forces on May 4, 2022. The eighteenth was Buruse Lemma, a young man in his early 30’s, who managed to survive and tell their story.
Mr. Buruse is a day labourer from Kemeche kebele, Were Jarso woreda, and the sole provider for his family. Over the past year, he has faced continual threats by government soldiers who suspected he was affiliated with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). He was eventually arrested and imprisoned for several months. Even though he was later released with the help of his community, he continued to be harrassed by government soldiers and was forced to relocate to Jemjem village. There, he began to work as a day labourer and lived with a prominent elder, Abebe Shumi.
Unfortunately, Mr. Buruse’s troubles did not end there. At around midnight on April 4, government soldiers broke into Mr. Abebe’s home, and took both Mr. Abebe and Mr. Buruse to the military camp in Jarso town.
According to Mr. Buruse, civilians of all ages were kept in the camp. At one point, Mr. Buruse thought they were about to be released, but then, “the soldiers chained our hands back, put us in the pickup car and took us to a tributary called Alate which is found on the way to Gojjam.” The prisoners were then taken to a cliff above the tributary. The soldiers began shooting the prisoners and throwing them from the cliff. Mr. Buruse was able to save himself by throwing himself off the cliff before the soldiers could shoot him. The next morning, members of the local community found him and unchained him.
As a result of his ordeal, Mr. Buruse was left with two broken legs, damage to his spinal cord, and various scratches and wounds on his arms, back, and other parts of his body. He is currently in hiding and living in fear for his life.
International Law:
Under international law, States are obligated to ensure that the State, or its agents, like police officers or members of the military, do not violate the rights of its citizens. Multiple human rights treaties that Ethiopia is a party to uphold the right to life as a fundamental right, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Extrajudicial executions are a violation of the right to life, and involve the deliberate killing of an individual by a State agent outside of a legal framework. A violation of the right to life may be found to have been committed even in cases where the attempt on the victim’s life was unsuccessful.
In addition, Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) sets out that the right to liberty protects citizens from arbitrary arrest and detentions, which are arrests and detentions that are not in accordance with the procedures established by law. Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights also protects this right, as does article 17 of Ethiopia’s Constitution.