Gaddisaa Hirphasaa was born to Mr. Hirphasa Qanaa and Ms. Jaalannee Diroo in West Shewa zone, Xuqur Incinnii district, in 1978. His friends described him as one of the most brilliant students of his generation. In 2004, when he was a 5th year civil engineering student at Addis Ababa University, Gaddisaa was among 300 Oromo students expelled during a protest over the transfer of Oromia regional state headquarters from the capital and the continued marginalization of Oromos politically, economically, and socially under the TPLF led government.
According to his elder brother, Mr. Tayyee Hirphasa, following his expulsion, Gaddisaa was arrested on allegations of organizing student protests against the government. After his arrest, he was detained in solitary confinement at the infamous Maekelawi prison in Addis Ababa until his death in 2005, almost one year later.
Although 17 years have passed since his death, Gaddisaa’s family is still fighting for justice. In January, his mother, Ms. Jaalannee Diroo, gave an interview to BBC Afaan Oromo regarding his treatment in detention, and the factors, including torture, beatings, and intentional negligence on the part of prison officials, that led to his death. She reports that she was able to visit him three times in the detention center before his death, and that Gaddisaa had told her that he was being tortured and about the mental stress he was undergoing. She alleges that Gaddisa was detained in an underground dark room, beaten several times, and electrocuted to punish him for organizing peaceful protests.
As a result of his inhumane treatment, his heart and kidneys were injured significantly. Although he requested medical treatment, the prison officials took months to grant him access to treatment. According to his mother, when her son was finally allowed access to medical care, it was too late, and his body was not functioning, “We expected him to be a future leader of our nation, but
the soil took him”.
Following Gaddisaa’s death, the family went to court to seek justice, but they claim senior government officials played prominent roles in blocking them. Their case was thrown out after evidence from Miniki hospital, where he died, suggested that Gaddisaa died because of a short illness. Family members who spoke to BBC Afaan Oromo told the press agency they have not given up in seeking justice for their son and holding the Ethiopian government accountable.
International Law
Numerous international human rights treaties that Ethiopia is a party to, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, protect the rights of individuals to organize and peacefully protest through the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly, and expression. As noted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, “being able to come together, to freely express one’s views and to participate in the decisions that affected people and the planet, [is] a human right that stood at the very core of democracy and democratic societies, one that was instrumental for the achievement of other human rights.”
There are many other human rights violations that may be perpetrated against peaceful protesters, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, which are arrests and detentions that are not in accordance with the procedures established by law. Once arrested, protesters may face a variety of other rights violations, including violations of the right to life, the prohibition on torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment, and on the right of all persons deprived of liberty to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the person. Detainees also have a right to receive timely medical treatment, which protected under international human rights law by the abovementioned rights, as well as explicitly under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Ethiopia is a party to.