Falls Church, Virginia (09/20/2022) – On September 19, 2022, the UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) released a report outlining its investigations into human rights abuses committed in northern Ethiopia since November 3, 2020. As previously reported by OLLAA, the ICHREE was formed after the UN adopted a resolution on Ethiopia during a special session in December 2021. Since this resolution was adopted, OLLAA has been advocating for the Commissioners to investigate all credible allegations of human rights abuses committed across Ethiopia, and particularly, those committed inside Oromia and against Oromo civilians.
In its initial report, the ICHREE chose to investigate a few key incidents and thematic violations that occurred in the Tigray and Amhara regions of Ethiopia, due to “time and resource constraints.” The ICHREE noted that this, “will frustrate many, especially in light of the broad and troubling range of allegations of violations in Ethiopia,” and noted that they hope, “it will have the opportunity to expand its investigations and findings with additional time, resources, and cooperation to include further incidents and themes.” In particular, they noted that they had received reliable information about three large scale killings of citizens in Oromia between June-August 2022, and that they had, “received reports of attacks against Oromo civilians by numerous perpetrators, including ENDF, Amhara militias, and Oromia Special Forces.” They concluded by stating that, “Further investigation into these incidents, as well as the wider situation of communities in Oromia is recommended.”
OLLAA was disappointed to find that this report did not include an investigation into the numerous human rights violations that have been perpetrated against Oromo civilians since November 2020. OLLAA firmly believes that, if the ultimate goal of the ICHREE is to issue recommendations that can lead to lasting peace and stability, their investigations must encompass the entirety of Ethiopia. At the same time, we were encouraged by the ICHREE’s explicit acknowledgement of the need to investigate Oromia in future reports. OLLAA’s Executive Director has traveled to meet with members of the ICHREE today, and will remain in Geneva through the end of the week to meet with other agencies about the dire human rights and humanitarian situation facing the Oromo.
In order to ensure that the ICHREE’s future investigations are truly inclusive, we encourage members of the Oromo community to speak up about the human rights abuses they have experienced and to raise the profile of the Oromo before the international community. Going forward, OLLAA will send out updates regarding opportunities for individuals to reach out to the ICHREE directly. In the meantime, we encourage any persons who are willing to discuss the human rights abuses they or their family have experienced with OLLAA or the ICHREE to reach out to us at info@ollaa.org.
OLLAA is an umbrella organization that works in collaboration with dozens of Oromo communities around the world.