Human Rights in Ethiopia - Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions

The record of correspondence for 2007 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, A/HRC/4/20/Add.1.

Ethiopia: Killings by the Armed Forces in Ogaden

The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Ethiopia has failed to cooperate with the mandate he has been given by the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.

I would like to draw the attention of your Government to reports I have received concerning several incidents of summary executions allegedly carried out by security forces in the Ogaden in the course of the year 2005.

According to the information received, on 29 June 2005, in Shilaabo, Ogaden, your Government’s armed forces opened fire on a group of civilians listening to BBC Somali Service in a teashop. There would appear to have been no reason for the use of force except that they were listening to an interview with a member of the Ogaden National Libertaion Front (ONLF). The armed forces killed six persons, among them reportedly Ali Adan dhorre, Hurre Ali Barre, Hassan Faqid Dhuhul and Sahardid Abdi Ali Horor, and wounded others, including Ms. Jamila Aden, the owner of the teashop.

It is further alleged that on 26 October 2005 in Farmadow, Ogaden, your Government’s armed forces killed seven civilians, Abide Aided Adair, Ahmed-Wail Mohamed Betel, Abide Hay be Ali, Mohamed Seabee, Wail Omar Gabled, Anise Abide Sofa Made and Burial Abide Rabbi, and wounded fifteen others. Reportedly, the killing was unprovoked and the authorities have not provided any reason for the use of lethal force.

On 15 November 2005, a jail break reportedly occurred at Birgaydhka barracks detention camp, in Qabridaharre, Ogaden. Among the fugitives were both members of the ONLF and prisoners not affiliated with the ONLF. Your Government’s armed forces reportedly opened fire on a crowd that included by-standers and prevented assistance for those wounded by opening fire also on rescuers. More than twenty persons died as a result, including Abdullahi Ahmed Aqib, Abdullahi Gani Ali, Abdiaziz Muhumed, Abdullahi Ahmed Mohamed, Yusuf Mohamed Adan, Asad Mohamed Abdullahi, Bashi Mohamed Hassan, Mohamed Mohamed, Abdirahman Hared Alaki, Geesh Olad, Anwar Sheikh, Arab Garwah, Amin Mohamed Abdullahi, Siyad Irgah, Bashi Hassan, Rage Moalim, Abdi Wali. The authorities left the dead bodies on display for two days.

While I do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of these reports, I would like to refer Your Excellency's Government to the fundamental principles applicable to such incidents under international law. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. As the Human Rights Committee has clarified, “arbitrarily” means in a manner “disproportionate to the requirements of law enforcement in the circumstances of the case” (Views of the Committee in the case Suárez de Guerrero v. Colombia, Communication no. 45/1979, § 13.3). In order to assess whether the use of lethal force was proportionate to the requirements of law enforcement, there must be a “thorough, prompt and impartial investigation” (Principle 9 of the Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions). This principle was reiterated by the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights in Resolution 2005/34 on “Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions” (OP 4), stating that all States have “the obligation … to conduct exhaustive and impartial investigations into all suspected cases of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions”. The Commission added that this obligation includes the obligation “to identify and bring to justice those responsible, …, to grant adequate compensation within a reasonable time to the victims or their families and to adopt all necessary measures, including legal and judicial measures, in order to … prevent the recurrence of such executions”.

It is my understanding that there are in the Ogaden occasional clashes between governmental armed forces and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Insofar as your Government was to consider that there is an armed conflict in course in the Ogaden justifying the use of lethal force in accordance with international humanitarian law, I would like to recall that international humanitarian law requires parties to an armed conflict to distinguish at all times between combatants and civilians, and to direct attacks only against combatants (Rules 1 and 7 of the Customary Rules of International Humanitarian Law identified by the International Committee of the Red Cross); acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited (Rule 2); and launching an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited (Rule 14).

It is my responsibility under the mandate provided to me by the Commission on Human Rights to seek to clarify all cases brought to my attention. Since I am expected to report on these alleged incidents, I would be grateful for your cooperation and your observations on the following matters:

2. Please provide the details, and where available the results, of any police investigation, medical examination (autopsy), and judicial or other inquiries carried out in relation to the alleged use of lethal force in the above incidents. Please include information regarding the guarantees for independence and impartiality of the investigating and adjudicating authorities. If no inquiries have taken place, or if they have been inconclusive, please explain why.

3. Please provide the details of any disciplinary measures imposed on or criminal prosecution against members of the armed forces responsible for the above killings.

4. Please state whether any compensation was provided to the families of the victims.

Correspondence from 2006

The record of correspondence for 2006 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2006/53/Add.1.

Ethiopia: Killing of Demonstrators Following Elections

Violation alleged: Deaths due to the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials

Subject(s) of appeal: 26 persons (persons exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression)

Character of reply: No response

Observations of the Special Rapporteur

The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Ethiopia has failed to cooperate with the mandate he has been given by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Urgent appeal sent on 10 June 2005 with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the Special Rapporteur on Torture

We would like to draw the attention of your Government to information we have received regarding the incommunicado detention of approximately 1500 demonstrating students, the killing of 26 persons, the wounding of 100 others and the arrest and harassment of various journalists including Helen Mohammed, Temam Aman and Bereket Teklu working for Voice of America, and Taddesse Engidaw and Assegedech Yiberta working for Deutsche-Welle, as well as human rights defender Chernet Tadesse, 31, investigator for the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, and United Kingdom-based former deputy mayor for Addis Ababa, Andargachew Tsige. According to information received:

On 15 May 2005, the Ethiopian Parliamentary elections were carried out in a peaceful climate. However, the decision of the National Elections Board to postpone the announcement of the official results to 12 July, because of the more than 100 contested results, led to agitation amongst the population, particularly amongst students and members of the opposition who fear that results will be manipulated.

In defiance of the Prime Minister’s ban on demonstrations for a month after elections, since 6 June 2005, students carried out sit-ins and mainly peaceful protests, even if there were some reports of violence on the part of demonstrators, at colleges and universities and in the streets of Addis Ababa and surrounding towns. On 6 June 2005 at the two main Addis Ababa University campuses, several hundred peaceful demonstrating students were beaten with batons and rifle butts by police. The students were protesting the announcement of the provisional results of the 15 May 2005 Parliamentary elections indicating a majority for Prime Minister’s Meles Zenawi’s ruling party the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, (EPRDF). The students were also supporting the political opposition’s demands for an investigation into alleged voting irregularities, including reported arrests and beating of opposition candidates in approximately 300 out of 547 constituencies. Other students protesting in Kotebe Teacher’s College, the AAU’s Commercial College and Technical College in Addis Ababa, were also beaten and arrested on 6 and 7 June 2005. At Kotebe, it is reported that, in response to the students throwing stones at the police and burning government vehicles, police opened fire, particularly on those who blocked police vehicles which were carrying arrested students. A female student, Shebray Delelagne, was killed; six others were wounded.

It is reported that approximately 2000 students, as well as journalists were arrested. Around 500 students have been released, but the others remain incommunicado in police and military camps, including the Sendafa police training college, 40km north of Addis Ababa. It is reported that 26 persons have been killed as a result of security forces opening fire on the demonstrators.

Moreover, opposition party members, particularly members of the UEDP Medhin party, which is part of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), who were accused, by the Government, of instigating the student protests and inciting violence, were reportedly beaten and detained for a short period. Lidetu Ayalew, the leader of the opposition party CUD, was kept under house arrest for 30 hours in his office, incommunicado, and without food or water. He was then allowed to go home where he is also being kept under house arrest and incommunicado.

Furthermore, on 2 June 2005, six journalists from the Amharic-language private weeklies Abay, Addis Zena and Menlik were called by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID); they were held for questioning for several hours about articles they published during the election period. They were then released without charge. Moreover, on 6 June, police confiscated the cameras belonging to reporter Anthony Mitchell and photographer Boris Heger, working for the Associated Press, while they were covering the student protests. When they arrived at the police station to recover their equipment, they were prevented from leaving for seven hours, and when finally released, they found that the memory cards of their cameras had been erased. Finally, on 7 June 2005, the Information Ministry revoked the accreditation of five Ethiopian journalists working for Voice of America and Deutsche-Welle. Their work permits, which also serve as identification, were also confiscated. The Information Ministry accused them of unbalanced reporting concerning the elections and warned them that legal action could be brought against them if they continued reporting; the threat was also directed generally to any other journalists found to report in a similar unbalanced and false manner.

Correspondence from 2005

The record of correspondence for 2005 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2005/7/Add.1.

Type, date and summary of communication: Allegation, 30 January 2004. On 12 December 2003, 8 people, allegedly including three staff members of the Gambella branch office of the Immigration and returnees Affairs Authority and a policeman, were ambushed and killed while traveling on duty in a place called Finkiwo, 30 kilometers from Gambella town. The bodies were allegedly found mutilated, the limbs and necks of the bodies were reportedly cut to pieces. Members of the defense force later arrived at the scene of the killings and took the mutilated bodies of the victims to Gambella town by putting them in a sack and, rather than taking the bodies to the hospital, they reportedly took them to the angry crowd in the town of Gambella. The infuriated crowd attributed the killings of the eight men to Anuak armed groups in the jungles; the crowd reportedly moved to take retaliatory actions on civilian Anuaks who live in Gambella town. It was alleged that the Anuaks tried to flee the attacks by running to their homes and in other directions. All exits out of the town were reportedly blocked by soldiers and therefore about five thousands Anuaks were allegedly forced to enter the premises of the Mekane Yesus Church in the town. According to reports, the mob, in collaboration with members of the defense force, continued to attack those who could not hide. Many were allegedly killed and sustained severe and light injuries. Moreover, reportedly 470 houses belonging to the Anuaks were burnt down. According to the information received, more than four hundreds Anuaks were killed during the attacks. Among the victims, the names of thirty-five students have been identified.

Government reply: Response dated 16 February 2004: The Government provides a detailed background of the ethnic situation in the State of Gambella. It explains that the riot that took place on 13 December was the culmination of simmering tensions. A task force organized by the regional government found that 56 to 60 Anyua were killed. 74 persons were found wounded. 410 houses belonging to 324 households were burnt down. Large populations of students and pupils from the Anyua nationalities have fled as they are afraid of violence. During the day of violence on 13 December the only Federal Institution present in Gambella was the Ministry of Defence. The defence forces were able to patrol key institutions while at the same time they arrested the perpetrators. Since the local police was overwhelmed, the army got involved. The ministry of Federal affairs dispatched a mission led by the Minister of State responsible for regions together with a federal police force to help the regional government investigate and arrest the perpetrators and to interview the victims. It turns out that the actual perpetrators were all non indigenous, some of them teachers, others were members of the local police force and others daily labourers from the town. The Government organized a committee from among the victims to help out in the identifications of the culprits. Together with the federal police, about 36 people out of more than 60 suspects involved in the killings were verified and a federal prosecutor has started examining the records finalizing them for federal courts. The federal government will spare no effort to bring the perpetrators involved in these atrocities to justice and will at the same time work with communities to ensure the restoration of peace and stability in the region.

Observation of the Special Rapporteur:The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government for its reply. The Special Rapporteur would appreciate receiving further information on the outcome of the investigations carried out by the federal police.

Type, date and summary of communication: Urgent appeal, sent with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, 28 May 2004. Following the massacre of Anuak people in December 2003, reports indicated that killings and other acts of ethnic cleansing were continuing. Indeed, some 1100 persons belonging to the Anuak people were allegedly killed by Ethiopian troops. Entire villages were burnt to the ground, sometimes with the occupants still in their homes. Many villagers have reportedly been forced to flee, and thousands have travelled to a refugee camp in Pochalla, Southern Sudan. Destruction is said to be widespread, with hundreds of homes and crop-fields having been set ablaze, leaving thousands of persons without shelter or food. Information received indicated that around 5’000 Ethiopian troops have been engaged in fighting against Anuak farmers at Tedo village since April 10th, 2004, and have burned down all of the village’s houses and crops. There were concerns that they were moving towards Pochalla refugee camp in Southern Sudan in order to attack the camp’s refugees. There are indications that educated men were being subjected to selective, politically-motivated extra-judicial executions. Several hundred persons, including community leaders have reportedly been arbitrarily arrested, many of whom are being detained incommunicado and allegedly been subjected to torture.

Government reply: Response dated 8 June 2004: According to the Government, the situation in the area of Gambella after the tragic events in December 2003 is back to normal and the perpetrators of the violence are pending prosecution. Houses destroyed have been rebuilt and provision of relief is in progress. An independent Inquiry commission established by the Federal Parliament is conducting its investigation into the event. Successive conferences of elders held at the regional state representing all ethnic groups have immensely contributed to restore peace and reconciliation among people. While the Ethiopian Government expresses its deep regrets on the tragic incident, it however wishes to underscore that the allegations are a total and deliberate misrepresentation of facts supplied by groups who take advantage of every opportunity to denigrate the Ethiopian Government for their own political objectives. The allegations lack elementary objectivity and are a total misrepresentation of the facts on the ground.

Observation of the Special Rapporteur:The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government for its reply.

Correspondence from 2003

The record of correspondence for 2003 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2003/Add.1.

On 23 April 2002, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Ethiopia concerning Bekele Jirata, the Vice-President of the Macha Tulama Association, a long-established and officially recognized Oromo welfare association, Gemeda Dinagde and Dereje Sibu, medical doctors, Nekemte Wakjira Abdissa, a medical doctor in Gimbi, Ayana Kabata, Tesfaye Burayu and Getachew Ummata, all teachers in Nekemte, Biratu Qanani, Atsede Tola and Lemlem Tesfaye, all students in Nekemte, Zelalem Abebe and Bekele Tedla, all students in Najo, Biratu Qanani, Berhanu Ismail and Tadelle Kalbassa, all teachers in Mendi, Mohamed Aberra, Ahmed Said and Meseret Tamiru, all students in Gimbi, Tolessa Debela and Daniel Gemechu, Addis Ababa University students, and Fikru Negassa, a student shot in Shambu, who were all reportedly arrested in several towns in western Oromia and in Addis Ababa, following demonstrations in late March 2002. It is reported that they are being held incommunicado in police stations and prisons, including Dedessa special detention centre near Najo. Student Girma Beyene was reportedly shot dead by the security forces in Ambo, while Fikru Negassa had a leg amputated in an Addis Ababa hospital as a result of being shot in Shambu. In view of the incommunicado nature of their detention, fears were expressed that the above-named persons, as well as others said to be arrested at the same time, are at risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

On 18 September 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent an allegation to the Government of Ethiopia relating to the following cases.

According to the information received, 38 farmers were killed in Awasa on 24 May 2002 when police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration consisting of 3,000 people, most of whom belonged to the Sidama Ethnic Group.

Correspondence from 1983-2002

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has been corresponding with Governments regarding alleged violations since the mandate was established over two decades ago. While the Project on Extrajudicial Executions is making efforts to provide easily browsed versions of as many years as possible, much of the earlier correspondence is available only in the PDF versions of reports from 1983 to the present.

Ethiopia: Visits & Communications

Correspondence from 2007