Ethiopia. Oromia. Escalation of the war against the OLF / OLA rebels. Unheard-of crimes against the civilian population.
After Ethiopian Federal Government declared the Oroma Liberation Army a terrorist organization, there is an escalation of the conflict in Oromia where the presence of the Eritrean army is strong and offset the weakness of the Ethiopian federal army. As in Tigray, also in Oromia unprecedented violence against civilians is taking place. The execution in public square of a young Oromo shocked the whole world.
While the Eritrean army two days ago launched another large-scale offensive in central Tigray with the hope of achieving a definitive victory against the Tigray defense forces and against the TPLF, there is an escalation in the Oromia fighting against the armed group Oromo: OLF / OLA, recently declared a terrorist organization by Ethiopian federal government together with the TPLF.
The civil war in Tigray has the advantage (for the federal government) to overshadow another dirty conflict in Oromia, a region that ranks well above Tigray in terms of population, geographic size and wealth produced. Since last February, there has been a series of military offensives by the armed group Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), affiliated with the opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) party, of which the majority of its leaders are held in federal prisons. The OLF has declared that it will not participate in the elections scheduled for June, calling it “a farce of the dictator Abiy Ahmed Ali”.
Starting from Wollega area, OLA militiamen rapidly expanded to other locations in Oromia, reaching 70 kilometers from the capital Addis Ababa, threatening it. The OLA offensive forced Premier Abyi Ahmed Ali to resort to the Eritrean army, compromising operations on the Tigray front. The foreign reinforcement troops have halted the advance on the capital without however weakening the OLA military force which is proceeding with the mass recruitment of unemployed young people from Oromia.
OLA militiamen have expanded their military activities in the State of Amhara, where massacres of civilians charged to the OLA have been recorded, including that which took place in the eastern part of the Amhara region: South Wollo, Oromo Special Zone and North Shewa. During these ethnic massacres, 300 people died and tens of thousands of Ethiopian citizens of Amhara origin fled their homes becaming internally displaced. The presence of Oromo militiamen in Amhara, was confirmed by the President of the regional state: Agegnehu Teshager, one of the most influential leaders of Amhara nationalism.
Fights between Eritrean soldiers, federal forces and OLA rebels have occurred in the last two weeks in Oromia in the districts of Arsi and Munesa, in particular in the city of Meti, lost and recaptured several times by Eritrean-Ethiopian troops. In the district of Arsi comes the news that the defense forces of Oromia (allied to the federal government) have been surrounded and destroyed by the OLA guerrillas.
The Oromo Liberation Army boasts a string of military victories that would inflict heavy casualties on the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF). As proof of these claims, the OLA has published a list of federal army officers they killed including: Daraje Sefu Logistics officer, Colonel Yifiru Damise, communications manager. Mangasha Abate Commander of the Federal Police, Getinet Mulgeta Commander of the Military Police. The list has not been confirmed or denied by the federal government.
The OLA mostly uses guerrilla tactics, trying at the moment to avoid pitched battles. It also tries to avoid confrontations with Eritrean forces, focusing on the Ethiopian federal army already weakened by the civil war in Tigray. The OLA has now reached the Shewan area in Oromia, near the capital Addis Ababa which is now again under threat. If Oromo guerrilla units continue to conquer territories with the same speed as in recent months, the OLA could become strong enough to encircle and besiege Addisa Ababa. Military leader OLA: Jalla Marro told national media that the military offensive has among its objectives that of preventing the “scam” elections organized by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.
On April 27, the High Command of the Oromo Liberation Army published a press release setting the conditions for the federal government for a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict. Immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Oromia. Immediate and unconditional release of OLF political prisoners held in federal prisons. The postponement of the elections scheduled for next June motivated by the civil war situation in the country. Independent international investigation into the war crimes committed by the feds and Eritreans against the civilian population in Oromia.
Inclusive national dialogue between federal government, regional states, political and armed parties, civil society and religious representatives in order to find a peaceful solution to the various conflicts taking place in Ethiopia. A dialogue in which the foreign allies of the Ethiopian Premier must not participate: primarily Eritrea. A referendum for modification is also required re the Constitution that regulates the Ethiopian Federation, which includes greater guarantees of autonomy and self-determination of the regional states. Reform of the public administration and judicial system.
Although not yet publicly stated, the ultimate goal of the Oromo Liberation Army is full self-government by Oromia. However, several regional observers note that its strategy to achieve this is uncertain, as is the willingness of the OLA to open peace negotiations.
In the “secret” war of Oromia, we are witnessing the same retaliatory tactic on civilians adopted by the federal and Eritrean troops in Tigray. The Ethiopian Commission on Human Rights (EHJRC) has published a report detailing the massive crackdown on Oromo civilians suspected of being members or sympathizers of the OLF / OLA. An accusation that was denied by the Oromia Attorney General, a supporter of the Prosperity Party of Premier Abiy.
The commission expressed serious concern about the treatment of the detained prisoners without a formal investigation being opened against them and the fact that they had not been brought to court within the legal deadlines. Some of the civilian detainees who gave their testimony to the EHRC said they were taken to “secret” places to fight their will and were forced to wear militia uniforms and “rasta” wigs where they were filmed holding weapon to pass them off as Oromo guerrillas.
Some of the prison administrators admitted to the EHRC the transfer of detainees to other detention centers, but denied having filmed them, without providing any other explanation to the commission. In the report, EHRC Commissioner Daniel Bekele (PhD) said that “special attention is needed to ensure that trials of crime suspects are handled only by regular courts and that court orders are duly respected by regional authorities.” .
The position taken by the EHRC highlights a rift within the federal government. The Ethiopian Commission for Human Rights is a government organization until now under strict control of the Premier. Until March, the EHRC lent itself to covering up or downplaying the crimes committed in Tigray and was used by the federal government as a political propaganda organ.
Since April there has been a marked distancing of the EHRC from the Addis Ababa government and an increasingly autonomous work on the crimes committed by all the actors of the Ethiopian civil war in Tigray, Oromia and other regions. According to some sources, this greater autonomy is delaying the commission of inquiry on crimes in Tigray proposed by Premier Abiy and composed of experts from EHRC, United Nations and African Union. The Ethiopian commission would now no longer be deemed “reliable” by the Abiy government.
As in Tigray, the federal government tries to hide the crimes committed against the civilian population in Oromia. Unfortunately, the story of the young Oromo: Gamachu Wondimu Kabada in the city of Dembi Dollo has dealt a severe blow to the policy of silence and fake news adopted by the Abiy government to cover up the real, horrible and disastrous situation of conflict and systematic violation of human rights in Ethiopia.
On Wednesday, May 12, the communications office of the federal government in the area of Kellem Wollega, Oromia, published a message on its Facebook page announcing that the security forces had captured a dangerous militiaman of the armed group “Abba Torbè” associated with OLA. The young man under investigation: Gamachu Wondimu Kabada, had been accused of murdering several policemen and civilians. Authorities reported that the young man was wounded in the leg as he tried to escape capture.
The footage posted on the official Facebook page of the federal government communications office shows the battered young man, with torn clothes, bleeding from multiple injuries, hands tied behind his back and a gun hanging from his neck. The video has raised an uproar of national and international outrage on social media. Several eyewitnesses say federal soldiers killed the young man in a public execution as a warning to any Ethiopian citizen of Oromo origin who intends to continue direct or indirect support for OLA “terrorists”.
A resident of the city of Dembi Dollo, protected from anonymity for security reasons, confirmed to the national newspaper Addis Standard that the poor boy’s public execution really took place. “I was in the area known as ‘Manahariya’. When I heard gunshots, I immediately tried to escape. A few moments later the area was surrounded by the Oromia Special Forces, who took us to the roundabout at that time we witnessed the execution of the boy. “says the eyewitness adding that the security situation of civilians in Dembi Dollo is appalling.
Asked to federal authorities by BBC Amharic why the young Gemechu was not brought to justice but summarily executed, the head of the Kellem area security bureau: Tesema Wariyo reported that Gemechu was a dangerous criminal.
Human rights lawyer and activist Ameha Mekonnen explained to the national media that the violation of human rights is now becoming a practice in Ethiopia. In the specific case of Gamachu Wondimu Kabada, the young Oromo was in the custody of the police who were obliged to hand him over to the judiciary to face a fair trial. Ameha also pointed out that the suspect was shot while unarmed and posed no threat to his immediate vicinity, which constitutes first degree murder. “The officials and the administration of the area should be held responsible for failing to bring the young man to justice and for the extrajudicial murder,” said the human rights lawyer.
Today in several cities of Oromia, popular protests took place after the Muslim festival of Eid, demanding justice for the brutal extrajudicial execution of the young Gamachu Wondimu Kabada. Many of these demonstrations were “forcefully” dispersed by the federal police.
