All documented incidents
Page 35 / 35
Every published incident, newest first. Open one to read the full record.
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Killing by government forces in East Hararghe (16 Jun 2020)
Ahmed Nur, from 02 Kebele, Haromaya, E Hararge, was killed ‘on the open gate’ in daylight by military forces on 16 June (Gadado 30 July). Source: Oromia Support Group, OSG Report 54 (2021-01-08), p.11.…
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Killing by government forces in West Wollega (6 Jun 2020)
Habtamu Jalata, Kabi kebele, Homa district, W Wallega, was killed by soldiers on 6 June ‘being suspected OLF supporter’ Source: Oromia Support Group, OSG Report 54 (2021-01-08), p.15.…
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Regional security forces storm Nekemte Specialized Hospital and threaten staff
On 3 June 2020, after coming under attack by unidentified groups, regional security forces stormed Nekemte Specialized Hospital, threatened staff into treating two wounded regional police officers and temporarily interrupted health…
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Detention in Dodola, West Arsi (29 May 2020)
The following from Hinqollo Waabee, Arsi, have been detained in Silxaanaa for two years, since they were arrested between 15 and 29 May, 2020: Saaliyaa Huseen 32 Jibriil Hajjii 38 Musxafa Margaa 30 Ukashaa Muuasa 38 Warquu Nugusee 35…
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Wife sheds light on husband’s ordeal in security crack down
The wife of a man whose handcuffed picture provoked the ire of many on Ethiopian social media spoke to the BBC Afaan Oromo that “he was beaten” before being escorted to a police station. The picture of Abdo Abajobir, an employee of Oromia…
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Failed politics and deception: Behind the crisis in western and southern Oromia
Please click here to download the PDF version of this in-depth analysis. Dozens of unarmed civilians have been shot dead by Ethiopian army soldiers operating in the Qellem Wollega district of the Oromia State over the course of the past…
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Update on detention of journalists by security forces
Desu Dula and Waqo Nole, journalists working for Oromia News Network (ONN) are currently in police custody awaiting trial, VOA Amharic reported. The networks general manager Sorsa Debella said the two journalists were detained while…
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Protesters in Aweday beaten, shot at, as video exposes army crack down against civilians
At least 30 people were injured on Thursday February 20/2020 when government security forces clamped down on a crowd of protesters in the town of Aweday, eleven kilometers west of Harar, in east Hararghe zone of Oromia regional state. The…
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Burayu police commissioner shot dead, colleague injured
Solomon Tadesse, Police Commissioner of Burayu City, was shot dead today, whereas Commander Tesfaye Dinku, who was also shot, is admitted to a hospital, the BBC Amharic reported . Commander Tesfaye is the head of the special force for…
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Detention in Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne (Feb 2020)
Abdi Ragassa, OLF Executive Committee member, was detained in 2019 and again in February 2020, initially in Maikelawi, Third … Source: Oromia Support Group, OSG Report 59 (2022-04-04), p.11.…
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About 30 hotel-launch guests detained and beaten for hours at Burayu Stadium; musician seriously injured
Later on 15 February 2020, Oromia Liyu police bundled about 30 guests from a hotel launch in Burayu into a van, accused them of being OLF supporters and took them to Burayu Stadium, where they were beaten and forced to crawl laps on their…
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Oromia special police kill vendor and beat OLF supporters at office opening in Welenchiti
On 15 February 2020, hours after the election date was announced, Oromia Liyu police raided the inauguration of an OLF office in Welenchiti with live bullets and tear gas, killing an OLF supporter who sold clothes. They beat supporters…
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Dembi Dollo uni says 12 of 17 kidnapped are campus students; investigation unit established
For the first time since news of the kidnapping of 17 Dembi Dollo university students in western Oromia surfaced, the university’s president Dr. Leta Tesfaye is quoted by Amhara Mass Media Agency (AMMA) as saying that 12 of the 17…
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Activist Chaltu Takele arrested in pre-dawn raid on her parents' home in Shambu
Police broke into her parents' home in Shambu at 5 a.m. on 26 January 2020 and arrested political activist Chaltu Takele, who had already spent over eight years in prison for alleged OLF membership. She was held at Shambu police station.…
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Recent fighting in Guji zone, Oromia, displaces hundreds
Following recent fighting between what the UN called “unidentified armed groups (UAG) and government security forces” in various kebeles of Seba Boru woreda, Guji zone, Oromia region, hundreds of people have been displaced to the…
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Security forces fire live ammunition at protesting students at Bule Hora University; one killed
On 10 January 2020, security forces fired live ammunition at students protesting at Bule Hora University, many of whom could not reach families in the Wellega zones. Witnesses said one student was shot dead and at least a dozen injured;…
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Detention in Burayu, Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne (Dec 2019)
Col. Gamachu had been detained for 11 months before he was released, in an emaciated state in December 2019. He was detained again, with the majority of OLF leaders, in July 2020. Source: Oromia Support Group, OSG Report 59 (2022-04-04),…
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17 Amhara students from Dembi Dollo University abducted and missing
Seventeen Amhara students from Dembi Dollo University were abducted on various dates in November 2019 as they fled deadly ethnic clashes at the university; one said he was taken on 28 November by a group of Oromo youth and held in a…
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Third student killed as tension in universities disrupt teaching-learning process
A third student was killed yesterday, this time in Dembi Dolo University, in Qellem Wellega zone of Oromia regional state, as tensions within several universities rose following the killing of two students in Weldiya University over the…
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Oromia police kill at least 6 protesters and injure 37 in Ambo
On 23–24 October 2019, during protests over activist Jawar Mohammed's security detail, Oromia police in Ambo fired tear gas and live ammunition at initially peaceful, then stone-throwing protesters, many of them schoolchildren. Medical…
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Ayantu, a host community woman at the forefront of IDP response in Nedjo
Ayantu Desta, 33, is a civil servant working at Nedjo Woreda Transport Authority Office and lives in Nedjo town, in West Wollega Zone of Oromia regional state. She is married and has three children. When the IDPS from Benishangul Gumuz…
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Local admin officials, police officers detained suspected of involvement in west Hararghe killing
Seven people, including senior Wereda administrators and police officers, are detained suspected of involvement in killings in West Haraghe zone of Oromia regional state, Jeylan Abdi, federal Police Public Relations Bureau Head, told…
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Two Mereja TV journalists detained by Oromia police while covering home demolitions; one beaten
On 23 February 2019, Oromia regional police temporarily detained two Mereja TV journalists reporting on government home demolitions and forced displacement on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. After release they were attacked by young men,…
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Man shot dead riding past the command post in Harqelo, Goro Dola
On 3 February 2019, Aga Uddessa was shot dead as he rode past the command post in Harqelo, Goro Dola. Source: Amnesty International, "Ethiopia: Rape, extrajudicial executions, homes set alight in security operations in Amhara and Oromia…
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Woman raped by two local security officials at Duqisa Megada administration office
In January 2019, a woman was arrested by two local administration security officials, a kebele peace and security officer and the kebele militia commander, taken to the Duqisa Megada administration office and raped. They threatened to…
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Three young men, one aged 16, killed while riding a motorbike in Duqisa Megada kebele
In January 2019, three men aged 16, 22 and 27 were killed while riding on a motorbike in Duqisa Megada kebele, Dugda Dawa, Amnesty documented as part of at least 39 extrajudicial executions in Oromia. Source: Amnesty International,…
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Rapid Response Plan seeks US$25.5M to reach civilians displaced by inter-communal violence
In response to the growing number of interally displaced persons due to inter-communal violence, a rapid response plan has been lunched, requesting US$25.5 million to address the most pressing needs in the health, nutrition, education,…
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Soldiers fire indiscriminately in Finchawa town for an hour, killing 13
On 28 December 2018, two truckloads of soldiers drove into Finchawa and shot indiscriminately at people for about an hour, killing 13. Witnesses said it was retaliation for a soldier stoned to death three weeks earlier. Source: Amnesty…
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Moyale: A week in a battle field: Firsthand account of a medical doctor who survived an RPG
After the last conflict which I posted [in November this year] titled ‘ The endless battle of Moyale’ , the town was in a tense situation – there had been palpable fear and tension in the air and we were wary of the situation. There have…
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Killing by government forces in West Wollega (Dec 2018)
Government forces, especially Oromia Special Forces operating out of military command posts established in December 2018 (Guji) and in January 2019 (Wallega and elsewhere), continue to hunt down and execute Qeerroo members but the…
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Sexual violence in Jimma (Sep 2018)
Fadila was raped by a job-broker, a ‘black man’ speaking neither Arabic nor Amharic who took her to a house and raped her in September 2018. Source: Oromia Support Group, OSG Report 61 (2023-01-25), p.48.…
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More than 58 killed and non-Oromo residents displaced in mob attacks in Burayu after OLF return rally
After a mass rally welcoming exiled OLF leaders in mid-September 2018, some supporters violently attacked non-Oromo communities, particularly Gurage and Gamo, in Burayu district. More than 58 people were killed over the weekend and dozens…
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Ethiopia tops global list of highest internal displacement in 2018
Displaced civilians from the Gedeo and West Guji zones of SNNPR and Oromia regional states, respectively Ethiopia has seen the highest number of people forced to flee their homes within their country in the first half of 2018, according…
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More than a dozen ethnic Somalis killed in fresh violence in eastern Ethiopia
At least thirteen ethnic Somalis were killed, seven from one family, today in Babile, Tulli Guled and Chinaksen in east Hararghe zone of the Oromia regional state. The killings are blamed on Oromo militias but there is no information as…
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Ethiopia: Schools, factories, courthouses: Desperate shelters for the displaced
Schools. These are just a few of the buildings that now act as shelters for displaced families in southern Ethiopia after a wave of inter-communal clashes along the border areas of Gedeo and West Guji zones drove nearly one million people…
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U.S. Announces $170 Million in Humanitarian Assistance to Displaced People in Ethiopia
July 24/ 2018: Today the United States announced an additional $170 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people of Ethiopia, many of whom have been pushed from their homes by escalating conflict or natural disaster and who…
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At least six people killed in Goba, Bale after controversy over monument led to inter-communal tensions
A controversy surrounding a new monument planned to be built in Goba city in Bale zone of the Oromia regional state, located around 446 km southeast of the capital Addis Abeba, has led to three days of inter-communal tension between…
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Somali regional Liyu police kill five farmers and burn about 50 homes in Chinaksen district
On 23 and 24 May 2018, the Somali regional state's Liyu police attacked four neighbourhoods in Chinaksen district, killing five farmers and burning down around 50 homes; residents fled. The same week the unit burned 48 homes of Oromo…
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Fresh round of violence rocks Moyale town, leaving unknown number of causalities and fresh displacement in its wake
A fresh round of violence involving two ethnic communities, the Garre of Somali origins and the Oromo, in Moyale town, 790 km south of Addis Abeba, in the border between Ethiopia and Kenya, has left unknown number of civilian causalities…
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Grenade explosion, gunshot kills three, wounds more than 50 in Moyale town
Moyale town communication and Oromia regional state administrative and security bureaus blamed “Liyu Police” and “armed forces from Ethio-Somali regional state” respectively for the explosion A grenade explosion at the bus station in…
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Hundreds of thousands, mostly Gedeo, displaced from West Guji; returns forced and aid restricted
From April to July 2018, Guji aggression against Gedeo communities forced hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Gedeo, to flee their homes; at the peak in July there were about 900,000 IDPs. IDPs and aid workers told HRW the government…
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A mother of one, three months pregnant woman shot dead by a member of the military in east Hararghe, Oromia
A military officer has shot dead Ayantu Mohammed Sa’idoo, a 20 year old, mother of a four year girl, last night in Qobo town, east Hararghe zone of the Oromia regional state, her neighbors told Addis Standard. She was also three months…
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Ethiopia security detain communication and PR head of Oromia justice bureau, move signals growing crackdown against the region
It has been confirmed that members of the command post overseeing the current state of emergency have this morning detained Taye Dendea, an outspoken senior member of the Oromia regional state’s justice bureau. Taye is the head of the…
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Standoff as security forces detain recently released opposition politicians, including Dr. Merera Gudina and Bekele Gerba, near Nekemt in western Ethiopia
No one could “intervene to break a standoff” as a group of recently released prominent opposition party members, including Dr. Merera Gudina and Bekele Gerba, chairman and first secretary respectively of the Oromo Federalist Congress…
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Adama Science and Technology Univ. discharges director of gender affairs who was investigating female students physical and sexual assault by army members
A source who provided Addis Standard with the letters from the university and is familiar with the matter says the university’s attempt to address the issue has faced “several restrictions” including a “verbal threat to shut down the…