OROMIA (ETHIOPIA): URGENT ACTION: OROMO OPPOSITION LEADER AT RISK OF TORTURE March 3, 2020
Posted by OromianEconomist in Uncategorized.Tags: AbiyAhmed, Ethiopia's Colonizing Structure and the Development Problems of People of Oromia, Genocide against the Oromo, Human rights violations, Tyranny
trackback
URGENT ACTION: OROMO OPPOSITION LEADER AT RISK OF TORTURE
Ethiopian authorities detained the leader of the Oromo Liberation Front, Abdi Regassa, on 29 February 2020. He was held incommunicado for 72 hours and remains imprisoned without charges. Mr Abdi Regassa has been held in detention for reasons that remain unknown. He has not been informed of the charges against him.
Under international human rights standards, anyone who is arrested or detained must be informed of the reasons why they are being deprived of their liberty at the time of their arrest. International standards also require that individuals are brought before a judge promptly after arrest or detention. However, based on the information available to Advocacy for Oromia, as of 29 February the authorities had not formally informed Mr Abdi Regassa of the grounds for his detention nor had they brought him before a court.
Furthermore, authorities did not provide Mr Abdi with access to his family or a phone call until 72 hours after his detention. People held in custody are entitled to notify a third person that they have been detained. Ethiopian authorities have imprisoned, harassed and intimidated Oromo politicians and activists for more than fifteen decades due to their political activism. We believe that such detention without access to the outside world facilitates torture.
The Ethiopian security forces picked Mr Abdi from his home after he returned home with the OLF leadership on Sept 15, 2018. Mr Abdi is a selfless man who chose to give all he has for Oromo cause for more than thirty years. Advocacy for Oromia affirms Mr Abdi Regassa is a prisoner of conscience who was imprisoned solely for remains committed to the Oromo cause.
Reports suggest he may have been tortured while in detention, something Advocacy for Oromia has not been able to verify in a context where the judiciary are fully controlled by the Executive. Advocacy for Oromia requests the government to unconditional release and access to legal counsel and family while in custody. Mr Abdi doesn’t belong in jail. Mr Abdi is an Oromo hero; he is the future of Oromo leadership.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION
Mass mobilisation is needed to ensure that the Ethiopian authorities release him, and refrain from potentially taking actions that may amount to ill-treatment against him. Please show your SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT for him in every way you can: changing your social media profile, and campaigning for justice. If you are in Oromia, show up at the police station. Be peaceful. Have his picture. Demand his release. If you are elsewhere, use your social media platforms and demand that justice be done.
Free Abdi Ragassa, now!
Ethiopia: Police must account for missing Oromo opposition leader
Amnesty International, 3 March 2020
The police must account for the whereabouts of Abdi Regassa – a senior member of the opposition political party Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) – who remains missing after security officers in Addis Ababa broke into his home and arrested him alongside eight other party members on 29 February.
The other eight party members were released later the same day, but Abdi Regassa was not. He may have been subjected to enforced disappearance and is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. The police have denied they are still holding him according to his lawyer and family members.The police deny that they have him yet he was last seen in their custody and there is no evidence that he has been released. Seif Magango, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes
“Abdi Regassa’s family and lawyers have spent the last couple of days frantically searching police stations and detention centres across Addis Ababa in an attempt to locate him,” said Seif Magango, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.
“The police deny that they have him yet he was last seen in their custody and there is no evidence that he has been released. This is understandably causing his family considerable anxiety and distress.”The authorities must come clean and immediately disclose his whereabouts and allow him access to his family and lawyer. Seif Magango, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes
In the early hours of 29 February, security officers stormed a guest house in the southern part of Addis Ababa where five senior members of the OLF and four supporters were staying. All nine were arrested and taken to the local police station.
The OLF members were then split into two groups; the first group of six were moved to the Addis Ababa Police Commission and eventually released within 24 hours of arrest.
The second group of three, comprising Abdi Regassa and Mikael Gobena, both members of OLF’s Executive Committee, and Kenessa Ayana, a member of OLF’s Central Committee, were taken to an unmarked unofficial detention compound around the 6 Kilo area in Addis Ababa. While Mikael Gobena and Kenessa Ayana were released within 24 hours of arrest, the police continued to detain Abdi Regassa, the two told Amnesty International.The Ethiopian authorities must stop arbitrarily arresting and detaining opposition figures. They must immediately disclose Abdi Regassa’s whereabouts, charge him with a recognisable crime under the law or release him without further delay. Seif Magango, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes
The police confiscated the mobile phones, driving licenses, passports and bank ATM cards of all the OLF members before releasing them, leaving them stranded.
“The Ethiopian authorities must stop arbitrarily arresting and detaining opposition figures. They must immediately disclose Abdi Regassa’s whereabouts, charge him with a recognisable crime under the law or release him without further delay,” said Seif Magango.
Dhimma Jaal Abdii Ragaasaa sobaan yakkuun kallatiin kan qabate Dambalaash G/Mikaaelfi Shimalis Abdiisaa ta’uu dubatamaa jira. Qaamni qoratus Komishini Poolisii Oromiyaarraa kan nama Araarsaa Mardaasaan ramadame akka ta”e dha.
Ajajaan Poolisii Burraayuu aanaa 3 kan ta’e I/A/Inspeekteraa Koodee jedhamu, kallatiin hidhamtoota fannisee dararuutti himatu namooti kananaan dura hidhamanii turan.
Namni kuniifi Saajiin Hayilee namni jedhamu qabannaa hidhamtootaa irratti Komishiner Solomoon Taadasaa yeroo darbe ajjeefame waliin akka wal dhabaa turaniifi ajaja isaa malee nama hidhanii dararaa akka turan Uummata Burraayyuutu ragaa baha.
Yeroo ammaa kana Magaalaan Buraayyuu Gantaanamoo mootummaa Bilxiginnaa jedhamuun yaamamaa jirti.
ዛሬ ሰንበት March 1 2020 የOLF አመራር አባላትን የመታሰር ዜና ሰምቼ አዝኜ ዋልኩ። ይህ ድርጊት የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በOLF ጉዳይ ስጋት እና ፍርሃት ውስጥ እንደገባ ጠቁሞኛል። ሌላ ምንም ትርጉም ሊሰጠኝ አልቻለም።
አብዲ ረጋሳ፣ ሚካኤል ቦረን፣ የዲ፣ ዶክተር ሽጉጥ ገለታ እና ከኒሳ አያናን በአካል አውቃቸዋለሁ። ምርጥ ጉዋደኞቼም ናቸው። የኦሮሞ ህዝብ የወለዳቸው ጀግና ታጋዮች መሆናቸውንም አውቃለሁ። ማለትም ሙሉ ህይወታቸውን ለኦሮሞ ህዝብ የሰዉ ናቸው። ገመቹ አለምክንያት ሰባት ወራት መታሰሩን ስናስብ ነገሩ ያሳስባል።
ለአብነት ሚካኤል ቦረን ወያኔ ስልጣን ላይ እያለ ከኤርትራ እየተወረወረ – ኦሮሚያ ገብቶ ተልእኮ የሚፈጽም “ጀግና” እንደነበር አውቃለሁ።
“ሚካኤልን እጁን ይዘው ወደ እስር ቤት ወሰዱት” የሚል ዜና ስሰማ ተደብቄ ማቀርቀሬን አልደብቅም። ሚካኤል ማንም እጁን ይዞ እስር ቤት የሚልከው ታጋይ አልነበረም።
የከኒሳ አያና ታሪክ የተለየ ነው። ሙሉ መጽሃፍ ይወጣዋል። የዲ እና ዶክተር ሽጉጥ ህይወታቸው የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ክብር ሆኖ ኖሮአል። የሚያውቅ ያውቀዋል።
እንዲህ ያሉ ታጋዮች እንደ በግ እየተጎተቱ ሲታሰሩ የኦሮሞ ህዝብ እንደ ሽኮኮ ጸሎት ዝምታውን እና ትካዜውን ከቀጠለ የመደፈር ዳርቻውን ያጣል። የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ቢተባበር ምንም ነገር ማድረግ እየቻለ ልቡ ተከፋፍሎ ማየትን የመሰለ አሰቃቂ ነገር የለም።
አዲሱ አረጋ (ነፍጠኛን ለማስደሰት) አምቦ ላይ እኔን ሲሰድብ የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ኦሮሚያን ያንቀጠቀጠ አስደንጋጭ ምላሽ እንደሰጠው ይታወሳል። በአንጻሩ ኮሎኔል ገመቹ አያና ሲታሰር ግን የኦሮሞ ዝምታ አስደንግጦኛል። አሳፍሮኛል። ከገመቹ እና ከሚካኤል ቦረን ጋር ስወዳደር እኔ ባዶ ነኝ። ከአብዲ ረጋሳ እና ከከኒሳ ጋር ስወዳደር እኔ ማንም አይደለሁም። እነዚህ (ታሰሩ – ተፈቱ) የሚባሉ ታጋዮች በአስተዋጾአቸው ከጃዋር መሃመድ ወይም ከበቀለ ገርባ በላይ እንጂ በታች አይደሉም። በአጋጣሚ ግን ስማቸው ብዙም ሳይታወቅ ቆይቶ ሊሆን ይችላል።
ኦሮሞ የራሱን ጀግኖች ካላከበረ በተመሳሳይ የአገዛዝ አዙሪት ውስጥ መሽከርከሩ ሊቀጥል እንደሚችል ይሰማኛል!
ብታምኑም ባታምኑም በዚህ ዘመን የኦሮሞ ህዝብ በፕላኔታችን ላይ “ወዳጅ አገር” የለውም። የኦሮሞ ወዳጅ ራሱ ኦሮሞ ብቻ ነው። የኦሮሞ ህዝብ ቀንደኛ ጠላት ደግሞ “የከርሰ ምድር’ እና “የከርሰ ሰማይ” ሃብቱ ነው።
OromianEconomist 
Comments»
No comments yet — be the first.