HRLHA Urgent Action
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September 7, 2016
Extra-Judicial Executions in Kaliti Prison
The Ethiopian police committed extra-judicial executions against two Oromo prisoners, Darajje Ashanafi and Buzaayo Ayyanoo and wounded two others, Ayalewu Wendmu and Wandwosen (no father’s name) at Kaliti prison, Zone one on September 3, 2016, around 8:00 am, according to information the HRLHA obtained from its informants in Addis Ababa. Four people were taken out of their cells and shot in the head; miraculously, two of them, Ayalew Wendimu and Wondwosen, survived while the other two died on the spot.
The others seven Oromos in the same prison were called to the office of the prison administration and told by the prison administrator- Gebire Igzabher- that they would be executed at any time.
The names of the Oromo prisoners on death row are:
1. Fayera Kitila 5. Birhanu Anbachew
2. Fayera Bekele 6. Mohamed Asnake
3, Masfin Itana 7. Ashenafi G. Micha’el
4. Said Hasem
All these prisoners are serving prison terms passed against them prior to the Oromo Nation protests which have been taking place from November 2015 to the present.
Extra-Judicial Executions in Kilinto Prison
On September 3, 2016 the Kilinto prison was burned down by unknown persons; some say the Agazi force deliberately did it to facilitate the executions. One day before the incident, the Agazi force had taken over by disarming the regular prison guards, according to the prison guards’ explanation which is circulating in social media.
Unconfirmed information obtained from one of the Kilinto prison police indicates that around 18 prisoners were shot dead by snipers of the Agazi force, from the prison tower, and many others were wounded, and taken to different hospitals in Addis Ababa. The prisoners who were killed and wounded were not identified and the prison administration has kept the names secret.
After the prison was burned, all the prisoners, around 3,000, from Kilinto- including prominent Oromo Federalist Congress officials and others- were taken to an unknown destination. Since then the families of the prisoners have been seeking information about their loved once. Until this statement was issued, the government has not disclosed the whereabouts of the prisoners.
The TPLF/EPRDF must abide by the United Nations resolution on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council.
The HRLHA strongly condemns the atrocities committed against the Oromo prisoners by the TPLF/EPRDF and calls on world governments to act swiftly to stop this unprecedented action by the Ethiopian government.
The HRLHA also calls on the international committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to use its ICRC’s mandate and mission to save the lives of those seven Oromos on death row at Kaliti prison.
Copied to:
International Committee of the Red Cross
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UN Security Council
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United Nations
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United States of America
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UN Human Rights Council
OHCHR address:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson
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CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 917 9310/9169/9466/9383
Email: Press-Info@ohchr.org
EU Parliament
Director for the Media and European Parliament Spokesman
• Telephone number(+32) 2 28 43000 (BXL)
• Telephone number(+33) 3 881 74705 (STR)
• Mobile number(+32) 496 59 94 76
• E-mail addressjaume.duch@europarl.europa.eu
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs
2170 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5021
Fax: (202) 226-7269
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
31 Bijilo Annex Layout, Kombo North District
Western Region P.O. Box 673 Banjul
The Gambia
Tel: (220) 441 05 05, 441 05 06
Fax: (220) 441 05 04
E-mail: au-banjul@africa-union.org
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street, Whitehall,
London SW1A 2AH, United Kingdom
Phone:+44 20 7008 1500
