Ethiopia: A Generation at Risk, Plight of Oromo Students

HRLHA Urgent Action

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                

September 06, 2014

The human rights abuses against Oromo Students in different universities have continued unabated over the past six months- more than a hundred Oromo students were extra-judicially wounded or killed, while thousands were jailed by a special squad: the “Agazi” force

This harsh crackdown against the Oromo students, which resulted in deaths, arrests, detentions and disappearances, happened following a peaceful protest by the Oromo students and the Oromo people  in April -  May  2014 against  the so-called  “Integrated Master Plan of Addis Ababa”. This plan was targeted at the annexation of many small towns of Oromia to the capital Addis Ababa. It would have meant the eviction of around six million Oromos from their lands and long-time livelihoods without being consulted or giving consent. The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) has repeatedly expressed its deep concern about such human rights violations against the Oromo nation by the EPRDF government[1]

The HRLHA reporter in Addis Ababa confirmed that in connection with the April-May, 2014 peaceful protests among the many students picked from different universities and other places in the regional State of Oromia and  detained in Maikelawi /”the Ethiopian Guantanamo bay Detention camp” ,the following nine students and another four, Abdi Kamal, TofiK Kamal and Abdusamad   business men from Eastern Hararge Dirre Dawa town and Chaltu Duguma (F) an employee of Wallaga Universty    are in critical condition due to the continuous severe torture inflicted upon them in the past five months.

No	Name	Gender	Occupation
1	Lenjisa Alamayo	M	Student	Jimma University
2	Tamire Bekele	M	Student	Jima University
3	Gemechu Bekele	M	Student	Jima University
4	Nimona Chali	M	Student	Haromaya University
5	Magarsa Bekele	M	Student	Haromaya university
6	Abebe Urgessa	M	Student	Haromaya University
7	Bilisuma Gonfa	M	Student	Haromaya University
8	Adugna Kesso	M	Student	Adama University
9	Bilisuma Damana	M	Student	Adama University

The current ongoing arrests and detention of Oromo students started when the students were forced to attend a “political training” said to be a government plan to indoctrinate the students with the political agenda of EPRDF for two weeks before the regular classes started in mid- September 2014. Before the training started, students demanded that the government release the students who were imprisoned during the peaceful protests of April-May 2014.  Instead of giving a positive answer to the students’ legitimate questions, the federal government deployed its military forces to Ambo and Wallaga University campuses to silence their voices; many students were severely beaten and hundreds were taken to prison from August 20-29, 2014. Through the brutality of the federal government’s military “Agazi”, students from Ambo University,  Hinaafu Lammaa, Kuma Fayisa, Tarreessaa  Waaqummaa Mulugeta, Sukkaaraa Cimidi, Leensa Hailu Bedhane (F) and Elizabeth Legesse (lost her two tooth) were among those harshly beaten in their dormitories and then thrown outside naked in the open air.

The HRLHA reporter documented the following names among hundreds of students taken to different detention centers from both Ambo and Wallaga Universities on August 28 &29, 2014.

No	Name	Gender	Occupation
1	Hunde Firisa Warku	M	Student	Wallaga University
2	Mitiku Anbese	M	student	Wallega Univrsity
3	Gemechu Bely mekonen	M	Student	Wallega University
4	Anbessa Ayele	M	Student	Adama University
5	Zerun Yewalun wandimu	M	student	Dilla University
6	Nagara Fiqadu	M	Student	AA University
7	Gurmessa Wondimu Iticha	M	Student	Mada Walabu University
8	Temesgen Shiferaw	M	Student	Wallaga University
9	Gaddisa Damana	M	Student	Adama University
l10	Endale Irranaa	M	Student	Wallaga University
11	Alamayyo Sori	M	Student	Samara University
12	Fikiru Rafisa	M	Student	Mekele University
13	Firaol Bekele	M	Student	Mekele University
14	Birhanu Niguse	M	Student	Adigrat University
15	Chali Anugna	M	Student
16	Firaol Kelbessa	M	Student
17	Habtamu Wirtu	M	Student
18	Gizacho Marga	M	Student
19	Abdi Tesfaye	M	Student

Among many Wallaga University students, those who were severely beaten on 28/08/2014- Markos Taye, Ganati Desta and Mosisa fufa- were first taken to Nekemte Hospital and later transferred to Tikur Anbasa, a hospital in the capital city more than 300km away for further treatment. They remain there  in critical condition.

The most recent report (Sept 03,2014) received by HRLHA from Ambo town indicates that more than 250 students released from Senkele detention center have been taken back to their villages so that their parents of guardians can sign documents stating that their children are responsible for the conflict created between the students and the federal military. The parents of the students rejected the attempt of the government to make their children guilty by supporting, instead, the demands of the students “Free our friends, bring the killers of the students to court”

By killing, torturing and detaining non-violent protesters, the government of Ethiopia is breaching:

1. The 1995 constitution of the Ethiopia, articles 29 and 30, which grant basic democratic rights to all Ethiopian citizens^[2].
2.  All international and regional human rights instruments that Ethiopia signed and the UN Human Rights council 19^th[3] and 25^th[4] sessions resolutions that call upon states, with regard to peaceful protests, to  promote and protect all human rights and  to prevent all human rights violations during peaceful protests.

Therefore, the HRLHA calls upon the Ethiopian Government to refrain from systematically eliminating the young generation of Oromo nationals and respect all international human rights standards, and all civil and political rights of citizens it has signed off in particular.

HRLHA also calls upon governments of the West, all local, regional and international human rights agencies to join hands and demand an immediate halt to such kinds of extra-judicial actions against one’s own citizens. Detainees should be released without any preconditions and the murderers should brought to justice. .

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to the Ethiopian Government and its appropriate government ministries and/or officials as swiftly as possible, both in English and Ahmaric, or in your own language:

• Expressing concerns regarding the apprehension and possible torture of citizens who are being held in different detention centers including the infamous Ma’ikelawi Central Investigation Office, and calling for their immediate and unconditional release;
• Request that the government refrain from detaining, harassing, discriminating against Oromo Nationals
• Urging the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that detainees are treated in accordance with the regional and international standards regarding the treatment of prisoners
• Also send your concerns to diplomatic representatives in Ethiopia who are accredited to your country.

Mailed To:

• Office of Prime Minister of Ethiopia 
P.O.Box – 1031 , Addis Ababa
Telephone – +251 155 20 44; +251 111 32 41
Fax – +251 155 20 30 , +251 1552020

• Office of Oromiya National Regional State President Office  
Telephone –   0115510455

• Office of the Ministry  of Justice of Ethiopia
PO Box 1370,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 5517775;
+251 11 5520874
Email: ministry-justice@telecom.net.et

• UNESCO Headquarters Paris.
7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP France
1, rue Miollis 75732 Paris Cedex 15 France
General phone: +33 (0)1 45 68 10 00
www.unesco.org

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)- Africa Department
7 place Fontenoy 75352
Paris 07 SP
France
General phone: +33 (0)1 45 68 10 00
Website: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/africa-department/

• UNESCO AFRICA RIGIONAL OFFICE
MR.JOSEPH NGU
Director

• UNESCO Office in Abuja
Mail: j.ngu(at)unesco.org
Tel: +251 11 5445284
Fax: +251 11 5514936

• Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: + 41 22 917 9022 (particularly for
Urgent matters) E-mail: tb-petitions@ohchr.org this e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

• Office of the UNHCR
Telephone: 41 22 739 8111
Fax: 41 22 739 7377
Po Box: 2500
Geneva, Switzerland

• African Commission on Human and Peoples‘ Rights (ACHPR)
48 Kairaba Avenue, P.O.Box 673, Banjul, the Gambia.
Tel: (220) 4392 962 , 4372070, 4377721 – 23
Fax: (220) 4390 764
E-mail: achpr@achpr.org

• Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights
• Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE
+ 33 (0)3 88 41 34 21
+ 33 (0)3 90 21 50 53
Contact us by email

• U.S. Department of State 
Laura Hruby
Ethiopia Desk Officer
U.S. State Department
HrubyLP@state.gov
Tel: (202) 647-6473

• Amnesty International – London
Claire Beston
“Claire Beston” <Claire.Beston@amnesty.org>

• Human Rights Watch
Felix Hor
“Felix Horne” <hornef@hrw.org>,

[1] http://humanrightsleague.com/2014/05/ethiopia-ambo-under-siege-daily-activities-paralyzed-hrlha-urgent-action/
[2]  Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1995,http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=193667
[3] http://blog.unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/Protection-of-Human-Rights-in-the-context-of-Peaceful-Protests1.pdf
[4] http://blog.unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/Peaceful-Protest-Resolution-2014.pdf

=>ayyaantuu

ETHIOPIA: Relentless government violence on Oromo students and nationals continues, says human rights organization

August 27, 2014
While fresh arrests and detentions, kidnappings and disappearances of Oromo nationals have continued in different parts of the regional state of Oromia following the April-May crackdown of peaceful demonstrators, court rulings over the cases of some of the earlier detainees by courts of the regional state are being rejected by political agents of the governing TPLF/EPRDF Party. The renewed violence by government forces against Oromo nationals started particularly following what was termed as “Lenjii Siyaasaa” (literally meaning “political training”) that has targeted Oromo Students of higher educational institutions and has been going on in the past two weeks in different parts of Oromia.

Although the agendum for the “Political Training” was said to be “the unity of the country,” it instead has become an opportunity of carrying out further screenings and arrests of students, as around 100 more students have so far been arrested from Ambo University campuses alone and sent to a remote, isolated military camp called Sanqalle, leaving families and friends in fear in regards to the safety and well-being of the students in particular, not to mention the disruption of their studies. The arrests were made following the students’ protest of their confinement into the campuses during this so call “Political Trianing,” and the demand that the killers of their fellow students be brought to justice prior to discussing “unity.” Also, five students of Wallaga University, from among those who were gathered for the same purpose of “Political Training,” were kidnapped on the 22^nd of August 2014, and taken away in a vehicle with plate number 4866 ET; and their whereabouts are not known since then. HRLHA correspondents have also traced another fresh arrests and detentions of around 100 Oromo nationals in a small town called Elemo, Doranni District in the Illu Abba Borra Zone. It took place on the 14^th of August 2014; and Waqtole Garbe, Sisay Amana, Tiiqii Supha, Ittana Daggafa, Badiru Basha, Kamal Zaalii, Rashiid Abdu, Zetuna Waaqoo, Daggafa Tolee, Adam Ligdii, Indush Mangistu, Dibbeessa Libaan, and Ofete Jifar were a few among those detainees in Elemo Prison.

More worrisome and frustrating is agents of the federal government’s interference with regional and local judicial systems. More than one hundred students and other Oromo nationals, from among the thousands who were detained following the April-May nationwide protest, have been granted bails in local courts of the regional government of Oromia. These include 64 detainees in Dembi Dollo/Qellem, 10 in Ambo, 40 in Sibu-Sire and Digga District. But, all the court decisions were overruled by political officials representing the federal government. The Dembi Dollo/Qellem detainees in particular were granted bails four times, only to be turned down by political officials all the four rounds. On the other hand, there have been some cases in which prison terms ranging from six months to a year-and-half were imposed on the Oromo detainees, not in courts, but by those representatives of the federal government. Also, some independent lawyers complain that they were threatened by officials from the ruling party; and, as a result, refraining from representing the Oromo detainees. Usual as it has been in the past fifteen or so years, this case of interfering with and disobeying court rulings indicates that the case of these most recent Oromo detainees is purely political.
The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) calls upon the Ethiopian Government to refrain from harassing and intimidating students through such extra-judicial means as killings, arrests and detentions, and denials of justice after detention; and instead, facilitate conducive teaching-learning environments. HRLHA also calls upon the Ethiopian Government to unconditionally release the detained Oromo students and other nationals; and, as requested by their fellow students, bring to justice the killers of innocent and peaceful protestors during the April-May crackdown.

BACKGROUNDS:

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) has reported (May 1^st and 13^th, 2014, urgent actions, HumanRightsLeague.com) on the heavy-handed crackdown of the Ethiopian Federal Government’s Agazi Special Squad and the resultant extra-judicial killings of 34 (thirty-four) Oromo nationals; and the arrests and detentions of hundreds of others.

Although the brutalities of the armed squad and the resultant fatalities happened to be very high in Ambo Town, the peaceful protests by Oromo students of different universities and faculties have been taking place in April and May in various towns and cities of Oromia, including Diredawa and Adama in eastern Oromia, as well as Jimma, Mettu, Naqamte, Gimbi, and Dambidollo in western Oromia.

The Oromo students of universities and colleges in different parts of the regional state of Oromia took to the streets for peaceful demonstrations in protest to the decision passed by the Federal EPRDF/TPLF-led Government to expand the city of Finfinnee/Addis Ababa by uprooting and displacing hundreds of thousands of Oromos from all sorts of livelihoods, and annexing about 36 surrounding towns of Oromia, the ultimate goal of which is claimed to be redrawing the map of the Oromia Region. The federal annexation plan, which was termed as “The Integrated Development Master Plan,” is said to be covering the towns of Dukem, Gelan, Legetafo, Sendafa, Sululta, Burayu, Holeta, Sebeta, and others, stretching the boundary of Finfinne/Addis Ababa to about 1.1-million hectares – an area of 20 times its current size.



=>gadaa

Egypt wants Sudan to mediate in Nile water tripartite meeting

(KHARTOUM) – The Egyptian minister of irrigation, Hussam Maghazi, said that his country is looking forward to seeing Sudan play an intermediary role in the tripartite meeting which will be held in Khartoum on Monday in a bid to arrive at a satisfactory agreement on the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

An Egyptian farmer holds a handful of soil to show the dryness of the land due to drought in a farm formerly irrigated by the river Nile, in Al-Dakahlya, about 120km from Cairo, on 13 June 2013 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Khartoum will host a new round of talks on Monday and Tuesday which have been going on for the last two years between Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia on the Renaissance Dam. The previous three rounds had fallen short of achieving full agreement on the issue.

Maghazi said in press statements on Sunday that his delegation had received political instructions to engage in talks with Ethiopia with an open heart, saying Egypt sees that negotiations is the only available option to arrive at an agreement on the issue.

Khartoum’s meeting seeks to achieve an agreement on a joint mechanism for implementing the recommendations of the International Panel of Experts (IPoE) regarding the GERD.

The IPoE is composed of six representatives each drawn from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, and four other international experts and was established to assess the impact of the dam project on downstream countries.

The Egyptian minister also said his ministry is still considering the project to link the River Nile to the Congo River, but stressed the project would not be a substitute for negotiations on the GERD.

He said the Egyptian side will raise a question in the meeting on whether the Ethiopian side would submit the additional studies requested previously by the IPoE, predicting the latter would make the studies ready in the coming period.

Sudan’s undersecretary of the ministry of water resources and electricity, Musa Omer Abu al-Gasim, said the meeting comes within the framework of his country’s positive and pivotal role towards the Nile basin countries.

He stressed Sudan’s keeness on coordination among partners to utilise water resources to achieve sustainable development for the benefit of the peoples of the region.

Abu al-Gasim further pointed that development in Sudan, 

Egypt and Ethiopia would largely participate to development of the East and North African region.

Sudan’s minister of water resources and electricity, Mutaz Musa, told the official news agency SUNA on Sunday that the meeting represents a good opportunity for convergence and agreement among the three countries, pointing it would put them into the right track regarding the agenda put forward on the negotiations table.

Tripartite meetings had stopped six months ago.

Egypt argues the multi-billion dollars project, which Ethiopia is building along the Nile River near the Sudanese border, would eventually diminish its water share. It further asserts that the dam, which is the largest along the Nile river would reduce the amount of electricity generated by the Aswan Dam and adversely impact its agricultural production.

The IPoE in their final report said Ethiopia’s dam project would not result in any significant harm to the two downstream countries, Sudan and Egypt.

=>sudantribune

Bail justice in Oromia: Denial and delaying of bail as a punishment

• August 26, 2014
• Written by Israel Fayisa
• Published in Opride Contributors

(OPride) — The infamous Addis Ababa master plan is back in the news. Oromo students gathered at various campuses around Oromia for scheduled indoctrination campaigns are asking authorities to table the master plan as one of the agenda items to be discussed during the meetings.

The officials’ refusal to discuss the controversial plan is causing another round standoff between security forces and students at meetings organized under heavy police presence, according to local reports.

Since April, hundreds of Oromo students and activists have been arbitrarily arrested following widespread protests opposing Addis Ababa's unconstitutional expansion into Oromia. So far, none have received justice. Some may forever be locked away without any legal redress given the country's lack of judicial independence. This piece examines hurdles to bail justice in Oromia to pinpoint how prisoners are punished during criminal prosecutions both pre- and post-trial.

Bail is a vital aspect of the criminal justice system. It is one of the rights that suspects enjoy in the pretrial period of criminal cases. By keeping accused persons out of custody before their trial, bail protects the presumption of innocence and other guaranteed rights. In countries such as Ethiopia where the executive branch is the major violator of rights, securing bail for suspects rests mostly on the shoulder of the judge. But because judges lack the independence to serve justice, suspected individuals often languish in jail before guilt is established. 

To improve this dysfunction within Ethiopia's justice system donors have repeatedly shelled out millions of dollars in the name of judicial reform. But the aid money was mostly used to redesign the judiciary to align it with the ruling party's long-term political objectives. In order to disguise their real motives and win support for these "reforms" both at home and abroad, Ethiopian authorities have perfected the use of buzzwords such as automation, case flow management and process re-engineering. However, the main focus of the reform remained curbing the judiciary's capacity to protect human rights and check the ever-expanding power of the executive branch.

Most of the donor money for judicial reform is channeled through the Ministry of Capacity Building and Ethiopia's Federal Supreme Court. The Ministry's former head and point person for the judicial reform program, Tefera Walwa, used to say that ‘judges should be indoctrinated’ with Ethiopia's brand of democracy. Toward that end, in 2009, Walwa introduced and implemented an initiative that put the justice sector, including the courts, under one umbrella leadership. The move eroded the whole notion of judicial independence in the name of a reform program known as business process re-engineering.

To carry out Walwa's indoctrination program, Ethiopia then established training centers dubbed “Justice Organ Professionals Training and Legal Research Institute” in almost all regions of the country. The institutes provide ongoing seminars disguised as "legal" trainings in which judges and justice sector employees are brainwashed about the country's state-led development policy. Since these institutes were established no judge can hold office without its certification.

Bail delaying tactics

The Ethiopian court system works closely with the police and the prosecutor. Police typically investigate crimes and the prosecutors act on behalf of the public to put suspected criminals on trial. The police may sometimes work under the supervision of the prosecutor or together as a team. While the police are also expected to work with the court, in most cases, they go through public prosecutor to bring cases to the attention of a judge.

But instead of law enforcement agents requesting the court for pretrial custody, if it deems necessary, the detainees often bring petitions for bail right to the court through applications. Due process of law is put aside the moment peace enforcement agents arrested people without warrant and kept them as long as they wish. Back to bail justice the process of ruling on bail petitions passes through unpredictable bureaucratic hurdles that include several delaying tactics.

Protests are not tolerated in Ethiopia. Police and intelligence services often violently suppress peaceful demonstrations. Crackdown on protesters is often followed by mass arrest of suspected instigators, leaders and participants. Security forces usually detain, harass and torture suspects to extract confession before they are arraigned in court as required by law.

Under the country's criminal procedure code, the public prosecutor is the respondent to bail petitions. The prosecutor's office usually employs different seemingly legal venues to delay justice. For instance, the prosecutor may respond to the petition alleging that he has no clue about a particular case. The court then either gives the prosecutor more time to obtain the file from the police or orders the police to transfer the file to the prosecutor. But the court does this instead of exercising its power to summon and enquire the police or look into the investigation file if there is one. Once this initial obstruction phase is exhausted, the prosecutor then resorts to another delaying tactic.

Public prosecutors in Oromia do not have any kind of independence personal or institutional. As a result, powerless Oromia prosecutors typically refer politically sensitive cases to the federal prosecutor’s office invoking lack of jurisdiction. By doing so, the prosecutor rules the court in Oromia out of the game. The Oromia bench at the federal prosecution office usually shelves such cases, leaving petitioners in limbo waiting for years on end for a proper due process. This procedural hurdle undermines the pursuit of justice as a whole and leaves people detained for long period of time without trial.

Ethiopia's criminal procedure code requires suspects to submit petition for bail at the nearest court. But by politicizing bail right, the prosecutor's office puts pressure on local courts not to try the case changing bail right to an issue of jurisdiction on the substance of the case. While the argument about jurisdiction is in principle irrelevant in granting or denying bail, the court system is simply too overwhelmed by external pressure to address such issues. Hence, judges sometimes concede that their bench does not have jurisdiction to handle the case covering up their fear-averting tactic. In other cases files are closed with no words on the fate of the petitioner.

In another scenario, the police and the public prosecutor may conspire to fabricate a criminal case to cite against a petitioner of bail. There are list of conditions under the law that restrict bail right. The prosecutor mentions in his response one such condition to make the case non-bailable under the law.

At this point in the process, a given criminal case is not even instituted at the court of law. But when prosecutors mention highly sensitive political cases in their response, some judges do not even give the petitioner a chance to counter prosecutor’s position. They simply dismiss the petition and rule the petition as unbailable simply based on the prosecutor’s statements. For example, I remember when two brothers petitioned for bail and the prosecutor alleged applicants are suspects in a murder and aggravated robbery case. But upon further enquiry into the allegation it was found that there is not even an open probable case investigation let alone such a serious one.

A third possible scenario is where the court itself conspires with the rest of the shaky justice sector organs. I remember a case where a suspect re-applied for bail after serving four years behind the bar for reasons unknown to him. The petitioner was arrested on allegations of teaching Oromo Liberation Front's political program to locals. He was brought to the district court four years earlier where the judge adjourned his case for two weeks and remanded the suspect. But the police did not take the suspect to court on due date nor did the judge order the police or remand center to bring him back to court. The file was shelved as the suspect remained in jail.

Another major delaying tactic is preparing criminal cases against protesters under some of the recently passed laws that restrict the right to bail for government critics. This includes treason laws and anti-terrorism laws under which bail right is almost unavailable. Security forces typically bundle a number of defendants under one file, equating peaceful protests with such political crimes. Defendants are kept in jail for very long time without pretrial bail as the prosecution office prepares evidence to support its trumped up charges. The Supreme Court of Oromia handles many such cases related to the recent student protests.

Still, compared to the manner in which politically sensitive cases are handled, the above scenarios are only the tips of the iceberg. There are thousands of cases where the courts failed to deliver pretrial justice, stand for essential judicial values and protect human rights. In addition to the aforementioned procedural barriers and the weakness of the judiciary, the institution of public defense is almost non-existent in Oromia. The balance of justice is always for the public prosecutor, the right hand of the ruling political party.

Stumbling blocks to granted bail right

Let’s assume that a protester is lucky enough to pass through the above scenarios and has won his/her bail right. She/he would still face further hurdles before enjoying the rights protected by the law. One scenario is a case of the bail applicant missing from the remand center. This happens when friction with the judiciary becomes too untenable or when the dysfunction of the court becomes too public and humiliating. In such cases instead of continuing confrontation with the local court, the suspect will be transferred to another region or a federal prison where Oromia courts do not have jurisdiction.

Now the prison administration authorities can simply show their records and escape responsibility. Case is dead. Right is gone. No one dares to pursue such a case hereafter.

There are also other possible scenarios where the suspect might be granted bail but remain in custody. For example, the police or local administrators can apply direct or indirect pressure on anyone who tries to be a guarantor in politically sensitive cases. I remember my own colleague advising me not to grant bail in a particular case for the sake of the suspect himself. I was told the suspect might be shot dead lest I free him from jail. This example indicates that relatives of the suspect may also receive threats not to seek his release for a better right of the suspect himself i.e. the right to life.

In yet another bureaucratic tactic, the court may grant bail for very high recognizance and refuse to accept the worthiness of guarantors. Rarely but sometimes the registrar or the court clerks may conspire to misplace a specific file so as to delay the release of certain suspects.

Last but not least there are times when the court grants bail but the other authorities refuse to execute the decision. There are numerous incidents of confrontation between the courts and, the police and prison administration because of such resistance to execute court order. Locals are increasingly reporting such incidents from Oromia in relation to those arrested in connection with the recent Oromo protests. In such circumstances police typically prepares a fake case to keep the suspect in custody under the guise of investigating a fresh suit. Over the last decade, as the ‘indoctrination’ campaign took deep roots, it became a common practice for courts in Oromia to settle their differences with the executive branch through consultative negotiation akin to a bargaining forum on judicial independence.

In conclusion, absent judicial independence and the rule of law in Ethiopia as a whole and in Oromia in particular, the hundreds of Oromo protesters currently under arrest are unlikely to win bail justice. Practically, the prosecutor has none or very shallow cases to take to trial in court of law to prove any presumption of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. At the same time, making up a case for thousands of protesters takes expertise, money and time. 

Consequently, the denial and delaying of bail justice is used as a means of collective punishment.

=>opride