ONM-ABO May 08, 2024
In a shocking revelation, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has implicated government security forces in the assassination of Jaal Batte Urgessa, a political officer of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The EHRC was forced to halt its investigation into Jaal Batte Urgessa’s assassination just three days after it began, as the witness testimonies implicated government security forces in the assassination.
According to the Addis Standard news outlet, the EHRC had written a letter to the Oromia regional state government, including President Shimelis Abdissa, revealing these details. The letter confirmed that Urgessa was killed in Meki City, East Showa Zone, Oromia Region.
The Commission’s team of investigators had collected information and evidence showing a trail of activities implicating the government security forces. On the day of the assassination, security forces had started preventing the movement of vehicles and pedestrians.
Eyewitness accounts revealed that four security men wearing ‘Ranger’ uniforms and armed with weapons got out of a vehicle, dragged one person from the back of the vehicle, shot the person repeatedly, and left. The next morning, Urgessa’s body was found with his hand tied behind his back, shot in the head, chest, and abdomen areas.
This incident marks another in a series of similar atrocities committed by the government, raising serious concerns about human rights violations in the Oromia region