An Ethiopian Human Rights Commission investigation and report, released on December 5, 2024, finds that forcible detention and conscription of citizens into the military is rampant in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. The forced conscription targets young men, “including underage children and citizens coping with mental health challenges.” A practice in violation of national and international law.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission conducted its investigation in four cities of the Oromia region between November 4 – 20, 2024. The investigation concluded that Oromia regional administration and security forces — led by Oromo Prosperity Party’s Abiy Ahmed and Shimelis Abdisa — are “forcibly abducting many people, including children under the pretext of joining the defense forces.” These actions are a violation of “Article 17 of the Ethiopian Constitution; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and other international human rights instruments to which Ethiopia is a signatory”, according to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
Furthermore, many of the people that are being forcibly detained are minors under the age of 18 years old. For example, in one specific detention center, 14 of 32 people forcibly detained stated that they were between 15 and 16 years old, while one child was found to be 11 years old. According to the children, they were forcibly detained and told, “‘you will undergo military training.’”
In some instances, the Oromia regional administration is forcing family members to pay ransom to release people that are detained. Those detained whose families are unable to pay ransom, ranging from 20,000 – 100,000 Ethiopian Birr, are sent to fight in the Amhara region, where the Abiy Ahmed regime is currently conducting a brutal war of aggression against the Amhara region and its people.
The investigation and report from the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission corroborates recent reporting and analysis from the Ethiopian Policy Institute on the lawlessness and criminality proliferating in Abiy’s Ethiopia, including abductions for ransom and forcible conscription by security forces. In addition, new reporting from the New York Times finds that regime forces from the Oromia region are voluntarily surrendering during combat in the Amhara region; and in doing so, they report being “forced to fight” by the Abiy regime, “without enough food”, and are “tired and fed up.”
The combination of increasing abductions for ransom and forcible conscription by the Abiy regime has led to mass fear, despair, and discontent among the citizenry, particularly in the Oromia region.
Ethiopian Policy Institute 