Ethiopia: News - Coalition Says Abeshige Extrajudicial Killings 'Comparable to the Red Terror', Demands Investigation

What the report says

The Coalition for Ethiopian Unity, a five-party opposition bloc, has condemned the reported killing of three young men in Abeshige Woreda in Ethiopia’s Central Ethiopia Regional State and is calling for an independent investigation. The group said the men — Temesgen Getachew, Yitagesu Asegidew and Gizaw Girmaye — were killed on 30 July in Nacha Kulit Kebele after being accused of links to Fano, an armed group active in parts of the country.

According to the coalition’s account, the men were taken from a public transport minibus, tied, beaten and shot. Photographs said to show the bodies were widely shared on social media. The coalition described the incident as resembling the abuses of Ethiopia’s Red Terror period, a reference to the late 1970s Derg-era mass killings. It also said local sources suggested one victim’s brother had previously been killed in a similar way, and that another young man, Gizachew Girma, had been killed about a month earlier in the same woreda.

Regional officials have acknowledged security problems in Abeshige and said operations were underway against armed groups in forested areas, but they have not confirmed responsibility for the reported killings. A regional security official previously described those targeted as “bandits” and said some who refused government calls to surrender had been apprehended. The coalition rejected any extrajudicial punishment, arguing that suspected crimes should be handled through legal process.

The case highlights wider tensions in parts of Ethiopia where authorities say they are confronting armed groups, while rights advocates and opposition figures raise concerns about unlawful force and impunity.