Today’s mass shooting of the Oromo Political Prisoners by the Ethiopian regime at Kilinto prison is another episode of widespread, systematic and targeted killing of the Oromo people and their leaders who remain behind the bar. We received information there was a gun battle before and after the prison was set ablaze.
Kilinto is home to hundreds of high profile Oromo political prisoners including Bekele Gerba, Dejene Tafa and others. At the moment, there is a reported deaths of dozens of Oromo political prisoners. Families of the prisoners are told and threatened by the government force to leave the prison area including from hospitals where some prisoners were transported.
It is extremely difficult for the family members to know and verify whether their loved inmates survived the government shooting.
As OACC is engaged in working on international legal defense and civil rights litigation before available platforms of legal remedies at African continental and global level, we will continue to monitor today’s situation and the overall detention situation of all Oromo political prisoners in Kilinto and other detention centers in the country.
OACC is a Minnesota non-profit organization established and functioning since 2002