Politics of Denial: Abiy’s Zero Torture Claim and Ethiopia’s Ugly Reality

The prime minister cannot obscure widespread evidence of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and systemic human rights abuses that have occurred under his watch.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s reelection as president of Prosperity Party (PP) at its Second Congress held towards the end of January marked another chapter in his controversial leadership.

A former military and security official in the TPLF-led EPRDF regime, Abiy once headed the Information Network Security Administration (INSA), which compromised constitutionally protected privacy rights of citizens, often political opponents of the government.

Early in his premiership, Abiy admitted that security institutions tortured citizens for the government to remain in power. He admitted that his government was a “terrorist”.

Torturous Inheritance

Later, he established PP in 2019 to replace EPRDF. PP inherited all the resources, personnel, and suppressive strategies from its predecessor. It was a superficial change, a mere switch of nomenclature.

At the recent party congress, Abiy declared that his party and government is proud of the fact that no-one was tortured in the last six years.

Many Ethiopians, including Jawar Mohammed, criticized the speech as it contradicted the reality on the ground. Jawar, a prominent Oromo nationalist, contested Abiy’s remarks hours after they were made, saying conditions had actually got worse because now victims were slain in gruesome fashion with the killings recorded and “proudly disseminated”.

Evident Abuse

As Jawar suggests, the reality is that both physical and psychological torture, as defined under Article 1 of the 1984 Convention Against Torture and Inhuman Treatment, have frequently occurred during Abiy’s rule.

According to the convention, torture includes beatings, sexual abuse, and inhuman detention conditions, which include severe overcrowding, lack of hygiene, and the denial of medical care. The organization extends the definition to include psychological torture such as sleep deprivation, prolonged solitary confinement, and threatening victims that their family or friends will be harmed.

I assume Abiy is referring to torture as defined above. In that case, his regime has a long track record of being responsible for both physical and psychological torture, particularly in the battlegrounds  of Tigray, Amhara, Afar, Oromia, and Benishangul-Gumuz.

For example, in addition to external reports, an Inter-Ministerial Taskforce—established  in 2021 to investigate allegations of rights violations—disclosed in its preliminary investigation report that there had been 2,831 extrajudicial killings, 1,315 cases of bodily injury, 2,212 cases of rape and sexual violence, and 452 occurrences of inhuman and degrading treatment perpetrated by the conflicting parties in Amhara and Afar as of 2022.

Political Pain

In keeping with its predecessors, Abiy’s government has arrested journalists and opposition party leaders and detained them without due process. The list includes members of federal and regional parliaments such as Taye Dendea, Desalegn Chanie, Christian Tadele, Yohannes Buayalew, and  Kassa Teshager.

The government violated  Article 54(6) of the federal constitution and the respective constitutions of Amhara and Oromia regional states, which codify parliamentary immunity. This had not been revoked at the time of arrest, and the government did not adduce why it did not apply.

Taye’s family was pushed into homelessness after his arrest. He had been a state minister living in a government property yet officials ordered the immediate eviction of his family without legal notice. Taye had criticized Abiy a few days before his arrest, alleging that he was becoming a danger to the state.

Yohannes, Christian, and others were held in hazardous detention facilities in Awash Arba and Afar. On top of this, they were reportedly denied access to medication and endured suffering due to medical neglect.

Later, as their health worsened, they were taken to hospital for surgery. They were returned to their prison cells an hour later, with no follow-up care or medication. This negligence speaks volumes about the conditions in which political prisoners are held, revealing a profound lack of empathy from the authorities.

Extrajudicial Killings

The assassination of a prominent Oromo politician is also a record of torture. On 9 April 2024, Bate Urgessa was visiting his farm outside of Meki town when he was seized from his hotel room, nominally by government security personnel.

The next day, his body was found dumped by the roadside on the outskirts of Meki with his hands tied behind his back and a gunshot wound to his head. The bound hands suggest Bate was tortured before he was killed.  

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee described the incident as “shocking” and urged Ethiopian authorities to allow a credible international body to investigate.  However, government security forces blocked the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission (EHRC), arresting potential eyewitnesses, including Bate’s family, and threatening investigators.

Eventually, EHRC was forced to quit the investigation. The Foreign Relations Committee noted that extrajudicial executions, harassment, and political repression have been common under Abiy. Keep in mind that these are the high-profile documented cases—countless unrecorded deaths, threats, and incarcerations have targeted ordinary Ethiopians.

Mob Justice

Abiy deliberately fabricated fear of “reversing the reform” to instill mistrust, claiming that TPLF and its supporters would stage a coup. Many Ethiopians traumatized by TPLF’s repressive rule feared its return to power, handing Abiy widespread support.

This fear intensified after a bomb attack at a pro-Abiy rally in Addis Abeba on 23 June 2018, at Meskel Square. Many came to believe the attack was staged to garner public sympathy and deepen enmity between TPLF and Ethiopians.

From that time onwards, mob justice started soaring under the guise of controlling TPLF-sponsored attacks. One tragic example occurred at a rally in Shashemene in August 2018, welcoming Jawar’s return from the U.S. An innocent young man who was accused of carrying a bomb was beaten to death and hanged upside down on a utility pole.

Similarly, in October 2018, a mob attacked three researchers in the Amhara’s West Gojjam Zone. In the incident, two were stoned to death, and one was critically injured because of false accusations that the researchers were delivering vaccines to children that cause infertility.

Abiy’s administration was either unwilling or unable to stop such violence. The impunity has encouraged ethnically motivated attacks nationwide.

Oromia Carnage

Ethiopians, particularly in war zones, are suffering from economically and politically motivated abuse by paramilitaries and government forces. This constitutes physical and psychological torture as per the definition of torture pinpointed above.

Oromia has seen almost non-stop bloodshed since Abiy came to power. It started with the ethnically motivated Burayu massacre in 2018 that targeted non-Oromo communities, particularly Dorze, Gamo, and Gurage, just outside Addis Ababa.

The next day, when victims peacefully protested the government’s inaction, security forces killed five protesters and detained thousands under the pretext of conducting “illegal rallies”, according to VOA News. This gave the impression that the massacre was state-sponsored, aimed at terrorizing the pubic.

According to victim testimonies, civilians in Oromia were “killed like chicken” in multiple attacks, including one where over 200 Amhara people were slain. Government troops and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) were blamed. EHRC and Amnesty International said another OLA attack in Wollega killed 54 people, primarily Amhara but also Guraghe and Agaw, and occurred after government forces withdrew.

Prison Horrors

Setting aside the Tigray war, numerous cases in Tigray involve civilians enduring grave human rights violations, including torture and inhuman treatment. A Reuters investigation revealed that thousands of ethnic Tigrayans were imprisoned in appalling conditions in makeshift prisons across Ethiopia, denied the chance to defend themselves.

Nearly 3,000 people were packed into 18 cells in the southern town of Mizan Teferi, where detainees, including women and children, were housed in overcrowded facilities like an abandoned movie theater, university campuses, a disused chicken factory, and an incomplete prison.

Reports indicate detainees had to bribe guards for medication, medical care was often refused or delayed, and beatings were frequent. These conditions led to numerous deaths, including from meningitis and malaria due to delayed medical attention.

Not long after the Pretoria agreement ended the Tigray war in November 2022, Amhara plunged into a horrific conflict in which federal forces committed well-documented human rights violations. Initially suffering heavy losses to Fano forces, retreating federal soldiers frequently retaliated with extrajudicial killings of civilians, conducting house-to-house raids and rounding up villagers. Documented cases include executing men in front of their families, and desecrating bodies. People in Amhara are also subjected to psychological torture due to their constant fear of drone attacks.

Rape was widespread in the Tigray war. A joint investigation by EHRC  and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights revealed horrific sexual violence, including gang rape, by warring parties. Similarly, Amnesty International’s report in February 2022, highlighted human rights violations against Amharas by Tigrayan forces in Amhara.

Ultimate Responsibility

Benishangul-Gumuz has also witnessed massive rights violations, with killings, kidnappings, and torture carried out by the Gumuz militia, OLA, and government forces. In 2020 and 2021, repeated attacks and massacres in Metekel Zone targeted Amhara, Agaw, and Shinasha communities.

In one incident, fighters surrounded villages, killing around 220 people, burning homes, and even shooting residents before setting fires to ensure their deaths. Some victims were attacked with arrows, inflicting unbearable suffering. Like in Oromia, these attacks often occurred when government forces withdrew, leaving communities vulnerable to paramilitary violence.

Some of the violations clearly constitute torture. Others beg more investigation, as they suggest the possibility of torture. Government forces and paramilitaries—such as the OLA, Tigray Defense Force, and Gumuz militia—are all implicated.

International actors are aware of the violations committed by government forces and others. For instance, the U.S. has extended temporary protected status to Ethiopians to protect them from possible persecution and abuse if they go home.

Abiy is ultimately responsible for the torture, both the actions of his forces and also for failing to protect citizens. Rather than engaging in denial, he should acknowledge reality.

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While this commentary contains the author’s opinions, Ethiopia Insight will correct factual errors.

Main photo: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 22 November 2018.

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