Skip to main content

Bekele Gerba

Image
Bekele Gerba    Photo

Bekele Gerba is a former English professor at Addis Ababa University and a prominent leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), a registered political party in Oromia, Ethiopia. He was arrested on December 23, 2015, in the midst of a crackdown on ongoing protests against government development plans for Addis Ababa and surrounding municipalities. The government responded to the protests, which began on November 12, 2015, with force and mass arrests; in mid-December government officials called the protestors "terrorists."

Mr. Gerba was arrested under the Anti-Terrorist Proclamation and reportedly charged with belonging to the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a charge that is regularly used to silence ethnic Oromos who are critical of the government. While he was originally taken to the notorious Maekalawi prison, in April 2016 he was transferred to Qilinto prison. As a human rights activist Bekele has been subject to repeated threats, intimidation, periods of incommunicado detention as well as torture and ill treatment by government-backed military forces. In July, Gerba and several other senior members of the OFC went on a hunger strike to protest their treatment in detention.

In September, at least 23 people were reported to have died in a fire that broke out in this prison. Bekele Gerba's whereabouts after the fire are unclear.

Advocate: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN, Ret.)

Bekele Gerba is alive and has been RELEASED.

Updates:
  • Ethiopia has released senior Oromo opposition leader Bekele Gerba from prison and dropped all charges against him. (February 13, 2018, Reuters)

Contact The Commission

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
4150 O'Neill House Office Building
200 C Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20515
United States of America

Phone: +1 (202) 225-3599
Fax: +1 (202) 226-6584
TLHRC@mail.house.gov

Accessibility

The Commission seeks to make its events, meetings and hearings accessible to persons with disabilities.

If you are in need of special accommodations, please call (202) 225-3599 at least four business days in advance.

Questions with regard to special accommodations in general (including availability of Commission materials in alternative formats and assistive listening devices, sign language interpretation, etc.) may be directed to the Commission.

Get Commission E-Mail Updates

Please sign up to receive Commission updates, hearing schedules, and the latest news.