A Reuters investigation has uncovered that a covert committee of senior officials in Ethiopia’s Oromiya region has been responsible for ordering extra-judicial killings and illegal detentions to suppress an insurgency. The investigation included interviews with over 30 federal and local officials, judges, lawyers, and victims, as well as a review of documents from local political and judicial authorities. This investigation is the first to reveal the activities of the Koree Nageenyaa – Security Committee, which was established shortly after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed office in 2018.

Among the sources, only Milkessa Gemechu, a former Prosperity Party’s central committee member. The others, including two attendees of Koree Nageenyaa meetings, spoke anonymously. Those familiar with the committee’s operations attribute numerous killings and hundreds of arrests to its orders, including a 2021 massacre of 14 shepherds in Oromiya, previously blamed on OLA fighters.

Current and former Ethiopian officials indicate that the Koree Nageenyaa convenes at the Oromiya regional offices of Abiy’s Prosperity Party. It is led by Shimelis Abdisa, the president of the Oromiya region and Abiy’s former chief of staff. Other members include Fekadu Tessema, leader of the Prosperity Party in Oromiya, Ararsa Merdasa, head of security for Oromiya, and several other local political and security officials. None of these individuals responded to Reuters’ inquiries.

Since late 2019, the Koree Nageenyaa has met in the Prosperity Party’s Oromiya regional headquarters in Addis Ababa up to three times a week. During these meetings, the building was cleared of other staff, attendees surrendered their phones, and documents were collected at the end of each session, according to two officials who participated in some of the meetings.

Read more about Koree Nageenyaa: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ethiopia-violence-committee/