Drop the Charges Against Seenaa Solomon and all of the Oromo 7

Seenaa Solomon is an Oromo singer from Ethiopia who along with six other individuals, including members of her music group and a producer, has been detained since late 2016. On June 29, 2017, Solomon and her collaborators were charged with terrorism-related offenses for creating “inciting” audiovisual material and uploading it to YouTube. In addition to Solomon, the group includes producer/director Elias Kiflu, vocalists Olyaad Bekele and Bailu Necho, and dancers Mo’iibul Misganu, Qeneni Tamiru, and Iffaa Gammachu.

Solomon and the group have been creating resistance music since 2014, when the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) announced plans to expand the nation’s capital, Addis Ababa. This proposal would require the seizure of neighboring farmland in the region of Oromia, the traditional home of the Oromo people. The seven performers have become the voices of a student-led protest movement throughout Oromia, writing and sharing music in Afan Oromo, the language of the region.

The official charges filed in the Ethiopian Federal High Court on June 29 accuse the seven, including singer Seenaa Solomon, of inciting a riot and destabilizing the nation as a result of writing dissident content and sending it abroad to an Ethiopian diaspora organization in Australia for distribution. Similar charges have become commonplace for dissidents since a state of emergency was declared in October 2016 following increased violence throughout Oromia.

Solomon’s group was taken into custody one by one between September 30, 2016 and May 17, 2017. Most of the seven were detained without charge for over six months in Addis Ababa’s Ma’ekelawi, the Ethiopian Central Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which has been a known torture center for over fifty years. Their first hearing was scheduled for July 14, but information about their trials is unclear. The outcome, or if the trials have been held at all, is unknown.

Despite the Ethiopian government’s attempt to criminalize and repress dissidents, Oromo resistance music continues to flourish on YouTube, where some of the group’s videos have garnered upwards of 100,000 views each. This video shows them performing just before their arrest.

We ask you to join us in calling on the Ethiopian government to release Seenaa Solomon and the rest of the group. Art and music are not crimes.

Your Message

Message Recipients: Getachew Ambaye - Attorney General

I am deeply concerned with the charges against members of an Oromo music group, including Seenaa Solomon, Elias Kiflu, Olyaad Bekele, Bailu Necho, Mo’iibul Misganu, Qeneni Tamiru, and Iffaa Gammachu. This is a group of musicians and performers who have been outspoken about their views regarding the ongoing protests in Oromia, but they have not instigated violence — they have simply artistically and peacefully expressed their opinions. Peaceful self-expression is fundamental to any free society, and furthermore, the arrest and imprisonment of these musicians is unconstitutional, violating Article 29, Section 2 of Ethiopia’s Constitution, which guarantees “freedom of expression without any interference” including in the form of art. Their imprisonment additionally violates globally recognized norms protecting the right to freedom of expression in agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Ethiopia is a party. I strongly urge you to drop the charges against the Oromo 7: Seenaa Solomon, Elias Kiflu, Olyaad Bekele, Bailu Necho, Mo’iibul Misganu, Qeneni Tamiru, and Iffaa Gammachu.

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Drop the Charges Against Seenaa Solomon and all of the Oromo 7

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