Urgessa, who was a member of the once-banned OLF party, returned from political exile after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018.
Bate Urgessa, a major figure in Ethiopia’s opposition party, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), has been abducted and shot dead by unknown assailants who were alleged to have government sponsorship.
Urgessa was a member of the once-banned OLF party, returned from political exile after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the party said 41-year-old Urgessa, who had recently been released after two weeks’ detention, was killed on Tuesday night in his home town in the East African nation’s biggest and most populous region, Oromia.
Titled: "OLF Condemns The Killing of Jaal Battee Urgeessaa and Appeals for Impartial and Neutral Investigation," the party decried the brutal murder of its member and political officer with agony and grave sadness.
The statement partly read: "The unwarranted and extrajudicial killing of conscious and active Oromo political and cultural figures has been a systematic and irresponsible act of silencing the Oromo throughout years and decades.
"Up on our fresh memory of the killing of the renowned and beloved iconic Oromo artist Hachaluu Hudeessa, we again, as people, are experiencing another tragic death of our eloquent, selfless, and brave Oromo soul, Battee Urgeessaa.
"Hachalu, his family and the Oromo people have not yet got justice, and his killers were not brought to the impartial court of law. The Oromo people are waiting for this to happen."
It added, "Jaal Battee Urgessa was bom in the Meki area of Central Oromiya and was murdered in the same place, OLF sources and the media (Addis Standard) so far say that he was shot dead.
"The OLF is conducting its further investigation into the killings, though circumstances are so difficult for all of us as people.
"OLF express its deep condolence to Batte's Family and call upon the Oromo People to stand by the side of his wife and children.
“We appeal to all human rights organizations and peace-loving people to undertake an immediate neutral and impartial investigation,” the OLF said.
According to news outlet Addis Standard, which cited a family source, Bate was forcibly removed from a hotel room late on Tuesday and his body was discovered by the roadside the following morning in Meki, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) south of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
He was arrested in February at a hotel in Addis Ababa along with French journalist Antoine Galindo, allegedly conducting an interview. Both were accused of cooperating with rebel groups Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a military wing of the separatist OLF, and with the rebel Fano militia, in an alleged “conspiracy to incite unrest.”
Galindo was released after a week, while Bate was granted bail after two weeks. The government critic had spent years in and out of prison on multiple occasions. He became seriously ill in 2022 while in custody and was freed.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has called for a “prompt, impartial” and “full investigation” of the incident, by both Oromia regional and Ethiopian federal authorities, to hold Bate’s killers accountable.
Daniel Bekele, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission chief wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account that all the perpetrators must be held to account.
"Following the killing of Batte Urgessa, who was a member of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front, @EthioHRC calls for a prompt, impartial & full investigation by both the #Oromia regional & #Ethiopia federal authorities to hold perpetrators to account."
The OLF and the federal government have been at odds for decades over claims of marginalization and neglect of the Oromo people, the country’s largest ethnic group. Years of unrest in Oromia have claimed hundreds of lives and displaced tens of thousands.