On Dec 10, 2022, a Facebook page, followed by more than sixty-four thousand users shared an image-backed post claiming that the Oromia regional government was detaining ethnic Amharas in Wollega, Oromia. It added that the people were detained because they clashed with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed group addressed by the government as Shane.
The post was virally circulated on the same platform and was shared over thirty times.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim that the Oromia Special Police Force recently detained ethnic Amharas in Wollega. Therefore, the post was rated False.
Reports indicate that the Ethiopian government has been fighting with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed organization known by the government as Shene. A war between the belligerents is raging in the Oromia regional state.
Civilians were reported to have been victims of the ongoing armed conflict. Hundreds of people were killed and injured in the Oromia regional state, particularly Wollega.
The government blamed the killings on the OLF-Shene, while the armed group accused the government of targeting and killing civilians.
Addis Standard, a local news outlet, reported that eyewitnesses told it that Amhara regional militia (Fano) killed dozens of civilians in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on November 25 and 29.
Amid the latest conflict in Wollega, over thirty thousand people including ethnic Amharas were displaced.
It was against this backdrop the Facebook post emerged sharing an image with a claim that Oromia regional authorities recently detained Amhara civilians in Wollega.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show ethnic Amharas recently detained by Oromia regional authority in Wollega.
The image was first published on Apr 24, 2020, by the BBC Afaan Oromo and the picture shows Oromia Special Police Force officers detaining Abdo Abba Jobir, a teacher in the Jimma zone.Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the post False.
On Dec 21, 2022, a Facebook page that has more than six thousand followers shared a picture claiming that the Odaa bus was transporting fano militants [to battlefronts in Oromia]. The post sharing a picture that shows a burning bus alleged that the company, Odaa should admit it transported fano militias and apologize to the Oromo people.
However, HaqCheck investigated the claim and confirmed that the image doesn’t prove the claim that Odaa Bus was transporting fano militants. Thus, the post was rated False.
Reports indicate that the Ethiopian government has been fighting with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed organization known by the government as Shene. A war between the belligerents is raging in the Oromia regional state.
Civilians were reported to have been victims of the ongoing armed conflict. Hundreds of people were killed and injured in the Oromia regional state, particularly Wollega.
The government blamed the killings on the OLF-Shene, while the armed group accused the government of targeting and killing civilians.
Addis Standard, a local news outlet, reported that eyewitnesses told it that Amhara regional militia (Fano) killed dozens of civilians in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on November 25 and 29.
It was against this background the claim that the Odaa Bus was transporting fano militants to Oromia emerged on Facebook. The post indirectly implied that the bus shown burning on the picture belong to the Odaa Bus was set on fire in Oromia because the company transported fano militias.
Odaa Bus is a transport company registered under the name of ODAA Integrated Transport Share Company and owned by thousands of stakeholders including public enterprises. The company mainly operates in the Oromia regional state.
HaqCheck looked into the image to verify whether the picture was the claim or not. However, the image doesn’t support the claim that Odaa Bus was transporting fano militias to the Oromia region.
The image that accompanied the post was taken from an old publication. The picture was first posted on Facebook on Feb 18, 2022.
The original description attached to the image alleges that the bus shown was caught on fire and burnt due to an engine failure while on the way from Addis Ababa to Desse. Accordingly, the incident happened in a place called Dhumuga, in Oromo Special zone of Amhara region.
Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post False due to its usage of an inaccurate image to support the claim.
On Dec 14, 2022, HaqCheck came across a Facebook post sharing an image that uniformed security officers harassing students with a claim that the picture shows police officers recently assaulting students in Addis Ababa.
The post was virally circulated and was shared close to half a thousand times by the time this article was published.
Yet, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show a recent police assault on students in Addis Ababa. Thus, the post was rated False.
There have been claims that students and the Addis Ababa police clashed because schools were ‘forced to display the Oromia national flag and students to sing Oromia regional anthem’.
According to an Ethiopian News Agency, Adanech Abebe, Mayor of Addis Ababa, said that there were people who sought to unleash flag-related conflict in the city.
On Dec 8, 2022, Addis Ababa Police Commission stated that it arrested 97 students and teachers suspected of inciting conflict and violence in the city.
Police said that those arrested students and teachers provoked conflicts by dragging the Ethiopian flag and the Oromia regional flag.
Head of Addis Ababa City Peace and Security Administration Bureau, Lydia Girma announced on Dec 12, 2022, that security forces detained 72 individuals who allegedly were suspected of working to instigate violence in schools in the city.
HaqCheck also found a video clip published on Facebook on Dec 12, 2022, claiming to be showing police officers violently assaulting students in Shiromeda.
News reports this week stated that the federal government ordered schools in the city not to force students to sing Oromia regional anthem and not to enforce the display of the Oromia flag.
The image-backed claim that police recently assaulted students in Addis Ababa appeared against the backdrop of this situation.
In an effort to verify whether the image supports the claim or not, HaqCheck uses a google reverse image search. As a result, the picture was found previously posted in 2016 on different websites including by Human Rights Watch. The description attached to the image claimed that the picture shows Ethiopian security forces harassing students in the Oromia regional state in 2016 in a bid to suppress the widespread popular protests against the then-ruling regime.
Granted there were claims of police violence amid the clashes in schools in the city, but the image does not prove the claim.Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post as False.
The Ethiopian social media landscape during the third week of December was dominated by three main issues and related claims.
The first issue was related to ongoing conflict and violence in the Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. Social media platforms, particularly Telegram was characterized by disturbing graphic videos and images.
Videos and images showing decapitated human heads, a man guillotining a person’s head, etc were shared across social media platforms.
There were controversial claims regarding these horrific videos and images. HaqCheck saw claims that the people shown in the videos beheading were Fano militias.
Whereas, others shared videos that show many corpses and claimed that the dead bodies belong to armed fighters of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) who were killed in recent engagements.
Yet, we couldn’t verify whether the claims were true or false.
The other two issues that flamed information controversy on social media were Ethiopia’s status in relation to the recently announced Chinese tariff-free privilege for African products and regarding what Ethiopia did and didn’t achieve during the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit.
HaqCheck came across controversial claims regarding the issues. However, HaqCheck hasn’t reached a conclusion yet.
Moroccans displayed the ONLF flag at the Qatar World Cup
HaqCheck observed a social media post sharing an image that the picture shows the Moroccan national team displaying the flag of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and rejoicing after a match.
The Moroccan national football team has reached the Qatar FIFA World Cup semi-final as the first African Arab country. After their victory against Spain, the Moroccan squad raised the Palestinian flag.
The image presented by the Facebook post to support the claim that Morrocans raised the ONLF flag in the Qatar World Cup was taken from another publication. Also, the image was altered to make the flag seem like the claimed one.
The original image shows the Moroccan team raising the Palestinian flag after a match in the 2022 FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar.
Thus, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t support the claim and rated the image Altered.
Recommendations
We recommend social media users be cautious of potentially misleading and controversial information. They should look for additional information before they accept or share the claim.
HaqCheck urges public offices and other agencies to offer timely updates about ongoing issues. The lack of sufficing information has been observed to be one of the main factors behind disinformation dissemination.
Government and other organizations are recommended to ensure the right of citizens and the media to access information.
A Facebook page with over 200 thousand followers made a post on Dec 11, 2022, captioned “Morocco is celebrating with two flags.” The post presented an image that shows the Moroccan national team displaying the flag of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and rejoicing after a match.
By the time this article is published, the post had more than half a thousand reactions and was shared sixteen times.
However, HaqCheck inspected the post and confirmed that the image doesn’t support the claim. Thus, HaqCheck rendered the image Altered.
The flag used in the post belongs to the ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front). The politico-military organization, ONLF was established in 1984 seeking the national self-determination right of the Ethiopian Somali region. ONLF had been fighting the Ethiopian regime since 1994.
The Ethiopian ruling party underwent reform and picked a new prime minister in 2018 in a bid to reverse the widespread popular uprising across the country. The newly elected Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called upon armed groups and exiled political organizations to return to Ethiopia and resort to a peaceful struggle. Considering the call by Prime Minister, on Aug 12, 2018, the ONLF declared a unilateral ceasefire and returned back to Ethiopia.
Since then, the ONLF has remained politically active in the country and is one of the prominent opposition parties in the Somali regional state.
The FIFA World Cup, commonly referred to as the World Cup, is a periodic international football competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the members of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). Since its commencement in 1930, the tournament has been held every four years, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, when it was canceled due to the Second World War.
The 22 round of the FIFA World Cup is currently being held in Qatar. The tournament was opened on Nov 20 and will stay till Dec 18, 2022.
The Moroccan national football team has reached the Qatar FIFA World Cup semi-final as the first African Arab country. After their victory against Spain, the Moroccan team raised the Palestinian flag.
The claim that the Moroccan football team displayed the ONLF flag during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar appeared in the backdrop of this situation.
In an effort of verifying the claim, we used a google reverse image search. As a result, HaqCheck found the original image posted on different websites and social media platforms. The original image shows the Moroccan players displaying the Palestinian flag after a match in the 2022 FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar.
HaqCheck also found a video clip published on YouTube of the Moroccan players raising the Palestinian flag after their win against Spain on Dec 6, 2022.
Link,Therefore, HaqCheck confirmed that the post was false and rated the image Altered.
All the false claims HaqCheck debunked during the second week of December this year were related to conflict and resultant violence.
The armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) whom the government called Shene has been raging.
Recurrent conflicts and resultant violence for the past few years now have been reported. Many civilians, including Oromos and Amharas, were killed by government forces and non-state armed entities.
Amid the armed conflict, aerial and ground attacks were undergoing targeting civilians in the process or intentionally.
Conflict broke out recently in the Oromia regional state, mainly in the Wollega zones. Violence and civilian killings came out, particularly on social media.
We observed two fronts circulating social media posts that dominated the social media landscape. The one front seemed to claim that the government along with Amhara regional forces targeted Oromo civilians and the victims of the latest conflict were ethnic Oromos.
The other front alleged that armed forces in Oromia were targeting and mass killing ethnic Amharas who live in Wollega of the Oromia region.
Viral claims and rumors of massacres slaughters, violence, mass displacement, and immolation were making rounds across the Ethiopian social media landscape.
Many images allegedly proving these claims were greatly disseminated on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
The Ethiopian social media landscape was overwhelmed by false and controversial claims that are related to an ongoing conflict in the Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. These claims were mostly supported by images and videos. HaqCheck came across many image-backed claims. While we figured out that some of them were old and false, we could not confirm many images whether were authentic or not.
Nevertheless, below is a summary of the false claims debunked by HaqCheck throughout the second week of the last month of 2022.
A false picture claimed to show people killed in the latest conflict in Oromia
An image was posted on Facebook and Twitter supporting a claim that it shows dead bodies of recently killed people in Wollega, Oromia. The Facebook post claimed that the victims were ethnic Amharas who live in Wollega. In contrast, the Twitter post alleged that the victims were Oromo farmers killed by Amhara armed forces in Wollega.
But, HaqCheck found out that the image doesn’t show ethnic Amhara or Oromos recently killed in Wollega.
The image used to back the opposing claims was old and taken from a social media post made on Sep 20, 2022. It was published along with a short article that alleges ethnic Amharas were being killed in Wollega.
A video allegedly showing Amhara civilians recently killed in Oromia
A viral video emerged on Facebook on Dec 4, 2022, allegedly showing ethnic Amharas who were killed in Wollega, Oromia. The video shows people transporting dead bodies with stretchers.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that the video was previously published on Mar 5, 2021, on the Facebook page of the Amhara Prosperity Party (APP). The video was shared with a short Amharic caption that ethnic Amharas were massacred by the TPLF in the Mai Kadra town.
A false image of an alleged airstrike in Wollega
A Facebook page with over 120 thousand followers posted an image on Dec 5, 2022, claiming that an aerial attack by the Ethiopian government in the town of Begi, Oromia killed many civilians. Additionally, it claimed that Oromia Special Police Force members were also attacked in the air strike.
Nonetheless, the image doesn’t support the claim civilians were killed during a recent air attack in the town of Begi.
The image was taken from an article published on a website in November 2015. Therefore, HaqCheck concluded that the image doesn’t prove the claim and rated the post as False.
A person being immolated in a recent conflict in Ethiopia
An image allegedly showing a person being immolated in a recent conflict in Ethiopia was shared on Facebook on Dec 5, 2022.
However, HaqCheck inspected the claim and confirmed that the picture doesn’t show people burning a person during a recent conflict in Ethiopia.
The image was first published on Twitter on Oct 6, 2014, with an English caption, “Mob Justice is just bad. Where is the rule of law?”.
Recommendations
HaqCheck recommends social media users be skeptical about misleading and controversial information they encounter. They should look for original source of the claim. They should quest for additional information such as fact-checks for potential false claims.
We urge government bodies and other agencies to offer timely updates regarding ongoing matters. The lack of sufficing information always prompts information disorder. The public and the media sector should be provided with sufficient information concerning public affairs.
We recommend the government and other organizations guarantee the right to open and secure access to information.
On Dec 5, 2022, a Facebook page posted an image captioned in Amharic, “this is not a film, this is what happened in our country, Ethiopia” implicitly claiming that a person was burnt during a recent conflict in Ethiopia.
The post has got so many reactions and was shared over sixty times on Facebook.
However, HaqChek looked into the post and confirmed that the image is old and doesn’t show a person immolated in a recent conflict in Ethiopia. The image was first posted on Twitter eight years ago on Oct 6, 2014.
For some years now Ethiopia has been undergoing instability and recurrent internal conflicts. There have been internal border disputes, inter-communal conflicts, widespread displacement, and mass killings.
Above all, war was ongoing between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) for the last two years.
Conflict recently erupted in Wollega, in the Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. Violence and mass killings were reportedly committed during the latest conflict in Wollega.
A local news outlet reported on Dec 3, 2022, that militants (Fano) from the neighboring Amhara region killed dozens of people in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on Nov 25 and 29, 2022.
It is within this context that a Facebook page posted an image claiming that a person was immolated in a recent conflict in Ethiopia.
However, HaqCheck inspected the claim and confirmed that the picture doesn’t support the alleged information that it shows people burning a person during a recent conflict in Ethiopia.
The image was first published on Twitter on Oct 6, 2014. The original picture was posted on the platform with an English caption, “Mob Justice is just bad. Where is the rule of law?”. The Twitter account that posted the original image has over thirty thousand followers and it claims it presents news stories from Malawi.
Therefore, due to its usage of an inaccurate image, HaqCheck rated the post as False.
A Facebook page with over 120 thousand followers posted an image on Dec 5, 2022, claiming that the Ethiopian government conducted an aerial strike, which killed many civilians, in Begi, a place in the West Wollega zone of Oromia region. Besides, it claimed that Oromia Special Police Force members were also attacked in the air strike.
At the moment this article was published, the post was shared close to forty times on the same platform.
Yet, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show a recent air attack the Ethiopian government carried out in the place in the West Wollega zone of Oromia. Thus, the post was rated False.
War has been raging in the Oromia regional state between the Oromo Liberation Army, an armed group addressed by the government as Shene, and the Ethiopian government.
Civilians have been killed in aerial attacks conducted by the Ethiopian government in the Oromia region.
A drone attack the Ethiopian government carried out in the town of Mendi, in the West Wollega zone on Nov 9, 2022, killed at least 20 civilians.
Recently conflict broke out in Wollega, Oromia, particularly in the Amhara-Oromia border areas. Social media posts claimed that many civilians died from violence in the ongoing conflict.
It is within this context a Facebook post emerged sharing an image with a claim that a recent aerial attack by the Ethiopian government in the West Wollega zone of Oromia killed many civilians.
Nonetheless, the image doesn’t support the claim civilians were killed during a recent air attack in the town of Begi.
The image is old and taken from a previous online publication. The image was taken from an article published on a website in November 2015.Therefore, HaqCheck concluded that the image doesn’t prove the claim and rated the post as False.
A Facebook page with more than eleven thousand followers shared a post on Dec 4, 2022, claiming that ethnic Amharas were killed in Wollega, Oromia. The post published a video that shows people transporting dead bodies with stretchers.
The post was virally circulating on Facebook and was watched by close to thirty thousand users.
However, HaqCheck inspected the video and confirmed that the video used to prove the claim was old. Thus, the post was rendered False.
Armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a military organization called by the government Shene has been raging.
Besides, there have been violence and massacres targeting civilians. Ethnic Amharas and Oromos were reported to have been recurrently killed by government and armed group attacks.
Last June, more than 200 civilians, mostly ethnic Amharas, were killed in an attack in a place called Tole, in the West Wollega zone of the Oromia region. The government accused OLA of the killing while the armed group denies the blame.
Conflict recently arose in Oromia, particularly in the border areas adjacent to the Amhara regional state.
A local media organization reported last week that Amhara militants (Fano) killed dozens of people in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on Nov 25 and 29, 2022.
Another news site claimed that over 50 civilians were killed in the area in an attack against ethnic Amharas.
It is against this background that the video emerged on Facebook claiming that ethnic Amharas were killed in the latest violence in Wollega, Oromia.
To investigate the claim, HaqCheck used keywords to cross-check if the video was previously published.
Thus, HaqCheck found out that the video was previously published on Mar 5, 2021, on the Facebook page of the Amhara Prosperity Party (APP). The video was shared with a short Amharic caption that ethnic Amharas were massacred by the TPLF in the Mai Kadra town.
Although there are claims that ethnic Amharas who live in the Oromia regional state were killed in an ongoing conflict, the video clip used in the Facebook post doesn’t show Amhara civilians recently killed in Wollega, Oromia. The video doesn’t prove the claim.Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post False because it used an old and false video to support the claim.
A Facebook post and a Twitter account respectively on Dec 3 and 4, 2022, shared an image with a claim that it shows dead bodies of recently killed people in Wollega, Oromia. The Facebook post claimed that the victims were ethnic Amharas who live in Wollega while the Twitter post alleged that the victims were Oromo farmers killed by Amhara armed forces in Wollega.
The two posts were viral on the respective platforms and got many reactions.
However, HaqCheck confirmed that the image doesn’t show people recently killed in Wollega. Therefore, the image-backed claim made on Facebook and Twitter was rated False.
Reports indicate that there has been an armed conflict between the Ethiopian government and Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed group that is addressed by the government as Shene.
There were recurrent conflicts and violence in Wollega, Oromia. Many civilians including ethnic Amharas and Oromos were killed in the area.
The government blamed OLF-Shene for the killings while the armed organization accused the government of targeting and killing civilians.
Armed fighting was recently reported along the border areas between the Amhara and Oromia regional states.
Addis Standard, a local news outlet stated on Dec 3, 2022, that Amhara militants (Fano) killed dozens of people in the Kiremu district of the East Wollega zone on Nov 25 and 29, 2022.
It was in this context that the two social media posts emerged on Facebook and Twitter sharing an image with a claim that the picture shows dead bodies of recently killed people in Wollega, Oromia.
The Facebook post alleged that the victims were ethnic Amharas who live in Wollega while the Twitter post claimed that the picture shows Oromo farmers recently killed by Amhara armed forces in Wollega.
Both the Facebook post and the Tweet used the same image to support their respective claims.
However, HaqCheck investigated the claim and confirmed that the image doesn’t belong to ethnic Amhara or Oromos recently killed in Wollega.
The image used to back the opposing claims was old and taken from a social media post made on Sep 20, 2022. It was published along with a short article that alleges ethnic Amharas were being killed in Wollega.Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the claim False.
