A report presented Thursday to the United Nations Human Rights Council accuses all parties to the conflict in northern Ethiopia of widespread atrocities, many amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, despite a peace agreement signed nearly a year ago. The report from the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia documents wide-ranging atrocities committed since the conflict between the government and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) erupted November 3, 2020.
In presenting the report, Mohamed Chande Othman, commission chair, warned that the failure of last year's agreement to end the hostilities has shattered optimism that the pact "would pave the way for an end to one of the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century, one which has devastated communities across northern Ethiopia."
In November 2020, military conflict erupted between forces allied with the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, Ethiopia's national military. The conflict, which lasted throughout 2021 and 2022, exacerbated ethnic violence and was largely concentrated in the regional states of Tigray, Amhara, and Afar.
The United Nations and other institutions estimate about 600,000 civilians in Tigray died in the armed conflict and millions of people were displaced. In November 2022, the Ethiopian federal government and the TPLF signed a “Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement” (COHA) in Pretoria, South Africa, mediated by the African Union (AU).
"Not only has the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement failed to bring about any comprehensive peace," said Othman, "but atrocities are ongoing, and conflict, violence and instability is now near national in dimension."
He said the commission's investigation clearly shows the Ethiopian government and forces under its control, as well as the Eritrean forces in Ethiopia, continue to commit serious violations and atrocity crimes throughout the northern region.
"The Ethiopian national defense forces, Eritrean defense forces, regional forces and affiliated militias perpetrated violations in Tigray on a staggering scale," he said.
"These included mass killings, widespread and systematic rape and sexual violence against women and girls, deliberate starvation, forced displacement and large-scale arbitrary detentions. These amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."
The commission report confirms that Tigray forces and allied militias also have committed gross violations against civilians in the Amhara and Afar regions, "including killings, widespread rape and sexual violence, destruction of property and looting, also amounting to war crimes."
The commission is especially concerned about the safety of minority Irob and Kunama communities that lived near the Eritrean border. The independent experts have also documented the continued forced expulsion of tens of thousands of Tigrayans from Western Tigray.
Othman said the continued presence of Eritrean forces on Ethiopian land confirmed an ongoing pattern of atrocities. It was a clear sign of continued complicity in and tolerance of such violations by the Ethiopian Government.
In so doing, Ethiopia had failed in its primary legal duty as a State to protect its population from human rights violations by an external force. Beyond Tigray, the Commission was gravely concerned about the deteriorating situation in Amhara region.
In Ethiopia's Amhara region, government forces and a regional militia that fought on the government side during the conflict in the Tigray region have been fighting for five months. The clashes between the federal government and the armed group were sparked in April this year when the government asked the militia to join the country's police or military following the peace agreement in Tigray.
The commission notes grave violations have spread beyond the north of the country to the Oromia region, where it uncovered "ongoing patterns by government forces of arrest, detention and torture of civilians."
Ongoing hostilities in Oromia continue to displace thousands of civilians and are impacting humanitarian operations. More than 1 million women, men, and children are currently internally displaced due to conflict in the region.
Tension and violence in the Oromia region have led to an alarming number of casualties and an extremely concerning human rights and humanitarian situation. The Ethiopian government blames a rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), for the violence. However, the response of government forces has worsened the precarious situation. Fighting between the OLA and Ethiopian National Defence Forces has been going on for four years.
Othman said, "These atrocities — past and ongoing, regardless of the affected region or community — are having severe and ongoing impacts on survivors, victims and their families and have seriously eroded the fabric of society."
He added: "The need for a credible and inclusive process of truth, justice, reconciliation and healing has never been more urgent."
The report notes the government of Ethiopia has failed to effectively prevent or investigate violations and has instead initiated a flawed transitional justice consultation process in which victims remain overlooked.
The commission urged the Human Rights Council to ensure continued robust international investigations and public reporting of the situation in Ethiopia.
This advice did not sit well with Ethiopia's permanent representative at the UN in Geneva, Tsegab Kebebew. He said the commission's report and findings were based on highly questionable methodological approaches and from very remote locations, which "have grossly mischaracterized the positive and widely acclaimed political developments in Ethiopia."
He called the report substandard, professionally deficient and conspicuously political, noting that since the signing of the Pretoria Peace Agreement, Ethiopia has redoubled its efforts to consolidate peace in the country.
"However, we noted with profound regret that the commission has not shown any inclination to recognize the tremendous progress registered in Ethiopia in the silencing of guns — following the African Union-led and Ethiopian-owned peace process," he said.
The three-member International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia was established by the Human Rights Council on 17 December 2021, through resolution S-33/1,to conduct thorough and impartial investigations into allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and international refugee law in Ethiopia committed since 3 November 2020 by all parties to the conflict.
The Human Rights Council will vote next month on whether to renew the commission's mandate after its scheduled expiration in December.
Beyond human rights concerns, Ethiopia continues to face huge humanitarian challenges, with conflict, displacement, drought, floods, and disease outbreaks as the main drivers of need. These challenges are creating a complex and volatile situation affecting more than 28 million people in need of humanitarian assistance this year.
A historic drought and war in northern Ethiopia — which both began in 2020 — in addition to disease outbreaks, and intercommunal conflict have contributed to elevated needs across the country. Although the peace agreement was signed in late 2022 and humanitarian access to Tigray and the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara improved, needs remain high due to the two-year conflict.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 9.4 million people in the Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions are in need of food assistance due to the impact of the conflict. A prolonged drought, the worst in the Horn of Africa region in modern history, has increase food and nutrition insecurity in eastern and southern Ethiopia. 11.8 million people nationwide are suffering severe hunger due to the drought and are in need of food assistance.
As of June 2023, more than 4.38 million people were internally displaced in Ethiopia, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
While Ethiopia's Somali region hosts the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) primarily displaced due to drought (543,000 people), Tigray region hosts the highest number of IDPs primarily displaced due to conflict (1 million people). The main causes of displacement across Ethiopia are conflict (2.9 million IDPs), drought (811,000 IDPs) and social tension (324,000 IDPs).
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, UN Human Rights Council, fifty-fourth session, A/HRC/54/55, released September 14, 2023
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/chreetiopia/A_HRC_54_55_AUV.pdf
Website: International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia
https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/ichre-ethiopa/index