As Ethiopia continues to face instability and conflict in many of its regions, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published an in-depth report this July detailing its findings in regard to human rights violations, key areas for concern, positive developments, and recommendations for the period June 2021- June 2022. The report details violations in almost all regions of Ethiopia, from the well-documented attacks on the northern region of Tigray to the alleged massacre in the western region of Oromia. The report states that Ethiopians’ right to live, right to security of person, right to justice, and right to not be subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and/or punishment have been violated by government forces, Tigray forces and other armed groups. These violations take the form of “widespread deaths, psychosocial and physical injury, sexual and gender-based violence, displacement and destruction of property, targeting civilians, including women, children, older persons and persons with disability and carried out in extreme brutality and cruelty”.
Other issues highlighted in the report include the destruction of healthcare and education facilities, the internal displacement of over four million persons still depending on humanitarian assistance, and the detention and arrests of 54 media personnel. In the recommendations section, the EHRC calls on the conflicting parties in northern Ethiopia to resolve their differences and advocates bringing those involved in human rights violations to justice. It also urges authorities to release all detainees in police custody without due process.
The annual human rights report is the first to be released by the EHRC since its formation. At a press conference, EHRC Chief Commissioner Daniel Bekele commented that, “though this first annual human rights situation report does not purport to be an exhaustive list of incidents of human rights violations, it provides a comprehensive overview of human rights concerns that require immediate and urgent attention”.
Ethiopia is no stranger to conflict, previous examples of which are the 1974 military coup and the Eritrean–Ethiopian border war. Following months of tension between the Ethiopian government and The Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), war once again erupted in the country in November 2020. The initial tension came to a head in March 2020 when Abiy Ahmed’s government postponed elections due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Not seeing Abiy as a legitimate leader, the TPLF, who once held a significant amount of power in the old coalition in Ethiopia, held their own elections in September 2020. The president and parliament denounced the vote as illegal, and rising antagonism led to TPLF forces attacking a government military base, in retaliation of which Abiy sent in his troops to Tigray.
Since the fighting began in November 2020, there have been restrictions on humanitarian aid and food to the region, leading to the most severe starvation crisis in the world. The conflict has also created a refugee and internal displacement crisis, with over 60,000 civilians crossing the border into Sudan since November 2020. The situation on the ground is complex, with both state and non-state actors found guilty of violating the human rights of Ethiopians. As the Ethiopian government continues to reject mediation efforts, ceasefire calls, and support from Sudan and Turkey, civilians on the ground continue to suffer the most from this conflict, as is case in almost every major modern war.
