By Lucy McKernan and Philippe Dam
Published September 28, 2023
A report by International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) exposes wide-ranging atrocities during the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia, documenting 49 mass killings of Tigrayan civilians by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, widespread and systematic sexual violence against 10,000 Tigrayan women and girls, starvation, forced displacement and arbitrary detention. It concludes that all warring parties have committed crimes against humanity.
ICHREE warns that neither the conflict nor violations in the regions of Amhara, Oromia and elsewhere in Tigray have ended, with abuses taking place on a national scale.
ICHREE calls for accountability and questions the Ethiopian government’s pledges to deliver on it.
Victims and their families across Ethiopia have consistently called for investigations, justice, and redress, but have no trust in the country’s institutions to deliver. Victims and rights advocates have called on the European Union, which led efforts to establish ICHREE in 2021, to present a text to renew its mandate.
But with one week left to present draft resolutions at the Human Rights Council, there is still no indication the EU will present any follow-up text.
Victims’ hopes should not be abandoned by letting the situation in Ethiopia drop from the Council agenda. The Council should uphold ICHREE’s recommendation to ‘provide for continued international scrutiny and investigations into past and ongoing violations’ by renewing the investigation’s mandate.
