Conflict sees ‘extreme brutality’
All sides in Ethiopia responsible, U.N. says
GENEVA — All sides in Ethiopia’s yearlong war in the Tigray region have committed abuses marked by “extreme brutality” that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday, noting “the big numbers of violations” are linked to Ethiopian forces and those from neighboring Eritrea.
The conflict, which has killed thousands, began in November 2020 after a political falling-out between the Tigray forces that dominated the national government and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s current government. Ethnic Tigrayans across the country have reported being targeted with arbitrary detentions, while civilians in Tigray have described gang rapes, human-caused famine and mass expulsions.
The investigation, a collaboration by the U.N. human rights office with the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, was hampered by authorities’ intimidation and restrictions and didn’t visit some of the war’s worst-affected locations.
The U.N. said the collaboration was necessary for its team to gain access to a troubled region that Ethiopian authorities have largely prevented journalists, rights groups and other observers from entering.
The report was released a day before the first anniversary of the start of the war and as Africa’s second-most populous country enters a new state of emergency, with rival Tigray forces threatening the capital, Addis Ababa.
The joint investigation covers events up until late June when the Tigray forces regained much of their region, but it failed to visit some of the deadliest sites of the war, including the city of Axum, because of security and other obstacles. Notably, the report said, obstacles included the Ethiopian government’s failure to release satellite phones procured for the investigation — crucial tools as phone and internet service are cut off in Tigray.
The investigation breaks little new ground and confirms in general the abuses described by witnesses throughout the war. But it gives little sense of scale, saying only that the more than 1,300 rapes reported to authorities are likely far fewer than the real number.