The Ethiopian army is accused of war crimes in the Amhara region

Ethiopian soldiers Ethiopian soldiers Photo by Yuzu2020 via iStock

As reported by Human Rights Watch, in late January during fighting with the Fano militia, the Ethiopian army executed and killed dozens of civilians in Merawi, a town in the Amhara region, in a door-to-door search by government personnel. It was described as one of the deadliest incidents against civilians during the fighting since fighting broke out in August 2023.

The federal forces have committed numerous abuses with impunity and have committed war crimes relentlessly with the intention of undermining the legitimacy of the government, which is instead trying to bring order to the region.

According to Aljazeera, Human Rights Watch has been unable to determine the total number of deaths in Merawi, despite its efforts to interview many people, including victims, family members, and witnesses; it also analysed and verified two videos posted on social media in the aftermath of the attack, and examined satellite images that confirmed the testimonies. Community leaders also shared two lists of victims with a total of 40 names of people who were identified and buried in the Ethiopian region.

HRW condemned the massacre and called for an independent investigation, as since the end of the UN-led investigation in October 2023, there has been no proper international monitoring of the human rights situation in the country. 
Concerned governments should press for the resumption of human rights monitoring at the UN Human Rights Council, and ask the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to urgently investigate and publicly report on the abuses in Amhara.

As Albawaba reports, HRW called on the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council to consider suspending any new deployment of Ethiopian soldiers from peacekeeping missions
Like Ethiopia's partners, the AU and UN should take concrete steps to end the impunity enjoyed by Ethiopian commanders.

HRW also recalls that international killing or abuse of the population, such as robbery and looting of civilian property, is illegal under international humanitarian law and can be prosecuted as war crimes in the Amhara armed conflict.

 

To read more, visit:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/04/ethiopia-military-executes-dozens-amhara-region 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/ethiopias-army-accused-of-committing-war-crimes-in-amhara-region 

https://www.albawaba.com/news/human-rights-watch-investigate-military-executions-amhara-ethiopia-1560286 

https://www.unocha.org/news/todays-top-news-occupied-palestinian-territory-haiti-democratic-republic-congo-ethiopia-south

 

Read 590 times