Redwan Hussein (L), Representative of the Ethiopian government, and Getachew Reda (R), ... [+]
In October 2023, as the U.N. Human Rights Council was concluding its autumn session, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (the Commission of Experts), an ad-hoc body established to investigate allegations of human rights violations and support accountability efforts in Ethiopia, published the final report before its mandate ceased. The Commission of Experts emphasized the gravity of crimes that have been committed by all parties to the conflict in Ethiopia since November 3, 2020, and their implications for future peace and stability. As it found, “The Ethiopian National Defense Forces, Eritrean Defense Forces, regional forces and affiliated militias perpetrated violations and abuses in Tigray on a staggering scale. These included mass killings, widespread and systematic rape and sexual violence, including sexualized slavery, against women and girls, deliberate starvation, forced displacement, and large-scale arbitrary detentions. These amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.” It further added that “Tigray fighters and allied militias also committed severe violations and abuses against civilians in Amhara and Afar regions, including killings, widespread rape and sexual violence, destruction of property and looting, also amounting to war crimes. In Oromia, the Commission uncovered ongoing patterns by Government forces of arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture of civilians, in particular men and boys, accused of links with non-state armed group the Oromo Liberation Army. Extrajudicial killings of civilians are accompanied by impunity, while sexual violence against women and girls continues but is seriously underreported.”
The Commission of Experts confirmed that many of these violations are ongoing, and this despite the ceasefire agreed in November 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa. It found that “Eritrean troops and Amhara forces and militia members continue to commit grave violations in Tigray, including rape and sexual violence of women and girls.” The Commission also found the “continued forced expulsion of Tigrayans from Western Tigray, with tens of thousands of women, men, and children unable to return to their homes. Beyond Tigray, other parts of Ethiopia are seeing violence and instability. The Commission is receiving regular reports of armed clashes between Government forces and Amhara armed groups, including fano militia, in the context of the state of emergency announced on August 4, 2023, in particular around Gondar, Gojjam, and North Shewa Zone, but with incidents reported in all zones of Amhara.” The Commission further indicated that “in Oromia, notably Western Oromia, the Commission has confirmed the use of airstrikes, in particular drone strikes, as part of the counter-insurgency strategy against the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA).”
In another report, published in September 2023, the Commission clearly stated that “further investigation is warranted into ongoing violations and other risks of future atrocity crimes. This includes the situation in Amhara, Oromia, and Western Tigray as well as reports of violations by the Eritrean Defense Forces in other areas of Tigray. Additional investigations into command and superior structures, including intent, in relation to the conflict since November 3, 2020, are also required.”
Despite this ongoing dire situation, as the U.N. Human Rights Council was concluding its autumn session in October 2023, there was very little interest in ensuring that the mandate of the Commission of Experts was extended for another term to enable it to continue its work. This is a step back for any efforts on justice and accountability in Ethiopia.
In November 2023, a year after the ceasefire agreement in Pretoria, South Africa, the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum published a report “A Way Forward for Justice and Accountability in Ethiopia” identifying what would need to happen to ensure justice and accountability for victims of the atrocities. The report indicated that “genuine and inclusive transitional justice efforts are necessary to redress the harm of past mass atrocities in Ethiopia and mitigate future atrocity risk. Justice efforts that lack substance or sustainability, even if they appear to be more palatable in the short term, will entrench cycles of impunity and lead to devastating effects. Half steps by the Ethiopian government should not successfully deflect international scrutiny.” The report, co-authored by Ambassador Stephen Rapp, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice from 2009 to 2015, suggested that “A genuine and holistic approach to transitional justice would encompass four mutually reinforcing efforts to which victims are entitled: truth-seeking, formal accountability, reparations, and guarantees of nonrecurrence.” The report makes several recommendations on how to ensure progress on justice and accountability.
Among others, it recommends that States provide funding and capacity building to civil society organizations documenting mass atrocities; and that the U.N. Human Rights Council establishes a U.N. Special Procedures Mandate for the situation of human rights in Ethiopia. While the situation in Ethiopia is disappearing from the world’s radar, the ongoing atrocities require continued attention and response. Justice and accountability are among some of the most urgently needed steps to address the situation, and steps that continue to be neglected. The Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide proposed blueprint requires attention from anyone working on justice and accountability in Ethiopia.
