Summary:
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Amnesty International warned those involved in the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia today: “You must protect people as the fighting in the Tigray region gets worse.
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“The important Tigrayan town of Shire, home to thousands of forcibly displaced Tigrayans, and Alamata and Korem in the south of the province were all reportedly taken by the Ethiopian army on Tuesday, according to the Ethiopian government.
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The government said that it is trying to reduce civilian deaths by not fighting in cities and by giving strict rules of engagement to its troops.
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“The war crimes and crimes against humanity that Amnesty International has documented should never be allowed to happen again.” “
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Some of these violations may be considered war crimes or crimes against humanity under international law.
Amnesty International warned those involved in the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia today: “You must protect people as the fighting in the Tigray region gets worse.”
The Ethiopian government says that on Tuesday, the Ethiopian army took the important Tigrayan town of Shire, where thousands of Tigrayans who were forced to leave their homes live, as well as Alamata and Korem in the south of the province. The government said that it is trying to reduce civilian deaths by not fighting in cities and by giving strict rules of engagement to its troops. However, reports Amnesty International has received refute this assertion.
Muleya Mwananyanda, director of Amnesty International’s East and Southern Africa division, says, “Tigrayan civilians are afraid that widespread abuses like unlawful killings, sexual violence, and systematic attacks, which were common when the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) and its allied forces were in charge of these areas from November 2020 to June 2021, may happen again.”
In August and September, many airstrikes in Mekelle and Adi Daero killed hundreds of people, some of them children. Between September 6 and September 12, 2022, the ENDF-backed Eritrean army killed at least 40 people in Sheraro town, some of whom were Eritrean refugees.
“Military and civilian leaders must know that it is their job to stop war crimes committed by their soldiers and hold them accountable.” If they don’t, they are responsible for these crimes. “The war crimes and crimes against humanity that Amnesty International has documented should never be allowed to happen again.” “We have already seen in this conflict that impunity for prior atrocities would only empower security forces to perpetrate more terrible crimes,” said Muleya Mwananyanda.
All people involved in war crimes and human rights violations, including members of the Eritrean army and the Amhara militia, must be put on administrative leave, taken off active duty, and investigated immediately by Ethiopian authorities. Anyone who is facing charges in a case where there is enough admissible proof of their guilt should receive a fair trial.
Promises alone won’t safeguard civilians; actual action is required. Muleya Mwananyanda says that ethnic tensions and the fact that people can get away with war crimes and crimes against humanity, like what we have seen in this fight, lead to mass atrocities.
Amnesty International is also begging the Ethiopian government to allow free access to Tigray so that appropriate and effective humanitarian aid can be sent there. Also, Ethiopian authorities should let international, regional, and other human rights groups independently and responsibly look into past and present atrocities in the northern Ethiopian war.
Background
Since 2020, Amnesty International has been collecting evidence that all warring parties in the Tigray region have violated people’s rights in terrible ways. Under international law, some of these violations could be seen as war crimes or crimes against humanity.
The Ethiopian army most recently retook three towns from Tigrayan troops on October 18, 2022. Many people have relocated within their own country and live there.
The area has been virtually closed off from the outside world because of the continuous conflict. Since the latest round of fighting between the federal army and Tigrayan forces started in August, humanitarian workers have confirmed that attacks on civilians and infrastructure have killed several civilians.
It is distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
APO has issued this press release. The editorial team at AUN News doesn’t keep an eye on the content, and none of it has been checked or confirmed by our editors, proofreaders, or fact-checkers. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Analysis by: Advocacy Unified Network
