UPDATE- New report details jarring 'war crimes, crimes against humanity' in Ethiopia's Tigray conflict

ADDS SECOND BYLINE, AU’S REMARKS

By Addis Getachew and Seleshi Tessema

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) – All parties involved in the conflict in Tigray have committed some acts that “may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” according to a joint investigation by the UN Human Rights Office and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

The report, released on Wednesday with press events held in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa and Geneva, called for an immediate end to “hostilities and any measures that may exacerbate the already acute humanitarian crisis,” along with “prompt, thorough and effective investigations … to hold those responsible accountable.”

A joint investigation team (JIT) of the UN and EHRC visited several areas in Tigray and other parts of Ethiopia to prepare the report that covers the period from November 2020 to June this year.

According to the report, the conflict involves the “Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), the Eritrean Defense Force (EDF), the Amhara Special Forces (ASF), the Amhara Fano and other militias on one side, and the Tigrayan Special Forces (TSF), Tigrayan militia and other allied groups on the other.”

The investigation “details a series of violations and abuses, including unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, violations against refugees, and forced displacement of civilians.”

“There are reasonable grounds to believe all parties to the conflict – including the ENDF, EDF and Tigrayan forces – either directly attacked civilians and civilian objects … or carried out indiscriminate attacks resulting in civilian casualties and destruction or damage to civilian objects,” the report said.

The probe team said it found evidence of unlawful or extrajudicial killings and executions, torture, and widespread arbitrary detentions, abductions and enforced disappearances by both sides.

Sexual and gender-based violence has been rampant during the conflict, the report said, as “the ENDF, EDF, and TSF … committed sexual and gender-based violence including gang rapes, and in many cases, rape and other forms of sexual violence … to degrade and dehumanize the victims.”

“Women and girls were abducted, detained, and raped including in one incident in which a 19-year-old survivor was abducted, detained, and repeatedly raped for three months. Rape of a woman with a disability was also documented,” read the report.

“Men and boys were also subjected to sexual and gender-based violence. The JIT was told that a 16-year-old boy was raped by nine EDF soldiers in Humera and later committed suicide.”

Children were exposed to traumatic experiences such as witnessing the killing or rape of close family members by soldiers of the parties to the conflict, including the ENDF, EDF, and TSF, it added.

“The JIT has reasonable grounds to believe that a number of these violations may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, which require further investigations to ensure accountability,” the report said.

The alarming report has been unveiled as the Tigray conflict entered its second year this week and shows no signs of abating.

Escalating clashes in recent weeks led the Ethiopian government to impose a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday.

- ‘Nobody is winning this reckless war’

At a news briefing in Geneva, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet underlined that Ethiopia is facing a dire situation as the conflict has taken a “terrible toll on civilians.”

“Nobody is winning this reckless war which is engulfing increasing parts of the country. Every day more people are suffering and dying,” she said, warning that the emergency measures announced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government could “push an already extremely difficult humanitarian situation over the edge.”

“The risks are grave that, far from stabilizing the situation, these extremely broad measures – which include sweeping powers of arrest and detention – will deepen divisions, endanger civil society and human rights defenders, provoke greater conflict and only add to the human suffering already at unacceptable levels,” Bachelet said.

- AU calls for dialogue

Reacting to the escalation situation in Ethiopia, African Union (AU) Chairperson Moussa Faki urged the government and the TPLF to immediately cease hostilities and begin talks.

The call comes as the government and TPLF forces are currently engaged in intense fighting on many fronts in the Amhara and Afar regions.

“The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat is following with deep concern the escalation of military confrontation in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,” said a statement from the AU.

“In this regard, the Chairperson calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities, the full respect for the life and property of civilians, as well as state infrastructure,” it said.

He noted that AU remains committed “to work with the parties in support of a consensual political process,” and called on parties to the conflict to engage with former Nigerian President and AU High Representative Olusegun Obasanjo.