Human Rights Watch published on 4 April 2024 a report titled "Ethiopia: Military Executes Dozens in Amhara Region."
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the Ethiopian military summarily executed scores of civilians in Merawi, a town in Amhara region, during fighting in January and February with Fano militia. HRW called for an independent inquiry by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Foreign Policy published on 27 February 2024 a commentary titled "Ethiopia's Reconciliation Policy Is a Farce" by Aaron Maasho and Martin Witteveen.
The authors argue that the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia provided a far more valid report on the situation in Tigray Region than did the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. They add that the Ethiopian government is not prepared to take any action to deal with the human rights abuses.
Reuters published on 23 February 2024 an investigative report titled "In Ethiopia, A Secret Committee Orders Killings and Arrests to Crush Rebels" by Giulia Paravicini.
Following interviews with more than 30 officials, judges, lawyers, and victims in Oromia region, a Reuters' investigation concluded that a secretive committee known as Koree Nageenyaa has ordered extra-judicial killings and illegal detentions to crush an insurgency led by the Oromo Liberation Army.
The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner issued a detailed report on 5 May 2023 by experts of the UN Committee against Torture on human rights violations in Tigray and abuses of refugees from Eritrea.
The report cites human rights abuses by various persons involved in the conflict in Tigray Region, including the allegation that "Amhara authorities had been engaged in what some civil society organizations described as 'ethnic cleansing' in western Tigray."
Foreign Policy published on 14 March 2023 a commentary titled "Ethiopia Is Not Ready for Transitional Justice" by Seifudein Adem, Doshisha University, and Abadir M. Ibrahim, Harvard Law School.
The authors argue that Ethiopia is unprepared for implementing a transitional justice process in the aftermath of a brutal civil war. The United States may be setting itself up to reengage with Ethiopia on the grounds of national interest that trump accountability for atrocities during the war.
Ethiopia Insight published on 28 February 2023 a commentary titled "A Rift in Ethiopia's Orthodox Church Has Been Healed, But Tensions Remain."
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has averted an internal crisis but still faces divisions that could tear apart the institution and the country. The current split is driven by ethnic rivalry and a power struggle between the Oromo and the Amhara ethnic groups.
Aljazeera published on 13 December 2022 an opinion piece titled "Justice in Ethiopia Must Not Be Killed By a Peace Deal" by Mehari Taddele Maru.
Accountability for all war crimes in Ethiopia is essential if there is to be real peace.
The Washington Post published on 4 December 2022 an article titled "Ethiopian Guards Massacred Scores of Tigrayan Prisoners, Witnesses Say" by Katharine Houreld.
This is an in-depth account of a series of atrocities at prisons in Ethiopia during November 2021 where guards singled out Tigrayans for killing. The account documents 83 such killings at the prison near Mirab Abaya committed by about 18 of the guards. Smaller numbers of Tigrayans were killed during the same period at other prisons in Ethiopia. Not all guards took part in these atrocities.
The apparent trigger for the killings was the movement in 2021 of Tigrayan forces through Amhara Region toward the capital of Addis Ababa. The article suggests the attacks were motivated by Tigrayan military success and carried out mostly by guards from Amhara Region.
In December 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council established a mechanism to investigate for one year allegations and abuses of international human rights law, humanitarian law, and refugee law in Ethiopia committed since 3 November 2020 by all parties to the conflict.
Human Rights Watch called on 26 September 2022 for a renewal of the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE). It argued that human rights abuses are continuing in Ethiopia and some of the earlier atrocities have not yet been adequately investigated.
Ethiopia Insight published on 3 September 2022 a commentary titled "I Exposed the Axum Massacre, and Faced the Consequences" by Asmelash Yohannes Teklu, Tigrayan former senior advisor of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
This an account by a Tigrayan serving at the time as a senior advisor to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to investigate the 28-29 November 2020 massacre in Axum of Tigrayans by Eritrean forces.
Ethiopia Insight published on 15 July 2022 a commentary titled "Re-engaging Ethiopia at the Expense of Justice Won't Bring Peace" by Gebrehiwot Hadush Abera, former dean at College of Law at Mekelle University, and Mulu Beyene Kidanemariam, University of Bergen.
The authors argue that the international community should not support the idea of allowing the government of Ethiopia to investigate the atrocities that occurred in Tigray Region. They claim the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission is beholden to the government. Instead, they call for an investigation by the Commission of Human Rights Experts.
Ethiopia Insight published on 8 July 2022 a commentary titled "Amhara Civilians Were Massacred in Tole, But Questions Remain" by Ermias Tasfaye, Ethiopia Insight reporter.
While it is generally agreed that a massacre of Amhara took place in Oromia, there is increasing disagreement as to the party responsible for the massacre.
Ethiopia Insight published on 1 July 2022 a commentary titled "Neoliberalism Has Enabled Genocide in Tigray" by Mulubrhan Balehegn, researcher at University of Florida.
While most Ethiopian critics of US policy concerning the civil war in Ethiopia have accused it of supporting the Tigrayan cause, this author argues that the US and Western governments enabled the war in Tigray by not condemning it and refusing to intervene or even labeling it as genocide.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch published on 6 April 2022 a report titled "'We Will Erase You from This Land': Crimes against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing in Ethiopia's Western Tigray Zone."
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch found that Amhara regional officials and regional special forces and militias, with federal forces complicity, are responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans from Western Tigray. Although not a formal legal term, ethnic cleansing has been defined as a purposeful policy by an ethnic or religious group to remove, by violent and terror-inspiring means, the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.
The United States and several Western governments released a "Joint Statement on Detentions in Ethiopia" on 6 December 2021.
The statement expressed profound concern at reports "of the Ethiopian government's detention of large numbers of Ethiopian citizens on the basis of their ethnicity and without charge." It also expressed grave concern "at ongoing reports of atrocities being committed by all parties to the conflicts."
The US Department of State released on 6 November 2021 a "Joint Statement on the Release of the OHCHR-EHRC Joint Investigation."
It reflects the view of 16 Western governments on the joint human rights investigation published by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission concerning human rights abuses and atrocities in Ethiopia.
The New York Times published on 3 November 2021 an article titled "Atrocities on All Sides in Ethiopia's War, U.N. Says as Rebels Advance" by Declan Walsh.
A joint report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the UN High Commission for Human Rights placed blame widely for atrocities committed in connection with the civil war in Ethiopia.
The full 156 page report is available here.
The Tigray Human Rights Forum published on 3 November 2021 "A Statement of Concern on the Joint Investigation of OHCHR and EHRC."
The Media Manipulation Casebook published on 14 September 2021 a detailed study titled "Dueling Information Campaigns: The War Over the Narrative in Tigray" by Claire Wilmot, Ellen Tveteraas, and Alexi Drew.
The paper looks at the competing information campaigns related to the conflict in Tigray Region of Ethiopia and discusses the contesting narratives designed to influence international understanding of the conflict being played out on Twitter.
CNN posted on 2 October 2021 an article titled "UN Secretary-General Rebuffs Ethiopia's Demand for Senior UN Officials to Leave Country" by Eliza Mackintosh and Richard Roth.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pushed back against Ethiopia asking that it allow the 7 expelled UN officials "to resume their functions in Ethiopia and grant them the necessary visas." An emergency session of the UN Security Council on 1 October discussed the issue.
UN News published on 13 September 2021 an article titled "Multiple Reports of Alleged Human Rights Violations in Tigray."
UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, deplored "multiple and severe reports of alleged gross violations of human rights, humanitarian and refugee law" committed by all parties to the conflict in Tigray.
