Report Finds Possible War Crimes by All Sides in Ethiopian War
Report Finds Possible War Crimes by All Sides in Ethiopian War
Parties to the Ethiopia’s civil war committed violations that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to a joint investigation by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the United Nations Human Rights Office.
All parties to the conflict in Tigray “to varying degrees, committed violations of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, some of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the rights groups said in a report published on Wednesday.
Their findings include abuses by the Ethiopian and Eritrean armed forces, along with fighters from the Amhara and Tigray regions. The report documented crimes including unlawful killings and extra-judicial executions, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, abuses of refugees, and forced displacement of civilians.
Ethiopia’s government said it would establish a high level task force to investigate the allegations and bring any perpetrators to justice, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said in a statement.
The joint investigation covered about eight months of the conflict until June 28. It conducted 269 confidential interviews with victims and witnesses of alleged violations and abuses.
The yearlong conflict in Ethiopia has displaced millions of people and put hundreds of thousands of others at the risk of famine.
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