ALBAWABA - In an investigation regarding the military abuses in Ethiopia's Amhara region, Human Rights Watch called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to launch an investigation into military abuses in the Amhara region.
HRW also called on the United Nations and the African Union to consider suspending new deployments of Ethiopian forces from peacekeeping operations. The investigation comes at a time when reports of heinous war crimes against civilians are being committed by government forces including massacres and property destruction.
One of the latest recorded crimes was recorded in late January when a massacre by the Ethiopian forces led to the killing of several dozens of civilians in Amhara in a door-to-door search by government personnel in a separate district of Amhara earlier in February, recording the deadliest episode in the ongoing conflict.
Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch stated: "The Ethiopian armed forces’ brutal killings of civilians in Amhara undercut government claims that it’s trying to bring law and order to the region,".
"Since fighting began between federal forces and the Fano militia, civilians are once again bearing the brunt of an abusive army operating with impunity".
Throughout the last couple of months, HRW obtained testimonies from victims, their family members, and witnesses as part of the analysis process of all war crimes evidence across the Amhara region.
On January 29, a 26-year-old woman was at home in Merawi region with her husband and 2-month-old son when the fighting broke out. Once the battle ended, they peered out their door to see what was going on.
She said that three soldiers barged into their home while her husband was holding their infant son, ordering him to let go of the baby. When he complied, they took him outside and shot him right in front of her eyes, and proceeded to do the same to their neighbor.
The willful killing or abuse of civilians, as well as the robbery and pillage of civilian property, are illegal under international humanitarian law and may be tried as war crimes in the Amhara armed conflict.
An Ethiopian government spokesman told the media that Fano rebels attacked an army base in Merawi, but that the military acted only in "self-defense," including home searches, and did not target civilians.
Residents claimed that Ethiopian soldiers held a meeting on February 12 and only admitted to killing four persons and burning one Bajaj.
HRW called on UN Department of Peace Operations and the AU Peace and Security Council should consider suspending any new deployment of Ethiopian soldiers from peacekeeping missions.
HRW Africa director Bader said: "The deliberate mass killings of civilians by Ethiopian government forces have sadly become a feature of daily life for countless Ethiopians in conflict areas,".
"Ethiopia’s partners, the African Union, and the UN should take concrete steps to end the impunity that abusive Ethiopian commanders have long enjoyed" Bader added.
Ethiopia's armed conflict
Earlier in April 2023, after the government announced plans to dissolve regional special forces across the country and formally merge them into the military, police, or regional police forces, Fano militias, and the Ethiopian military clashed in towns across the region.
The war became more intense, and in August 2023, Fano fighters struck and took control of important Amhara cities. In response, the federal government proclaimed a six-month state of emergency and placed the Amhara region under military command, reporting to the prime minister. On February 2, 2024, Ethiopia's parliament prolonged the state of emergency for another four months.
