Will Victims Of Atrocities In Ethiopia See Justice And Accountability?

The Tigray War began on November 4, 2020, when “Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered the Ethiopian Defense Forces (EDF) to militarily engage with the Tigray Regional Paramilitary Police and militia loyal to the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) in what he stated was a response to multiple attacks by the Tigray security forces on the EDF North Command base in Mekelle and other military camps in Tigray Region.” A few days later, evidence of ethnic-based targeting and the commission of mass atrocities began to emerge. As the NGOs reported, the violations included “the deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, widespread sexual and gender-based violence — including sexual and reproductive violence with the explicit intent to destroy Tigrayan women’s reproductive capacity and the intent to destroy the Tigrayan ethnicity — starvation used as a weapon of war and forced displacement.” As the NGOs indicated, “More than two years after Ethiopia’s Ministry of Justice endorsed transitional justice recommendations, violence continues to escalate across the country, eroding hopes for peace and rendering accountability increasingly elusive — including the implementation of both the transitional justice framework and the [Cessation of Hostilities Agreement].” They further explained how conflict continued to intensify in Oromia, with credible reports indicating senior officials ordering extrajudicial killings, illegal detentions, forced disappearances, prolonged prison and forced conscription.

Author: Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Contributor, Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Contributor https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/

---