UN experts on Monday said that there are reasonable grounds to believe that “war crimes and crimes against humanity” have been committed by the Ethiopian government in the Tigray region, warning that renewed conflict there increased the risk of “further atrocity crimes”.
According to international media, in its first report, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia said it found that violations, such as extrajudicial killings and rape, have been committed by warring sides in Ethiopia since fighting erupted in the northern Tigray region in November 2020.
The commission, created by the UN Human Rights Council last year and made up of three independent rights experts, said it had “reasonable grounds to believe that, in several instances, these violations amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
The report was issued as fighting resumed between the Ethiopian government and its allies, and forces backing the Tigray authorities following a tense five-month cessation of hostilities.
The commission said that Ethiopia’s beleaguered civilian population now faces renewed risks after enduring nearly two years of conflict, which has now expanded beyond Tigray to other areas of the country and risks spreading beyond Ethiopia’s borders, with consequences for peace in the entire Horn of Africa.
The experts highlighted the horrifying situation in Tigray, where the government and its allies have denied people access to basic services, including the internet, banking and electricity, for over a year.
Ethiopian troops possibly committed ‘war crimes’ in Tigray: UN
