Ethiopia: Amnesty International unveils deadly year

Text by: Léonard Vincent Follow

Under media radar, Ethiopia, led since 2018 by Nobel Peace Prize Abiy Ahmed, had two very violent years in the regions of Oromiya and Amhara. This is the conclusion of an investigation report published this Friday by the organization Amnesty International. It details the atrocities and crimes committed against the populations of these two troubled regions. And it outlines the contours of a "dirty war" fought on ethnic bases, with the complicity or direct participation of the federal armed forces.

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Cold-blooded murders of prisoners, executions of civilians, mass displacement of populations, forced rehabilitation camps, even rapes: the crimes recorded by Amnesty International in Oromiya in 2019 are very violent. This seems to indicate that an aggressive campaign has been waged with impunity, in the name of the fight against terrorism, by government forces, in this region where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is from.

It all started with the clandestine entry of part of the Oromo Liberation Front , a politico-military group which agreed to join the political scene, but whose elements refused any compromise and carried out attacks against the federal troops. And their response was brutal and indiscriminate: this is what the Amnesty report shows. And even if he does not have proof that orders were given by the federal authorities, the author of this investigation, the researcher Fisseha Tekle, does not believe that these crimes are the fact of isolated elements.

“  The Oromiya security forces are a combination of the Ethiopian army, the regional police and a local militia. They have worked together for a long time, but no one has been held responsible. And then it's hard to believe that the federal authorities were not aware of it, given the gravity of these crimes. You cannot move 10,000 people to lock them up in a military camp and then say that this is an isolated act or incident  , ”said Fisseha Tekle.

Violence in the Amhara region

The other subject of Amnesty International's investigation is the north, the Amhara region and more specifically in the border area with Tigre where the Qemant people live. Here too, the situation has deteriorated since Abiy Ahmed came to power, according to Fisseha Tekle, of Amnesty International.

“  The Qemants have been asking for autonomy for a long time. At first, the conflict was between regional police forces and qemant activists. But since 2018, that has changed. It is the Amhara ethnic militia called "Fanno" who took responsibility for attacking the Qemants. The peak of this violence took place in January 2019, when the Fannos supported by the local police and a regional militia attacked a Qemant district and exterminated at least 58 people in 24 hours. The federal authorities are complicit, because there was a military camp in the city, very close to the neighborhood where the massacre took place. The soldiers were informed of the preparation and execution of the attack, but they chose not to react.  "

The issue of impunity

For Amnesty International researcher Fisseha Tekle, the issue of impunity is the challenge facing the government of Abiy Ahmed if it is not to be equated with the authoritarian regime it replaced: "  The first thing to do is stop using security operations to harass the opposition; particularly the use of extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, mass deportations as a strategy for law enforcement ... In addition to this, we ask the government to hold those responsible for these crimes accountable. It is a trend in Ethiopia. Before Abiy Ahmed came to power, the security forces were at the center of human rights violations. But no one has been brought to justice. This culture of impunity must end. There are rules for maintaining order: for example, there is no reason to execute an inmate to maintain peace and security. These acts, whatever their ultimate purpose, are violations of the laws and of the Ethiopian Constitution. These are crimes. And if they continue to be perpetrated, they are liable to international justice, whatever their justification.  "

The federal government declined to answer questions from Amnesty International. It must be said that the balance of the Ethiopian federation is very fragile today, and all this in a context where elections must be held once the health restrictions due to Covid-19 are lifted. And that the legitimacy of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's staying in power is clearly called into question by his opponents.

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