Amnesty International said on Friday that Ethiopian security forces have executed 39 opposition supporters and arrested thousands of others for belonging to an armed group in the Oromia region.
The organization added in a report that the victims are accused of supporting the Oromo Liberation Army, the armed wing splintered from the Oromo Liberation Front, which was designated by the government by a terrorist movement but that Prime Minister Abi Ahmed lifted the ban.
"Security forces continue to violate human rights despite the reforms introduced by Prime Minister Abi Ahmed, and this is due to the long-term impunity and lack of accountability for these violations," said Faysiha Tekle, Amnesty International researcher in Ethiopia.
For its part, the government said in a statement that it "strongly rejects the malicious allegations of extrajudicial killings, evictions and destruction of property," but will launch an independent investigation if there is evidence of any wrongdoing.
The Ethiopian army, Oromia and Amhara police did not respond to requests by Reuters for comment.
The head of the Human Rights Commission in Ethiopia, Daniel Bekele, told Reuters that Amnesty International's findings "should be taken seriously."
Abe introduced reforms that included abolishing the ban on political parties, releasing political prisoners, and welcoming the return of armed groups from exile such as the Oromo Liberation Front. But new freedoms have resulted in an escalation of long-suppressed tensions between the country's many ethnic groups.
Since December 2018, the Ethiopian army has been deployed in western and southern Oromia to combat the Oromo Liberation Army rebellion. The Oromo Liberation Party and the Oromo Federal Congress - an opposition party - said in a joint statement that this report is "yet another evidence that the new administration has not abandoned the practice of cracking down on dissent with the use of force, atrocious human rights violations and executions without trial."
Based on interviews with 80 victims or direct witnesses to the violence, the Amnesty International report stated that Ethiopian military and security forces in Amhara and Oromia were involved in ethnic killings, mass arbitrary arrests, and rape.
The report, "Farther than Law Enforcement: Violations of Human Rights of the Ethiopian Security Forces in Amhara and Oromia", documents the extrajudicial execution, arbitrary arrest and detention, rape and burning of homes by the security forces between December 2018 and December 2019 during Its endeavors to curb internal conflicts in these regions.