Both rebel groups and security forces are involved in grave human rights abuses in the Amhara and Oromia region of Ethiopia, says a new report. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk has urged the Ethiopian warring parties to start negotiations to end the deadly armed conflicts in the country.
“I urge the parties to the conflict to halt ongoing hostilities and to resolve differences through peaceful means,” Türk said in a statement issued Friday to coincide with the release of a U.N. report updating the human rights situation across Ethiopia between January 2023 and January 2024.
The report states that at least 1,351 civilians were killed in Ethiopia last year in attacks reportedly carried out by government forces, Eritrean troops, anti government militias, and some unknown actors.
“594 incidents of human rights violations and abuses affecting 8253 victims happened, That is 56% increase compared with 2022. State actors were responsible for 70% violations while non state actors accounted for 22%,” Liz Throssel of UN Human Rights Agency said on Saturday.
She accused Fano militia members of killing civilians. “Fano insurgents and their allies killed at least 52 in Amhara, destroyed civilian property, attacked medical personnel, destroyed ambulances in violence targeted at government personnel”, she said.
Ethiopia put an end to the deadly 2-year long war in Tigray in November 2022 when the warring parties signed Pretoria peace deal. The Pretoria deal silenced guns in Tigray. But in 2023, a new armed conflict began in the Amhara region where Fano militias are fighting security forces.
In the Oromia region, for years, Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has been fighting security forces. Despite two rounds of talks held last year between OLA and government, no ceasefire agreement could be reached.
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