Did the Ethiopian National Defense force and the Tigray’s people liberation front fighters commit violations amounting to war crimes under international law governing non-international conflicts? Yes, according to a UN report unveiled Monday by the Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia.
Ethiopia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva rejected, Tuesday, the findings of the investigators.
“The report itself is self-contradictory and biased, ambassador Zenebe Kebede Korcho said. [It] doesn’t pay any attention to the atrocities committed in Afar and Amhara regions, but solely focusing on Tigray.“
Method of warfare
After almost 2 years of conflict in Tigray, millions of people lack food and basic commidities in northern Ethiopia.
The report claims Federal authories used starvation as a method of warfare. Which Zenebe Kebede rejects:
“The only source they talked to is the TPLF itself. They wrote in their report what was dictated by the TPLF itself, otherwise there is not any single evidence that shows the government of Ethiopia used humanitarian aid as an instrument of war.”
UN investigators conducted interviews remotely. Witnesses they spoke to reporteed crimes including pillage, murder and rape.
While in Addis Ababa, the Commission says it met “with officials of the Federal Government, related institutions, international organizations, academic experts, and other stakeholders”.
As of the time of submission of the report, “the governments of Sudan and Djibouti had not granted the Commission access to interview Ethiopian refugees within their borders“.
Fighting between government forces and their allies and rebels led by the TPLF reignited in August after a five-month lull.
