The human right atrocities committed in Ethiopia during the Tigray war: a case for international judicial and quasi-judicial remedies
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Date
2025-03-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Ethiopia has witnessed systematic and widespread human rights violations for decades, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and measures that violate freedom of speech, the right to life, and other human rights. The successive governments were accused of corruption and political impunity. After the ‘reform’ taken place in 2018, some improvements were initially witnessed in the human rights situation of the country. Political prisoners were released; legislations that restricted freedom of speech and activities of civil society organizations were amended so that the democratic space broadened. However, such promising political and democratic improvements were short lived. Conflicts and widespread violence ruined the process. Particularly, the bloody war in the northern part of the country resulted in the commission of gross human rights atrocities, including rape and sexual abuses, mass killings, mass detention based on ethnic background, enforced displacements, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes, etc. Even though the war has been stopped after the parties signed the Pretoria agreement, perpetrators are not held accountable for the human right atrocities they have committed. The domestic mechanism is not capable of apprehending the perpetrators, investigating, prosecuting and punishing those who were involved in the serious human rights violations in Ethiopia’s Tigray war. That’s why the international mechanisms should be allowed to address the human rights atrocities committed in the country. Hence, this study will explore the possible international remedies to the human rights atrocities committed during the Tigray war in Tigray, Amhara , and Afar regions.
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this study will explore the possible international remedies to the human rights atrocities committed during the Tigray war in Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions.