Ethiopia: Gross Human Rights Violations Require the UN Rights Council’s Urgent Attention

HRW Oral Statement – Item 4 General Debate – HRC57
Mr. President

Human Rights Watch would like to highlight the situation in Ethiopia. The June report of the High Commissioner serves as a sobering reminder of the dire human rights landscape in Ethiopia.

The report finds that government forces continue to carry out abuses with impunity, particularly in conflict-affected areas, such as in Amhara, where fighting between the Ethiopian military and Amhara Fano militia persists. It found that the conflict in Amhara alone has resulted in over 2,000 civilian casualties, sexual violence, and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

This mirrors some of our own reporting, which found that since August 2023 the Ethiopian military has committed war crimesincluding summary executions of civilians, widespread attacks on health care, and an apparent drone strike on an ambulance that killed civilians in Amhara. These crimes are happening in a context of impunity for government forces.

And yet, Ethiopia is not on the Council’s agenda.

Meanwhile, the government’s brutal repression of its real and perceived critics, through arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without charge, and surveillance continues, further obscuring reporting of abuses. Many rights defenders and journalists have recently been silenced or forced into exile.

The chances of domestic mechanisms delivering justice for gross human rights violations and abuses, past and present, remain slim. One year ago, in its final report, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, established by the Human Rights Council, warned that the country faced an acute risk of further atrocities and concluded that prospects for successful transitional justice were bleak. It recommended the establishment of independent accountability mechanisms. These warnings proved accurate. Public reporting and debate of the rights situation in Ethiopia remains critical, if there is to be any chance of justice and accountability. We encourage the High Commissioner to ensure continued robust public reporting. Ethiopians need to know the world is still paying attention.