Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia

ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ

በሰሜኑ የሀገራችን ክፍል በትግራይ ክልል የተከሰተውን ጦርነት ተከትሎ ከፍተኛ የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች እና ሰፊ የሆነ የሰብአዊ እርዳታ አቅርቦት አለመሟላት በዜጎች ላይ እያስከተለ ያለው ጉዳት ድርጅታችንን እጅጉን ያሳስበዋል፡፡ የሰብአዊ እርዳታ አቅርቦትን በተመለከተ  ምንም እንኳን በመንግስት ትኩረት ተሰጥቶት እየተሰራበት ያለ ጉዳይ ቢሆንም በጦርነቱ ከደረሰው ሰፊ ጉዳት ጋር ሲነጻጸር ተመጣጣኝ አለመሆኑን የተለያዩ ሪፖርቶች እየወጡ ነው። በጦርነቱ እና ጦርነቱን ተከትሎ ለተወሰነ ጊዜ በተከሰተው የሰብአዊ እርዳታ አቅርቦት መስተጓጎል  የተነሳ በርካታ ዜጎች ለአስከፊ የሰብአዊ መብት ቀውስ መዳረጋቸውን የተባበሩት መንግስታትን ጨምሮ የበርካታ አለም አቀፍ ተቋማት ዘገባዎች ያረጋግጣሉ፡፡ የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቶች፣ ድጋፍ ሰጪ አካላት እና የሰብአዊ መብት ድርጅቶች ባወጧቸውም ዘገባዎች እና ሰፊ የዳሰሳ መግለጫዎች መንግስት አስቸኳይ መፍትሄ እርምጃዎች እንዲወስድ በመወትወት ላይ ይገኛሉ።

በሌላ ኩነት ደግሞ በማናቸውም አካላት የሚፈፀሙ የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች፣ ግድያዎች እና ህጋዊ ያልሆኑ እርምጃዎች ትኩረት ሊሰጣቸው፣ እርምት ሊደረግባቸው እንዲሁም ዜጎች አስተማማኝ ጥበቃ ሊደረግላቸው እና አጥፊዎች ለህግ እንድቀርቡ ማድረግ ይገባል፡፡

በተጨማሪም በትግራይ ክልል የሚገኙ ንጹሃን ዜጎች የመንቅሳቅስ እና የደህንነት ጉዳይ ልዩ ትኩረትን ያሻል፡፡ ከዚህ ጋር በተያያዘ በአዲግራት ዩኒቨርሲቲ ትምህርታቸውን አጠናቅቀው በመንግስት የጸጥታ ሃይሎች ታጅበው ወደ ቤተሰቦቻቸው በመመለስ የነበሩ ተማሪዎች  የካቲት 11/2013 በታጣቂዎች በተከፈተ ተኩስ ስድስት ተማሪዎች ሕይወታቸው ማለፉን እና ብዙዎች መቁሰላቸውን ተዘግቧል፡፡ 

በሌላ በኩል በትግራይ ክልል የተከሰተውን  የሰብአዊ ቀውስ ለማስተካከል በሚደረገው እርብርብ የሚሳተፉ ድርጅቶች ትኩረት በሚፈልጉ ቦታዎች ላይ ለመድረስ የተለያዩ ጥያቄዎችን እና ፈቃዶችን እየጠየቁ ይገኛሉ፡፡ ምንም እንኳን መንግስት ከዚህ ጉዳይ ጋር በተያያዘ በቅርቡ አዎንታዊ ምላሽ የሰጠ ቢሆንም ሙሉ በሙሉ የሰብአዊ ቀውሱን ለመቆጣጠር እና ዜጎች ጊዜውን የጠበቀ እገዛ ያገኙ ዘንድ መንግስት ጥያቄዎችን በአዎንታዊ እና ፈጣን በሆነ መልኩ ምላሽ እንዲሰጥ እንመክራለን፡፡

በተጨማሪም በዚሁ ክልል በሴቶች ላይ አስከፊ የሆነ ፆታዊ ጥቃት እየደረሰ መሆኑን የተለያዩ መረጃዎች እየወጡ ይገኛሉ፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብት ኮሚሽን የካቲት 04/2013 ዓ.ም ባወጣው ዘገባ በተለያዩ የክልሉ አካባቢዎቸ ጦርንቱ በተጀመረ ሁለት ወራት ብቻ 108 ፆታዊ ጥቃቶች መመዝገባቸውን ያወጣ ሲሆን እነዚህ ድርጊቶች የበርካታ ንፁሃን ሴቶችን ህይወት የሚያጨልሙ እና መሰረታዊ የሆነ የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰትን የሚያስከትሉ በመሆናቸው ድርጅታችንን ያሳስበዋል፡፡

በመሆኑም ስብስብ ለሰብአዊ መብቶች  በኢትዮጵያ፤ መንግስት ከዚህ በታች የተዘረዘሩትን የመፍትሔ  እርምጃዎች እንዲወስድጥሪ ያቀርባል፡-

• በትግራይ ክልል የህግ ማስከበር ዘመቻውን ተከትሎ ዜጎች ለሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰት መፈፀሙን ወይም አለመፈፀሙን በገለልተኛ አካል ተጣርቶ በጉዳዩ ተሳትፎ የነበራቸው አካላት ለህግ የሚቀርቡበትንንና ተጎጂ ዜጎች ተገቢውን ካሳ የሚያገኙበትን ሁኔታ መንግስት እንዲያመቻች፤
• በክልሉ የተከሰተውን የሰብአዊ ቀውስ እልባት እንዲሰጥ እና በዚሁም እገዛ ማድረግ ለሚፈልጉ አካላት ምቹ ሁኔታን እንዲፈጥር፤
• በክልሉ የሚኖሩ ዜጎችን እና በህይወት የመኖር፣ የንብረት ጥበቃ እና በሰላም የመንቀሳቅስ ዋስትና እንዲሰጥ፤
• በክልሉ ውስጥ ለሚንቅሳቀሱ እና ለጥቃት ተጋላጭ ሊሆኑ የሚችሉ ዜጎች የክልሉን ነባራዊ ሁኔታ ያገናዘበ አስትማማኝ ጥበቃ እንዲያደርግ
• በሴቶች ላይ የሚደርሱ ፆታዊ ጥቃቶችን በአስቸኳይ እንድያስቆም እንድሁም የጥቃት ሰለባ የሆኑ ሴቶች ተገቢውን እርዳታ እና እገዛ እንዲያገኙ እንዲሁም የጥቃቱ ፈጻሚዎች ለህግ እንዲያቀርቡ እንድያደርግ ስበስብ ለሰብአዊ መብቶች ያሳስባል፡፡

Press Statement

Association for Human rights in Ethiopia has been seriously following the major events concerning the human rights issues in the country and release multiple press statements on the necessary measures to be taken. Similarly, AHRE is releasing this press statement on basic human rights issues occurring in Tigray Region.

The Humanitarian crisis resulted from the war in Tigray Region

AHRE is deeply concerned about the grave human rights violations and lack of access to humanitarian assistance that is caused following the war in the Northern part of the country, Tigray Region. Although there are efforts from the government to provide humanitarian access to the affected areas, various reports have shown that it is far from being sufficient to cover the extensive damage inflicted by the war. As confirmed by reports from numerous international organizations including the United Nations, the war and events following the war stalled humanitarian assistance in the area exposing civilians to severe human rights abuses. Humanitarian organizations, aid groups and Human Rights Organization released reports and detailed reviews are urging the government to take immediate actions on the matters.

On the other hand, the government should pay attention human rights violations, killings and illegal acts by any party, protect its citizens and bring perpetrators to justice.

In addition, special attention must be given to the movement and safety of innocent citizens in the Tigray region. In this regard, it was reported that students from Adigrat University who have completed their studies and were being escorted back to their families by government security forces were attacked in a shooting by gun men on February 11,2013 leaving six students dead and others injured.

On the other hand, organizations engaged in the effort to address the humanitarian crisis in Tigray region are raising questions and requesting permits to be able to reach places in need of immediate attention. Although the government has recently responded positively in this regard, we advise the government to give positive and timely response to the organizations’ requests to help control the humanitarian crisis and allow citizens receive the necessary aid on time.

In addition, there are also reports of sexual violence against women in the region. A report by the  Ethiopia Human Rights Commission (EHRC) released on February 11, 2021 shown 108 cases of sexual assaults in just two month since the war erupted. Our organization is concerned that these assaults are violations against fundamental human rights and have the potential to destroy the lives of many innocent women. 

Therefore, Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia calls on the government to take the following remedial measures:

• To facilitate the opportunity for independent parties to investigate the claims of human rights violations in the Tigray region following the law enforcement operation in Tigray region and hold the responsible parties accountable and to ensure the victims receive the appropriate compensation.
• To address the humanitarian crisis in the region and create a conducive environment for parties interested in assisting the area.
• To guarantee the safety of the lives, properties and movement of the people in the region,
• To guarantee the safety and provide reliable protection for vulnerable population and movement of citizens in the region.
• To put an immediate stop on the sexual violence against women and provide the necessary assistance to victims and hold the responsible parties accountable.

Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) has repeatedly called for an end to violence against civilians in various parts of the country.  However, this act is widening its horizon and expanding to different parts of the country and endangering the rights of citizens to live, own property and live in peace and other basic rights.

Although the government has repeatedly condemned these acts and has stated that it is trying to control the attacks, it has not been able to fulfil its responsibilities in identifying the responsible parties and holding them accountable to the law.

In particular, following a call on social media by activist and media owner Jawar Mohammed, claiming to be surrounded by government assigned security forces, following the death of  singer and rights activist Hachalu Hundesa and the repeated attacks by armed forces in the region, Frequent identity and ethnic-based attacks in Benishangul-Gumz region, identity-based conflicts and attacks in the southern region, horrific identity-based attacks in a place called Maikadra, in Tigray region, as well as thousands killed, injured, displaced, and destroyed in clashes on Somali-Afar boarder, but individuals, groups, and government agencies are not held accountable for their level of involvement and actions. Furthermore, in some parts of the country survivors of certain attacks are being subjected to other attacks. As a result, both the victims and the entire community state the lack of legal and educational action against the perpetrators of this heinous crimes as the cause for the ongoing racial and identity-based violence in the country.

In addition to the attacks mentioned above, members of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society told various media outlets that more than 220 people were killed in an identity-based attack in Bukji Kebele, Bulen Woreda, Benishangul-Gumz Region, around 04:00pm on December 22,2020.   The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC, on its part, claimed that based on the follow-ups it did with concerned parties, the death toll was 207. Meanwhile, in December 16, 2013 study, EHRC stated that 66 people were killed in clashes in the Konso zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR) from November10-20, 2013.

Therefore, Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) calls for regional governments, federal government and international community to take the following remedial measures.

• The concerned federal and regional governments must hold accountable those who perpetrated long-term those who perpetrated long-term identity-based attacks on civilians and those who are involved in these acts at Various levels.
• The lack of meaningful attention from the international community for the repeated identity-based attacks in various parts of the country, specially, on the current identity-based attacks on civilians in Benishangul-Gumz zone has caused the atrocities to intensify.  Therefore, the international community should condemn this heinous crime against humanity and fulfill its responsibilities in supporting the efforts to hold the perpetrators accountable.
• The government along with other responsible parties must address and stop ethnic-based attacks on citizens that are causing loss of life, displacement, and destruction of property. In particular, the ongoing attacks in the Benishangul-Gumz must be stopped once and for all by taking the proper legal and political measures.
• The government along with other responsible parties must take immediate legal and political action to stop once and for all.