Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia

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.

ስብስብ ለሰብአዊ መብቶች በኢትዮጵያ በሀገሪቱ በተለያዩ አካባቢዎች የዜጎችን ማንነት መሰረት አድርገው የሚፈፀሙ ጥቃቶች እንዲቆሙ በተደጋጋሚ በሚያወጣቸው ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫዎች ሲያሳስብ ቆይቶል፡፡ ነገር ግን ይህ ድርጊት አድማሱን በማስፋት እና በተለያዩ የሀገራችን ክፍሎች ተጠናክሮ በመቀጠል የዜጎች በህይዎት የመኖር መብት፣ ንብረት የማፍራት እና ደህንነታቸው ተጠብቆ በሰላም የመኖር እና ሌሎች መሰረታዊ መብቶቻቸው ከመቸውም ጊዜ በላይ አደጋ ላይ እንዲወድቁ እያደረገ ይገኛል፡፡

ምንም እንኳን እነዚህን ድርጊቶች መንግስት እያወገዘና ጥቃቶቹን በቁጥጥር ስር ለማድረግ እየሞከረ መሆኑን በተደጋጋሚ እየገለፀ ቢሆንም በጉዳዩ ላይ ተሳትፎ ያላቸውን አካላት በአግባቡ በመለየት እና በተሳትፎቸው ልክ በህግ አግባብ ተጠያቄ ማድረግ ላይ በሚገባው ልክ ሃላፊነቱን እየተወጣ አይደለም፡፡

በተለይም በሀገሪቱ የተለያዩ ክፍሎች ማለትም በኦሮሚያ ክልል አክቲቪስት እና የሚድያ ባለቤት የነበሩት አቶ ጀዋር መሃመድ መንግስት ለጥበቃ የመደባቸውን የጥበቃ ሃይሎች ተከበብኩ በሚል በማህበራዊ ድህረገፅ ያስተላለፉትን የድረሱልኝ ጥሪ ተከትሎ፣ የኦሮምኛ ሙዚቃ ድምፃዊና የመብት ተሞጋች አርቲስት ሀጫሉ ሁንዴሳን ሞት ተከትሎ፣በዚሁ ክልል በተደጋጋሚ በታጠቁ አካላት በሚደርስ ጥቃት፣ በቤንሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል በተደጋጋሚ ዘርንና ማንነትን መሰረት ባደረጉ ተደጋጋሚ ጥቃቶች፣ በደቡብ ክልል ማንነትን መሰረት ባደረጉ ግጭቶችና ጥቃቶች፣ በትግራይ ክልል ማይካድራ በሚባል ቦታ ማንነትን መሰረት ያደረገ እጅግ አሰቃቂ ጥቃት፣ በሱማሌና አፋር አዋሳኝ አካባቢዎች በደረሱ ግጭቶች በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ዜጎች በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ መገደል፣ መቁሰል፣ መፈናቀልና ንብረት መውደም እየተከሰተ ያለ ቢሆንም በዚህ ልክ በጉዳዩ ላይ ተሳትፎ ያላቸው ግለሰቦች፣ ቡድኖችና የመንግስት አካላት ባላቸው ተሳትፎ መጠን በህግ ተጠያቂ ሲሆኑ አይታይም፡፡ ከዚህ ባለፈም በሀገሪቱ አንዳንድ አካባቢዎች ከአንድ ጥቃት የተረፉ ዜጎች ለሌላ ተመሳሳይ ጥቃት እየተጋለጡ መሆኑን ለማየት ተችሏል፡፡  በዚህ ምክንያትም ተጎጂዎችም ሆኑ መላው ህብረተሰብ በዚህ የጥፋት ተግባር ተሳታፊዎች ላይ ህጋዊና አስተማሪ  እርምጃ አለመወሰዱና ተጠያቂነት አለመስፈኑ በሀገሪቱ እየተደጋጋመ ለሚከሰተው ዘርንና ማንነትን መሰረት ላደረገው ጥቃት እንደ አባባሽ ምክንያት ሲጠቅሱት ይስተዋላል፡፡

ከክልሎች መንግስታትና ከፌደራል መንግሰት ባሻገርም የአለም አቀፉ ማህበረሰብ በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ንፁሃን ዜጎች (ሴቶች እና ህፃናትን ጨምሮ) በአንዳነድ የሀገሪቱ ስፍራዎች እጅግ በሚሰቀጥጥ አኳኋን ማንነትን መሰረት ባደረገ ጥቃት ሲገደሉ፣ ሲቆስሉ እና የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰት ሲደርስባቸው ብሎም በብዙ ሺህ የሚቆጠሩ ዜጎች ሲፈናቀሉ ለጉዳዩ ትርጉም በሚሰጥ ደረጃ ትኩረት መስጠት አልቻለም፡፡ ይህም ድርጊቱ በተደጋጋሚ እንዲፈፀም አስተዋፅዖ ከማድረጉም በላይ  አጥቂዎቹ ወደህግ ለማቅረብም ሆነ ድርጊቱን ለማቆም የሚደረገው ጥረት እጅግ አናሳ እዲሆን ትልቅ ሚና ተጫውቷል፡፡

ከላይ ከተጠቀሱት ጥቃቶች ባሻገር በታህሳስ 13 2013 ከለሊቱ 10፡00 አካባቢ በቤንሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል ቡለን ወረዳ ቡክጂ ቀበሌ ማናንነትን መሰረት ባደረገ ጥቃት ከ220 በላይ ዜጎች መሞታቸውን የኢትዮጵያ ቀይ መስቀል ማህበር ባልደረቦች ለተለያዩ የሚዲያ አካላት ገልፀዋል፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብቶች ኮሚሽን (ኢሰመኮ) በበኩሉ ከሚመለከታቸው አካላት ጋር ባደረገው ክትትል አገኘሁት ባለው መረጃ የሟቾችን ቁጥር 207 መሆኑን በመግለጫው አመላክቶል፡፡ በሌላ በኩል በደቡብ ክልል በኮንሶ ዞን ውስጥ ከ ህዳር 1-11 2013 ድረስ በነበረ ግጭት 66 ሰዎች መገደላቸውን በታህሳስ 16፣ 2013 ኢሰመኮ ባደረገው ጥናት ገልፆል፡፡

በመሆኑም ስብስብ ለሰብአዊ መብቶች  በኢትዮጵያ፤ ለክልል መንግስታት፣ የፌደራል  መንግስትና ለአለም አቀፉ ማህበረሰብ ከዚህ በታች የተዘረዘሩትን የመፍትሔ  እርምጃዎች እንዲወስዱ ጥሪውን ያቀርባል፡-

• የሚመለከታቸው የፌደራልና የክልል መንግስታት በሀገሪቱ የተለያዩ ክፍሎች   ዜጎችን በማንነታቸውን መሰረት  ጥቃት እንዲፈፀም ያደረጉ እና በተለያየ ደረጃ ተሳትፎ ያላቸውን መንግስታዊ ሆነ መንግስታዊ ያልሆኑ አካላት በተሳትፎቸው ልክ በህግ ተጠያቂ እንዲሆኑ ፤

• አለምአቀፉ ማህበረሰብ በሀገሪቱ የተለያዩ ክፍሎች በተደጋጋሚ እየተከሰተ ያለውን ማንነትን መሰረት ያደረገ ጥቃት በተለይም በአሁኑ ወቅት በቤንሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል በንፁሃን ዜጎች ላይ እየደረሰ ያለውን ማንነትን መሰረት ያደረገ ጥቃት ትርጉም ባለው ደረጀ ትኩረት መሰጠት አለመቻሉ ጉዳዩ የበለጠ እንዲባባስ አድረጎል፡፡ ስለሆነም ይህንን በሰው ልጅ ስብዕና ላይ እየተፈፀመ ያለን የወንጀል ድርጊት  በአንድነት  እንዲያወግዝ እና በጥፋቱ የተሳተፉ አካላትን ተጠያቂ ለማድረግ የሚደረገውን ጥረት በመደገፍ ረገድ ያለበትን ሀላፊነት እንዲወጣ፤
• የብሄር ማንነትን መሰረት አድረገው የሚደርሱ ጥቃቶች ለዜጎች የህይወት ማጣት፣ መፈናቀል እና ንብረት መውደም መንስኤ በመሆኑ መንግስት ከሚመለካታቸው አካላት ጋር በመሆን እየደረሰ ያለውን ተደጋጋሚ ጥቃት ፖለቲካዊ እና ህጋዊ እርምጃዎችን በመውሰድ ለአንዴና ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ ሊያስቆም ይገባዋል፡፡