US reviewing UN-Ethiopia report on Tigray war crimes

WASHINGTON

The US is "carefully reviewing" a joint UN-Ethiopia report on war crimes in the Tigray region that faulted all parties to the conflict for committing acts that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the State Department said on Thursday.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration believes the report "sets a standard for similar reporting done in other parts of the world," adding the US is "determined to see to it that those responsible for committing these human rights abuses, these violations, are held to account."

"We commend the two offices that produced this report for fulfilling their mandates, and for releasing their joint report," Price told reporters. "We appreciate the fact that it sets forth a sobering account of extensive, of serious human rights abuses and violations committed by all parties to the conflict.”

Released one year after hostilities began, the report from the UN Human Rights Office and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) called for an immediate end to “hostilities and any measures that may exacerbate the already acute humanitarian crisis,” along with “prompt, thorough and effective investigations … to hold those responsible accountable.”

The probe said it discovered evidence of unlawful or extrajudicial killings and executions, torture, and widespread arbitrary detentions, abductions and enforced disappearances by both sides. Michelle Bachelet, the UN's human rights chief, further said "big numbers of violations" are linked to Ethiopian forces and their allies from Eritrea.

The alarming report was unveiled as the Tigray conflict entered its second year this week with no sign of an end in sight. Escalating clashes in recent weeks led the Ethiopian government to impose a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday as Tigray forces closed in on the capital.

The alarming report has been unveiled as the Tigray conflict entered its second year this week and shows no signs of abating. Escalating clashes in recent weeks led the Ethiopian government to impose a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday.

“Nobody is winning this reckless war, which is engulfing increasing parts of the country. Every day more people are suffering and dying,” Bachelet said, warning that the emergency measures announced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government could “push an already extremely difficult humanitarian situation over the edge.”

“The risks are grave that, far from stabilizing the situation, these extremely broad measures – which include sweeping powers of arrest and detention – will deepen divisions, endanger civil society and human rights defenders, provoke greater conflict and only add to the human suffering already at unacceptable levels,” she said.