The Ethiopian National
Defense Forces (ENDF) executed individuals extrajudicially in Bahir Dar, the
capital of Amhara regional state, and denied family members the right to bury
their loved ones in certain cases, according to Amnesty International in a new
briefing released on Monday.
The briefing, headed
"We Thought They Would Fight With Those They Came To Fight, -
Extra-judicial executions in Bahir Dar by ENDF soldiers," describes how
ENDF soldiers massacred six residents in the Abune Hara and Lideta districts of
Kebele 14 on August 8, 2023.
Two months later, on
October 10 and 11, ENDF militants killed a further six individuals, including
at least five civilians, in the city's Seba Tamit area.
“The government of
Ethiopia should urgently open effective independent investigations into human
rights abuses in the context of the ongoing armed conflict in Bahir Dar and
throughout the Amhara region.” Tigere ChagutahAmnesty International's Regional
Director for East and Southern Africa
The human rights impact
of the violence in the Amhara region has been delayed to surface due to an
internet shutdown, partial communications blackouts, and a continuous sweeping
state of emergency that is limiting freedom of expression and media, as well as
fear of reprisals.
"The Ethiopian
government should immediately launch robust independent investigations into
human rights violations in the context of the current armed conflict in Bahir
Dar and across the Amhara region. Where there is adequate evidence, people
suspected of committing infractions shall be tried in proceedings that meet
international fair trial standards, without resorting to the death
sentence." According to Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International's Regional
Director for East and Southern Africa.
Serious violations of
international humanitarian law (IHL), as documented in this briefing, may
amount to war crimes which are a crime under international law. Extrajudicial
executions are also violations of the right to life protected under
international human rights law.
In Ethiopia, systemic impunity continues
to embolden perpetrators of crimes in the absence of credible justice and
accountability for serious abuses that constitute crimes under international
law. It is time to put an end to this pervasive lack of justice accountability
nationwide, said Tigere Chagutah
"In Ethiopia,
institutional impunity continues to empower criminals in the absence of
meaningful justice and responsibility for significant atrocities that violate
international law. It is time to put an end to the widespread lack of justice
accountability across the country.
According to eyewitnesses and family
members, the victims were killed from bullet wounds shot at close range.
One of the people extrajudicially
executed was Yitateku Ayalew, who was shot dead by an ENDF soldier at her home
near Lideta, according to a number of witnesses including Biniyam*, a
17-year-old relative. Biniyam said Yitateku was baking injera on the morning of
8 August when they started to hear gunshots.
“We started hearing gunshots around 8 am
from the Mulugeta Real Estate side. People in the compound asked Yitateku to
stop baking injera in the compound and return home. She said, ‘My son has no
breakfast, and I must finish’. She refused to listen. Around 9.15 am, a group
of soldiers came running. I think they were chasing someone on the street. Then
they started to shoot towards the compound and hit Yitateku and one other
person. They shot through a hole on the fence and left.”
Other victims are Aynew Defresh, a
55-year-old trader and his two sons, Kassahun and Abraham. The three men were
shot dead on the street as they walked home from church. A family member said
that when they called Aynew’s phone, an individual they believed to be from the
ENDF picked up and said, “It was a small accident”. Family members eventually
took all three bodies home.
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