On November 6, 2024, Amnesty International warned, “Ethiopia has entered a new era of disregard for national, regional and international human rights obligations,” as it details the extent of mass arbitrary detentions and gross human rights violations being perpetrated by the Abiy Ahmed regime in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.
According to the latest Amnesty International investigation and report, the Abiy regime is conducting arbitrary detentions targeting Amhara civilians, including members of the judiciary and academics. In October 2024 alone, “thousands” have been detained in “makeshift detention camps in the towns of Dangla, Seraba (Chilga), Chorisa (Kombolcha), and Shewa Robit.” Furthermore, Amhara civilians are being arbitrarily detained “without charge and for unspecified periods of time.”
In light of these findings of systemic human rights violations, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Mr. Tigere Chagutah said, “What is now being witnessed in the Amhara region shows that mass arbitrary detentions have become a routine tactic.” And such “arbitrary mass detentions have been used as political tools to silence peaceful dissent, often under the guise of sweeping state of emergency laws.”
Since April 2023, the Abiy regime has engaged in a war of aggression against Amhara and its people—as Abiy attempts to consolidate power through military force. To this end, Abiy sent federal forces into Amhara under the pretext of “disarming regional forces”, while other regions of Ethiopia remain heavily armed.
The Amhara view the deployment of federal forces into the region as an attempt to subjugate the region and its people to the whims of Abiy and his Oromo Prosperity Party; while at the same time, exposing the region and its people to security threats emanating from other armed groups, namely the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, Oromo Special Forces, and Oromo Liberation Army.
Unsurprisingly, Abiy’s war of aggression has been met with a widespread popular resistance movement and armed insurgency throughout the Amhara region, led by Fano forces. During the past year, Fano forces have gained mass popular support at home and from the Ethiopian diaspora. Consequently, what the Abiy regime claimed would be a swift 2-week operation, has lasted well over a year—and with no immediate end in sight.
As war rages in Amhara, human rights organization are documenting and credibly accusing the Abiy regime of a slew human rights violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Amnesty International’s latest investigation and report adds to the growing list of human rights violations being committed against the Amhara.
In concluding its latest report, Amnesty International warned, “African and global human rights bodies, along with Ethiopia’s development partners, must publicly condemn these actions and engage with Ethiopian authorities to end this assault on the rule of law. Failure to act will only embolden authorities, fueling cycles of human rights violations not only in the region but across Ethiopia.”
At the same time, it is imperative that human rights organizations, including the United Nations, conduct comprehensive investigations into the deployment of military drones against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Amhara. These investigation would make a significant contribution to documenting, bringing attention to, and ultimately ending the multifaceted war crimes and gross human rights violations being committed against the Amhara.
Ethiopian Policy Institute 