Fighting has returned to Ethiopia’s Tigray region less than four years after the federal government and Tigrayan forces signed a November 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. Clashes that erupted in early August involve Tigrayan forces and the Ethiopian National Defence Force, according to Amnesty International.
Amnesty says the failure to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity has left civilians vulnerable to renewed abuses. The organisation is calling on federal and Tigrayan authorities to protect civilians and allow monitors, humanitarian organisations and independent media to reach affected areas.
At a glance:
- The 2022 agreement ended the previous phase of fighting and was followed by reconstruction efforts.
- Amnesty says accountability efforts weakened after international investigative mandates expired and Ethiopia abandoned a proposed transitional justice process.
- The organisation says civilians face renewed risks amid worsening restrictions, forced recruitment campaigns and limits on movement in Tigray.
- Amnesty also reports continuing grave human rights violations in Ethiopia’s Amhara and Oromia regions.
What happened after the 2022 agreement
The November 2022 agreement appeared to end one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts. Millions of Ethiopians hoped the postwar period would bring justice for abuses committed during the war in northern Ethiopia, which ran from November 2020 to November 2022.
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Amnesty International says those expectations were not met. It says investigations documented by international and local human rights organisations were not pursued, the Ethiopian government abandoned its proposed transitional justice process, and allegations of serious crimes remained largely uninvestigated and unpunished.
Why Amnesty says civilians remain at risk
During the previous war, Amnesty and other international organisations documented alleged extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, forced displacement and denial of humanitarian assistance. Amnesty argues that the lack of independent investigations and credible prosecutions signalled that even grave abuses could occur without consequences.
The organisation also says oversight weakened after key United Nations and African Union investigative mandates expired. In recent months, it has cited restrictions on independent media, forced recruitment campaigns affecting thousands of people and tighter limits on freedom of movement as signs that conditions in Tigray were deteriorating before the latest clashes.
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What Amnesty is urging authorities to do
Amnesty is calling on Ethiopia’s federal authorities and the Tigrayan authorities to comply with international human rights law and international humanitarian law and to protect civilians as fighting resumes.
It also wants human rights monitors, humanitarian organisations and independent media to have access to affected areas. Amnesty says the renewed conflict comes while Tigray is still recovering from the previous war and alongside ongoing conflicts in Amhara and Oromia, where it says grave violations continue.
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