Ethiopia – UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog

Human Rights Abuses Against Elderly During Armed Conflict

Armed conflict often results in a wide range of human rights violations, including right to life, liberty, and security. Conflict can have a devastating impact on human rights, leaving individuals and communities vulnerable to a range of abuses and violations. Often times, during military conflicts, the elderly are overlooked when it comes to human rights abuses. Despite being among the most vulnerable members of society, the impacts of armed conflict on older people are often underreported, highlighting the need for greater attention and support for this marginalized group. Human Rights Watch released a report addressing the significant human rights violations older people endure during wartime. The report calls for the United Nations (UN) to end the abuses, provide protection, and facilitate humanitarian assistance for the elderly. The report documents a pattern of violations against the elderly in African and Middle Eastern countries experiencing war.

Pattern of Abuses

Older people are more likely to experience a range of physical, emotional, and economic challenges during times of conflict. Government and non-state armed forces have unlawfully attacked and killed older civilians, subjecting them to summary executions, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and other ill-treatment, rape, abduction and kidnapping, and the destruction of their homes and other property. Older people are more likely to be injured or killed during armed conflict due to their reduced mobility, impaired senses, and other health issues. In the Central African Republic, for example, the armed forces executed Dieudonne, a blind 60-year-old man in July 2017. Many older people rely on family members and caregivers for support, but armed conflict can disrupt these networks, leaving them isolated and vulnerable. In Ethiopia, after Tigrayan forces recaptured most of the Tigray region in 2021, authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained older Tigrayans in Addis Abeba. Amhara forces in control of the Western Tigray zone detained elderly people in overcrowded detention facilities, subjecting them to beatings and other forms of ill-treatment. The stress and trauma of living in a conflict-affected environment can have significant impacts on older people’s mental health and well-being, and may exacerbate pre-existing mental health conditions. In South Sudan during government operations against rebel forces in February 2019, a soldier made a 50 year-old woman carry looted property, beat her with a gun, and raped her repeatedly. Sexual assault can have profound and long-lasting effects on an individual’s mental health and well-being.

Unable to Receive Aid

Another facet of the abuse is that displaced older people cannot access humanitarian aid. People experiencing must flee in order to access basic services such as food, shelter, and medical care. During hostilities, many older people have chosen not to flee their homes because they think they will not be harmed, or they want to protect the land they have had in their families for years. Also, limited mobility and disability lead to fewer elderly choosing to flee. In 2017, Myanmar security forces pushed older people who could not flee back into burning houses. Displaced older people have also faced difficulties in registering for and receiving humanitarian aid. In South Sudan in 2017, displaced older people who sought refuge were more likely to face difficulties in receiving aid than those who fled to Protection of Civilians sites within UN bases. Amnesty International has documented the failure of humanitarian actors to meet humanitarian standards and be inclusive of older people in their responses to conflict-driven displacements.

Significance

We should be concerned with the gross negligence of elderly’s human rights because every person deserves respect and dignity. Elderly individuals have a wealth of life experience and knowledge to share, and they deserve to be valued and respected for their contributions to society. Due to their age, older people are one of the most vulnerable groups, so it is up to us to do all we can to ensure their safety and protection. Protecting the human rights of elderly individuals is a matter of social justice. As members of society, they have the same rights and entitlements as anyone else, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that these rights are upheld.

Crisis in Ethiopia: An Overview of the Conflict in Tigray

Purpose of image is to provide context of Tigray's location within Africa — The Tigray Region, highlighted in red, has been a source of major tension within Ethiopia because of ethnic and cultural divides. SOURCE : Yahoo! Images

Like many other nations in Africa, Ethiopia has had a long and storied history. Known as one of the world’s oldest nations, Ethiopia first emerged as one of the world’s first Christian states, centered around the ancient kingdom of Aksum. As European powers began to colonize the interior of Africa in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Ethiopia thrust itself onto the world stage after a game-changing victory against colonial Italy during the 1896 Battle of Adwa. Ethiopia remained one of a very few African states to have never been extensively colonized, with Ethiopia’s monarchy only falling under the rule of fascist Italy briefly before being freed by the Allied Powers in World War II.

Ethiopia became a powerful advocate for the decolonization of Africa following the end of the Second World War. Haile Selassie I, who ruled as Ethiopian emperor from 1930 until his assassination in 1974, brought Ethiopia into both the League of Nations and the United Nations. He also made Addis Ababa the center of international cooperation in African politics with the establishment of the Organization for African Unity (now known as the African Union).

Despite Ethiopia once being regarded as a center of African progress and unity, great troubles have befallen this ancient nation. After the ancient monarchy ended with the assassination of Emperor Haile Selassie II and the establishment of a new military government, conflict began in the Ethiopian region of Tigray.

Beginning with the establishment of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region began a decades long conflict with Ethiopia’s new government in 1975. Tigray, which is located in Northern Ethiopia, has long supported a mostly agrarian population, with local peoples growing crops such as cereals, legumes, coffee, and cotton. The Tigray people, who make up about 10% of the population of modern-day Ethiopia and 50% of the population of Ethiopia’s northern neighbor Eritrea, are known to have descended from Semitic peoples, and today most ethnically Tigrayan people adhere to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo (Coptic) Church, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa. Despite numerous cultural and religious similarities between the Tigray people and the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups (which account for about 60% of Ethiopia’s total population when combined), linguistic differences and political rivalry have been the cause of multiple conflicts between the Tigray people and the central Ethiopian government, including the war that began in November of 2020.

An Overview of the War in Tigray

In November 2020, the Ethiopian central government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, began a campaign against the TPLF, which had retreated back to the region of Tigray after being ousted by Ahmed’s new government despite Ahmed’s former ties with the party. Despite the Ethiopian government’s stated mission “to arrest the political and military leadership of the ousted regional government in what it still refers to as a law enforcement operation“, civilian structures in Tigray communities such as hospitals, schools, factories, and businesses have been ravaged by the conflict. Reports from among the ethnic Amhara elite in Ethiopia have found that many view the conflict as a war of expansion, and Amhara militia and special forces have been “pivotal” in aiding Ahmed’s war campaign. Because of Tigray’s history as an agrarian powerhouse for Ethiopia, despite possessing little arable land and sparse vegetation, many experts have pointed out that the war in Tigray seems to be over “access to and control of land“, and as the region of Tigray has been cultivated for millennia, it is a prime target for control by the new ruling elite of Ethiopia.

Before the military campaign began, tensions began to rise between Tigray and the Ethiopian government as Ahmed postponed regional parliamentary elections due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In defiance of the central government, Tigray held elections in September 2020, and these elections were quickly deemed illegitimate by the federal government. Early in November, it was reported that TPLF forces attempted to steal weapons from a federal military base in Tigray, and the conflict began hours later after a declaration from Prime Minister Ahmed. Despite the government’s reports, the TPLF declared that the preemptive strike was necessary, as special forces had arrived just days before in preparation of an assault on the TPLF.

Swift action was taken against the TPLF, despite the presence of ethnically Tigray officers within the Ethiopian military, causing several instances of in-fighting between rival units. Phone and internet communication within the region was restricted, and the Federal Council of Ministers declared a six month state of emergency within Tigray that took effect on November 4, 2020.

As the conflict continues to rage, human rights accusations against Ahmed’s government swirl. Several reports have found that special forces within Tigray have committed multiple attacks against civilians. Devastation reached all parts of the Tigray region, and it has been reported that as of December 2021, up to 400,000 people within Tigray may be living in “famine-like” conditions, despite a unilateral ceasefire from the Ethiopian government that was issued on June 28, 2021. A report from the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner found large amounts of human rights abuses occurring in Tigray between October 2020 and June 2021, including “extrajudicial killings, torture, pillaging, sexual and gender-based violence, and the forcible displacement of civilians.” The war in Tigray has left up to “nine in ten people” in the region needing humanitarian assistance, and over two million people have been displaced by the conflict. Thousands of refugees from the region have ended up in Sudan, worsening the water crisis that is beginning to happen in the region.

Potential Solutions

Following a special session of the United Nations that was called for by concerned parties in the European Union, The United Nations drafted a resolution on the conflict in Tigray and set up an international human rights probe into the conflict. Key aspects of the resolution include calls to all parties participating in the conflict to halt “direct attacks against civilians…including on the basis of their ethnicity or gender”. The draft also called for an end to attacks on civilian assets such as crops and livestock, and provided guidance to the Ethiopian government regarding ending the conflict within the region and providing transitional justice mechanisms, specifically for “accountability, reconciliation, and healing“. The Ethiopian government will be responsible for updating the UN Human Rights Council on the conflict’s progress during its 50th session, which will occur in June 2022.

Some human rights advocates have also called for Prime Minister Ahmed to be stripped of his 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, of which he was awarded for “his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea.” Ahmed has taken a particularly active role in the conflict, making multiple appearances on the frontlines as battlefield commander, and has also been accused of using the peace deal he brokered with Eritrea in order to more successfully subdue Tigray.

As the conflict continuing to violate human rights within Tigray, human rights watchers are hopeful that the United Nations may be able to produce a peaceful resolution to the conflict within Tigray. With the Ethiopian report due in June, there may be hope for a brighter future within the region.

Violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia

In the northernmost part of Ethiopia, there is a region composed of an ethnic minority called the Tigrayans that oppose increasing the power of the central government. This region has 7 million ethnic Tigrayans, which is 7% of Ethiopia’s population, and they have a significant influence on national affairs. The conflict between the government of Ethiopia and Tigray has been growing since the current Prime Minister took power in 2018. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wants to unify the country by increasing the power of the federal government and taking power away from autonomous regions like Tigray.

Prior to Abiy taking office, the regional government called Tigray People’s Liberation Front had a lot more authority. TPLF had been in power for more than three decades until they were forced to step down by protestors. President Abiy created a political party that united several ethnic minorities to form the Prosperity Party. TPLF decided to not become a part of this party and remain in control of the Tigray region. After this decision was made, key Tigray leaders were taken out of power due to accusations of corruption. The Ethiopian government also delayed elections in 2020, which the leaders of Tigray opposed. In resistance to Abiy’s government trying to take away their autonomous power, Tigray held regional elections in September 2020.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the left in Tshwane, South Africa — GovernmentZA

In response to the regional elections, the federal government declared them illegitimate and cut funding to the region in October. Ethnic tensions in Ethiopia have been a problem since the military junta overthrew the centuries-old monarchy in 1974. The TPLF and another political party representing the Oromo people pushed against the junta because they perceived the takeover as a domination of the Amhara people and language. Since then, violence has occurred as tensions rise between different ethnic groups. In July 2020, accusations of ethnic cleansing against Oromo youth were made when groups targeted Amhara and Gurage people in the Oromia region. Most ethnic groups in Ethiopia have faced violence from other groups or exclusion by the central government depending on which political party was in power.

The situation in Tigray escalated to violence in November 2020, when TPLF laid siege to a key Ethiopian military base at Sero. In response to the attack by mortar and tanks, the Ethiopian government launched an offensive against the Tigray region. By the end of November, the federal government’s forces had retaken Mekelle, the capital city of Tigray. In the aftermath of the conflict, accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans have been made against the government of Ethiopia and their Eritrean allies. The most notable figure to bring this light has been the leader of the Tigray region, Debretsion Gebremichael. In an interview in February, Gebremichael called for an independent probe into the alleged killings, rapes, and torture.

A protest in Addis Ababa against the TLPF when they were in power in 2014 — Gadaa.com

The US State Department has released credible reports and accounts that support claims of ethnic cleansing and other human rights abuses. Reports include indiscriminate shelling on civilians by the Ethiopian government and looting by soldiers after Tigrayans fled the area. The abuse allegations are not limited to the government of Ethiopia. Eyewitnesses report that Eritrean soldiers fired on a crowd of Tigrayans leaving Maryam Dengelat church in Dengelat, a village in the east of the Tigray region. CNN also spoke to doctors that are reporting sexual violence used as a weapon against women in the area.

The conflict has led to tens of thousands of Tigrayans fleeing as refugees into neighboring Sudan. Thousands are believed to have been killed, though numbers are only estimates since human rights organizations are unable to get into the area due to fighting. One Ethiopian official said around 2.2 million people have fled their homes. In the past few weeks, journalists have finally been able to get into the region to release witness accounts and situation reports. In recent decades, Ethiopia has been a close ally of the United States and a stable presence in the Horn of Africa. Analysts worry that the recent human rights abuses and conflict may upset this status and make Ethiopia a source of instability.

People from the Trigray region of Ethiopia — Rod Waddington

Reports of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Tigray are just the most recent reports of violence against minorities in Ethiopia. The linguistic and religious makeup of the country makes it one of the most diverse in the region. Minority Rights Group International keeps a world directory based on census data, and Ethiopia consists of over 90 distinct ethnic groups that speak 80 different languages. The country is 43.5% Orthodox Christian and 33.9% Muslim, with the remainder following Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and traditional religions. The largest ethnic groups include the Oromo at 34.9% of the population, Amhara at 27.9%, and Tigray at 7.3%. The unique makeup of groups with different beliefs creates a difficult terrain for the government in power to navigate and future cooperation against violence is necessary to end the hate against minority groups.