Ethiopian crisis: Rights group calls for action to address 'accountability deficit' after peace deal
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Human rights advocate, Amnesty International, has described Wednesday's peace agreement between the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) as a step in the right direction, but stressed that "further strides must be taken to address the accountability deficit that has permeated the conflict since it began".
Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa, said in a statement on Thursday that all parties to the two-year war have committed unspeakable abuses, including mass, extrajudicial executions and sexual violence against women and girls.
"These appalling crimes cannot simply be washed away," he said.
Mwananyanda said at present, "the accord fails to offer a clear roadmap on how to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and overlooks rampant impunity in the country, which could lead to violations being repeated".
He said to ensure justice for victims and survivors of atrocities, the Ethiopian authorities must allow unfettered access to human rights investigators, including the UN-mandated International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia.
They must also provide humanitarian corridors so that the thousands of people facing starvation and medical emergencies can get the assistance they need.
The signing of the peace agreement on Wednesday follows a week of negotiations and two years of fighting.
Amid the conflict, millions of civilians have been displaced, while thousands of people have been killed due to ethnic violence. The region has been largely cut off from the outside world, and so humanitarian aid has also been denied to millions of people in Tigray.
-0- PANA MA 4Nov2022
