10 December 2023
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (Lemkin Institute) is issuing an update on its Active Genocide Alert (AGA) for Ethiopia’s Amhara region, originally issued on 23 September 2023. Inter alia, this update is prompted by the ongoing killings of ethnic Amharas by the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), and the Oromia Special Force (OSF), as well as an increase in the use of military drones to attack the civilian population, the ongoing state of emergency in the region, which is being used to silence political opposition, obscure the federal government’s actions, and limit daily activities, and the ongoing anti-Amhara sentiment in the Oromia region.
Since 4 August 2023, the Amhara region has been under a state of emergency. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government announced this measure in response to increased fighting between the ENDF and the non-state armed group known as Fano. One of the most recent elements of the state of emergency has been a total telecommunications blackout across the region which has significantly restricted access to information since its establishment. The Lemkin Institute recalls that Abiy Ahmed’s administration employed this tactic 22 times since 2016 to obscure its actions from international scrutiny.
As a result, the present update draws heavily on information provided, among other sources, by the Amhara Association of America (AAA). While the Lemkin Institute could not independently verify most of the incidents outlined in the following pages due to the aforesaid blackout, the available data, combined with the Ethiopian government’s past actions in the Amhara region and elsewhere, as well as the failure to renew the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) during the 54th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, justifies further analysis of the situation on the ground and increased international pressure on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s regime.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ruling Prosperity Party is also using the state of emergency to silence the voices of those advocating for the Amhara outside the region. On the day the state of emergency was declared, numerous journalists and politicians were detained in Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. Among the most notable figures taken into custody on 4 August 2023 are Mr. Christian Tadele, a member of the House of People’s Representatives; Mr. Yohannes Buayalew, a member of the Amhara Region Council; and Mr. Kassa Teshager, a member of the Addis Ababa City Council. Initially, families were not informed of the whereabouts of these prisoners, nor were they told of the charges against them. On 11 August 2023, the State of Emergency Command Post released a statement claiming that these individuals were arrested under the suspicion of “carrying out various illegal activities” in cities and “providing logistical and financial support by taking a duty from the armed group.” According to the news outlet “Addis Standard,” the statement reiterated that “the demands of the Amhara people will be answered in a legal and peaceful way through the National Dialogue Commission and following the constitutional system, not by force through illegal means.”
However, two separate human rights groups have expressed serious doubts that this is actually the case. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council argued that due process was violated as police prevented the detainees from appearing in court in Addis Ababa on 21 August 2023. It further noted that the elected positions of Messrs. Muayalew, Teshager and Tadele actually make them immune from prosecution, despite the state of emergency.
According to the Ethiopia Observer, members of the Ethiopian government’s own Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) visited the detainees on 1 September 2023 at a detention center in the Afar region, well over 500 km from where they were initially arrested and held. During the visit, the detainees informed the EHRC that they all belonged to the Amhara ethnic group and had experienced ethnic slurs, harassment, and rude and abusive language before and during their transfer from Addis Ababa. Despite police officials’ assertions of regular and fair treatment, the EHRC reported that the detainees expressed grievances, stating that their families were unaware of their whereabouts when they arrived at the new detention center. They also described the facility as lacking basic amenities and experiencing extreme temperatures. The EHRC clarified that there were no reports of beatings or physical violence after the detainees were taken into federal police custody.
Meanwhile, in the Amhara region, the state of emergency continues to significantly disrupt daily life and serves as an excuse for bloodshed by the ENDF. Some universities remain closed and fighting in major population centers has led to disruption in specialty healthcare services and hospital closures.
On 17 September 2023, the AAA reported that ENDF personnel shot and killed two civilians, including a fifth-year medical student at Bahir Dar University and a bajaj driver, and injured three others on 13 September 2023. These killings occurred in Mekaneselam town, located in the South Wollo Zone, Amhara region, and were carried out on the pretense that the victims were violating curfew.
On 18 September 2023, the EHRC issued a statement expressing deep concern about its findings in the Amhara and Oromia regions, as well as in Addis Ababa city, which include instances of attacks targeting civilians, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary detentions by state security forces, and called for urgent action.
On 19 September 2023, the AAA reported that ENDF soldiers killed at least two civilians and injured five others in Kimir Dingaye town of Guna Begemidir woreda, situated in the South Gonder Zone, Amhara region, on 18 September 2023. It was also noted that the victims were summarily executed despite the absence of active hostilities in the area, and the killings took place inside homes, churches, and markets. Furthermore, there were reports of civilian casualties and destruction of homes in Nefas Mewcha, located in the Lay Gayint woreda.
On the same day, 19 September 2023, it was reported that the OSF attacked residents of Awra Godana area, also known as Korke town, of the Minjar Shenkora woreda, North Shewa Zone, Amhara region, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 civilians and displacing survivors. In addition to the loss of human lives, there were reports of looting and destruction of private property by the regional force. These events were reported to have occurred on 17 September 2023, just one day after the sudden withdrawal of the ENDF and Ethiopian Federal Police from the town, as per the testimony of local officials.
In its report titled “War on the Amhara: Report on International Human Rights Violations,” issued on 21 October 2023, the AAA explained that the ENDF assisted the OSF in its efforts to annex Awra Godana area into the Oromia region. Specifically, the organization stated that, upon learning that local farmers had formed a self-defense force against the OSF, the ENDF provided support using artillery. Furthermore, it was reported that on 18 September 2023, the Oromia Regional Government declared that Awra Godana area now belonged to the Oromia Regional State. On the same day, the Oromo administration was said to have removed the old sign indicating that the area was under the Amhara region administration and replaced it with a new one, which stated that the area was under the jurisdiction of Fentale woreda in the East Shewa Zone, Oromia region. The town was then renamed “Korke,” an Afan Oromo name.
Also on the same day, 19 September 2023, drone attacks were reported in Quarit woreda and Dembecha town, located in the West Gojjam Zone, Amhara region, resulting in the deaths of at least 30 and 18 civilians, respectively. The attacks occurred on 17 September 2023 in areas far removed from active hostilities. Eyewitnesses in Dembecha town reported that the attack targeted the area near St. Mikael’s Church. In this regard, the Lemkin Institute recalls that the Ethiopian government previously employed military drones against its civilian population, as in August 2023 when at least 26 civilians were reportedly killed in a drone strike in Finote Selam town, situated in the West Gojjam Zone. Additionally, the ICHREE reported a series of drone strikes in the Oromia region in October and November 2022, during the re-escalation of fighting between the OLA and the ENDF.
On 20 September 2023, the AAA reported mobile network and telecommunications blackouts across the Amhara region. As rightly noted in the ICHREE’s report, the intentional disruption of essential services, including telecommunications, is a recurrent element in the execution of atrocity crimes by the national government against the civilian population. Frequently framed as national security imperatives, telecommunications disruptions have the underlying purpose of limiting or outright blocking the recollection and dissemination of evidence related to the commission of atrocity crimes. As of the time of publication of this AGA, the Amhara region is still without internet services, making their restoration an urgent necessity.
On 25 September 2023, the AAA reported that seven civilians were extrajudicially executed in Ashifa kebele of Sekela woreda, situated in the West Gojjam Zone, Amhara region. These executions were reported to have been carried out by ENDF soldiers on 30 August 2023. The following day, the same organization reported that ENDF soldiers extrajudicially executed at least six civilians and injured three others in Dangila town, situated in the Awi Zone, Amhara region. The attack was reported to have taken place on 21 September 2023 and was executed in retaliation for an attack by Fano in Mecha woreda, located in the West Gojjam Zone.
On 2 October 2023, the AAA reported the extrajudicial killings of nine farmers in Chinchaye kebele of Gonder Zuriya woreda, situated in the Central Gonder Zone, Amhara region. These farmers were reported to have been under the custody of the ENDF prior to their deaths on 26 September 2023. Additionally, the AAA explained that a 12-year-old girl, whose identity was not mentioned, was reported missing after the incident.
The next day, the AAA reported the assassination of Mr. Tesfa Bizualem on 22 September 2023 in Gindewoin town, which is situated in the Goncha-Siso-Enese woreda of East Gojjam Zone, Amhara region. Mr. Bizualem, a retired civil servant, was reportedly shot dead near his house by government forces.
On 4 October 2023, the AAA reported the targeting of ethnic Amhara residents in the Arusi and Lomicha kebeles, located in the Abe Dongoro woreda of the Horo Guduru Wollega Zone, Oromia region. The attack was reported to have begun on the morning of 3 October 2023 and to have been executed by ENDF forces and allied Oromo militias. As of 4 October, the attack had reportedly resulted in the deaths of three civilians and injuries to an additional ten.
On 6 October 2023, the AAA reported that OLA personnel killed at least 23 Amhara civilians and injured an additional five on 2 October 2023 in various zones of Dera woreda, situated in the North Shewa Zone, Oromia region. It was claimed that these attacks were launched late at night in Qoro-Ginde-Berbere, Degnu, Salayish, Selelkula, and Cheqa. In addition to the loss of human lives, a large number of heads of cattle and other properties were reported to have been looted by OLA forces, as well as the destruction of more than 50 residential houses. The AAA also indicated that the OLA was backed by government security officials.
At least three drone strikes were reported by the AAA on 7 October 2023. The attacks, which occurred the day before, resulted in the death of at least 30 people in Abe Dongoro woreda of Horo Guduru Wollega Zone, Oromia region. Moreover, the organization reported that at least one of the attacks struck a group of unarmed civilians that were gathered and preparing food.
On 9 October 2023, the AAA uploaded a video to the social platform “X”, formerly known as “Twitter”, depicting a large crowd during Irreecha celebrations chanting anti-Fano and what could be interpreted as anti-Amhara slogans. According to the translation, the participants can be heard shouting: “Fano are murderers!”; “Fano are terrorists!”; “To those of you Amharas living in Oromia, if you do not condemn the actions of Fano, Eskinder Nega and Zemene Kassie, we will finish you all!”; “Addis Ababa belongs to the Oromo people!”; “Therefore, to you Amhara people that live in Adama (Nazreth), Sebeta, Burayu, Sululta, and Bishoftu (Debre Ziet) think for yourselves!”
Although the Lemkin Institute unequivocally does not endorse the actions of the armed group known as Fano, it is concerned about the utilization of genocidal language and rhetoric which attempts to equate the Amhara ethnic group with the Fano. Considering the ethnic component of the armed group’s membership, the Lemkin Institute believes that the escalation of verbal harassment points to an imminent increase in inter-ethnic violence. The Lemkin Institute also believes that dehumanization speech-acts, particularly those that construct the target group as animals (bestialization), diseases (biologicalization), or “less-than-human”, as well as criminalization speech-acts, especially when associated with supposed inherent traits of the group in question, are essential elements in the processes of genocide.
On 10 October 2023, the AAA reported that ENDF forces summarily executed at least eight civilians in Tilili town, located in the Awi Zone, Amhara region, on 4 October 2023. The next day, the organization reported two separate incidents where OLA forces purportedly abducted approximately 60 Amhara civilians in the North Shewa Zone of the Oromia region. The first incident was reported to have occurred on 10 October 2023, when seven trucks were stopped by OLA forces in an area called Wogem, situated in Abote woreda. The second incident took place on 11 October 2023, when OLA personnel attacked a public transport that was traveling from Cheqa to Gundo-Meskel. This attack was reported to have been executed in the morning at a place called Wegdi, situated in Dera woreda.
On 13 October 2023, the AAA reported that ENDF forces summarily executed three civilians in Shewa Robit town, located in the North Shewa Zone, Amhara region. The executions were reported to have been perpetrated on 11 October 2023 in Shewa Robit Prison Center, after the victims were tortured for more than 30 days after their arrest.
Two additional drone strikes were reported by the AAA on 16 October 2023. The strikes took place on the same day in Berehet woreda, situated in the North Shewa Zone, Amhara region, and resulted in approximately 35 deaths and injuries to an additional 27. The first drone strike was reported to have been executed in the morning and to have targeted the police station of the woreda, which is located in Metebila town. Around noon, a second drone strike struck the center of four kebeles of the woreda, hitting a vehicle carrying civilians fleeing the town and children who were near. Among the dead, the AAA identified seven civilians under the age of 19, as well as a 40-year-old mother with her two-year-old child.
On 17 October 2023, the AAA reported that ENDF personnel executed at least 12 civilians in the Gubala, Shulta, and Milkata kebeles of Banja woreda, situated in the Awi Zone, Amhara region, on 7 October 2023.
On 19 October 2023, the organization reported that ENDF forces killed at least 20 civilians in the Durbete and Wetet-Abay areas of the South Achefer woreda, situated in the North Gojjam Zone, Amhara region. These killings occurred in the context of active fighting that took place on 1 October 2023, either by execution or artillery strikes. Additionally, the AAA reported at least four cases of gang rape in Sebatamit, which is located on the outskirts of Bahir Dar city. These crimes were reported to have been committed on 9 October 2023, following the heavy fighting that took place that day between government forces and the Fano.
On 21 October 2023, the Amhara Professionals Union published an appeal to stop the use of chemical weapons against the Amharas. The organization mentioned that it had “[…] has received credible evidence from multiple sources about shipments of chemical warfare agents from Saudi Arabia to Dire Dawa city, Ethiopia, in numerous rounds of Antonov aircraft flights. Eyewitnesses with detailed evidence indicate the transfer of some of these chemical agents via military helicopters to Bahir Dar city, the capital of the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Additionally, several C17 Globemaster McDonnell Douglas flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have delivered military supplies to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa city, the federal capital of Ethiopia.” (Emphasis added).
While the Lemkin Institute was unable to independently verify these allegations, their gravity justifies the following remarks. The prohibition of the use of chemical weapons, stipulated in Article I of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), applies in all circumstances, and is binding on both Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia since their respective ratification on 13 May 1996 and 9 August 1996. Moreover, international jurisprudence has confirmed the customary status of this prohibition in both international and non-international armed conflicts.
Additionally, the Lemkin Institute wishes to recall Ethiopia’s previous statements advocating for the complete ban and destruction of such weapons as “a matter of the utmost priority” and its commitment to “[…] creating a world free of chemical weapons.”
Given that states often deny allegations of chemical weapons use, the Lemkin Institute urges the international community to take the Amhara Professionals Union’s concerns seriously and to conduct a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the situation in the Amhara region, especially if innocent civilians could be potential victims of a chemical attack.
If these allegations were confirmed to be true, the Lemkin Institute also reminds Saudi Arabia of its obligations under Article I of the CWC, namely “Each State Party to this Convention undertakes never under any circumstances: (a) To develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to anyone; […].” (Emphasis added).
In this context, the Lemkin Institute also wishes to recall Saudi Arabia’s previous statements on chemical weapons, which not only supported a total prohibition on the use and production of these weapons, but also their destruction and stockpiling.
In addition to the aforementioned incidents, the AAA reported other violations committed by the ENDF and OLA in the context of the non-international armed conflict in its report issued on 21 October 2023. According to its findings, the organization reported at least 807 civilians casualties, including women, children, elderly persons, and individuals hors de combat, while 634 more were injured and at least 3 women were raped and sexually assaulted in the Amhara and Oromia regions between 3 August and 3 October 2023.
On 22 October 2023, the AAA reported that ENDF personnel killed three civilians, forcefully disappeared five, and detained an additional 16 in Denkez kebele of Gonder Zuriya woreda, located in the Central Gonder Zone, Amhara region. According to the organization, the attack occurred on 12 October 2023 and targeted farmers and their property, which were situated far away from hostilities. Among those forcefully disappeared, the AAA reported an unidentified woman and her child. Although it mentioned that the whereabouts of all disappeared persons remained unknown at the time of publication, the organization explained that the 16 detained individuals were being held at Maksegnit Clinic, located in its namesake town.
On 27 October 2023, the AAA reported that ENDF soldiers summarily executed four farmers in Sefi Beret kebele of Kewet woreda, situated in the North Shewa Zone, Amhara region. The events occurred the day before and resulted in the deaths of a man and his son, as well as two brothers who were returning home from their farm. Additionally, the organization stated that victims were tortured by the ENDF prior to their execution.
On 31 October 2023, the AAA reported that ENDF personnel killed four civilians and injured another in two separate incidents in Kobo city, located in the Raya Kobo woreda of the North Wollo Zone, Amhara region. The first incident was reported to have occurred on 26 October 2023, when ENDF soldiers asked a bajaj driver, who was driving a nurse to her workplace, to provide them with taxi services. When the driver attempted to explain that the bajaj was full, the soldiers reportedly killed both the driver and the nurse. The second incident took place on 29 October 2023, when state riot police members allegedly killed two civilians inside another bajaj and injured a third victim.
On 1 November 2023, the AAA reported that the OLA invaded the Yeju kebele of Were-Jarso woreda, located in the North Shewa Zone, Oromia region. The attack occurred the day before and targeted the local Amhara residents, resulting in the deaths of approximately 11 civilians, five of whom belonged to the same family. Additionally, the organization reported injuries to three civilians, along with incidents of looting and destruction of property, including the theft of heads of cattle and the burning of residential houses. According to AAA’s sources, federal security forces reached the area after the OLA had left.
Despite the Ethiopian government not addressing the situation in the Amhara region in recent weeks, the EHRC released a new press statement on 30 October 2023 detailing many patterns of violence mentioned both above and in the Lemkin Institute’s last AGA, including the use of heavy weapons and associated civilian casualties, instances of forced displacement, looting and destruction of property and extrajudicial killings. Furthermore, the EHRC mentioned that many schools in the region are now being used as military facilities or housing for internally displaced people (IDP), leaving numerous children unable to receive formal education since the beginning of hostilities in April 2023. Disturbingly, the EHRC also found that over 200 victims of sexual abuse have registered with health facilities in the Amhara region, including IDPs and healthcare workers.
The Lemkin Institute categorically condemns the international community’s indifference to the ongoing commission of atrocity crimes, not only in the Amhara region but throughout the country. As noted above, the mandate of the sole remaining international mechanism, the ICHREE, expired in October 2023. Steven Ratner, one of the three experts that comprised the ICHREE, lamented the Commission’s dissolution: “In our report and our oral statement to the [Human Rights] Council we made it clear that it was their responsibility, as an organ created to prevent human rights abuses and respond to them, to ensure continued international oversight,” he told the publication Justice Info. “Our report is not just a record of past events but an account of ongoing concerns, and frankly a prediction of more atrocities to come.” The Lemkin Institute shares Mr. Ratner’s concerns about the human rights situation in Ethiopia in the foreseeable future, which continues to bear the hallmarks of future atrocity crimes.
Although key players such as the United States and the European Union have expressed their desire for a “unified, peaceful, and prosperous Ethiopia,” their actual commitment to ensuring accountability and justice in the conflict-stricken nation through the presence of international observers seems lacking. This manifest lack of interest is further corroborated by the inaction of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, which prematurely terminated the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on the Situation in the Tigray Region in May 2023, as noted in the Lemkin Institute’s AGA for the Tigray region.
The Lemkin Institute thus exhorts the international community, in particular international and regional organizations, to expeditiously establish an international oversight entity. This entity should investigate the well-substantiated commission of atrocity crimes by federal forces and their national and foreign allies; collect, classify, and preserve evidence in support of accountability efforts; and initiate a meaningful transitional justice process in Ethiopia.
Finally, the Lemkin Institute reaffirms the plea outlined in its “Statement in Support on an International Investigation of Abiy Ahmed’s Crimes in Ethiopia,” issued on 3 February 2023, which called “[…] on the international community to refer [Abiy Ahmed’s] crimes to the ICC for investigation.”
Active Genocide Alert – Sudan
16 November 2023
In April 2023, clashes erupted between opposing armed factions in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, sparking concerns about the resurgence of a widespread civil conflict. The ongoing discord primarily stems from a struggle for power between two dominant armed entities: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the formidable paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan heads the SAF, while Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo leads the RSF. Both are vying for supremacy over the government and the resources of the state. The RSF was created from the Janjaweed militia during the Darfur genocide, which former President Omar Al-Bashir funded.
In 2019, the SAF and the RSF together led a coup that ousted President Al-Bashir, who had been in power since 1989. Al-Bashir ruled during the Second civil war (1983-2005) and the genocide in Darfur, which started in 2003. The latter was condemned as genocide by the United States and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir in 2009 and 2010.
After the coup in 2019, a Transitional Sovereignty Council was established with Burhan as the lead and Hemedti as the deputy. Discussions about Sudan’s future government took place throughout 2022 and concluded in December of that year with an agreement that set the stage for a two-year transition towards civilian leadership and democratic elections. However, the proposed time frame faced opposition from many citizens, who disapproved of the plan’s provision that allowed the security sector to retain certain state powers after the transition. Additionally, the exclusion of demands from protest leaders and other opposition groups to hold figures like Burhan, Hemedti, and other security sector authorities accountable, led to widespread discontent. This discontent triggered renewed unrest starting in December 2022, which continued into the spring of 2023 and resulted in escalated violent crackdowns on demonstrators. The power struggles between the two leaders of the Transnational Sovereignty Council stalled the country’s political transition efforts.
On April 15th, 2023, the capital city of Khartoum was subjected to severe fighting. The SAF and the RSF traded accusations, each blaming the other for the attack. Since then, the power struggle has increasingly been playing itself out in Sudan’s Darfur region, reigniting genocidal violence reminiscent of the intensive phase of genocide in 2003-2004.
Sudan’s internal conflict has had ripple effects beyond its borders, impacting neighboring countries and contributing to regional instability. The UN Special Representative for Sudan has warned that cross-border mobilization, namely of Arab tribes in the Western part of the country, is fueling regional instability. Moreover, rebel groups also joined the war, namely in the South Kordofan state where a long-standing ceasefire agreement was broken by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) rebel armed group.
In addition, the dispute between Burhan and Hemeti extends beyond a mere domestic disagreement, as Sudan plays a pivotal role bridging the Middle East and Africa. Moreover, the conflict has regional significance due to Sudan’s abundant natural resources and geographic importance. Major players in the Gulf, namely Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), see the ongoing war as an opportunity to solidify their hegemonic influence in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, hence prompting them to provide logistical and financial support to the warring parties. Saudi Arabia aligns with Burhan, while the UAE supports Hemeti, amplifying the regional dimensions of the conflict.
After six months of intense fighting between the two warring parties, the conflict shows no signs of abating. Appalling reports continue to surface, highlighting the extent of atrocities amid the ongoing turmoil. In the capital city of West Darfur named El Geneina, Reuters described a “rolling ethnic killing campaign that lasted for weeks”. During attacks, Arab militia fighter reportedly referred to the Masalit population as “anbai,” which is a derogatory term meaning slaves. Men and boys were systematically killed and women and girls raped. Furthermore, sexual violence, ethnically-driven killings, terrorization, massacre, forcible recruitment of child soldiers, looting, and the deliberate destruction of villages are rampant.
In July 2023, the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan informed the U.N. Security Council that his office had started investigating atrocities in West Darfur. He told the Council that “we are, by any analysis, not on the precipice of a human catastrophe but in the very midst of one.”
The severity and breadth of the atrocities paint a grim picture of the current situation, demanding urgent attention and humanitarian intervention. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Action, since April 2023 more than 9,000 people have lost their lives, close to 6 million individuals were forced to flee their homes, and as many as 25 million are in need of humanitarian aid. In addition, a cholera outbreak has crippled Sudan’s health system, whose facilities have been systematically attacked and have suffered shortages of medical supplies and equipment for weeks.
After more than six months of conflict and repeated attempts to put a stop to the fighting, it is time for the international community to insist on concerted efforts toward a political resolution. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention reminds both parties to the conflict that civilians are protected under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
As aspiring regional powers in the Middle East, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi find themselves in conflict, each vying for control over Sudan’s valuable resources, energy reserves, and strategic logistical routes by aligning and supporting Burhan and Hemeti respectively.We remind both countries that it is imperative that they cease offering financial and logistical backing to different armed factions, especially given that these factions are committing mass atrocity crimes, including genocide in Darfur, and instead focus on collaborative efforts to promote peace in the region lest they risk being held accountable for complicity in genocide.
We further call for strong accountability measures that put an end to ongoing impunity in the country. Achieving long-lasting peace in Sudan necessitates holding accountable all perpetrators of crimes committed against local communities, irrespective of their ethnic or religious background. This can be achieved through conducting independent investigations into the atrocities committed against civilians as well as ensuring an all-encompassing and trustworthy civilian dialogue process. The bloodshed needs to end; it is time to silence the guns and support peace.
Active Genocide Alert – Israel-Palestine: There is No Justification for Genocide
13 October 2023
The Lemkin Institute mourns the horrific outbreak of violence that has erupted in Israel and Palestine in the wake of Hamas’ unprecedented military operation against Israel that began on October 7th, 2023.
We warn world leaders that the crisis is dangerously likely to descend into the mass murder pattern of genocide and urge them to pursue foreign policy initiatives that serve both to de-escalate the situation and bring the State of Israel together with Palestinian representatives in a transformative peace process that ensures the dignity and security of all peoples in the region. We hold leaders in the United States (alongside many other Western leaders) primarily responsible for the deterioration in relations between Palestinian authorities and the State of Israel and the ensuing hostilities due to its withdrawal from a leadership role in a peace process while it still heavily supported Israel with weapons and other military aid. We strongly urge Western leaders to pull back from the endorsement they have given Israel to effectively commit genocide against Palestinians, whether through massacre or through forced population displacement, lest they be complicit in genocide. Genocide is a crime in international law and is a permanent moral wound on the body of humanity. There is never a justification for perpetration of this crime.
The multi-pronged attack by Hamas militants on October 7 has killed approximately 1,200 Israelis, many of them civilians. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Hamas spokesperson Khaled Qadomi claimed that the its military operation was conducted in response to repeated Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque within occupied East Jerusalem, the blockade and intensive bombardment of Gaza, and an upsurge in attacks on Palestinian civilians by the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) soldiers and settlers in the West Bank over the past year. Analysts have noted that these daily threats to Palestinian life, dignity, and identity have taken a back seat in the Middle East as Israel has pursued the normalization of diplomatic relations with several Arab countries; some analysts suggest that the attack on October 7 may have been timed to undermine negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and place the crisis of Palestinian sovereignty back on the international agenda.
Regardless of the attack’s timing, the atrocities committed by Hamas militants on the ground suggest that this unprecedented attack also had genocidal dimensions. The Lemkin Institute is horrified by the heartbreaking stories that have emerged from the victims of this attack, as well as the deeply felt and deeply experienced links that survivors are making with the persecution that their family members experienced in pogroms across Europe and during the Holocaust, highlighting the deep and historically resonant trauma of these attacks. We stand in unwavering solidarity with the right of Jews all over the world to live in safety and security.
Many acts of violence committed by Hamas militants appear directly targeted against Israeli and Jewish identities. The Lemkin Institute has not been able to independently verify reports of many of these atrocities; we have had to rely instead on a judicious review and cross-checking of media sources. This work has been hampered by the fact that, particularly in this conflict, media sources often make incorrect or false claims. On October 9, for example, the Los Angeles Times posted an update on a story it ran over the weekend that notes: “An earlier version of this column mentioned rape [by Hamas militants] in the attacks, but such reports have not been substantiated.” There is also a wide array of propaganda currently being spread about these events. During a roundtable with American Jewish community leaders on October 11, US President Joe Biden referred to the beheading of Israeli infants by Hamas militants, a statement that he claimed was based on his review of photographic evidence. A White House spokesperson later clarified that the claim was not based on photographic evidence, but rather on claims made by a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A spokesperson for the Israeli military later told The Intercept that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cannot confirm the beheading claims. In light of the misinformation and disinformation flourishing at the moment, the Institute’s analysis may change as new facts emerge.
Nonetheless, as details of Hamas’ attack become available, the Lemkin Institute has identified several atrocities committed by Hamas militants that raise red flags for genocidal intent. Such atrocities include: the targeted massacre of symbols of group life, such as the murder of 260 young people at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel (within kilometers of the Gazan border); inversion rituals, such as the killing of children in front of their family members; and desecration rituals, such as the massacre of entire families, the setting fire to homes with families still inside them, and the desecration of dead bodies. One survivor of the Supernova festival massacre testified hearing Hamas militants shout “Kill all the Jews!” and “Rape all their women!” A particularly harrowing and potentially genocidal crime can be viewed in a video posted on social media that shows Hamas militants parading the almost naked, still body of 22-year-old German citizen Shani Louk, a hostage from the Supernova festival, through the streets of Gaza. (It is unclear what happened to Louk after the video was taken, though her mother believes she is alive and in critical condition at a Gaza hospital). Hamas’ repeated use of social media to post videos of their crimes to terrorize external audiences is reminiscent of a terror tactic employed by Turkish soldiers against Kurds in eastern Turkey, Azerbaijani soldiers against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, and ISIS militants against Yezidi and Christian communities in northern Iraq. Further crimes committed during Hamas’ attack include the seizure of at least 130 hostages and the killing of disarmed soldiers.
The Israeli state’s response to these attacks has demonstrated a disturbingly open disregard for international law. It has been energetically supported by Western leaders who have just overseen the genocide committed by Israel’s ally, Azerbaijan, against Armenians in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh — including US President Joseph Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, European Commission President Urusula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Their reckless blanket support for any possible retribution committed by Israel’s right-wing government exposes the hypocrisies that underpin the West’s public commitments to human rights. Given the turbulence of the violence between Israel and Gaza and the threat it holds to the human security of Israelis and Palestinians on the ground, the further escalation of this inherently genocidal situation in Israel-Palestine will pose a threat that transcends borders and jeopardizes both regional and global security. Already the conflict has extended to Lebanon and Syria. It is in the interest of the international community to prevent and punish genocide — and it is obliged to do so. When communities are shattered by atrocities, it falls to international actors to protect civilian life and work to de-escalate the violence. Istead, the current situation in the region has been fanned and escalated by Western leaders and stakeholders.
Israeli government officials have made public statements that have been riddled with genocidal language and imagery that conflates Hamas — an Islamist organization with a military wing — with all Palestinians, particularly those living in Gaza, through the use of capacious terms such as “our enemy,” “Nazis,” and “human animals.”
In a televised address on October 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was at war: “We have only started striking Hamas,” he said. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
“In parallel,” Netanyahu continued, “I am initiating an extensive mobilization of the reserves to fight back on a scale and intensity that the enemy has so far not experienced. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price.”
Two days later, on October 9, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for a “complete siege on Gaza,” specifying that all electricity, water, food, and fuel supplies would be halted to the Gaza Strip. He noted that Israel is “fighting against human animals” and is “acting accordingly.” In international law collective punishment and the use of such starvation tactics against civilian populations are war crimes.
On October 12, in an interview with Sky News, when asked about Palestinian civilians in Gaza, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett sternly responded “Are you seriously asking me about Palestinian civilians? What is wrong with you? We’re fighting Nazis.” He proceeded to justify Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza by exclaiming “I am not going to [provide] electricity or water to my enemies,” once again demonstrating the deliberate conflation of ordinary Gazans with Hamas-affiliated militants.
Since October 7, Israel has launched retaliatory attacks on Gaza of a lethal scope and scale. These attacks have leveled entire neighborhoods and killed over 1,537 Palestinians, including 500 children and 267 women, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Data published by the United Nations indicates that more than 338,000 people have been displaced. Generations of families have been indiscriminately killed in these attacks, and the Israeli military has been accused of targeting buildings traditionally deemed “off-limits” in wartime, including mosques, schools, crucial public services infrastructure, hospitals, ambulances, and United Nations-sponsored structures and refugee camps. Gaza’s residents have watched in terror as residential neighborhoods have been systematically destroyed from artillery fire, in tandem with essential services and utilities. As the last power plant in Gaza deactivated, hospitals in Gaza have been unable to treat patient influxes. Patients in critical condition who require oxygen generators and other lifesaving medical equipment have been rendered particularly vulnerable. Emergency telecommunication systems (which are indispensable to providing assistance to Gazan civilians) have been severed. Furthermore: Gazans have nowhere to flee to avoid bombardment, as all Israeli-Gazan border checkpoints have been sealed. On October 10, Israeli bombardment forced the closure of the Rafah crossing—the sole checkpoint between Gaza and Egypt. While few Palestinians have the required permission to leave through the Rafah crossing, it has been used to deliver medical and humanitarian supplies from Egypt into Gaza. Whether or not such shipments have resumed since October 10 is unclear.
Amid the rapidly rising number of Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli forces since the outbreak of hostilities, the importance of a free press to the goal of genocide prevention cannot be understated. Journalists reporting on the occupation have historically been subjected to arrests, unjust legal proceedings, the destruction of equipment and evidence, and, in the case of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, political assassination. The current Israeli-enforced power outage in Gaza has disastrous effects for journalists reporting on the ground, preventing information from reaching external audiences. Journalists are protected under international law as civilians in combat zones; targeting journalists in warfare is a war crime.
The Israeli response to Hamas’ October 7 attack is only expected to intensify in the coming days, particularly if Israel launches a ground offensive into Gaza. In a televised speech on October 11, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that “every Hamas member is a dead man.” Such language is dangerously likely to result in sex-selective massacres of Palestinian men of “battle age,” which constitutes a genocidal act. Settler violence in the West Bank has spiked in tandem with the outbreak of hostilities, leading to immense danger for Palestinians located there: in the small town of Yasuf, east of Salfit, 10 people were injured on Saturday in an attack from local settlers who were supported by the IOF. Since then, the X (formerly Twitter) account of @LocalFocus1 has documented 41 Palestinians killed by settlers and IOF in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem. The Lemkin Institute has seen two videos, posted on X (formerly Twitter), that purport to display the desecration of Palestinian male bodies. In one video, men are viewed smiling as they urinate on the partially stripped dead bodies of Palestinian men. This is a crime reminiscent of previous acts committed by Israeli police in the West Bank and by American soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and at the prison complex in Guantanamo Bay. In the other video, a man’s body is being repeatedly run over by a car whose occupants are speaking Hebrew and laughing and celebrating as the body is ripped apart. We have also seen the distressing video of the young Palestinian boy who was purportedly set on fire by settlers in Hebron. We have not been able to verify the time and place of these videos, but we mention them here because atrocities against Palestinians are so rarely investigated by the Western press and we call for investigation. Such acts of desecration and brazen celebration constitute dangerous red flags of genocidal ideology. Should the genocidal potential of settler communities be unleashed—a potential that has already been demonstrated throughout the past year—the genocidal violence facing Gazans could very quickly spread to the West Bank.
It is important to note that Gaza is one of the most densely populated territories in the world: 2.3 million people live within 140 square miles of territory that has been permanently blockaded by Israel since Hamas seized power in 2007. The Israeli government controls almost every aspect of life in Gaza, closely monitoring all movement across the border, including everything that goes in and comes out of the territory, and it regularly bombards Gaza in response to Hamas-fired rocket attacks or political unrest in the occupied West Bank. About two-thirds of the population is (or descends from) refugees from the Nakba of 1948, when Palestinians throughout the former British Mandate were killed and forcibly displaced by Zionist militias and the newly-created Israeli Army. About half of all Gazans today are children; half live below the poverty line. The unemployment rate is 46.6 percent (rising to 62.3 percent among young people ages 15-29). An estimated 80 percent of Gazans are dependent on humanitarian assistance. According to a 2018 study, 68 percent of Gazan households experience food insecurity, leading to the stunting and wasting of children under five. The trauma of both constant insecurity and frequent bombardments has deeply scarred the Gazan people: one study showed that 95 percent of children in Gaza suffer from anxiety, depression, and trauma. Given both the unsuitable conditions of life and the border wall constructed by the Israeli government to block the territory from the outside world, the United Nations has called the Gaza strip an “open air prison.” The misery and hopelessness of daily life in a context of “permanent siege” has resulted in widespread occurrence of PTSD, trauma, depression, and illness among Gazans—a society-wide desperation that spilled over into Hamas’ military assault on Saturday, October 7. The Lemkin Institute calls for an end to Israel and Egypt’s brutal blockade on Gaza and for freedom of movement for Palestinians who live in the region.
In our most recent Red Flag Alert for genocide in Israel-Palestine, from July 30, 2023, we noted that “[t]he spiral violence in the West Bank, particularly in the cities of Nablus and Jenin, could easily create the conditions for radicalization of Israeli society into mass murder.” This political radicalization may now be coming to pass. The unifying effect of Hamas’ October 7 attack both within Israel and beyond its borders—notably between the Israeli state and many people in the Jewish Diaspora—cannot be overstated. A society that was divided by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s radical agenda and judicial reform proposals is now unified around the perceived need for retaliation and, in many cases, for retribution.
Over the past few days, we have seen attempts to justify atrocities by one side or another with references to past horrors, future threats, and ongoing wrongs. We reiterate that there is no justification for genocide. These attempts to justify atrocities lose sight of the overarching historical dynamic in which this tragedy is playing out, manifesting within the ongoing legacy of settler colonialism, the Holocaust, and the Nakba, as well as the perpetuation of violence and its impact on social relations between Israelis and Palestinians. The process of creating the State of Israel, relying on both British occupation and the murder and displacement of 700,000 Palestinians from their indigenous lands, ushered in a historical dynamic of continuous erasure for Palestinians and their identity as a necessary component of the exertion of Israel’s sovereignty and security as an explicitly “Jewish state.” Such a dynamic enshrines injustice against Palestinians within Israeli nationalism and relentlessly divides Israelis and Palestinians into oppositional positions simply by virtue of their identities and the very real, asymmetric consequences of inhabiting these identities. This cleavage renders peacebuilding a very difficult task, ensuring that every outbreak of hostilities risks having a tragic collective dimension.
The historical dynamic of Palestinian erasure reached a crossroads with the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister in December 2022—an administration whose right-wing government has openly supported racist policies against Palestinians and the continuous annexation of territory. The United Nations has recently reported that settler violence in the West Bank has displaced over 1,100 Palestinians since 2022, further noting that 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire in 2023 alone, which sets 2023 to become the most deadly year for Palestinians in decades. The Netanyahu government has further approved the creation of 13,000 new West Bank settlements (the highest number on record for a single year), which has led to the continued displacement of Palestinians from their ever-dwindling ancestral lands. Furthermore, members of Israel’s current right-wing government, such as Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, have openly advocated annexing “Judea and Samaria” to Israel—terms often used to refer to the entirety of the West Bank. This expansionist aim is driven and supported by extremist Jewish settler groups, such as the Sovereignty Movement, who link annexation (and the realization of a “Greater Israel”) to “the soul, vision and hope of the Jewish people through generations of exile and the generation of redemption.” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared on March 20, 2023 that “[t]here is no such thing as Palestinians,” which, in itself, constitutes a patently genocidal statement.
On September 22, 2023, Prime Minister Netanyahu presented a map of the “New Middle East” to the United Nations General Assembly—a map that did not include Palestine at all.
As we warned in our May 8, 2021 Statement on Israeli Violence in Jerusalem, “Israel appears to be implementing an eliminationist ideology that has grown from the systemic and structural violence against Palestinian life that has marred the nation since its founding in 1948.”
While Hamas does not have the capacity to fully destroy Israel on its own, its targeted attacks on civilians suggests that it is pursuing maximal harm to civilians in the limited scope of its current military power. Israel, on the other hand, has the capacity to completely annihilate Gaza and all Palestinian-inhabited communities of the West Bank, whether through bombardment, invasion and forced displacement, or wholesale massacres. This is what we seem to be seeing now.
While there are many different ways to commit genocide, international law criminalizes all patterns of genocide, and perpetrators of genocide must be held accountable. The international community needs to intervene in all ways possible to protect Palestinians and Israelis alike, enforcing a new peace process—one that addresses the deep structural causes of the violence. Regional actors in the Middle East need to take the lead on creating the conditions for such an intervention.
We at the Lemkin Institute finally extend our solidarity to Israelis and Palestinians who are doing the indispensable and challenging work of pursuing restorative justice, recognizing past wrongs, examining structural violence, and crafting shared narratives that can liberate identity from the need to oppress or erase. We are deeply pained by all the loss and suffering. Israeli society, like other societies (such as settler colonies like the United States and Canada) that are built upon the forcible seizure of other peoples’ land, massive population displacement, massacre, and the erasure of identity, must begin the disruptive, difficult process of coming to terms with its history if it is to disentangle itself from the genocidal structures that have supported its existence up to the present day. This unexamined history constitutes a vulnerability in the long-term, not only creating a permanent state of insecurity for the populations whose land was taken—but also for the populations who are now thriving on that land.
Active Genocide Alert – Ethiopia in Tigray
12 October 2023
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is issuing an Active Genocide Alert (AGA) for Ethiopia’s Tigray region due to the recent gross human rights violations committed by Eritrean and Amhara forces, and the current humanitarian crisis affecting the Tigray region in particular, and Ethiopia in general. We call on the international community to engage in more forceful dialogue with Ethiopian authorities to ensure the security and wellbeing of all Ethiopians, especially those currently being targeted by genocidal violence and genocidal policies. Governments that target their own citizens with atrocity crimes must be challenged by their allies. We specifically call on Turkey, Iran, and the UAE, which have been sending military aid and investing heavily in Ethiopia under the regime of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, to demand an end to the atrocity crimes perpetrated, aided and abetted by the Abiy government and to work towards sustainable prosperity for all communities in Ethiopia.
The Lemkin Institute noted in its statement from February 3, 2023, in “Support of an International Investigation of Abiy Ahmed’s Crimes in Ethiopia,” that “since the outbreak of the war in the region of Tigray in November 2020, Ethiopia’s government, under the orders of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has committed egregious crimes against its own citizens including widespread human rights abuses, looting, ethnic-based atrocities, rape, and other forms of gender-based violence. The fact pattern strongly suggests that, among other crimes, the Ethiopian government forces may have committed genocide against the people of Tigray. As a result of two years of vicious warfare between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, millions of Ethiopians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.” (Emphasis added).
Furthermore, the Lemkin Institute pointed out that multiple reports had revealed human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed with the complicity of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF). In fact, according to a joint report issued by the United Nations (UN) and the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), the ENDF, alongside allied Eritrean forces, had indeed committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Tigray region.
On November 2, 2022, the warring parties signed the “Cessation of Hostilities Agreement”’ (CoHA), which was reported to have led to a significant diminution in large-scale violence in Tigray. However, in its September 14, 2023 report, the ICHREE found that “[…] the Federal Government has failed to carry out CoHA commitments on human rights, transitional justice and territorial integrity.”
The international community had hoped that the signing of the CoHA would signal the end of international law violations and human rights abuses that had plagued the two-year conflict in northern Ethiopia. However, it instead witnessed continued violations during the negotiations and after the signing of the agreement, largely by Eritrean armed personnel still present in the territory of Ethiopia, but also by Amhara forces in certain zones of Tigray as well as the disputed Western/Wolkait territory.
On October 25, 2022, the African Union officially announced the commencement of peace negotiations between the TPLF and the government of Ethiopia. On the same day, soldiers of the ENDF and Eritrean Defense Force (EDF) engaged Tigrayan forces in Mariam Shewito district, located in the Central Zone of the Tigray region. Amnesty International, in its September 4, 2023 report “Today or Tomorrow, They Should Be Brought Before Justice,” and the ICHREE reported that, between October 25 and November 1, 2022, EDF members went into residential areas and committed extrajudicial executions of civilians. According to testimonies gathered by the human rights organization, at least 20 civilians, primarily men, were executed by members of the EDF, allegedly in search of members of the TPLF and their supporters. It also reported that it had received a list of over 100 names of individuals who were extrajudicially executed during this period, although not all cases could be independently corroborated.
On November 1, 2022, as peace negotiations between the federal government and the TPLF were on the verge of conclusion, fighting erupted between Tigrayan forces and soldiers of the ENDF and EDF in parts of Tigray’s Eastern Zone, including in Kokob Tsibah district. Active hostilities ended on the evening of November 3, 2022, and the district remained under EDF control until January 19, 2023. According to testimonies gathered by Amnesty International, as well as a list provided by local authorities, 24 civilians were extrajudicially executed by EDF soldiers between November 2022 and January 2023. In a manner similar to the events in Mariam Shewito district, the victims were reported to have been primarily men and to have been executed in searches for members of the TPLF and their supporters.
From early November 2022 to late January 2023, EDF forces in Kokob Tsibah district held at least 15 women captive at their military camp, according to Amnesty International. For three months, these women were subjected to rape by EDF personnel. They also suffered physical and psychological abuse, in addition to being deprived of food, water, and medical assistance. EDF soldiers were also accused of committing rape and gang rape against women who were held captive in their own homes or in houses were their captors were staying. According to testimonies gathered by Amnesty International, the EDF targeted women based on suspicions that their husbands, sons, or male relatives were affiliated with the Tigrayan forces. Rape, including common forms of genocidal rape, such as gang rape, rape of young girls, and rape accompanied by ethnic slurs, has been a weapon of war and genocide against Tigrayan women and girls since 2020.
According to Amnesty International, this was not the first time that Kokob Tsibah district fell under EDF control. A social worker interviewed by the human rights organization mentioned that it had been held by Eritrean forces from November 21, 2020, to June 28, 2021. They also
explained to Amnesty International that, during this earlier period, approximately 120 women reported to their organization that they had been subjected to sexual violence by EDF forces.
In the same report, Amnesty International further reported that the ENDF was present in the district when some of these violations took place. However, residents mentioned that ENDF forces left after capturing the city, later returning to the district following the EDF’s withdrawal on January 19, 2023.
Most of the survivors, witnesses, and family members of the victims interviewed by Amnesty International in both Mariam Shewito and Kokob Tsibah districts reported that EDF members pillaged their property and livestock, negatively impacting their livelihood. As a result, many now depend on aid or on family members for shelter and food, while some said that they are now sustaining themselves through begging.
The Lemkin Institute shares the ICHREE’s concerns about the continued presence of Eritrean forces in frontier zones of Ethiopia populated by minority Irob and Kunama communities, in relation to which the ICHREE has received credible reports of grave human rights violations against civilians.
The non-international armed conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has been characterized as an intricate conflagration that saw the intervention of various armed actors. Accordingly, among its provisions, the CoHA required the disarmament of the Tigrayan forces concurrent with the withdrawal of foreign forces from Ethiopian territory, as well as the withdrawal of non-ENDF forces from the Tigray region. However, Eritrean armed personnel not only remain present in Ethiopia but also Amhara forces in the disputed Western/Wolkait region and the Southern Zone of Tigray.
In its supporting document titled: “The Acute Risk of Further Atrocity Crimes in Ethiopia: an Analysis”, issued on October 3, 2023, the ICHREE stated that it “[…] documented violations after the CoHA by Amhara forces and Fano militia, including rape and other forms of sexual violence and forced expulsion of Tigrayan women, men and children from Western Tigray [Wolkait].”
In addition to the ongoing violations throughout the Tigray region, the humanitarian situation on the ground has further deteriorated as a consequence of the suspension of humanitarian aid since early May 2023. Following the discovery of aid diversion, on May 3, 2023, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the suspension of food assistance to the war-torn region. The following day, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced the suspension of food assistance to Tigray. In June, the suspensions were extended to the whole country after indications of a widespread and coordinated campaign to divert food assistance, according to both USAID and WFP.
In its September 14 report, the ICHREE mentioned that, according to the head of the Tigray office of the Disaster Risk Management Commission, some 1,400 hunger-related deaths were recorded in the region between April and August 2023. Moreover, the ICHREE reported that, since the aid suspension announcement in May, multiple interviewees in the region described facing a desperate situation from the acute impact of not receiving aid. It also highlighted that this situation is particularly challenging for displaced civilians unable to return to their homes due to the presence of armed actors, including civilians who have been forcibly displaced by Amhara forces from the Western/Wolkait region.
The ICHREE also expressed its concern over the fact that, as of September 14, more than 20 million Ethiopians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, many of whom are suffering from famine-like conditions, including communities in the drought-affected areas of Afar and Oromia. In early August, the WFP announced that they were slowly resuming food assistance to Ethiopia through small-scale distribution. However, USAID announced that the United States would continue with the suspension until it had assurances that the aid would reach its intended beneficiaries.
Although humanitarian assistance was suspended nationwide last June, the situation in Tigray remains particularly alarming. The consequences of the conflagration, largely unaddressed by the national government, are compounded by the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by both Eritrean and Amhara forces. Among others, these violations include torture, rape, and extrajudicial execution of civilians – the latter characterized by overt undertones of androcide, especially against “battle-age” ethnic Tigrayans – as well as the pillage and destruction of private property, including means of subsistence. The Ethiopian government willingly abandoned civilians in the Tigray region, leaving them at the mercy of Eritrean and Amhara forces. This situation, combined with the ongoing humanitarian crisis, amounts to the commission of genocide by attrition against the people of Tigray.
The Lemkin Institute notes that, although the Ethiopian government has agreed to participate in a joint investigation with the United States into the diversion of humanitarian assistance, it also faces accusations that some Ethiopian government officials were involved in the scheme. The government, however, has dismissed the suggestion that it bears primary responsibility.
The investigation of past human rights violations in Ethiopia has been marked by a pervasive culture of impunity rather than a commitment to accountability. Regrettably, the government has consistently fallen short of its duty to conduct thorough investigations and, where there is actionable evidence, prosecute those responsible for the commission of serious human rights violations in Tigray and elsewhere. Furthermore, many of these atrocities within Tigray have been committed in concert or with the acquiescence of the ENDF. This raises a valid concern that, if the government has demonstrated thus far an unwillingness to investigate and address some of the most serious crimes under international law in its territory, there is little reason to believe that it will adopt a different stance regarding the current humanitarian crisis.
According to the ICHREE, the federal government has been keen to highlight its cooperation with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the East Africa Regional Office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR-EARO), often citing the EHRC/OHCHR-EARO Joint Investigation Team report as an example of its cooperation with human rights bodies. However, the ICHREE noted that the report was not exhaustive and that the Joint Investigation Team faced significant challenges to undertake its duties, including the harassment and intimidation of its staff, government-imposed restrictions on communication equipment, and difficulties in obtaining security clearances for travel.
The unwillingness of the Ethiopian government to investigate international law violations and human rights abuses within its borders is further reinforced by its lack of cooperation with the ICHREE, and the Commission of Inquiry established by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, whose mandate was quietly terminated in May 2023 without issuing any report on its findings. Moreover, the ICHREE reported that the presence of Eritrean forces in Ethiopian territory frustrated the activities of the African Union Monitoring, Verification and Compliance Mission, and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in May 2023.
The Lemkin Institute’s mistrust of the willingness of the Ethiopian government to properly address the current humanitarian crisis is further supported by the well-documented use of starvation as a method of warfare by the national government and its allied forces during the conflict in Tigray, despite Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s arguments to the contrary. Thus, there is no convincing reason to believe that the government will not exploit the current humanitarian situation to further its genocidal agenda against the Tigrayans.
In this regard, the Lemkin Institute believes that processes of genocide often have an economic logic, whereby the perpetrators will often try to achieve the maximum amount of destruction with the least amount of effort or resources. Although the current humanitarian situation in the region is not the result of a blockade, as it was during the conflict, the government’s unwillingness to address the suffering of its starving population, as well as its lack of action in order to prevent non-ENDF forces from remaining in the region, has established a series of conditions which amount to the slow but certain destruction of the ethnic group.
The Lemkin Institute regrets that the mandate of the ICHREE is set to expire in October, due to the lack of proposals seeking an extension during the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council. Given the paucity of reliable information coming out of Ethiopia at the moment, an independent investigatory body such as the ICHREE is just as essential now as it has been in the past. Without efforts to document conditions according to international standards, the violence between groups is more likely to escalate and responsible parties are less likely to be held accountable. We call on the UN Human Rights Council to clearly and publicly explain the reasons for its decision to allow the mandate to expire and to offer alternative approaches. If the UN, in particular the UN Human Rights Council, believes that the ICHREE is not the appropriate mechanism to address the current crisis, its response should not be to abandon Ethiopia to its fate. Ethiopia cannot simply be forgotten.
The Lemkin Institute reiterates its words from its February 3 statement that call “[…] on the international community to refer [Abiy Ahmed’s] crimes to the ICC for investigation.” It further calls on the international community to exert pressure on the government of Ethiopia to remove any foreign or regional forces whose continued presence in the Tigray region constitutes a violation of CoHA commitments; to allow an independent, international fact-finding mission into the country to assess the situation on the ground; to commit resources to support a restorative and transformational justice process in the disputed Western/Wolkait region, which is the ongoing cause of brutal intercommunal violence between Amhara and Tigrayan communities; and to take appropriate steps to resume the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Tigray region.
Active Genocide Alert – Ethiopia in Amhara Region
23 September 2023
On September 3, 2023, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), under the direction of Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr. Abiy Ahmed Ali, and assisted by fighters of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) from the neighboring Oromo Special Zone, also located in the Amhara region, engaged in the deliberate killing of Amhara civilians. As of the date of publication of this Active Genocide Alert, the exact number of victims is yet to be independently determined. However, available sources estimate that between 33 and over 70 civilians have been murdered. Prioritizing the younger men in the area, the armed personnel carried out a door-to-door massacre. Eyewitnesses also reported the looting of the victims’ property and livelihood during the killings, including cattle, grains, and fertilizer. Moreover, rural communities were indiscriminately shelled while extrajudicial executions were carried out by ENDF soldiers. After the massacre ended, the victims were buried by the survivors. As of September 7, 2023, the Amhara Association of America has identified 31 of the victims, all of whom were identified as unarmed farmers by surviving eyewitnesses.
The September 3rd Massacre is tied to the conflict between government forces and the Fano, an Amhara regional militia and former ally of Prime Minister Abiy’s regime during the 2020-2022 genocidal conflict against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). After the TPLF had retreated to its home region, on May 30, 2022, the government initiated an intensive crackdown against the Fano as part of a broader effort to disarm and demobilize the militia. On November 2, 2022, a ceasefire agreement was signed by the TPLF and government representatives. However, the deal was reported to have been met with suspicion among the Amhara as they were excluded from the peace talks, despite the fact that the Fano and Amhara Special Forces fought alongside the federal army during the war.
The Lemkin Institute recalls its April 24, 2023, “Red Flag Alert for Genocide”, following the announcement of Prime Minister Abiy’s intention to integrate all regional special armed forces into Ethiopia’s federal forces on April 6, 2023, and the ensuing increase in violence, particularly in the Amhara region, where many Amhara people were killed in violent clashes with federal forces. The government’s decision was feared by Amhara representatives, as it would have left the region without armed forces capable of defending its inhabitants, and thus would have rendered the overall region at the mercy of hostile neighbors and federal armed forces.
The Lemkin Institute also warned about the escalating violence against the Amharas in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, where government forces, the Oromia Special Force, and local armed groups, namely the OLA and Qeerro (ultranationalist Oromo youth), continued to target Amharas and perpetrate ethnic-based massacres. On February 3, 2023, in its statement on “Ongoing Ethnic Massacres of the Amhara People in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia”, the Lemkin Institute had already issued a warning, emphasizing that the evidence indicated that “[…] all Oromia armed forces are conducting what appears to be a systematic policy of erasing the Amhara presence […]” via actions such as massacres, looting, burning of victims’ houses, sexual violence, and other forms of persecution. The Lemkin Institute also noted that “[a]ccording to organizations closely monitoring the killings and other human rights abuses against the Amhara, at least 1,566 Amhara people were killed and 239 were injured in the Oromia region in 2022.”
In its April 24, 2023, “Red Flag Alert for Genocide,” the Lemkin Institue issued a warning. It concluded that Ethiopia was “[…] facing a possible genocide against Amhara people, who are increasingly finding themselves marginalized within the existing political structure. The Abiy regime appears to be fanning the flames of anti-Amhara activities while publicly calling for calm. The Amhara, who are accused in political propaganda of being an elite group and who are held responsible for the historical resentments of Tigrayans and Oromos, among other groups, are in a perilous discursive position that could easily devolve into genocide.” In addition, the Lemkin Institute noted that the Abiy administration had shown itself capable of committing genocide in Tigray and of pitting regional identity groups against one another to further its agenda. Therefore, there was no reason to believe that the Abiy regime would not do so in Amhara as well.
Conflict erupted between ENDF and Fano forces in the Amhara region in late July 2023. As a result, on August 4, 2023, the Council of Ministers of Ethiopia declared a nationwide state of emergency, endowing authorities with broad powers to conduct arrests without court orders, enforce curfews, and ban public gatherings.
On August 10, 2023, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia released a statement expressing deep concern regarding the deteriorating security situation in the north-western region of Ethiopia, especially in Amhara. The Commission took note of the August 4 declaration and warned that previous states of emergency had been accompanied by violations of human rights. As a result, it urged the Ethiopian government to strictly adhere to the principles of necessity, proportionality, and non-discrimination in accordance with its legal obligations under Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
On August 29, 2023, the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also expressed her concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in some regions of Ethiopia. “In [the] Amhara Region,” the statement stated, “following a flare-up in clashes between the Ethiopian military and the regional Fano militia, and the declaration of a state of emergency on 4 August, the situation worsened considerably. At least 183 people have been killed in clashes since July, according to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office.” It further explained that the UN had received reports that more than 1,000 people had been arrested across Ethiopia under the state of emergency. Of particular concern was the fact that many of those arrested were identified as young people of Amhara ethnicity simply suspected of being Fano supporters. The UN statement highlighted that these detainees had allegedly been placed in improvised detention centers that lacked basic amenities.
On September 5, 2023, federal forces were reported to have fired mortars and anti-air guns at residential areas in the town of Delgi and the surrounding kebeles (wards) of Takussa Woreda, Central Gonder Zone, in the Amhara region. During the attack, 5 civilians were killed while 17 others were injured. As of September 11, 2023, the Amhara Association of America has identified 4 of the victims, including two 35-year-old pregnant women.
On September 6, 2023, the Amhara Association of America received reports of extrajudicial killings presumably committed by government forces in Debre Markos, East Gojjam Zone, in the Amhara region. Among the victims was said to be a Debre Markos University Instructor.
The next day, a post emerged on the social media platform “X”, previously known as Twitter, containing leaked footage purportedly depicting Amhara detainees in what was described as a “makeshift concentration camp.” According to the included statement, the Amharas had been abducted from Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa Zuriya, Debre Zeyit, Nazreth and Mojo. Likewise, the statement mentioned that, in Mojo and Dukem, many of the detainees were feared to have been killed while others contracted cholera and suffered from diarrhea and vomiting. Many of the victims were said to have been abducted by Oromo soldiers under the orders of the Mayor of Addis Ababa, Mrs. Adanech Abiebie, from the aforesaid city and placed in a concentration camp located in the Southern Police College in Yirgalem, South Gedeo Zone.
On September 9, 2023, a similar update emerged on X, depicting a large group of purportedly Amhara individuals who had been detained in a factory which had been turned into a makeshift concentration camp. The location of the camp was reported to be “Sidamo Awash” near the town of Gelan on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. The accompanying statement also reported that the ethnic Amharas had been abducted by order of Mrs. Adanech Abiebe. Likewise, it explained that among the detainees were women and children, who were being held in unsanitary conditions and without proper access to food. Lastly, the update also reported inhumane treatment and ambulances transporting the remains of those who perish on a daily basis while in detention.
Information on another concentration camp emerged on the same site on September 13, 2023. The contents were shared by the Amhara Association of America. The concentration camp is purportedly located in “Tulu Dimtu” and is said to house Amhara detainees who are currently facing an outbreak of an unknown communicable disease. The update contained photographic material depicting young men being treated by healthcare personnel in unsanitary conditions, most of whom are using personal protection equipment and masks.
The Lemkin Institute was unable to independently confirm the authenticity of the information in the social media posts or the photographic and videographic material included therein. Nevertheless, given the radicalization of violence against the Amhara in the past month, as well as the genocidal rhetoric against the Amharas that is deeply ingrained in Ethiopian society, the Lemkin Institute believes that there is evidence of an ongoing process of genocide in the country against Amhara citizens. We reiterate our support from our February 3rd, 2023, statement in “Support of an International Investigation of Abiy Ahmed’s Crimes in Ethiopia” “[…] call[ing] on the international community to refer [Abiy Ahmed’s] crimes to the ICC for investigation”. We also call on the international community to exert pressure on the government of Ethiopia to declare a ceasefire in Amhara, to shut down any concentration camps that currently exist, and to allow an independent, international fact-finding mission into the country to assess the situation on the ground.
President Abiy Ahmed seems to be using genocidal tactics to solve political problems involving many different identity groups who themselves are represented by armed factions that have committed or are committing atrocity crimes. Ethiopia is in desperate need of inspirational, responsible leadership and a transformational justice process that can reweave badly torn social ties between identity groups before these overlapping genocidal processes result in nationwide civil war and a winner-take-all fight of absolute destruction.