Unpacking the Groundbreaking Investigative Quarterly Q1 Report from Amhara Association of America (AAA)
For Immediate Release
Genocide Prevention in Ethiopia (GPE) Public Relations
May 4th, 2021
On April 25th, 2021, the Amhara Association of America (abbrev. AAA; @AAA_Amhara) released a groundbreaking investigative report on human rights violations against Amhara people in Ethiopia during the first quarter of 2021 (between January to March 2021).
The report by AAA highlighted that between January and March 2021 human rights violations against ethnic Amhara civilians was widespread across Ethiopia. As summarized in AAA’s press release accompanying the report, the quarterly report documented the following human rights violations against ethnic Amhara civilians:
- At least 491 civilians were killed in massacres
- Nearly 500,000 civilians have been displaced
- At least 1,517 have been forcefully evicted from their homes in the capital city of Addis Ababa
- At least 60 have been arbitrarily detained in the Oromia region by local security forces
- At least 12 civilians have been kidnapped from Oromia and Benishangul-Gumuz regions
The report documented human rights violations in Oromia, Benishangul-Gumuz (BSG/R), Southern Nations, Nationalities & People’s/Region (SNNP/R), Amhara regions of Ethiopia as well as the capital city of Addis Ababa. In addition, the AAA states the following:
“AAA’s report identifies the Oromo Liberation Army [OLA also known as Oromo Liberation Front Shene, abbrev. OLF-Shene]and ethnic Gumuz militias as the main perpetrators of the massacres within the Oromia Region and Benishangul-Gumuz Region, respectively. Additional killings in Oromia and the Amhara Region were carried out by local Oromo militias, Oromia Region Special Forces, and militias tied to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front [TPLF].”
In the following breakdown of regional human rights violations, GPE’s reporting on atrocities in these regions is also revisited.
The Oromia Region
AAA’s groundbreaking investigative report documented a great number of atrocities in the Oromia region which has been a hostile region for its ethnic Amhara civilians who have been subject to periodic waves of ethnic cleansing and other egregious human rights violations. The regional profile for the Oromia region stated:
“A total of 25 incidents in Oromia Region have been recorded by AAA during the reporting period. These incidents caused 177 casualties (158 killings and 19 injuries), of which OLA was blamed for 167 casualties (149 killings and 18 injuries).”
The report covered atrocities against ethnic Amhara civilians in Horo Guduru Welega, Misraq/East Wollega, Mirab/West Wollega and the Semien/North Shewa zones of the Oromia region.
In, Horo Guduru Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, killings targeting ethnic Amhara civilians have been frequent and have not subsided. Some of GPE’s reports are shown as follows:
In the Misraq/East Wollega Zone of the Oromia Region, like many of the neighboring zones have been hot spots of ethnic violence targeting ethnic Amhara civilians. Unfortunately these attacks have not subsided as GPE documented a recent massacre.
In Mirab/West Wollega Zone of the Oromia region, GPE reported mass massacres committed by local Oromo militias against ethnic Amhara civilians. Several large scale massacres have been reported including one that took place seemingly in coordination with the onset of the Tigray conflict in which TPLF initiated a coup d’état attempt by attacking the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) Northern Command, killing hundreds of ENDF soldiers, allegedly singling out soldiers that were of ethnic Amhara background.
In Semien/North Shewa Zone of the Oromia region (not to be confused with the zone with similar naming in the neighboring Amhara region) has been another site of ethnic massacres given the high proportion of ethnic Amhara people inhabiting this territory. Unfortunately attacks have continued unabated as GPE reported recently:
The Benishangul-Gumuz (BSG) Region
The BSG Region was another hostile region for ethnic Amhara civilians and other regional minorities which were subject to constant attacks. The AAA recorded the following:
“AAA recorded eight incidents of ethnic-based attacks in Benishangul-Gumuz region, resulting in 128 casualties (104 killings and 24 injuries). The incidents have left hundreds of thousands of ethnic Amhara displaced.”
GPE has similarly published countless reports on the constant violence of the BSG Region especially in the Kamashi and Metekel zones.
The Amhara Region
Although Ethiopia’s Amhara Region has not seen incidents of ethnic cleansing perpetrated against regional minorities, it has become a site of ethnic violence targeting ethnic Amhara civilians from armed ethnic militias and other groups that invaded from the peripheral territories. The AAA had the following to say on human rights violations in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia:
“In March 2021, OLA and TPLF militias killed more than 216 ethnic Amhara civilians in North Shewa and Wag Hemra zones of the Amhara region. They also wounded more than 277 people in the areas. They also destroyed and looted private and public institutions as well as churches.”
These human violations have been covered by GPE as follows:
Semien/North Shewa Zone
In the Semien/North Shewa Zone of Amhara Region, GPE documented egregious human rights violations and atrocities as ethnic militias invaded the Efratana Gidim and Qewet Woredas (district), completely obliterating the town of Ataye (Efeson) as well as other towns such as Shewa Robit, Karakore (also known by “Kara Kore”) and Majete. In this destruction, hundreds of civilians were massacred, many were injured, local security forces were killed, civilians were kidnapped, and catastrophic property damage was reported.
Wag Hemra Zone
The Wag Hemra Zone of Amhara Region was subject to a great deal of violence as TPLF forces invaded, massacred ethnic Amhara civilians and destroyed property. While the incident was reported by BBC Amharic, major news medias did not cover this atrocity.
Ethiopia-Sudan Border
The Ethiopia-Sudan border conflict began as Sudan initiated a military campaign to reclaim the disputed territory of al-Fashaga following the breakout of the Tigray conflict in the north. This unprecedented campaign resulted in an incursion into Western Ethiopia, particularly in the western districts of the Amhara region including the Mirab/West Armachiho and Metemma woredas (districts) of the Semien/North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region. GPE issued the following report earlier this year:
The Southern Nations, Nationalities & People’s Region (SNNPR)
The Southern Nations, Nationalities & People’s Region (SNNPR) was another hostile region for ethnic Amhara civilians. AAA’s investigative report documented the following:
“At least 19 civilians were killed in a spate of ethnically motivated attacks in Gura Ferda Woreda of SNNP region of Ethiopia in March 2021.”
Unfortunately the violence has not subsided since March 2021 as GPE issued a red alert on April 28, 2021 following another incident of ethnic Amhara civilians being killed:
Addis Ababa City
Even Ethiopia’s federal capital of Addis Ababa has not been spared from blatant human rights violations. AAA reported the following:
“On February 16th, 2021, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the government forcibly and violently evicted more than 370 Amhara households from the area known as ‘Bole Homes,’ thereby leaving an estimated 1,517 ethnic Amhara displaced from their homes”.
GPE issued a similar report for this incident which can be found below:
Incidents in the capital fall under the jurisdiction of the municipal administration under the watch of Deputy Mayor Adanech Abebe however Adanech and her predecessor Takele Uma Banti (now serving as Minister of Mines and Petroleum) have been subject to accusations of favoring their ethnic group the Oromo in provision of public services, legislation, hiring practices, property allocation and other public goods. This comes in addition to accusations of not being native to the city. The now Minister, Takele has also faced scrutiny for recently emerging photographs with top officials of the BSG regional administration (BSG Prosperity Party) that have also admitted to complicity in the ethnic cleansing campaign in their region.
These allegations have been made worse by the arbitrary detainment of peaceful political opposition members including top officials of Balderas for True Democracy including award winning journalist and chairman Eskinder Nega, Aster Seyoum (a mother and human rights advocate who was denied medical attention late last year — see below), Sintayehu Chekol, and Askal Demele.
Conclusion
In light of this groundbreaking investigative report from AAA, GPE calls on human rights organizations, international medias, policy makers and others to heed our calls to pressure the Ethiopian government particularly Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali to ensure safety of citizens, hold perpetrators of human rights violations accountable and to hold inclusive dialogues with relevant stakeholders while excluding terrorist organizations such as the TPLF and OLA (council of ministers have now passed a formal proposal to have these groups labelled as terrorist organizations), in order to introduce quality reforms that can help alleviate ethnic tensions. One of the critical matters of deliberation is the ethnic constitution and federation which institutionalizes ethnic apartheid, pits ethnic groups against each other, enables regional majorities to dominate regional minorities, and incentivizes inter-ethnic conflict and competition for resources. Fundamentally, the constitutional drafting process effectively excluded the Amhara people which led to an outcome that many believe directly enabled the disenfranchisement and marginalization of the Amhara people. In addition, constitutional elements have contributed directly to ethnic massacres which have been based on selective recognition of certain regional ethnic groups as being “native” to regions whereas others have been recognized as “settlers”. This false dichotomy has led to state-sanctioned ethnic-based attacks, apartheid practices, and otherwise social stratification in which groups are not treated equally. Examples of this can be seen in the regional charters of the Oromia and BSG regional states which by omission from recognition, enforces second-class citizenship status onto ethnic Amhara residents. This does not take into account regional demographic composition for which ethnic Amhara civilians comprise major regional communities. This is in contrast to the Amhara Region in which a multitude of “special zones" exist recognizing full autonomy and freedom of representation for regional minorities, including the Oromia special zone which keen observers have observed has repeatedly served as a hub for violent groups such as the OLA (and affiliated ethnic Oromo militias) to engage in regional destabilization including attacks in the Debub/South Wollo, Semien/North Shewa zones (and adjacent zones) of the Amhara Region. Meanwhile, ethnic Amhara civilians and other groups that are regional minorities outside of the Amhara Region have no representation and are often prevented from engaging in political representation and self-administration.
Taking this into consideration, GPE calls on immediate amendments to constitutions and related by-laws at all levels of government to rectify this issue and establish a new order that does not discriminate against ethnic groups across Ethiopia.
