While the world’s attention has been on the war in Northern Ethiopia with skewed attention to the situation in Tigray, Ethiopia’s multifaceted socio-political crises have continued to worsen throughout 2021. The most tragic aspect of these ongoing civil wars in northern and central parts of Ethiopia has been the indiscriminate killing and mass displacement of civilians, particularly Amharas. This report is based on the human rights investigations conducted by the Amhara Association of America (AAA) in selected areas of Ethiopia. The report covers the period of January 1 to December 31, 2021.
This annual report by no means asserts to be a comprehensive report on all atrocities committed against Amharas. Rather it is a compendium of AAA’s reports on selected areas that AAA was able to investigate. Throughout 2021, AAA documented 213 incidents of human rights violations against Amharas in five regions of Ethiopia: 133 in the Oromia region, 47 in the Amhara region, 24 in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, eight in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNP region), and one in Addis Ababa. These documented incidents led to 7,259 cases of human rights violations against Amharas, excluding millions of Amharas who have been displaced or whose property rights have been violated. These include 3,308 killings; 1,252 injuries; 1,009 cases of rape; 111 arbitrary arrests; 62 cases of abduction and forced evictions that impacted at least 1,517 people. Among the documented cases of death, at least 700 were members of vulnerable groups of the population: children (172), women (368), elderly (140), and persons with disability (21). Furthermore, all rape victims were women with almost 1,009 cases, of whom 97 were girls under the age of 18.
Both government forces and rebel/armed groups were responsible for serious human rights violations against Amharas including war crimes and crimes against humanity. AAA’s data reveals the following facts about the recorded human rights violations vis-à-vis the perpetrators.
Government forces were responsible for 86 of the civilian casualties: 37 by the Oromia Special Forces, 46 by the Amhara region security forces, two by ENDF, and one by Benishangl-Gumz region security personnel. Government forces were responsible for at least 111 arbitrary and unlawful arrest cases during the reporting period: the large majority (107) in the Oromia region and four in the Amhara region.
The Addis Ababa City Administration forcibly and violently evicted more than 1,517 ethnic Amhara residents from their homes in Addis Ababa in brazen disregard of the appropriate legal and procedural safeguards, including prior and adequate consultation, adequate notice, and the provision of compensation or alternative housing.
Rebel and armed groups fighting the Ethiopian government were responsible for majority of the civilian casualties (4,320 civilian casualties including 3,133 killed and 1,165 injured). Of these, the OLA was responsible for 1,688 of the casualties, TPLF for 2,490, Gumz militias for 101, and Sheko militias for 19 causalities.
All documented rapes (1,009) were committed by TPLF militias in the Amhara region.
OLA accounted for all documented abduction cases (62) recorded in the Oromia (61) and Benishangul Gumuz regions.
The remaining casualties were attributed to the Sudan Defense Forces (13), local Oromo youth (3), and unidentified militias (160).