Ethiopia: Rights Groups Urge UN Human Rights Council Special Session As Ethiopia Fighting Raises Atrocity Fears

What the report says

A coalition of human rights organizations has urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to hold a special session on Ethiopia, saying renewed fighting could trigger atrocities similar to those seen during the country’s 2020-2022 war. The appeal was reported by Addis Standard and distributed by AllAfrica. The groups made their case in a letter released after the Council’s 63rd regular session, pressing for urgent international action on the human rights fallout from the escalating conflict.

According to the organizations, coordinated by DefendDefenders, hostilities have resumed at scale in Tigray and spread into Afar and Amhara, while violence continues in Amhara and Oromia. They said the situation suggests the 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front has effectively collapsed. The letter also warned that a loose alliance of seven regional armed groups seeking to oust the federal government could destabilize Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa and Red Sea region.

The groups said civilians face heightened risk amid a severe humanitarian crisis and tight restrictions on civic space. They pointed to past abuses in the earlier war, including massacres, sexual violence and attacks on health facilities, and argued that lack of accountability since then has left people vulnerable to renewed violations.

They asked the Council not to wait until its next regular session in 2027, and proposed additional measures such as independent expert monitoring, renewed public reporting by the UN human rights office and further action to prevent abuses and support accountability.