Amnesty Calls for Emergency AU Session as Ethiopia Conflict Expands

Amnesty International has called on the African Union to convene an emergency session on Ethiopia as renewed fighting in Tigray and parts of Afar and Amhara regions intensifies, warning of growing risks to civilians and a possible widening of the conflict.

The rights group said Friday that it had received credible reports of damage to civilian objects from shelling and air strikes, intensified forced conscription and other acts that could constitute violations of international humanitarian and human rights law since fighting resumed on September 21.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, said the AU Peace and Security Council should not wait for a major increase in civilian casualties before putting Ethiopia on its agenda. He called for the council to activate its conflict-response mechanisms and mobilise member states.

The appeal comes as fighting between Tigrayan forces and their allies, including Amhara Fano forces, and the Ethiopian National Defence Force and its allies has intensified across southern Tigray, northern Amhara and western Afar, according to Amnesty. The organisation said aerial attacks had also intensified in Tigray, including in Axum and Mekelle.

Amnesty said reports of damage to civilian infrastructure, including schools, were particularly concerning. It also cited fighting around Maychew and Alamata that it said had resulted in civilian casualties and placed critical infrastructure at further risk. The organisation did not provide independently verified casualty figures in its statement.

The renewed fighting has also been accompanied by disruptions to telecommunications in Tigray and parts of Afar and Amhara. Amnesty said the loss of communications, combined with restrictions on civic space, could make it harder for independent monitors to document abuses and for civilians to access information and assistance.

The African Union has already called for restraint. On September 23, AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf expressed concern over the military escalation in northern Ethiopia, including developments in Tigray and Afar, and reaffirmed that the November 2022 Pretoria peace agreement remained the basis for peace and reconciliation.

The AU Commission has since also urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to exercise maximum restraint amid heightened tensions between the three countries and to use established diplomatic channels to resolve their differences.

The diplomatic tensions coincide with the renewed fighting. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of supporting an opposition alliance led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, allegations the countries have denied. Eritrea announced on October 1 that it was severing diplomatic relations with Ethiopia after Addis Ababa closed its embassy in Asmara and expelled Eritrean diplomats.

Reuters reported on October 2 that Ethiopian federal forces and allied militias were advancing towards Mekelle, while Tigray forces claimed to have seized territory near the regional capital. The report said the renewed fighting was raising concerns about a wider regional conflict.

Amnesty said the latest escalation follows years of armed conflict in Ethiopia and warned that the absence of meaningful independent accountability for previous violations remained a major concern.

The organisation urged the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the United Nations to strengthen civilian protection, support independent investigations into alleged violations by all parties and ensure journalists, humanitarian organisations and human-rights monitors can access affected areas.

The AU Peace and Security Council held its first session on Ethiopia in November 2021, about a year after the previous Tigray conflict began. Amnesty said the council's delayed engagement during that conflict should inform its response to the current escalation.

Source: FSX Business News