Human Rights Watch on Wednesday called for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on Ethiopia to protect civilians as the country’s brutal war in Tigray intensifies.
Addis Ababa said on Tuesday it had captured three cities in the northern region where fighting between pro-government forces and rebels has raged since August after a ceasefire collapsed.
International concern is mounting for those caught in the crossfire, with the UN describing the situation as spiraling out of control and inflicting an “absolutely harrowing” toll on civilians.
HRW said the stories from the conflict zones were “terrifying”.
“The attacks have resulted in scores of civilian casualties, including relief workers delivering food, destroying property and causing widespread displacement,” Regional Director Laetitia Bader said in a briefing note.
Ethiopia, not just its ally Eritrea, should be subject to global sanctions for its conduct in the conflict, Bader said.
“The US and the EU, as well as the Security Council, should use the appropriate tools, including targeted sanctions and an arms embargo, to protect vulnerable civilians,” she said.
“The suffering of civilians in Ethiopia should no longer be tolerated in the name of political expediency.”
The International Rescue Committee (IC) said a worker was among three civilians killed in an attack last Friday in Shire, a town of 100,000 that was taken by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces after sustained shelling.
Witnesses reported civilian casualties during days of air strikes over the city.
The government said it has avoided fighting in urban areas in its latest offensive and will investigate any civilian casualties.
But there are growing fears that civilians in cities retaken by pro-government forces could face atrocities like those seen in the earlier stages of the nearly two-year war.
The advance of Ethiopian and Eritrean forces through Tigray in late 2020 and early 2021 was followed by mass murder, rape and other crimes documented by UN investigators and human rights groups.
Amnesty International said that early in the conflict in November 2020, Eritrean forces massacred hundreds of civilians in the ancient city of Axum, where their forces are currently advancing.
US Secretary of State Samantha Power said Sunday “the potential for more widespread atrocities” is alarming and “the staggering human cost of this conflict should shake the world’s conscience.”
In March, the Commission of Human Rights Experts for Ethiopia, a body created by the United Nations, said it had found widespread violations of civilians by all parties to the conflict.
They detailed a long list of appalling abuses, from extrajudicial killings to deliberate starvation and rape and sexual violence on “staggering levels”.
Scores of civilians have been killed since the war began, an estimated two million people have been displaced from their homes, while millions more are in need of assistance, the UN said.
