US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the US has formally determined that armed forces on all sides of the conflict in northern Ethiopia have committed war crimes.
“After the department’s careful review of the law and the facts, I’ve determined that members of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, Eritrean Defense Forces, Tigray People’s Liberation Front forces and Amhara forces committed war crimes during the conflict in northern Ethiopia,” Blinken said at a press conference for the release of the State Department’s 2022 Human Rights Report.
Blinken traveled last week to Ethiopia where he met with leaders and he did not raise the war crimes determination.
“As I discussed with both sides during my visit, to build a durable peace, there must be acknowledgment of the atrocities committed by all parties, as well as accountability, together with reconciliation,” Blinken said.
He said the determination “is a product of a lot of very deliberate and detailed work” and that it seemed appropriate to make the announcement now as the department is putting out its human rights report.
Blinken also accused “members of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, the Eritrean Defense Forces and Amhara forces … committed crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence and persecution.”
He also accused the Amhara forces of “the crime against humanity of deportation, or forcible transfer, and … ethnic cleansing through their treatment of Tigrayans in western Tigray.”
Blinken said that the US “will partner with Ethiopia as it implements a credible transitional justice process for the benefit of all victims and affected communities.” Just last week, US officials who participated in a workshop with Ethiopian government officials on transitional justice with other…
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