Human rights violations and neighboring conflict will continue to threaten Tigray’s most vulnerable communities.
Following the signing of the Pretoria Agreement in 2022, a chapter of relative peace began in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray.[2] The state of Tigray borders Eritrea to the north and Sudan to the west; it is home to millions of ethnic Tigrayans, many of whom have been displaced as a consequence of the Tigray War. The Pretoria Agreement marked the end of violent conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), leaving 20 million affected Tigrayans to rebuild.
The Tigray War, which began in 2020, unleashed waves of civil unrest and ethnic-based violence, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and left millions displaced, as communities faced economic disruption, widespread human rights violations, and a profound psychological toll that would echo through generations. When the conflict began, the TPLF, a guerilla group established in 1975 by left-wing nationalists, controlled the northern region of Tigray. The TPLF was founded in response to rising opposition to Ethiopia’s imperial government, and it maintained political control for almost 30 years.[3] Tensions between the TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government escalated, ultimately culminating in a violent conflict and humanitarian crisis.
Since 2020, international non-governmental organizations have documented significant crimes against humanity arising out of the conflict in Tigray; the New Lines Institute’s report, Genocide in Tigray, detailed substantial evidence of war crimes and violations to Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions (the Conventions).[4] As a signatory to the Conventions, Ethiopia is responsible under Article 3 to ensure (1) that persons taking no active part in hostilities are treated humanely and violence against them is prohibited, and (2) that the wounded and sick will be cared for.[5] The New Lines Institute’s data specifically provides compelling evidence of egregious violations of international law, including war crimes such as starvation, arbitrary detention, and mass murder.[6] This evidence underscores the repeated violations of international laws designed to uphold human rights.[7] Ensuring accountability and punishment for these violations must be the central focus of international efforts. Establishing domestic accountability will not only encourage future compliance with the Conventions’ policies, but doing so will also support Ethiopia’s internal recovery and prepare the Tigray region to face sustained neighboring tensions following the abrupt end of the Syrian Civil War and ongoing human rights violations in Eritrea.[8]
In the wake of the Tigray War, Tigray’s population suffered from, and continues to battle, severe socioeconomic and humanitarian aftershocks. Tigray’s geographical positioning on the eastern border of Sudan exposes its population to considerable regional threats.[9] Conflict in neighboring Sudan permeates through its 462-mile border with Ethiopia, as thousands of Sudanese refugees seek asylum.[10] In February 2024, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grande, discussed the combined $4.1 billion in humanitarian aid Sudan received from the United Nations (UN) and its partners. Grand described his experience meeting with Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia and urged the international community to provide additional aid.[11] In recent months, the UNHCR has reported approximately ten million displaced Sudanese people, many of whom have fled to regions affected by the Tigray War.[12] The recent influx of Sudanese refugees has exacerbated humanitarian needs in Ethiopian communities, emphasizing that the international community must provide legal redress to ensure stability and survival in Tigray.
As Tigrayan communities are subject to increasing strains, one potentially effective contribution to domestic stability is to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable. In June of 2021, during the then ongoing war, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, called for the parties involved in the conflict to uphold their responsibilities under international law.[13] Silence and inaction followed Mahamat’s remarks, and despite significant violations to multiple African Union Rights, accountability measures were neither taken nor enforced. In 2023, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia—a commission established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate allegations of violations of international human rights law in Ethiopia—reported significant risks of genocide and related atrocity crimes in Tigray.[14] In their work, Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide to the UN, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, reported “[descriptions] of Tigrayans as ‘cancer,’ indicating a desire to kill men and children, or else to destroy women’s reproductive capacities,” adding, “this must raise all alarms that the risk of genocide is present and growing.”[15]
Subsequently, in 2024, former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes, David Scheffer, urged the international community to fulfill its obligation under the Geneva Conventions to hold accountable those who violate the Conventions and bring justice to victims of violence in Tigray.[16] During the 37th African Union Summit, the Special Project on Agenda 2063 introduced objectives and implementation strategies to address key issues across the continent.[17] While the agenda emphasizes multilateral cooperation, it severely lacks in addressing accountability and punishment for war crimes.
As Tigray’s population seeks to recover from the Tigray War, it is essential that those responsible for war-time violence are held accountable. To enforce accountability, the international community must recognize Ethiopia’s violation of Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, among other statutes under international law.[18] Once signatory states acknowledge the severity of violations perpetrated during the Tigray War, they can begin to prosecute perpetrators through universal jurisdiction—a legal mechanism that enables domestic courts to adjudicate matters involving perpetrators of gross human rights violations.[19] In 2009, the African Union (AU) expressly declared its support for the use of universal jurisdiction, while identifying potential risks of misuse and manipulation of the principle.[20] In its capacity as regional agent of the international community, the AU has an opportunity to simultaneously hold perpetrators of human rights violations accountable while establishing necessary safeguards to prevent future abuses of universal jurisdiction.[21] The AU’s response could provide justice to victims of gross violations of human rights in Tigray and implement essential safeguards for the responsible use of universal jurisdiction globally.
[1] Siphiwe Sibeko, Photograph of Ethiopian government representative Redwan Hussien and Tigray delegate Getachew Reda signing an agreement to conclude the AU-led negotiations to resolve the conflict in northern Ethiopia, in Declan Walsh, Abdi Latif Dahir & Lynsey Chutel, Ethiopia and Tigray Forces Agree to Truce in Calamitous Civil War, N.Y. Times (Nov. 2, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/world/africa/ethiopia-tigray-civil-war.html.
[2] Turning the Pretoria Deal into Lasting Peace in Ethiopia, Int’l Crisis Grp. (Nov. 23, 2022), https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/ethiopia/turning-pretoria-deal-lasting-peace-ethiopia.
[3] Jason Burke, Rise and Fall of Ethiopia’s TPLF – From Rebels to Rulers and Back, Guardian (Nov. 25, 2020, 5:00 PM), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/25/rise-and-fall-of-ethiopias-tplf-tigray-peoples-liberation-front.
[4] Genocide in Tigray: Serious Breaches of International Law in the Tigray Conflict, Ethiopia, and Paths to Accountability, Newlines Inst. (June 3, 2024) [hereinafter Genocide in Tigray], https://newlinesinstitute.org/rules-based-international-order/genocide-in-tigray-serious-breaches-of-international-law-in-the-tigray-conflict-ethiopia-and-paths-to-accountability-2/.
[5] Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 art 3., Aug. 12, 1949, art. 3, 75 U.N.T.S. 31.
[6] Genocide in Tigray, supra note 4.
[7] Id.
[8] Human Rights Council, Human Rights Situation in Eritrea Remains Dire and the Authorities Choose to Maintain Practices which Perpetuate the Crisis, Special Rapporteur Tells Human Rights Council, U.N. Hum. Rts. Off. of the High Comm’r (June 21, 2024), https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2024/06/human-rights-situation-eritrea-remains-dire-and-authorities-choose-maintain-practices.
[9] Ethiopia’s Tigray War and Its Devastating Impact on Tigrayan Children’s Education, Wilson Ctr. (Apr. 18, 2023), https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/tigray-war-and-education.
[10] Ahmed Soliman & Elise Lannaud, Securitizing the Ethiopia-Sudan Border: How Cross-Border Conflict Is Shaping Trade and Control of Land, Chatham House (Apr. 4, 2024), https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/04/securitizing-ethiopia-sudan-border-how-cross-border-conflict-shaping-trade-and-control-land.
[11] Press Release, OCHA & UNHCR, As Sudan Conflict Fuels Epic Suffering, UN Launches Humanitarian and Refugee Response Plans for 2024 (Feb. 7, 2024), https://www.unhcr.org/us/news/press-releases/sudan-conflict-fuels-epic-suffering-un-launches-humanitarian-and-refugee.
[12] Ethiopian PM Meets Sudan Army Chief in Push for ‘Peace and Security’, Al Jazeera (July 10, 2024), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/10/ethiopian-pm-meets-sudan-army-chief-in-push-for-peace-and-security.
[13] The Chairperson of the AUC Welcomes Declaration of Ceasefire in Tigray Region, African Union (June 29, 2021), https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20210629/chairperson-auc-welcomes-declaration-ceasefire-tigray-region.
[14] UN Warns of Heightened Risk of Genocide and Atrocity Crimes in Ethiopia, U.N. News (Oct. 2023), https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142142.
[15] Id.
[16] Emma Ogao, Serious Breaches of International Law Committed in Tigray War, Watchdog Says, ABC News (June 5, 2024, 9:44 AM), https://abcnews.go.com/International/breaches-international-law-committed-tigray-war-watchdog/story?id=110851224.
[17] 37th AU Summit: African Union Takes Steps to Address Education Challenges in Africa, African Union (Feb. 18, 2025), https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20240218/37th-au-summit-african-union-takes-steps-address-education-challenges-africa.
[18] Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War art. 3, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 U.S.T. 3316, 75 U.N.T.S. 135.
[19] Universal Jurisdiction, Int’l Just. Res. Ctr., https://ijrcenter.org/cases-before-national-courts/domestic-exercise-of-universal-jurisdiction/ (last visited Feb. 20, 2025).
[20] Observations of the African Union of the Scope and Application of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction, African Union, https://www.un.org/en/ga/sixth/75/universal_jurisdiction/au_e.pdf (last visited Feb. 25, 2025).
[21] AU in a Nutshell, African Union, https://au.int/en/au-nutshell (last visited Feb. 25, 2025).
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