The Ethiopian state of Amhara has been plagued by violence for several weeks. At least 183 people have been killed since July in clashes, the United Nations announced on Tuesday. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations also said it was “concerned about the human rights situation” in this country since the establishment of the state of emergency in early August, citing in particular information on “mass arrests”.
“In the Amhara region, following an upsurge in clashes between the Ethiopian army and the regional Fano militia, and the declaration of a state of emergency on August 4, the situation has considerably aggravated,” spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Marta Hurtado, told reporters in Geneva.
Dismantling of the Amhara “special forces”
Amhara, the second most populous state in Ethiopia, has been the scene of episodes of armed violence since April, triggered by the federal government’s desire to dismantle the Amhara “special forces”. The federal government declared a state of emergency on August 4 after renewed fighting in early July between the federal army and Amhara fighters, including members of the regional “self-defense” Fano militia.
“We are very concerned about the deterioration of the human rights situation in certain regions of Ethiopia,” said Marta Hurtado, stressing that the state of emergency gave wide powers to the authorities. It allows them in particular to arrest suspects without a court order, to impose curfews and to ban public gatherings, she detailed.
Searches and mass arrests
“We have received reports that over 1,000 people have been arrested across Ethiopia under this law. Many are believed to be young people of Amhara ethnicity suspected of being Fano supporters,” she said. “Since the beginning of August, massive house-to-house searches have reportedly taken place,” she added. “We call on the authorities to end mass arrests, to ensure that any deprivation of liberty is subject to judicial review and to release those arbitrarily detained,” she said, also appealing all actors in the conflict “to end the killings, other violations and abuses”.
Tensions in Amhara have been growing since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that he wanted to dismantle the “special forces”, paramilitary units created by many regional states over the past fifteen years. Amhara nationalists believe that the government wants to weaken their region, while the Amhara “special forces”, as well as the Fano militia, were crucial allies of the government during the Tigray war between November 2020 and November 2022.