By Ebi Kesiena
The UN Special Adviser on the prevention of genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, has warned of the heightened risk of genocide and related crimes following increased violent clashes in four Ethiopian regions.
According to Wairimu Nderitu, she is alarmed at the heightened risk of genocide and related atrocities in Afar, Amhara, Oromia and Tigray, following reports of continued fighting between government troops and local militias.
“Reports that we see coming out of Ethiopia are deeply disturbing and constitute a call for action,” she said in a press release.
“I want to particularly draw the attention of the global community to the continued presence of risk factors for genocide and related atrocity crimes in the country.”
In her report, the special adviser discussed reports of assailants killing entire families and displacing or expelling whole communities.
“The suffering of innocent civilians should never be accepted as inevitable. Rather it must reinforce our commitment to ensure that impunity does not prevail and that all possible prevention actions are prioritized,” she said.
On this premise, Wairimu Nderitu called for an immediate end to wide-ranging violations perpetrated by parties to the conflict since November 2020, including mass killings, rape, starvation, destruction of schools and medical facilities, forced displacement and arbitrary detention.
“It is imperative that violence stops and that innocent civilians are not directly targeted. Ongoing hostilities constitute a war against civilians as much as a war between the warring parties,” she said.
