Executive Summary
This update summarizes human rights trends in Ethiopia in 2023, in accordance with the High Commissioner’s global mandate to promote and protect human rights, as well as technical support provided by the Office of Hight Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to authorities and civil society organizations (CSOs) during the period under review. The update also provides data on incidents occurring in January It additionally captures few pertinent developments beyond that period.
Despite significant improvements in the human rights situation in Tigray, since the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), Ethiopia continued generally to face a challenging human rights situation in 2023, with Amhara and Oromia most affected by violent clashes and conflicts. Arbitrary deprivations of the right to life, physical integrity, arbitrary arrests and detention, sexual violence, breaches of freedoms of association, expression, of movement, as well as abductions and enforced disappearances were recorded. The most common violations included arbitrary arrests and detentions, followed by killings of civilians, torture, enforced disappearances, and attacks on civilian property following the state of emergency declared on 4 August These violations and abuses severely impacted the socio-economic rights of the
population, especially those affected by violence.
Overall, 594 incidents of human rights violations and abuses impacting 8,253 victims (of whom at least 343 were women) were recorded in 2023, a 55.9 percent increase from 2022. State actors were allegedly responsible for 70 percent of the violations (415 incidents), while non-state actors accounted for 22.3 percent (133 incidents) of which 25 incidents were specifically attributed to the Eritrean Defence Forces. Out of the victims, a total of 1,106 people were killed in Amhara (740) and in Oromia (366) in 160 incidents during the reporting period. The use of drones by the
Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF/Ethiopian Airforce) resulted in disproportionate levels of civilian casualties, with 18 registered drone strikes that caused 248 civilian deaths and injured 55 between 4 August and 31 December 2023. Following the declaration of the state of emergency, high numbers of arbitrary arrests, predominantly of ethnic Amhara people in different parts of the country, were documented. Cases of sexual violence, including conflict related (CRSV), were also recorded but remained generally underreported.
The humanitarian situation remained concerning, as violence and drought continued to cause displacement and prevented the safe return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their places of origin. Several protection concerns affecting IDPs were observed, including human rights violations such as arbitrary arrests and detentions, denial of identification documents, and lack of adequate food, healthcare, water, and housing. Moreover, humanitarian access was impeded, notably in parts of Amhara and Oromia regions because of prevailing insecurity.
The update also highlights progress in the Government of Ethiopia’s policy initiatives related to human rights. A Working Group on transitional justice that had been previously established by the Ministry of Justice, led a policy development process on transitional justice, conducting regional and national public consultations resulting in an outcome report with recommendations to set up judicial and non-judicial transitional justice mechanisms, including a truth commission, a special prosecution unit, and a special bench to adjudicate certain cases of gross violations of human rights.
The transitional justice policy was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 17 April and its implementation was launched on 9 May 2024. A draft Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Policy and a new National Policy and Strategy on Gender based Violence Prevention and Response were developed and are pending adoption. A national coordinating body was established to prevent and respond to violence against women and children in Ethiopia.
On social and economic rights, the National Health Equity Strategy (2020/21 2024/25) that reflects equal access to essential health services for equal needs, equal utilization for equal needs and equal quality of care for all Ethiopians by 2025 continued to be operationalized. Additionally, the Government’s Sixth Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP VI): 2020/21–2024/25 focuses on increasing budget allocations for general education. In parallel, ongoing efforts are necessary to fully realize the right to health, education, and other social and economic rights. A school
feeding programme targeting disadvantaged children was developed with the support of WFP.
The Government of Ethiopia also made commitments with concrete pledges to advance human rights, including on accountability, transitional justice, and capacity building for the judiciary, in the context of the “Human Rights 75” global high-level event in Geneva in December 2023, which form the basis for key Government priorities in human rights that should be supported in 2024 and beyond.
In 2023, the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission (EHRC) continued to fulfil its mandate to promote and protect human rights in the country and published important human rights reports and statements. Dedicated joint OHCHR-EHRC support towards the transitional justice process contributed to the implementation of all the OHCHR EHRC joint investigation’s recommendations on transitional justice, among others.
This update makes recommendations to various actors to ensure respect and protection of human rights, and to support lasting peace in Ethiopia.