March 15, 2023
As Ethiopia navigates the fragile aftermath of its devastating two-year war, the stakes could not be higher for securing a sustainable peace. The signing of the Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Pretoria in November 2022 between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was a pivotal step in ending open warfare. Yet, as this moment fades into history, a deeper and more crucial challenge remains: how to deliver truth, justice, and accountability for the untold thousands of victims who suffered unimaginable atrocities.
From Tigray to Amhara and Afar, the war has left scars far beyond the battlefield. Civilians bore the brunt of mass killings, sexual violence, forced displacement, and destruction of infrastructure — acts that many international observers have categorized as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The global community rightfully welcomed the ceasefire, but the question lingers: can peace hold if it is not underpinned by justice?
The Pretoria Agreement acknowledged the importance of accountability in principle. It includes a provision to guide parties based on human rights, democratic norms, and the African Union’s Transitional Justice Policy Framework. However, these provisions remain largely symbolic unless backed by meaningful actions. In practice, justice has been an afterthought — overshadowed by the political urgency to silence guns rather than reckon with the crimes committed.
Despite calls from international partners, including transatlantic donors, for an independent investigation, the Ethiopian government has displayed persistent hostility toward external accountability mechanisms. Although a joint investigation was conducted by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), its findings were hampered by a lack of legitimacy and comprehensiveness — key elements needed to restore trust and deliver justice.
Recognizing this shortfall, the UN Human Rights Council established the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) in 2021. Predictably, the Ethiopian government responded with fierce opposition: denying entry to investigators, lobbying for the dissolution of the commission, and accusing it — without credible evidence — of political bias. Similarly, when the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) launched its own Commission of Inquiry into abuses in Tigray, Addis Abeba rejected the initiative as illegitimate.
Such actions signal a broader strategy: to bury the truth before it is fully unearthed. The government’s aggressive diplomatic efforts to defund, delegitimize, and block investigative bodies are not merely political maneuvers; they are obstacles to healing, reconciliation, and ultimately, durable peace.
As the UN Human Rights Council convenes its 52nd Session, it is imperative that the international community takes a clear stand. The mandates of ICHREE and ACHPR must be protected and reinforced. Victims’ voices must be heard. Independent investigations must proceed without interference. Peace in Ethiopia will remain hollow if built atop buried truths and unacknowledged suffering.
There can be no peace without justice — and neither justice, nor accountability, without truth first. Ethiopia’s future depends on it.
