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A legal expert analyzes the decision taken by Ethiopian Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy to send troops to the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia to quell what the government considers an insurgency.
In Ethiopia, the national army claims to have taken “total control” of Mekelle, the capital of the breakaway region of Tigray. But since the fighting began in November, there has been concern for civilians in the region who may have been injured or displaced due to the conflict.
What is known is that humanitarian aid providers have been unable to reach civilians. There are also reports that hundreds of civilians have died. However, because parts of the region have been cut off from the mobile phone network and the Internet, it is difficult to determine the exact situation on the ground.
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As an expert on human rights and international criminal law, I wanted to provide information on the legality of government actions and whether the armed intervention violates international law.
In addition to governing relations between countries, international law applies to the conduct of hostilities within a country.
At the heart of international humanitarian law are the Geneva Conventions. They were a series of meetings that produced rules for times of armed conflict. They seek to protect people who are not participating in hostilities. The agreements originated in 1864 and were significantly updated in 1949 after World War II.
Ethiopia has ratified several of the main international human rights conventions of the UN, the Geneva Conventions and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
I argue that there are several cases where Ethiopia may have already violated these conventions. For example, in the denial of humanitarian aid and if civilians are attacked.
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Serious violations of these laws can be considered war crimes and can be prosecuted in national or international courts, such as the courts established to investigate violations of the law in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. Victims of the humanitarian blockade could also sue the government in Ethiopian courts.
Military intervention
Under international law, the federal government of Ethiopia has the right to suppress rebellion, mutiny or mutiny by part of the population against the established government. But it must respect the rules of international humanitarian law. For example, it must ensure the protection of all civilians.
The conflict was sparked when forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s ruling party, attacked a federal military base and killed federal soldiers. This act constitutes an insurgency and the government has legal bases to suppress it.
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The Tigrayan government also rejected federal government orders to postpone the organization of regional elections due to COVID-19. This constitutes a rebellion, which again gives the government a legal basis for military action.
But the Ethiopian government must respect the rules of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva conventions. They cover legitimate violence, proportionality, respect for human rights, and the prohibition of the use of torture.
These laws also include the protection of civilians. It appears, although the government denies it, that civilians have been bombed. If this is true, it is a violation of international humanitarian law: it is not lawful to attack civilians in a conflict.
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It is difficult to verify to what extent the civilian population has been affected due to a media blackout. But some rare reports show that many people have been injured.
The government is also legally obliged to protect its people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. This is known as the “responsibility to protect principle”. States must ensure that their armed forces respect this.
Not enough for the Ethiopian army say people who live in Mekelle to “save themselves from any artillery attack”. Failure to protect them is a violation of international law.
Humanitarian assistance
In addition to this, any denial by the Ethiopian government of humanitarian assistance to the people in Tigray is a violation of international humanitarian law.
Under various conventions, it is the responsibility of the parties to the conflict that control the territory to ensure that the needs of the civilian population are met. This includes their access to humanitarian assistance, such as food, water, clothing, and medicine.
In Tigray, almost a month after the conflict started, humanitarian organizations were still unable to access the civilian populations trapped in Tigray. This was because the Ethiopian government refused to allow access to humanitarian organizations.
Minorities and displacement
There is one more area of concern regarding international human rights law: the issue of displacement due to conflict.
Tens of thousands of people have already been displaced by the violence. The African Union “Kampala Convention”, to which Ethiopia is a party, obliges the state to allow relevant agencies to provide protection and assistance to internally displaced persons.
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If the situation gets too bad, the African Union can intervene militarily and make the government count.
The Ethiopian government has emphasized their commitment to restore order in the Tigray region. But some of his actions violate international humanitarian law. The government must respect international law. And the UN and other institutions must remind Ethiopia of its obligations.
Eugène Bakama Bope, teacher, Lubumbashi University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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