Ethiopian Human Rights Commission

The EHRC published its full report on the Hachalu Hundessa riots on 1 January 2021.[16] It found that part of the killings were a crime against humanity, with deliberate, widespread systematic killing of civilians by organised groups in 40 different locations over the three days of 30 June–2 July 2020. The EHRC counted 123 deaths, 76 of which it attributed to security forces. The EHRC found that security forces successfully prevented attacks in some places, failed to prevent them in others, and appeared to have used excessive lethal force. The EHRC called for regional and federal government investigations, judicial proceedings and institutional development to prevent the recurrrence of similar events.[17]

During 21–25 November, the EHRC investigated conflict in the Konso Zone that had taken place during 10–21 November. It found that 66 people had been killed, 39 injured, 100,000 displaced and houses and other property had been burnt. The people interviewed by the EHRC gave numerous, conflicting accounts attributing responsibility for the violence. The EHRC saw contributing factors to the violence as including unmet popular demand for administrative changes, border conflicts and competition for the use of natural resources. The EHRC made recommendations to authorities for solving the conflict. The EHRC commented that Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) soldiers had left the area on 31 October.[18]

On 24 November 2020, the EHRC released its preliminary report on the Mai Kadra massacre that took place during the 2020–2021 Tigray War, after visiting Mai Kadra to collect evidence. EHRC's preliminary findings were that 600 people of Amhara ethnicity were killed by local Tigrayan youth with the support of local police.[19]

The EHRC collected evidence following the 23 December 2020 Metekel massacre. The EHRC found that many of the victims were Shinasha and that survivors knew the perpetrators "by name and sight". The EHRC described the massacre as a "sign of a severe decline of human rights protections" and criticised the authorities for the departure of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) from the area of the massacre on the preceding day.[20]

In January 2021, the EHRC published a brief monitoring report on Humera, Dansha and Bissober, based on its 14–18 November 2020 visit to Dansha, Humera and Mai Kadra, its 15–20 December visit to Dansha and Gondar, and its 31 December–5 January 2021 visit to Bissober and Ullaga.[21]

A Humera hospital employee informed the EHRC that 92 people from the ENDF and TPLF and civilians were killed in the war. Security was mainly controlled by Amhara Liyu Hayl and militia. Looting by Fano, Amhara Liyu Hayl and militia, and ENDF and Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) soldiers was reported. Harassment of ethnic Tigrayan residents was reported.[21]

In Dansha, the EHRC estimated the number of civilians killed as 25, without details such as identity and place of burial. Residents of Dansha stated that the deaths occurred during crossfire. Ethnic Tigrayan residents stated that security had improved at the time of the EHRC's visit, but that they remained afraid of attacks and "retaliation for what happened [in] Mai Kadra". Some regular services had restarted operating as of mid-December, but electricity, water and schools remained unoperational. The EHRC quoted the new interim coordinator of Dansha: "Tigrayans live peacefully in the area, but those residents who felt at risk were provided with transportation to their chosen destinations".[21]

In Ullaga, EHRC members visited trenches that had been dug in the primary school grounds by the TPLF in preparation for war since June 2020, according to residents. The residents counted 31 civilian deaths from three days of fighting, most due to crossfire, some were deliberately killed by soldiers, and others were killed by unidentified people. Bissober residents counted 27 civilian deaths. The EHRC named 21 of the Bissober victims and four of the Ullaga victims. The EHRC documented reports of three people in Bissober executed by the ENDF after being accused of being TPLF informants, and reports of people being beaten for the same reason.[21]

The EHRC agreed with the Transitional Government of Tigray that a high level of humanitarian assistance was needed.[21]

On 10 February, the EHRC published a brief report based on its 10–23 January visit to Mekelle and Alamata, Endamekoni and Kukufto in the Southern Zone of Tigray Region, describing the extensive lack of key infrastructure, the division of Tigray into multiple sectors of administrative control, 108 cases of rape officially reported in Mekelle, Adigrat, Wukro and Ayder over two months, a lack of police and health structures where rape victims would normally report the rapes, and summarised cases of child victims of the war and internally displaced people. The EHRC lacked sufficient information to check the numbers of refoulement of Eritrean refugees to Eritrea.[22]

In February 2021, the EHRC said that it was verifying the video of the 5–6 January 2021 Debre Abbay massacre and would "investigate the incident" if it judged the video to be authentic.[23]

The EHRC visited Aksum in Tigray Region from 27 February to 5 March 2021 during the Tigray War,[24] after initial reports of the Aksum massacre leaked out to the world in early January.[25] The EHRC conducted interviews with "survivors, 45 families of victims, eyewitnesses and religious leaders", held a group discussion with 20 residents, talks with local kebele officials, and discussions with medical staff of the Saint Mary and Aksum Referral Hospitals. In its preliminary report, the EHRC attributed the main part of the massacre, that of the 28–29 November weekend, to the EDF, and stated that it had "gathered evidence" of over 100 victims of the massacre. The EHRC stated that the crimes committed could constitute crimes against humanity.[24]

On 10 August, the EHRC deployed a team to Galikoma in the Afar Region to investigate a massacre that occurred on 5 August and which could be attributable to the Tigray Defense Forces.[26]

In mid-2021, the EHRC launched a joint investigation together with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCRC) into Tigray War human rights violations committed by all parties.[27][28][29]