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Executive Summary
Sexual and reproductive violence inflicted on women, girls, men, boys, and LGBTQI+ persons by all parties to the conflict in Tigray was brutal, leaving survivors with lifelong physical scars and mental trauma that will, in turn, affect generations to come. An investigation by the U.N. International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council, found that, in the context of the armed conflict between Ethiopian and allied forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the commission of a wide range of other crimes, this violence constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity—including rape, sexual slavery, and torture—and may constitute genocide. Their investigation, and further widespread reporting by state and U.N. authorities and nongovernmental organizations, demonstrate the gravity, scale, and horrific nature of the sexual and reproductive violence and the gendered, ethnic, and political grounds upon which it was inflicted by perpetrators on the victims.
As set out in this report, various carefully documented reports allege that tens of thousands of women, girls, men, boys, and LGBTQI+ persons were subjected to rape, sexual torture, sexual and reproductive mutilation, forced nudity, sexual slavery, and other acts of sexual violence by all parties to the conflict. Rape and reproductive mutilation particularly appear to be intended to prevent women from giving birth to ethnic Tigrayan babies. These crimes were committed in the context of the mass killing and inflicting of other crimes on civilians in Tigray, Amhara, and Afar. Many survivors were prevented from accessing necessary somatic and mental health care services, and some victims who initially survived later died due to their lack of access to medical treatment. Such violence has left survivors with the prospect of facing social stigmatization that would put them at risk and affect their ability to maintain meaningful intimate relationships and ensure community inclusion. These effects are also often compounded by the lack of recognition or adequate redress for survivors, who have been continuously retraumatized as they have attempted to have their voices heard and to get justice for the crimes committed against them, since the formal cessation of hostilities.
Gender norms, which shape the intentions and capacities of the perpetrators and the experiences of affected individuals and communities, provide a critical lens through which to understand these crimes. Deeply rooted patriarchal norms remain embedded within Ethiopia’s economic, political, and cultural spaces at all levels and cause gender discrimination in practice, despite the formal enshrinement of gender equality in Ethiopia’s Constitution. The result is a hierarchical system dominated by men, in which women are subordinated and relegated to the traditional roles of wife and mother and in which gender-based violence has been normalized. Survivors of sexual violence face stigma; they often are either forced to marry their attacker to preserve their family’s honor or are shamed and exiled.
The norms and values ascribed to gender also mean that militarized masculine values have become deeply intertwined with political decision-making, which has led an overvaluation of the military as a tool for addressing social and political tensions, including by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The impact on the gendered vulnerabilities of women and girls, men and boys, and LGBTQI+ persons and the continuum of violence between normalized everyday forms and those that occur during conflict became quickly apparent in the scale of rape and other forms of sexual and reproductive violence, along with other crimes, inflicted on them.
When considered in this context, the perpetrators’ perceptions about the victims’ real or perceived gender, ethnicity, and political views or associations underpinned their intent. Assuming that the allegations relied upon in this report are accurate, there is a reasonable
basis to believe that the sexual and reproductive violence inflicted in the conflict constitutes persecution on gender grounds and thus is a crime against humanity, along with being based on intersecting political and ethnic grounds. Where children were targeted because of their age, crimes committed against them may also constitute persecution on the intersecting ground of age. Similarly, the killing of men and boys because of their real or perceived gender and potential exacerbation of hostilities would also constitute gender-based persecution. The sexual and reproductive violence and other gender-based crimes committed in Tigray also constitute war crimes, and likely genocide.
This report aims to provide a snapshot of the sexual and reproductive violence committed during the Tigray conflict and its aftermath. It offers recommendations for policymakers and decision-makers on steps they should take to address it. To date, there has been almost no accountability for the crimes committed, and thus survivors have had little to no access to remedies and reparations. Perpetrators continue to benefit from an environment of impunity in which there is no deterrence to committing such crimes again. As reports have shown, even after the formal cessation of hostilities in December 2022, sexual and reproductive violence continued to be committed in Tigray and neighboring affected regions; this has been a conflict that exacerbated the escalation of other conflicts in the country, which may reveal the same patterns of abuse in which the local population suffers the brunt of the conflict parties’ widespread latitude to conduct their war in violation of international law norms.
Based on this context, this report recommends that states and the Ethiopian government and actors adopt the following avenues to ensure accountability for sexual and reproductive violence, along with other crimes, committed in Ethiopia during the Tigray conflict, with a view to determining both state responsibility and individual criminal responsibility.
The international community should:
· Through the U.N. Security Council, refer the situation in Ethiopia since at least the beginning of the Tigray conflict to the International Criminal Court.
· For state parties to the Genocide Convention, engage with the Ethiopian authorities on their obligations under the convention, in particular their failure to prevent genocide, with a view to institute proceedings against Ethiopia at the International Court of Justice if it does not meet its obligations.
· Ensure that domestic legislation enables investigating and prosecuting international crimes committed during the Tigray conflict based upon extraterritorial—including universal—jurisdiction and ensure that domestic criminal justice authorities have the necessary resources to carry out such investigations and prosecutions.
· Ensure that domestic legislation provides avenues for civil remedies, based on universal jurisdiction, that enable victims to gain access to compensation.
· Establish an independent investigative mechanism to collect, preserve, and analyze information and evidence and to make it available to criminal and civil justice authorities with a view to supporting future accountability options.
· Advocate for and support the development of an Ethiopian National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security as a way to strengthen domestic and international gender-responsible
peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery programs, focusing on accountability and survivor support, in line with the pillars of the global Women, Peace, and Security Agenda.
· Advocate for the establishment of an inclusive, independent, impartial, and effective transitional justice process that meets international law and standards and responds to the needs of survivors, in particular survivors of sexual and reproductive violence and other gender-based crimes.
· Support civil society organizations working with survivor communities by adequately funding them and supporting their advocacy at the international level.
The Ethiopian government and regional authorities should:
· Implement all recommendations of the ICHREE made in its reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
· Cooperate with all investigations conducted by the United Nations and other international, regional, and local actors, including by ensuring unrestricted access and providing protection from reprisals for survivors who engage with them.
· Ensure that all accountability avenues and mechanisms include women, girls, LGBTQI+ persons, and other vulnerable groups in all processes and give adequate attention to gender-based crimes.
· Support civil society organizations working with survivor communities by adequately funding them and supporting their advocacy at the international level.
· Facilitate access to physical and mental health services and other forms of rehabilitation for all survivors of sexual and reproductive violence and other gender-based crimes, along with other international crimes committed during the conflict.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not an official policy or position of the New Lines Institute.
