Following an assault on the southern city of Gambella in June, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Wednesday that security forces had killed hundreds of civilians who were believed to be working with the rebels.
The Gambella Liberation Front (GLF) and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), two rebel groups that the Ethiopian government has designated as terrorist organisations, together launched an attack on June 14 that resulted in a multi-hour fire battle.
The EHRC said in a 13-page study based on interviews with 58 persons, including victims, their relatives, and witnesses, that after troops successfully repulsed the onslaught, local forces executed everyone suspected of taking part in or cooperating in the assault.
In a statement issued days after the incident, the state-affiliated independent rights group claimed that security personnel had previously executed civilians “door to door.”
According to the EHRC’s statement on Wednesday, “at least 50 people have been executed individually and in bulk extrajudicial killings by the region’s security forces from June 14 to June 16 with (victims) suspected of sheltering OLA members and carrying guns.”
According to the rights group, “the bodies of people who were slain by security personnel were gathered by the region’s special forces and regular police… and buried en masse,” denying access to the remains to the victims’ relatives.
There were victims who had mental illnesses, at least 25 others were hurt, and some of the inhabitants had been assaulted and tormented.
According to the rights group, OLA and GLF combatants murdered seven civilians, while six more perished in the gun battle between the rebels and military.
According to the EHRC, the local police commission informed the rights organisation that the remains that were lying on the streets had been gathered and interred.
The remains that the municipal government had buried were unclaimed, according to the regional police, who claimed that rebels had slain the people.
The Gambella area, which borders South Sudan, has previously been the target of invasions by armed militants from that nation.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been at war with federal forces in northern Ethiopia since November 2020, and the OLA struck an alliance last year.
