Drawing on investigations by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and independent media, the report accuses Amhara militias and allied forces of mass killings, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, looting, and property destruction in western Tigray, as well as large-scale executions in Amhara and Oromia.
The Oromo Liberation Army and Amhara Fano militias are also implicated. Armed groups in Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Gambella, and Somali regions have attacked civilians and displaced thousands; while the government has engaged some factions, the report says the impact of such efforts remains unclear.
Amnesty International’s findings describe an incident in Merawi, Amhara, where the Ethiopian National Defence Forces rounded up residents from homes, shops and streets before executing more than 50 people, with satellite imagery corroborating eyewitness accounts.
Between January 2023 and January 2024, at least 1,351 civilians were killed nationwide, including 740 in Amhara, with government drone strikes killing 248 people and destroying schools, hospitals, and water facilities.
A strike in Kewet killed seven teachers attending a school assembly, and another in Molale killed three civilians and three members of the Fano militia.
The report also cites repeated use of excessive force by the ENDF and regional police in Oromia, as well as a Reuters investigation alleging that the Oromia administration, known as Kore Negegna, carried out systematic abuses against ethnic and religious minorities and political opponents.
In April, opposition figure Bete Urgesa of the Oromo Liberation Front was killed in Meki; an independent investigation was urged, but no findings were released.
The State Department previously concluded that crimes against humanity were committed in Tigray by the ENDF, Eritrean forces, and Amhara regional forces, with all parties to the two-year conflict committing war crimes.
Human Rights Watch in July 2024 reported attacks on health facilities, aid blockades, and the deliberate denial of food and water, while Refugees International documented civilians in Tigray forced to survive on animal feed.
The Tigray Health Bureau said 60 percent of households suffered moderate to severe hunger, exceeding levels recorded during the 2020–2022 war.
Torture methods reported included pepper-filled plastic bags, beatings with wire and rope, and deprivation of food and water; the EHRC also reported rape, killings, and enforced disappearances, with victims including politicians, journalists, and activists. Amhara politician Habtamu Belayneh was held six months without charge before release.
The report notes that thousands of Amhara and Oromo detainees have remained in custody since the state of emergency declared in August 2023, lifted in June 2024, often held without judicial oversight in warehouses or schools.
Police are said to have ignored bail orders, filed new charges, or transferred detainees between courts; seven OLF leaders were detained for over four years without charge before release in September 2024.
The report warns of a deteriorating environment for the press, citing arrests, harassment, and forced exile of journalists, with at least 54 having fled Ethiopia since 2020.
States of emergency have imposed sweeping restrictions on speech, assembly, and social media; in 2016, authorities banned the political play Eyayu Funcho and arrested three artists on terrorism charges, while French journalist Antoine Galindo was detained after interviewing Bete Urgesa, who was later killed.
Kidnappings for ransom have also risen, with students, aid workers, and civilians among those targeted. In July 2016, three buses carrying 167 passengers were hijacked in Oromia, with ransoms of up to 700,000 birr demanded per person; families dispute official claims that most hostages were freed.
Eritrean forces were accused of abducting more than 100 residents in Zalambessa in April 2016. Labour rights remain restricted, with no national minimum wage and unsafe conditions prevalent, particularly in industrial parks.
Ethiopia’s large refugee population faces growing risks of exploitation and violence, with Sudanese militia attacks forcing thousands to flee camps for forests near the border.
Ethiopia’s human rights crisis is driven by armed conflict, erosion of the rule of law, and impunity for security forces and armed groups, the State Department urges investigations into abuses, the release of those arbitrarily detained, unhindered humanitarian access, and the protection of civil liberties.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch maintain that the government has failed to ensure justice or prevent further atrocities despite repeated domestic and international appeals.