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- Issue clear public orders to military commanders, regional police, and other members of the security services to cease extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, and the unlawful forced relocation of civilians. Serious violations of Ethiopian and international human rights and humanitarian law should be investigated and prosecuted as appropriate. Senior officials implicated, including as a matter of command responsibility, should be prosecuted regardless of rank.
- Ensure fundamental due process guarantees to persons in detention, including the right to be charged with an offense before judicial authorities, to have access to legal counsel, family members, and medical care, and to receive a trial before an independent court meeting international fair trial standards; allow access to persons in detention by independent humanitarian organizations; and adopt measures to improve the criminal justice system, such as by creating sufficient federal and regional courts and providing appropriate training in human rights to judicial staff and police.
- Immediately end restrictions on commercial trade and livestock movement imposed on relevant zones of Somali Region (Fiiq, Korahe, Gode, Wardheer, and Dhagahbur), including the restrictions on cross-border trade with the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland. Ending these restrictions would immediately improve civilian access to food and other essential commodities, in addition to reducing the short and long-term damage to livelihoods caused by the blockade.
- Ensure independent humanitarian organizations have full and unimpeded access to civilians in need of humanitarian assistance in conflict-affected areas of Somali Region; permit independent nutritional assessments to evaluate needs of drought and conflict-affected areas; and support an independent evaluation of the humanitarian response, particularly the distribution of food aid.
- Establish an independent commission of inquiry to investigate crimes in violation of international law committed in Somali Region and seek international assistance to investigate the crimes.
- Invite the media, national and international human rights groups, and UN human rights entities (including the UN Special Rapporteurs or Special Representatives on Internally Displaced Persons, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, and Extra-Judicial and Summary Executions; the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances; and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) to investigate and report on allegations of abuses by all parties to the conflict and the general human rights situation in Somali Region.
- Cease harassing and threatening victims and witnesses of human rights abuses in Somali Region and cooperate with efforts to improve protection of civilians, including by the United Nations.
- Provide appropriate human rights training to all members of the Ethiopian armed forces, including the federal, regional, and local police operating in Somali Region, and seek international support for such training programs.
- Ensure that all detainees in facilities administered by regional security authorities are provided due process guarantees, including the right to be charged, to have access to legal counsel and relatives, and to be tried by a court meeting international fair trial standards; permit independent humanitarian organizations access to all detainees.
- Ensure independent humanitarian organizations have full and unimpeded access to civilians in need of humanitarian assistance in conflict-affected areas of Somali Region; permit independent nutritional assessments to evaluate needs of drought and conflict-affected areas; and support an independent evaluation of the humanitarian response, particularly the distribution of food aid.
- Seek international assistance for projects to assist rape victims, who have special needs. Such assistance should include outreach, medical services, and trauma counseling and testing, and access to anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy and treatment.
- End discriminatory measures such as suspending state funding to conflict-affected weredas in Somali Region or demanding that families and clans pay compensation for deaths inflicted by the ONLF.
- Issue orders to all commanders to end targeted and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including government officials.
- Cease the use of all anti-personnel mines and the indiscriminate use of anti-vehicle mines that may affect civilian, commercial, or humanitarian convoys.
- Cooperate with any independent efforts to investigate and report on abuses by all parties to the conflict and the general human rights situation in Somali Region.
- Publicly commit to respect international humanitarian law, particularly Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and Protocol II.
- Publicly call upon the Ethiopian government to conduct a thorough, transparent, and independent investigation into abuses in Somali Region. Closely monitor the progress of government investigations and take prompt and appropriate action in response to their findings.
- Privately and publicly urge the Ethiopian government to implement immediately the above recommendations, and insist that implementation of these steps will be used to assess Ethiopian willingness to improve the human rights situation in Somali Region.
- Call upon the Ethiopian government to permit full, unimpeded access to Somali region by independent humanitarian agencies, national and international human rights groups, the media, and diplomatic representatives.
- Urge the Ethiopian government to support independent nutritional assessments to evaluate the needs of drought and conflict-affected areas and independent monitoring of food distribution, and insist on an independent evaluation of the humanitarian response, particularly the distribution of food aid, that includes an external audit.
- Monitor development funding to ensure that it is not used for Ethiopian security operations, including by regional, wereda and kebele level administrations.
- Make military assistance to Ethiopia contingent on the government’s adherence to international human rights and humanitarian law and exclude any assistance to units implicated in abuses. All suppliers should actively monitor the use of any weapons and non-lethal items to ensure they are not being utilized to commit or facilitate abuses.
- If providing military assistance, pressure the government to abide by its commitments under international law. Donor states should publicly condemn specific violations, particularly the forced displacement of villages, extrajudicial executions, and torture committed by the armed forces, and urge the government to address them.
- Demand that civilian and military officials implicated in human rights violations be held accountable, including as a matter of command responsibility.
- Publicly urge that the Ethiopian government conduct a thorough, transparent, and independent investigation into abuses by all parties to the conflict in Somali Region. Closely monitor the progress of government investigations and take prompt and appropriate action in response to their findings.
- Privately and publicly urge the Ethiopian government to implement immediately the above recommendations, and insist that implementation of these steps will be used to assess Ethiopian willingness to improve the human rights situation in Somali Region.
- Call for the government to permit full, unimpeded access to the region to independent humanitarian agencies, national and international human rights groups, the media, and diplomatic representatives.
- Ensure that any military forces and police provided by the Ethiopian government for UN peacekeeping operations are vetted to ensure that they have not been involved in abuses committed in Somali Region or other regions of the country.
- Ensure respect for human rights and compliance with international business norms in your operations in Ethiopia, such as the norms reflected in the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
June 2008
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