A panel of independent experts urged all sides to respect human rights and defuse the violence in Ethiopia's conflict-ridden Amhara region.
Authorities and militia fighters must de-escalate tensions and "prioritize processes" for peacefully resolving their differences, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia said on Thursday.
The U.N. Human Rights Council at Geneva appointed the three-member panel in Dec. 2021 to investigate abuses of international laws on human rights, humanitarian aid and refugees in Ethiopia since Nov. 2020.
Panel members said they were deeply concerned about the deteriorating security in the northwest region of Ethiopia, particularly in Amhara, and took note of a ministerial declaration of a state of emergency in early August.
"Previous states of emergency have been accompanied by violations of human rights," the panel said in urging the government to strictly adhere to international legal principles of "necessity, proportionality, and non-discrimination."
Almost 2 million in need of health aid
Ethiopia’s government said its military recaptured some areas, including the regional capital of Bahir Dar, in the Amhara region north of the capital, Addis Ababa, and a curfew was put in place.
Federal authorities had tried to disband some of the region's militia fighters after a two-year conflict in the nearby Tigray region, where hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the Amhara region must be restored to peace.
"Almost 2 million people are in need of health assistance. The situation is made more complex by the influx of refugees from the conflict in Sudan," said Tedros.
"The people of Amhara cannot bear another conflict," he said. "WHO calls on all parties to the conflict to cease hostilities and return to talks."
Human Rights Watch said the state of emergency in Amhara erodes human rights.
"Years of violent unrest and armed conflict in Ethiopia have resulted in countless abuses in regions across the country," said Laetitia Bader, the organization's Horn of Africa director. "The last few weeks show there is no end in sight."
