Probe into Amnesty’s Ethiopia Report Begins

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s Federal Attorney General has launched an investigation into human rights violation accusations made by Amnesty international.

“We have looked at the report and have started our own investigation on the matter,” said Adanech Abiebie, Federal Attorney General, in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Amnesty International has accused Ethiopia’s military of extrajudicial killings, mass detentions and torture. It released a report that documents crimes allegedly committed by soldiers throughout 2019 in Amhara and Oromia.

But in a statement over the weekend, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the report as a “one-sided snapshot security analysis” that did not take into account the peace-making efforts in the country.

It says the government “strongly rejects malicious claims of extrajudicial killings, evictions and destruction of property” but would launch an independent investigation if there was evidence of any wrongdoing.

– Investigation Starts- 

Today, Attorney General Adanech said: “now, we are working on finalizing our investigation and checking the content and process of the report for actuality and neutrality,”

“After the investigation is complete, where the report is correct, we will take the necessary steps to remedy the problem, and where the report is false or exaggerated, we shall discuss with Amnesty International and let the report be corrected accordingly,” she said.

“If correction proves impossible, we shall present the truth with its respective proof so that our people, and the world, are aware,” she concluded.

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Image: Adanech Abiebie, Attorney General, speaking at a press briefing [Photo File]