UN human rights chief has expressed concern over recent deadly clashes in Ethiopia between Muslims and Orthodox Christians and called on authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible.
At least 30 people have reportedly been killed and more than 100 others have been injured in the violence that broke out in northern Ethiopia late last month, according to reports.
On April 26, clashes broke out in the Amhara region’s Gondar city, allegedly over a land dispute, before quickly spreading to other regions and the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, according to her.
Amhara’s Islamic Affairs Council described the attack on a Muslim elder’s funeral as a “massacre” perpetrated by “extremist Christians” armed with heavy weapons.
As a result of the attack’s proximity to a mosque and a church, tensions between Ethiopia’s Muslims and Orthodox Christians have erupted in the cemetery.
In a statement, Bachelet said, “I understand two mosques were burned and another two partially destroyed in Gondar.”
She said that “in the apparent retaliatory attacks that followed, two Orthodox Christian men were reportedly burned to death, another man was hacked to death, and five churches were burned down” in southwest of the country.
At least 578 people had been detained and imprisoned as a result of the clashes, according to reports from at least four cities, she said.
According to Bachelet, “I call on Ethiopian authorities to swiftly initiate and conduct thorough, independent and transparent investigations into each of these deadly incidents.
Prevent any more religious conflict
Individual accountability of perpetrators is essential for preventing further violence, she said, stressing that authorities should strive to ensure those responsible are held to account.
There must be “meaningful participation of survivors, families, and communities affected by this shocking violence” in order to prevent further inter-religious violence, she said.
In Ethiopia, this kind of violence is nothing new. Authorities in the town of Motta, in the same region, arrested five people in 2019 on suspicion of torching four mosques.
As a result of Ethiopia’s federal government declaring a unilateral ceasefire last month, humanitarian aid has been allowed into Tigray.
To commemorate his efforts to broker peace with longtime foe Eritrea, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his political and economic reforms, which he introduced upon taking office in 2018.
