Addis Standard has been reporting about the conflict in Konso.
Addis Abeba, December 25/2020- The series of conflicts that recurred in Konso Zone (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region – SNNPR) from November 10th to November 21st, 2020, and resulted in gruesome killings, injuries, displacement and property destruction, show that the human rights crisis in the area still awaits sustainable resolution, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said.
In its Rapid Monitoring Report on the Ongoing Human Rights Situation in Konso Zone & Surrounding Areas Following a Conflict that Recurred on November 10, 2020 (Executive Summary in English below) released on December 24th, 2020 the Commission presented findings of an investigation carried out from November 22nd to November 25th , 2020 in Haybena and Ayde Kebeles, as well as the cities of Arba Minch, Gidole and Karat.
The Report indicates that at least 66 people have died, 39 have been injured, several houses and other property have been burned and more than one hundred thousand people have been displaced.
EHRC Chief Commissioner Daniel Bekele said “The underlying problems behind the longstanding insecurity in Konso Zone and its surroundings has not been given appropriate attention. The sheer number of people displaced, and that some of them are being displaced for the fifth time, is a tragic humanitarian crisis. While the provision of humanitarian assistance to the displaced is an urgent priority, the federal and regional governments need to work together with the local population to find a solution that will restore lasting peace to the area.”
“Kebeles/Villages that took years to build have been turned to ashes in just six days”
Brief Monitoring Report on the Ongoing Human Rights Situation in Konso Zone & Surrounding Areas Following a Conflict that Recurred on November 10, 2020.
Executive Summary and Recommendations
The Ethiopian Human Right Commision dispatched
a monitoring team to the area in and around Konso Zone in SNNPR and from
November 21st to 25th, 2020 travelled between Haybena and Ayde Kebeles and Arba
Minch, Gidole and Karat Cities. The following is the report EHRC team
delivered:
Following the redeployment of the Ethiopian
National Defence Forces from the area on October 31st, 2020, a series of
conflicts recurred in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region’s
(SNNPR) Konso Zone and surrounding areas of Ale Woreda, Segen Area Kebeles,
Buniti Kebele of Amaro Woreda from November 10th to November 20th, 2020 and
from November 13th to November 15th, 2020 in Gato Kebele of Derashe Woreda. The
SNNPR Peace and Security Bureau statement estimates that the conflicts have
displaced 132, 142 people and 66 people to have died and 39 to have been
injured.
An Ethiopian Human Rights Commission
(EHRC/Commission) monitoring team was sent to the area and from November 21st
to 25th, 2020 travelled between Haybena and Ayde Kebeles and Arba Minch, Gidole
and Karat Cities gathering testimonies from victims, families of victims and
witnesses including responses from relevant local authorities and other
evidence. However, the unstable security situation in the area at the time did
not permit an extensive and more in-depth investigation.
As indicated in the report, perpetrators of
the attacks have killed several people in a gruesome and cruel manner and
injured many others; houses, farms, harvests and other property in many kebeles
have been partially burned or completely razed to the ground. There are many
accounts of people who have died inside burning houses and of the continued
difficulty of returning to the kebeles to check on the ones left behind.
Eyewitnesses describe how, in Melega & Dugaya Kebeles for instance,
“attackers killed an elderly man by setting fire to a pile of hay he was hiding
in because he could not escape. Another man, unable to flee because of a broken
leg, was hacked to death by the attackers who then torched the man’s house with
his body inside.”
The conflicts have caused a large-scale
humanitarian crisis. Families have been separated and reconnection with members
of family has not yet been made possible. One of the victims the Commission’s
team spoke to in Karat City, reports that he has been separated from his
children. Another man, displaced to Arba Minch
City, says that he was unable to get in touch with his family who he heard had
fled to either Benaya or Gobeze Kebele in Burji Woreda. “I followed the rest of
the fleeing population carrying my – newborn baby, but I still do not know
where and what happened to my husband. He was not home when the conflict began”
recounts another young woman.
