The peace deal between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to end the war in Tigray is ‘marred by significant gaps impacting the protection of civilians’, a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has revealed.

Development Diaries reports that the coalition of regional and international CSOs made this revelation in a report titled Ethiopia Watch: Civil Society Monitor of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.

The report is an outcome of a monitoring mechanism established by the CSOs which collected and analysed data from both private and public sources.

Released on 10 July, the report monitored six elements of the agreement: humanitarian access and aid, provision protection of civilians, the situation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), presence of military units, restoration of services, African Union Monitoring Verification and Compliance Mission (AU-MVCM).

The conflict, which began in November 2020, forced more than two million people to flee their homes, leaving at least 2.3 million people in need of assistance.

According to the report, abuse of civilians has continued in the Western and Southern parts of the region.

The presence of Eritrean troops in some parts of the region has negatively impacted the protection of civilians, with internally displaced persons lacking durable solutions as they do not have legal status.

The AU-MVCM not being mandated to report publicly on violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) is another gap identified in the report.

‘The report reveals that it is dangerous to claim that Ethiopia is now at peace’, Atrocities Watch Africa’s Executive Director, Dismas Nkunda, said.

‘While there is much to celebrate about the AU-led peace process, more work remains to be done.

‘The deal must be fully implemented and resourced. It should be extended to include other key conflict actors throughout Ethiopia. And it must be expanded to include the full participation of young people, women and girls’.

Despite the success in silencing the guns in Tigray, the CoHA represents the floor, rather than the ceiling of what can be achieved for Ethiopians, the report stated.

According to the CSOs, the scope of future agreements must be enlarged if lasting peace is to be achieved across the country.

Photo source: Addis Standard