Petition to European Commission to Condemn 2021 Ethiopian Elections

Petition to the European Union to condemn the 2021 Ethiopian elections as illegitimate and pressure the Ethiopian government to engage in an all-inclusive national dialogue and for the reinstatement of the democratically elected Tigray Regional Government.

General elections in Ethiopia were scheduled to be held on the 29th of August 2020. The elections were delayed, under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic. Abiy Ahmed’s unconstitutional “Prosperity Party” has been ruling the country without an electoral mandate ever since. Abiy Ahmed rose to national prominence following widespread popular protests which included the Oromia region. He was selected by the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), of which he was a member, to serve as an interim caretaker in order to transition the nation to the next elections due to take place in May 2020 (later postponed to August 2020). Since his appointment Mr. Ahmed has never taken part in any constitutional or democratic elections. In 2019 Abiy Ahmed unceremoniously dissolved the EPRDF and formed the Prosperity Party; this too was done without respect to the rules and bylaws of the EPRDF. 

Tigray conflict: Joint Statement by HR/VP Borrell and Commissioner Lenarčič on massacres in Axum

“Amnesty International issued a report today on atrocities that took place in Axum, Ethiopia, in November 2020. The report concludes that indiscriminate shelling and mass execution may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is another harrowing reminder of the violence that civilians in Tigray have been suffering since the onset of the conflict. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, all crimes against civilians and call for the perpetrators to be swiftly brought to justice. We recall the obligation under International Humanitarian Law for all parties to ensure the protection of all civilians, including refugees and those internally displaced.