The Application of International Humanitarian Law in the Resolution of a Complex Humanitarian Crisis: A Case Study of the Tigray National Regional State of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Abstract

The subject of the study is the specifics of the application of international humanitarian law (IHL) to the resolution of the humanitarian crisis in the Ethiopian state of Tigray. Crimes against humanity committed by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops in the conditions of warfare have been studied. It is argued that according to Article 3 of the II Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Victims of War, the federal center of Ethiopia, which protects the sovereignty of the State, acts correctly by suppressing the rebels of Tigray. However, this is in contradiction with the UN Security Council resolution on the situation with human rights and the human situation in Ethiopia and the 2021 Human Rights Council resolution S-33/1 “The situation of human rights in Ethiopia” indicating Ethiopia’s violation of its international legal obligations with respect to civilians in armed conflict and IHL norms. Thus, the operation of IHL on the territory of the state is objectively suspended. The provisions and priorities of Refugee Law are considered separately in relation to the specifics of the refugee situation in Ethiopia, in particular the specifics of the Kampala Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa of 2009. It was found that both the federal authorities and the opposing belligerents controlling the settlements of internally displaced persons on the territory of Ethiopia, do not fulfill their obligations under the Сonvention, which refers to the need for urgent further development of regional international treaties on assistance to forced migrants.