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Solomon was a doctor in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. When armed conflict broke out there in August last year, pitting Ethiopian government forces against an Amhara militia group known as Fano, Solomon and his colleagues were overwhelmed.
Hospitals were facing increasing casualties amid both diminishing resources and attacks by government forces. Like many medical professionals working in towns experiencing heavy fighting, Solomon was treating every type of patient, whoever needed medical attention.
The Ethiopian military took a dim view of such humanitarian spirit.
When government forces took control of Solomon’s town in November, soldiers seized the hospital’s ambulance, accusing doctors of using it to help treat Fano militia fighters. They also started harassing Solomon and other staff, threatening them, and repeatedly searching the hospital, as well as their homes.
Despite all this, Solomon and his colleagues continued to treat patients. But by December threatening phone calls mounted. He later found out the military had placed his name on a list of people suspected of providing medical treatment to Fano fighters.
The threats could hardly be more serious. Government security forces in the region – including the military and allied militias – have assaulted and even killed healthcare workers.
Ethiopian government forces have repeatedly raided hospitals in search of patients with injuries like gunshot wounds, which the military considers proof of taking part in fighting or of being affiliated with their enemy.
They’ve also looted and destroyed medical supplies, and targeted ambulances, including in at least one case, in an apparent drone strike.
Fearing for his life, Solomon eventually fled the town. He’s not alone. Growing numbers of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers in the Amhara region have had to stop practicing medicine or have relocated beyond the front lines.
The result of all this has been the utter devastation of the healthcare system in the Amhara region, as our new report details.
These widespread attacks by Ethiopian security forces amount to war crimes against medical professionals, patients, and health facilities.
International humanitarian law, also known as the laws of war, prohibits attacks on civilians and civilian objects. In addition, it affords special protections to health facilities, medical professionals, patients, and ambulances.
As civilians continue to bear the brunt of fighting in the Amhara region and as war crimes mount, the questions become increasingly urgent for the outside world.
What will Ethiopia’s international partners do? Will they insist on an end to attacks on healthcare facilities? Will they call for those responsible for war crimes to be held to account? And will there be any consequences from Ethiopia’s allies if the government refuses?
