Voice Of America News:

The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet is urging the Ethiopian government, Tigrayan forces and other armed groups to end the violence and abuses that are keeping northern Ethiopia in crisis.

U.N. rights chief Bachelet expressed alarm Tuesday at the growing human rights and humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia. She said the 16-month conflict between Ethiopian government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, has spread into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara.

See also: Drought Displaces 845,000 People In Ethiopia, Somalia: UN

AP News:

Lawmakers in Ethiopia voted Tuesday to end the country’s three-month state of emergency early as mediation efforts to end a deadly war in the north continue in the Horn of Africa nation.

The vote took place after Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, decided on Jan. 26 to end the state of emergency originally imposed for six months, citing recent developments in the conflict.

The state of emergency was imposed in early November as Tigray regional forces fighting Ethiopian and allied forces moved closer to the capital, Addis Ababa. The Tigray fighters withdrew back into their region in late December amid mediation efforts and under pressure from a drone-supported military offensive carried out by the government.

New Business Ethiopia:

The No More Movement, a peaceful movement, today condemned in “the strongest terms possible” the bill passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Ethiopia.

The Bill was introduced by US Representatives Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-07) and Young Kim (R-CA-39), which calls “for hostile US intervention in the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia”, No More Movement said in its statement entitled, “#NoMore Stands Unified Against HR 6600 and US Aggression Toward Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia”.

Branded with the Orwellian title of “Ethiopia Stabilization, Peace and Democracy Act” (HR 6600), the bill, which was co-sponsored by Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), Chair Gregory Meeks (D-NY-05), Brad Sherman (D-CA-30) and David Cicilline (D-RI-01), calls for the imposition of harsh sanctions and violent measures against the peoples, governments and diasporas of the Horn of Africa, falling within the category of a “foreign person”, who supposedly “undermines” efforts for a negotiated settlement.

It is not lost on the peoples of the Horn of Africa that, on the same day that US Congress advanced HR 6600, the State Department also issued a press release announcing restrictions on issuing visas to Somalis “who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic process in Somalia” (Press Statement: Promoting Sustainable Peace and Responsive Governance in Somalia, February 8, 2022).

Hence, it appears that both the executive and legislative branches of the US government, which are currently under the control of the Democratic Party, are taking hostile, counterproductive and punitive measures against all peoples of the Horn of Africa who they subjectively believe are “undermining” their failed policies in the Horn of Africa region.

The Guardian:

Ethiopia has committed a wide range of human rights violations in its war against Tigrayan rebel forces, including mass killings, sexual violence and military targeting of civilians, according to a landmark legal complaint submitted to Africa’s top human rights body.

Lawyers acting for Tigrayan civilians said the complaint, filed on Monday, marked the first time that the African Union’s human rights commission had been asked to look into the conduct of Ethiopian troops in their war with the northern region’s rebel forces.

The alleged violations, “could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, but further investigation would be required”, said Antonia Mulvey, executive director of the rights organisation Legal Action Worldwide (Law), which submitted the complaint with the US legal firm Debevoise & Plimpton and the Pan African Lawyers Union (Palu).

See also: Fighting In Ethiopia’s Afar Region Displaces 300,000, Aid Blocked To Tigray

Al Jazeera:

It was more than two months ago that Tigrayan rebels’ advance towards Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, made international headlines. Back then, the future looked bleak for the country. A bloody civil war was being fought on multiple fronts. The economy appeared to be on the brink of implosion. Political observers were voicing fears that the capital may fall before too long. There were reports that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the political group that led an authoritarian government in Ethiopia for 27 years before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s rise to power, had already established a so-called “caretaker” government in Washington, DC.

Thankfully, a lot has changed since then.

Reuters:

Ethiopia’s cabinet on Wednesday approved the lifting of a six-month state of emergency ahead of its expiration in light of changing security conditions in the country, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said in a statement.

Ethiopia declared the state of emergency in November after forces from the northern region of Tigray said they had gained territory and were considering marching on the capital Addis Ababa.

The government said last month the army was clearing the Tigrayan forces from the northern Amhara and Afar regions, dismissing Tigrayan statements that their forces were retreating voluntarily to create an “opening for peace”.

The National:

Ethiopia’s Tigrayan rebels said they had been provoked into launching operations into Afar, a month after announcing a withdrawal from neighbouring regions in the country’s north.

The move comes 14 months since fighting with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government forces broke out.

“Since yesterday morning [January 24], we have been compelled to take robust actions to neutralise the threat,“ the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said on Tuesday as it referred to pro-government forces in the Afar region, AFP reported.

Borkena Ethiopian News:

After a year-long civil war that has cost Ethiopia the lives of hundreds of thousands of people as well as the destruction of infrastructure, valuable educational and health facilities, and private and governmental property as well as the gross violation of human rights and the dislocation of hundreds of thousands of people, it has been suggested by the Ethiopian Government recently that Ethiopians will be conducting national consultation forums in order to discuss and resolve some of the most important issues facing the country. I wish to contribute toward this idea by suggesting that Ethiopia would benefit if the Solomonic monarchy is restored in a constitutional framework. This age-old institution could, indeed, become a symbol of Ethiopian unity. From its legendary origin of Queen Makeda and King Solomon to its likely root of the Damot (or Damat) kingdom of ancient Ethiopia and to its successor states centered in Tigray and Shewa, the history of the Solomonic dynasty had long been associated with the history of Ethiopia. This age-old monarchy, if restored, may help to maintain and foster national unity.

See also: Ethiopia Army Vows To ‘Eliminate’ Tigray Forces

Axios:

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — a Nobel Peace Prize-winning politician — has said he’ll lead troops who are fighting rebels from the Tigray region of the country in what he’s calling “the final fight” to save Ethopia. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is warning of a potential humanitarian crisis there that could destabilize the entire region.

See also: U.S. Envoy Warns Ethiopia Conflict Could Spiral Amid Military Escalation