Maat: About 1,103 deaths in Africa during June 2022 and Ethiopia is the deadliest country due to ethnic fighting

Okeil: We call on the governments of African countries to implement the recommendations made to them during the UPR process

Gouda: We recommend the Ethiopian government to engage into a comprehensive national dialogue that preserves the rights of different ethnicities

The pace of terrorist operations and armed attacks on the African continent has markedly increased in June 2022, with 1,103 deaths as a result of terrorist and armed operations, according to Maat’s monthly report, "Lens of Terrorist Operations and Acts of Violence in Africa", June 2022.

The report pointed out the continued surge in armed ethnic attacks that would shed more blood. By analyzing the security and political situation in the Republic of Ethiopia, it was revealed that Ethiopia topped Africa’s deadliest countries in June 2022 with 383 deaths as a result of ethnic terrorism. Moreover, the report also highlighted the increased activity of Al-Shabab in Somalia and the state of security turmoil in Sudan, which made East Africa is the worst affected region by armed violence throughout the month, with 518 deaths alone.

West Africa came in second place with 465 deaths due to the successive attacks of ISIS and Boko Haram. Central Africa reported 105 deaths due to terrorist incidents, North Africa reported 8 deaths, and South Africa was the least affected this month with only 7 deaths.

The report issued by Maat also addressed the role of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights in limiting the aggravation of violent and bloody phenomena in a number of African countries, including the Universal Periodic Review, which reviewed during its current session three African countries that suffer from different forms of violence. Sudan received 12 recommendations related to eliminating armed violence against civilians, South Sudan received 6 recommendations to confront violence against civilians by the government, and 4 recommendations to reduce tribal violence that causes casualties on an almost daily basis, while Uganda received 3 recommendations about violence against civilians.

In this context, Ayman Okeil, the human rights expert and president of Maat, stressed that violence and human rights violations are two sides of the same coin, explaining that government efforts to combat terrorism and prevent the spread of extremism suffer from non-compliance with the standards of international assistance mechanisms to protect human rights. Okeil called on African governments that were subjected to review to implement the recommendations presented to it and to control tribal conflicts that lead to many victims, especially in south Sudan, and also recommended to work on drafting a roadmap to reduce recurrent violence.

For his part, Abdellatef Gouda, a researcher at the Sustainable Development Unit at Maat, said that recently, the Amhara ethnic group was repeatedly targeted in areas such as Oromia, and the Ethiopian government also committed indiscriminate arrests against the Oromos, as well as forced displacement, and genocides.

Gouda recommended the Ethiopian government to stop the escalation of violence in the Oromia region, and to involve civilians in this conflict, and also called for the need to engage in a comprehensive national dialogue that preserves the rights of different ethnicities.