Core Crimes and the Characterization of Mai-Kadra Atrocities in Ethiopia

Atrocity crimes have become a regular incident over the past four years in Ethiopia. It worsened especially after the outbreak of the war between the Federal Government and Tigray Region on November 4, 2020. The Mai-Kadra incident was one of such situations where heinous mass killing was committed against civilians on November 9, 2020, shortly after the outbreak of the war. Different bodies reported the atrocities committed during the incident and tried to characterise the situation in different ways. This article characterises the material facts of the Mai-Kadra incident in light of International Criminal Law rules, case law, and jurisprudence. A doctrinal research methodology is employed to gather data from reliable reports and human right organisations. Accordingly, the study uncovers the potential characterization of the Mai-Kadra incident as ‘crimes against humanity’ and ‘war crimes’. It is however less likely that the incident qualifies as ‘genocide’ mainly because of the difficulty to infer special genocidal intent from the circumstances of the case.