Tigrayan survivors seek justice in German courts

A criminal complaint has been filed with the German Federal Public Prosecutor concerning alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 2020-2022 conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region. The complaint, submitted by Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) and the Berlin law firm Oehmichen International, targets 12 senior Ethiopian and Eritrean government officials and military officers. The Federal Public Prosecutor has confirmed that it received the complaint.

"Now it is up to the Federal Public Prosecutor to decide whether to initiate an investigation," said Nick Leddy, the lead lawyer at LAW.

"We have submitted an extensive body of evidence — our complaint is over 100 pages long with multiple appendices, including numerous publicly available pieces of evidence and witness testimonies. We hope that the German authorities take up this complaint and launch what is called a structural investigation," he told DW.

'I have seen atrocities in Tigray that still haunt my dreams'

The recent conflict between the Ethiopian army, supported by Eritrean forces, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), began in 2020 and ended in 2022. There were significant military and civilian casualties.

"I have seen atrocities in Tigray that still haunt my dreams and have shattered my understanding of what it means to be human — atrocities that go beyond ordinary crimes," a survivor told LAW, one of eight Tigrayans currently residing in Germany who are seeking legal action.

For two years, the Ethiopian army, backed by Eritrean forces, waged war against the TPLF, the ruling party in Tigray, Ethiopia's northernmost state. Human rights organizations have documented widespread atrocities, labeling them war crimes and crimes against humanity. The conflict is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least 200,000 soldiers and 400,000 civilians.

Prosecution of high-ranking officials unlikely in Ethiopia

The decision to pursue legal action in Germany stems from questions regarding the efficacy of domestic justice mechanisms in Ethiopia. 

In 2024, Ethiopia introduced a framework for transitional justice, designed to address the country's many internal conflicts. However, experts remain skeptical about its effectiveness.

"There is supposed to be accountability, but new violations keep occurring, especially in Amhara and Oromia, where severe human rights abuses continue to take place," said Gerrit Kurtz, an Ethiopia expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). Ethiopia's judicial system, already under strain, struggles to prosecute even lower-ranking perpetrators, making the trial of high-level officials highly unlikely.

"Ethiopia's judiciary is simply not keeping up," Kurtz said, adding that the prosecution of high-ranking officials, like those named in the LAW complaint, was highly unlikely within Ethiopia.

"Accountability is easiest when a war ends with a clear break, and a new government takes over that was not involved in the conflict. Only then can there be credible domestic accountability — and even then, there are still major challenges. But that is not the case in Ethiopia at all," he told DW.

Is universal jurisdiction a last resort?

Given the limitations of domestic prosecution, the survivors are invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows third countries to prosecute severe violations of international law. Germany, a leader in applying this principle, already has ongoing investigations into war crimes in Syria and Ukraine.

However, unlike those conflicts, which saw large refugee flows into Germany, the Ethiopia conflict has seen comparatively fewer asylum applications. For instance, there were only about 1,500 asylum applications recorded last year.

This has raised questions about the resources the Federal Public Prosecutor will allocate to the Tigray case.

Challenges and potential impact

German law prohibits trials in absentia. Thus prosecution would only occur if a suspect was in German custody.

In German legal history, only one case has involved the arrest and conviction of a foreign national under universal jurisdiction. This was a former ISIS member from Iraq who was apprehended in Greece under a European arrest warrant.

Thus, while there is a precedent of extraditing individuals under universal jurisdiction, it is highly unlikely Ethiopia or Eritrea would extradite their own citizens.

Despite these challenges, Kurtz said there is some strategic value to the complaint, especially the anonymity currently afforded the accused persons.

"That means certain individuals in Ethiopia and Eritrea — high-ranking figures in the military or state apparatus — cannot be sure whether they are implicated or not," he said.

If investigations proceed, these individuals may have to be more cautious when traveling abroad.

Case sends signal to perpetrators

In addition to individual accountability, the case serves a broader purpose in the context of deterrence. 

"Universal jurisdiction is meant to send the signal that there is no safe haven for perpetrators, especially since such atrocities do not have a statute of limitations," said Kristina Hook, a conflict management professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, US.

Hook, who contributed to a 2024 study on potential genocide in Tigray, pointed out three legal paths for prosecuting perpetrators: universal jurisdiction, domestic trials and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The ICC would typically be an avenue for such cases, but Ethiopia is not a member. As a result, the Ethiopian government would have to voluntarily accept the ICC's jurisdiction. This is a highly improbable scenario in this case.

The legal team is aware of these challenges but is setting its hopes on the German system.

"For our clients, there is no other way — not through Ethiopian courts, nor through the International Criminal Court," said Leddy. "We hope that the German authorities will launch investigations to determine who is responsible for the war crimes and issue arrest warrants."

This article was originally written in German.