ADDIS ABABA: The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said Saturday that while there was some violence recorded during the country's elections, it had not observed "massive, widespread and systematic human rights abuses".
Votes are still being counted from Monday's elections, which went ahead without polling in the war-torn northern Tigray region and other restive parts of Africa's second-most populous nation.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a government-affiliated but independent body, did not receive authorisation to observe the polls, but still deployed around 100 staff across the country to monitor abuses.
"In our overall assessment in the places we visited we didn't see major massive, widespread and systematic human rights abuses," EHRC head Daniel Bekele told a press conference on Saturday. But the commission did point out that the vote was held despite boycotts from some political parties and the jailing of several opposition leaders. "The commission underscores the election are happening when there are overlapping problems," Bekele said, citing the conflict in Tigray, which drags on seven months after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops in to oust its ruling party.
"It was good to see the election went largely peacefully in many parts of the country, except incidents including human rights abuses in various places."
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