UN Experts: Conflict in Ethiopia left over 10,000 survivors of sexual violence

Displaced Tigrayan women sit in a metal shack to eat food donated by local residents at a reception center for the internally displaced in Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, on May 9, 2021. [AP Photo]

U.N.-backed human rights experts say war crimes continue in Ethiopia despite a peace accord signed nearly a year ago to end a conflict that engulfed the country's northern Tigray region. The violence has left at least 10,000 people affected by rape and other sexual violence - mostly women and girls, they found.

They warned of "hallmark risks" that the violence could spread further, producing more "atrocity crimes" and jeopardize security more broadly in East Africa. With a multi-ethnic population of about 120 million, Ethiopia is by far the most populous country in the region.