Cape Town — Members of Parliament in Ethiopia voted to end the country’s state of emergency, which was declared in November and set to last for six months.
It is not known if the emergency will be ended immediately.
The emergency was enacted as Tigrayan fighters were threatening to march on the capital, Addis Ababa, and allowed for roadblocks, curfews, the disruption of transport, and for the military to take over in certain areas.
Fighting between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and government troops sparked a humanitarian crisis of which UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has said left women facing “unimaginable” horrors in conflict-torn regions of Ethiopia.
During her five-day trip, she visited the Tigray, Amhara, Afar and Somali regions in Ethiopia. She met with Tigray’s leaders and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Sahle-Work Zewde.
She said the warring parties “cannot achieve any lasting peace without reconciling and being held to account for the atrocities across the country”.
The country erupted in war after months of political tension between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan fighters.
The conflict has claimed thousands of lives and pushed hundreds of thousands into famine.
Rights groups have accused fighters on all sides of widespread sexual violence.