Amnesty calls on Ethiopia to improve human rights

Amnesty International on Monday urged Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to "enhance the human rights situation" in the country after he was sworn in for a second five-year term in a nation that's in the grip of a nearly year-long war.

Fisseha Tekle, who is a researcher with the organisation, said that Ahmed should also use his new mandate to "ensure accountability for human rights violations" that have happened in the past.

Heading into his new term as prime minister, Ahmed faces major challenges as the 11-month war in the Tigray region spreads into other parts of the country, deadly ethnic violence continues and watchdogs warn that repressive government practices are on the return.

Ethiopia's government last week faced condemnation from the United Nations, United States and several European nations after it expelled seven UN officials it accused of supporting the Tigray forces who have been battling Ethiopian and allied forces.

The government is under growing pressure as people begin to starve to death in Tigray under what the UN has called a "de facto humanitarian blockade."