Bethlihem Tadelle Gidena2025-12-312025-12-26https://repository.mu.edu.et/handle/123456789/1228This thesis critically examines the role and effectiveness of international and regional institutions, specifically the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), and Ethiopian human rights bodies, in protecting human rights during the Tigray conflict (2020 to 2022). It explores how these actors responded to widespread and systematic violations, including extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, forced displacement, and deliberate starvation, and evaluates the adequacy of their interventions against their legal mandates. Using a doctrinal legal research approach combined with empirical case studies and critical theory, the study analyzes institutional actions, political dynamics, and operational constraints. Primary sources include the EHRC and OHCHR joint investigation, reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and humanitarian updates from OCHA and UN agencies. Comparative analysis with other conflict contexts, including Darfur, the Central African Republic, and Syria, provides lessons on institutional neutrality, accountability, and responsiveness. Findings reveal that responses by the UN and AU were largely inadequate, delayed, and politically constrained, undermining their credibility and effectiveness. While initiatives such as the joint investigation and AU led peace talks were undertaken, they were reactive and lacked urgency. Local civil society and survivor led advocacy played a critical role in documentation and awareness but faced severe repression and resource limitations. The absence of robust accountability mechanisms, such as ICC referral or hybrid tribunals, has perpetuated impunity and deepened the trauma of victims. The study concludes that the Tigray conflict exposes systemic weaknesses in global and regional human rights protection frameworks. It recommends reforms to strengthen institutional independence, operational capacity, and early warning systems; empower local actors; and establish credible accountability mechanisms, including hybrid courts and survivor centered transitional justice processes. Ultimately, this research underscores the urgent need for structural reforms to ensure timely, impartial, and effective protection of human rights in future conflicts.enTigray conflicthuman rights institutionsaccountabilitysurvivor-centered approachesinternational lawThesis