Ethiopia
Murder, Torture and Rape in Tigray: War Crimes in the Country of the Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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War has been raging in Tigray for about two years. Security forces have repeatedly committed atrocities in the contested region of Ethiopia. Activists are now making allegations.
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People in Tigray on their way to a food distribution – a cruel thing is happening in their region, a new human rights report reveals.
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“Tigrayers don’t die that easily, shoot again,” shouted the militia leader. And his minions fire into the crowd. At the end of the massacre at the Tekeze River, all that remains is a mountain of corpses, around 60 unarmed civilians. These and similar atrocities have been going on in northern Ethiopia for two years, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday. In a joint investigation report, the human rights activists raise serious allegations against the government and its allies.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has been at war with the separatist rebels in the north for over a year. Africa’s second most populous country is split into ethnic regional governments with their own military. One of these regional authorities, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), is fighting Abiy’s government, accusing it of oppression. Another supports the bloody revenge of the national armed forces – the activists accuse.
War crimes also by soldiers from Eritrea
“Since November 2020, Amharic authorities and security forces have been waging a relentless campaign of ethnic cleansing to force Tigrayans from their homes,” said HRW director Kenneth Roth. The human rights activists accuse the head of government of hiding mass executions, rape and torture. International observers were banned from the war zone.
In 2019 Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize. He had made peace with neighboring Eritrea. Meanwhile, the former nemesis fights at his side. Eritrean troops are also said to have been involved in the “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in West Tigray. Amnesty and HRW complain that Ethiopia’s army, together with its allies, launched an “ethnic cleansing campaign” shortly after taking the region. Tigrayers were thrown into overcrowded prisons where they died of food and drug deprivation. Tigray women raped them with the motive of “refining their blood” before they were expelled.
Tens of thousands of deaths feared
Even before the activists filed charges, the UN accused all parties involved in the conflict of human rights crimes. The International Crisis Group estimates that “tens of thousands” have died so far. Now HRW and Amnesty are calling for the release of political prisoners, an investigation into the atrocities and the prosecution of the perpetrators. In addition, any agreement between the warring parties must include an international peacekeeping force for Tigray, led by the African Union.
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