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Category: Human Rights

abcnews: EXPLAINER: Why Ethiopia’s deadly Tigray crisis is growing

Posted on by Sami Mulaw

Civilians massacred. Journalists arrested. People starving to death. Ethiopia’s government is under growing pressure to allow the world to see firsthand what has occurred in its embattled Tigray region as its Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister rejects “partisan interventions.”

That pressure is expected to spike this month as the United States chairs the United Nations Security Council and addresses the first major African crisis of the Biden administration. Millions of dollars in aid to Ethiopia, a key security ally in the region, are at stake.

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Aljazeera: Ethiopia releases media workers detained in Tigray

Posted on by Tech Support

Four media workers recently arrested in Ethiopia’s conflict-hit northern Tigray region have been released.

Fitsum Berhane and Alula Akalu, translators working for AFP news agency and Financial Times respectively, BBC journalist Girmay Gebru and Temrat Yemane, a local journalist, had been arrested over the weekend and earlier this week.

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BBC: Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis: BBC reporter Girmay Gebru detained by military

Posted on by Tech Support

The BBC reporter in Ethiopia’s conflict-hit region of Tigray has been detained by the military.

Witnesses say Girmay Gebru, who works for BBC Tigrinya, was taken along with four other people from a café in the regional capital, Mekelle.

Mr Girmay is reported to have been taken to a military camp in Mekelle.

The BBC is yet to establish the reason for his detention, but has expressed its concern to the Ethiopian authorities.

A local journalist, Tamirat Yemane, and two translators – Alula Akalu and Fitsum Berhane, who were working for the Financial Times and the AFP news agency, respectively – have also been detained in recent days.

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Barron’s: ‘Blanket Of Sadness’ Covers Conflict-hit Tigray Capital

Posted on by Tech Support

Women walk the streets wearing black as news of dead relatives trickles in from rural areas that remain inaccessible.

Mekele natives worry their home may never regain its old charm.

“This was a fast-growing city, it was a very vibrant city. It was alive for 24 hours,” said Dr Kibrom Gebreselassie, chief clinical director at Mekele’s Ayder Referral Hospital.

“Now, as you can see, it is covered in a blanket of sadness.”

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Tigray conflict: Joint Statement by HR/VP Borrell and Commissioner Lenarčič on massacres in Axum

Posted on by Sami Mulaw

“Amnesty International issued a report today on atrocities that took place in Axum, Ethiopia, in November 2020. The report concludes that indiscriminate shelling and mass execution may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is another harrowing reminder of the violence that civilians in Tigray have been suffering since the onset of the conflict. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, all crimes against civilians and call for the perpetrators to be swiftly brought to justice. We recall the obligation under International Humanitarian Law for all parties to ensure the protection of all civilians, including refugees and those internally displaced.

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The Washington Post: Massacre by Eritrean troops in Ethiopia’s Tigray region may constitute crime against humanity, Amnesty says

Posted on by Tech Support

Ethiopian and Eritrean forces committed war crimes during an offensive to take control of the town of Axum in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region late last year, with one massacre by Eritrean troops a potential crime against humanity, according to a report released by Amnesty International on Thursday.

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Daily Mail: Tigray official slams damage by troops from ‘neighbouring’ country

Posted on by Tech Support

Troops from a “neighbouring country” destroyed factories and universities during the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray state, an official with the region’s interim administration told state media Thursday in an apparent reference to Eritrea.

Tigray has been the theatre of fighting since early November 2020, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced military operations against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), accusing them of attacking federal army camps.

He declared victory after pro-government troops took the regional capital Mekele in late November and appointed an interim government to take over from the TPLF leadership. Fighting has however persisted.

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Tghat: Dutch aid workers – The outside world needs to know what’s going on in Tigray

Posted on by Tech Support

His first impression on the street in Mekele: “Stress. If something small happens at all, panic immediately ensues. During that week I had to stay in my hotel room for two more days. Tigrayers are said to have erected barricades on the streets in the city. The military responded immediately. Everyone had to stay in. The roads were deserted and the shops closed. I heard that several people were shot.”

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Geneva: Statement by the United States on the Human Rights Situation in Eritrea

Posted on by Tech Support

While we welcome the release of imprisoned members of religious groups, we are troubled that the government has prevented many religious groups from legally registering, and their members are penalized for exercising their faith.

We remain concerned by reports of indefinite and arbitrary detention, particularly of individuals arrested for exercising freedoms of expression, religion or belief, or the right to peaceful assembly.

We urge the government to reinstate the 18-month national service limit and provide alternatives for conscientious objectors.

Our question is the following: Does the Eritrean military have sufficient control over its troops to prevent them from committing human rights abuses?

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