the safety and security of humanitarian personnel must be ensured, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Since the beginning of the conflict in Tigray, the EU, together with its Member States, has been one of the largest humanitarian donors to the crisis and has been consistently advocating for the respect of IHL, including the obligation to protect civilians. I reiterate this call once more, condemning all crimes against civilians, including rape, and calling the perpetrators to be swiftly brought to justice.”
Category: Independent Investigation
In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, reports of sexual slavery and violent rape
Doctors showed Reuters the bloodstained stone and two 3-inch nails they said they had removed from her body.
The woman, 27, is among hundreds who have reported that they were subjected to horrific sexual violence by Ethiopian and allied Eritrean soldiers after fighting broke out in November in the mountainous northern region of Ethiopia, doctors said.
Amnesty: Eritrean troops still killing in Ethiopia’s Tigray
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Eritrean soldiers remain in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region and are killing civilians weeks after Ethiopia said the soldiers would leave, according to Amnesty International.
witnesses have told The Associated Press that the soldiers roamed freely in parts of Tigray, looting and killing, as they supported Ethiopian security forces and other allied fighters in pursuing the now-fugitive Tigray leaders. Eritrea’s government has long been an enemy of the Tigray leaders.
aljazeera: Eritrean troops open fire in Tigray’s Adwa, kill 3: Rights group
In a statement on Wednesday, the rights watchdog said the “unprovoked attack” took place in the centre of Adwa town early on Monday, more than two weeks after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Eritrea had agreed to withdraw the forces it had sent into the northern Ethiopian region during the conflict that broke out there in November 2020.
Amnesty: Ethiopia: Three killed, 19 injured in Tigray as Eritrean troops open fire on civilians
Amnesty International can confirm that Eritrean troops killed three people and injured at least 19 in an unprovoked attack on civilians in the centre of Adwa town on 12 April.
“There must be justice and accountability for war crimes and human rights violations in Tigray. This attack and other allegations of violations must be independently and impartially investigated by an international inquiry “
At least 16 people killed by armed men in Ethiopia – police
“We’ve never seen such an incident at this scale before where many civilians lost their lives. We are still investigating who these armed men are.”
A local hospital admitted 28 patients who suffered injuries from explosives and bullet wounds, Mohammed Hassen, head of Dubti Hospital in Afar, told Reuters.
Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a UN Security Council Open Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict
In particular, right now the Security Council needs to pay attention to deeply disturbing reports of mass sexual violence occurring in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. We as a Council must address reports of women being forced by military elements to have sex for basic commodities, and reports of sexual violence against women and girls in refugee camps, among other horrific information. The international community must work to ensure that all those involved respect their obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law. And the international community must establish immediate protection mechanisms, humanitarian aid, and other needed services for survivors. Independent, credible investigations must be conducted to hold perpetrators of these, and other human rights abuses and violations committed in Tigray, accountable.
the irish times: War in Tigray threatens to end Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed’s dream of unity
“They put a gun in my mouth,” he adds, before stabbing him and leaving him for dead in the street.
Abiy himself conceded recently that the war had dragged on much longer than he expected. TPLF fighters, he said, had dispersed “like flour in the winds”. He added that the federal army was fighting a guerrilla war on at least eight separate fronts across the country.
minnpost: Thousands of Falash Mura, caught up in violence in Ethiopia, seek entry into Israel
Ethiopia is in turmoil. In November 2020, fighting in the Tigray region erupted between Ethiopian government troops and militias in Tigray known as the TPLF. The violence has been horrific.
Crimes reportedly include genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, rape and other sexual violence, and crimes against humanity. At least 2.2 million people have been displaced, many of them women and children, and an estimated 60,000 people have fled into neighboring Sudan. The need for food, water, shelter, and medical aid is at catastrophic levels, while access to those in need is either limited or nonexistent. U.N. watchdogs have been denied observation. The internet has been shut down since November, and journalists have been arrested.
INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIGEST: Is Ethiopia at Risk of Genocide?
Over the course of six days in November 2020, Ethiopian government forces and allies executed two hundred civilians in Adi Hageray, a town in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Eyewitnesses report indiscriminate house-by-house killings, with victims ranging from children to ninety-year-olds.
Standing alone, this atrocity deserves international outrage – but in reality, the Adi Hageray massacre is just one tragedy within an ongoing war that has killed over 50,000 civilians and involved over 150 mass killings since November.