Category: SITUATION REPORT

November 4, 2021, marks one year since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared a genocidal war on the people of Tigray, the northernmost region of the Ethiopian federation, home to an estimated 7 million people. Since November 4, 2020, in partnership with Eritrean dictator Isaias Afwerki and leaders from the neighbouring Amhara regional government, Abiy has unleashed innumerable atrocities that have devastated Tigray, destabilized Ethiopia, and undermined peace and security in the Horn of Africa. In Tigray, an estimated 70,000 people have been killed, more than 22,500 have endured weaponized sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), 70,000 have fled to neighbouring Sudan, and more than 2.2 million are internally displaced. Humanitarian agencies estimate that more than 900,000 are in famine conditions, with nearly 2 million more on the brink of famine.

The health, educational, economic, and socio-cultural institutions in the region have been deliberately decimated and in parts of Tigray still occupied by invading Amhara and Eritrean forces, such as Western Tigray, Irob, and Kunama, Tigrayans suffer daily atrocities including internment, torture, forced displacement, and extrajudicial executions. Tigrayans living across Ethiopia have been subjected to ethnic profiling and ethnically motivated attacks, with tens of thousands Tigrayan service members as well as civilians detained and forcefully disappeared throughout the country.

In a sharp escalation of its genocidal campaign, the Ethiopian government has been carrying out airstrikes in Tigray since the week of October 18, 2021. These airstrikes have targeted the capital, Mekelle – a city home to 500,000 residents and more than 400,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) – as well as Adwa and May Tsebri towns. Despite the government’s initial denial of these airstrikes and its subsequent justification that it was aiming for military targets, witness testimonies, pictures, and videos from the region clearly demonstrate that these airstrikes targeted civilian infrastructure and residential areas, killing three children on October 18, 2021 alone. The Abiy administration’s airstrikes continued on throughout the weeks of October 18 and October 25, 2021, destroying factories, hotels, and residential neighbourhoods, killing many and wounding scores.

Moreover, on October 22, 2021, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief coordinator Martin Griffiths released a statement reporting that a United Nations (UN) humanitarian flight destined for Mekelle was forced to return to Addis Ababa due to these airstrikes.

He additionally shared that the UN, which had been given clearance for the trip, had not received any prior warning of the planned attacks on Mekelle. In addition to causing devastating loss of life, psychological trauma, and destruction of civilian infrastructure, the Ethiopian government’s airstrikes have further disrupted the limited humanitarian response in the region.

On October 19, 2021, it was reported that in a call with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Abiy refused to open humanitarian access to Tigray unless he received political concessions. This admission, if substantiated, would confirm that Abiy is openly committing war crimes by intentionally starving the entire population of Tigray. It is evident that weaponized starvation has been a key pillar of Abiy’s war strategy since November 4, 2020, when Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Amhara forces began looting and destroying supplies in Tigray while simultaneously closing off supply lines and barring humanitarian organizations from the region. However, since June 28, 2021, when the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) launched a successful counteroffensive that forced the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) to retreat from most areas of Tigray, Abiy has strengthened the siege.

The Abiy administration’s siege on Tigray involves blocking the transportation of humanitarian aid, a communication and transportation blockade and cutting off all essential services and supplies. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) reported on October 28, 2021, that it was only able to reach 38,000 people in Tigray, only 4.4% of the 870,000 people who need aid every week. No trucks with humanitarian supplies have arrived in Tigray since October 18, 2021, because of the Abiy administration’s restrictions. Moreover, following the Ethiopian government’s aerial bombardment of several parts of Tigray, the UN humanitarian air service was forced to suspend humanitarian flights to Tigray. This suspension of humanitarian aid delivery helps Abiy achieve his objective of weaponizing starvation against the entire population of Tigray.

As part of the siege, transportation networks into and out of Tigray are completely blocked, with the federal government prohibiting ground and air travel into or out of Tigray. Additionally, while phone and internet services have been repeatedly disrupted in Tigray since November 2020, starting in July 2021, communication is completely cut off in many parts of the region, with Tigrayans disconnected from telephone and internet services.

It has been 11 months since Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared war on the people of Tigray. As Tigray approaches the one-year mark of the beginning of this war, the humanitarian catastrophe Abiy and his partner, Eritrean dictator Isaias Afwerki, have unleashed is unparalleled in its magnitude and severity. Conservative reports indicate that more than 70,000 Tigrayans have been killed since the onset of the war, with tens of thousands more injured. 6.8 million people in the region are in dire need of emergency aid, more than 900,000 are in conditions of famine, and 100,000 children are at risk of death from severe acute malnutrition. At least 70,000 people have fled to neighbouring Sudan while over 2.2 million people are internally displaced, sheltering in makeshift camps and schools.

The region’s healthcare infrastructure has completely collapsed, with 80% of health facilities looted, vandalized, or otherwise destroyed. In Western Tigray, which is still under the occupation of invading Eritrean, Ethiopian, and Amhara regional forces, Tigrayans continue to face ethnic cleansing, imprisonment in concentration camps, and extrajudicial executions and massacres. The Irob and Kumana, Tigray’s minority groups located on the Eritrean border, are still underfull occupation by Eritrean forces. Tigrayans living in many other parts of Ethiopia have also been targeted because of their identity, with tens of thousands evicted from their homes, fired from their jobs, arbitrarily detained, and disappeared.

Since June 28, 2020, when the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) were forced to retreat from many parts of Tigray after a decisive defeat by the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF), the Abiy administration has imposed a deadly siege on the region. The administration has obstructed the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid into the region and cut off vital supplies, including cash and fuel. The siege exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe that threatens the lives of millions, preventing the delivery of crucial food, non-food, and medical supplies into the region. The few trucks carrying humanitarian aid able to enter the region are unable to return because of the severe fuel shortage that the regional government of Tigray has long warned about. Moreover, the complete suspension of vital services such as electricity, banking, ground and air transportation, and communication is dangerously hampering the humanitarian response, heightening the death toll in the region. In addition to desperately needed food supplies, Tigray has also run out of medical supplies. The Abiy administration has prevented aid agencies from transporting any medical supplies to Tigray, confiscating and looting medication destined for Tigray. The deadly besiegement of Tigray thus continues unabated.

On September 17, 2021, U.S. President Joseph Biden signed an executive order that enables the American government to impose sanctions on those implicated in the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis in Northern Ethiopia. Similar meaningful action in the form of sanctions or the threat of sanctions is required from donor states and the international community at large to break the deadly siege that threatens the lives of millions of people in Tigray. While the international community has worked through established institutions and official channels to facilitate a ceasefire and political resolution to the crises in Ethiopia, these institutions must take urgent and forceful measures while remaining free, fair, and unbiased. As such, investigations into the atrocities perpetrated in Tigray require independent international investigators. Joint investigations undertaken in partnership with state-affiliated organizations, such as the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, a biased and unreliable organization that has repeatedly downplayed the atrocities in Tigray, cannot provide a clear and accurate picture of the humanitarian crisis on the ground.

It has now been more than nine months since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared war on the people and region of Tigray. In the 300+ days of this genocidal war, Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF), and Amhara regional forces and militias have unleashed immeasurable devastation on the people of Tigray. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, more than 22,500 women have been victims of weaponized Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), over 70,000 Tigrayans have fled to neighbouring Sudan, more than 2.2 million are internally displaced, health and economic infrastructures have been decimated, and millions of people are facing starvation because of a man-made famine. With the restoration of the National Government of Tigray at the end of June 2021, after Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) forced the ENDF to retreat, the security situation and humanitarian access within the region has vastly improved. The invading forces who were operating in the region with complete impunity have been removed from most parts of Tigray and humanitarian agencies have reported that their access within Tigray has vastly improved.

However, while the security condition has improved for a large proportion of the people of Tigray, the humanitarian catastrophe in the region is reaching devastating levels. In addition to pursuing their genocidal campaign by carrying out indiscriminate shellings, bombings, extrajudicial executions, and massacres, the Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Amhara forces have continued to besiege Tigray, encircling the region on all sides and cutting off the supply of essential food aid. Despite declaring an alleged “unilateral ceasefire,” the Abiy administration continues to block humanitarian access to the region. International organizations have reported that the Ethiopian government is obstructing and delaying aid convoys delivering life-saving assistance to the people of Tigray. Because of the Abiy administration’s obstruction, a minuscule 5% of the thousands of trucks of food that are needed to avert catastrophic famine deaths have made it into the region.

In addition to blocking desperately needed food aid, the Ethiopian government has cut off all essential supplies to Tigray, including electricity, telecommunications, internet access, and supplies of cash and fuel. On top of making the daily lives of ordinary Tigrayans exceedingly difficult, these disruptions make it impossible for humanitarian agencies to provide the necessary aid.

Meanwhile, the ethnic profiling and ethnically targeted attacks against Tigrayans across the country, including in Addis Ababa, Amhara, and Somali regions is intensifying. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that ethnic Tigrayans in Addis Ababa are not only facing arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention but are also falling victim to forced disappearances, indicating an alarming new escalation of the ethnic profiling. In this report, HRW emphasized the need for donor countries to express their concerns and call for an explanation from the Ethiopian government regarding these waves of ethnic profiling and mass arrests. The inaction of donors and the international community has empowered Abiy to ramp up his attacks against Tigrayans.

While undermining Ethiopia’s relationship with its traditional partners such as the United States and Europe, Abiy is cozying up to dictators, traveling to Eritrea and then to Turkey to sign a military agreement in late August. Shortly after these trips, it was reported that Abiy had acquired armaments from Turkey and Eritrean troops began to mobilize to Tigrayan territory. With a catastrophic war that has displaced millions threatening to destabilize the entire country, a second round of assaults by the Ethiopian government and its allies would exacerbate the humanitarian disaster and risks further destabilizing the entire Horn of Africa.

On June 28, 2021, nearly eight months after the declaration of war on the region and people of Tigray, the military and political dynamics on the ground changed dramatically. The Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) took over control of Mekelle and many other parts of Tigray on June 28, 2021, after the retreat of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF). The next day, Eritrean Defense Forces retreated from many parts of Tigray they were controlling, including Shire, Mai-sebri, and Korarit in Western Tigray. The Ethiopian government claimed that the retreat of ENDF forces was pursuant to a unilateral, humanitarian ceasefire declared hours after its troops vacated Mekelle. However, numerous sources on the ground concur that the TDF’s successful battleground counteroffensive preceded the retreat of the ENDF and its allies, including Eritrean and Amhara forces. Journalists and humanitarian workers have shared that the liberation of large parts of Tigray, including its capital city Mekelle, was met with jubilation and celebration on the streets.

Despite this welcome development, the situation remains dire as Tigray is still under siege. Since November 4, 2020, the Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara forces have carried out atrocities that amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide. There are verified reports of countless massacres and extrajudicial executions, extensive weaponization of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), a displacement crisis affecting millions, and a man-made famine that threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands in Tigray, some of whom have already begun to starve to death.

Despite its declaration of a unilateral ceasefire, ostensibly on humanitarian grounds, the Abiy administration continues to block humanitarian convoys from going into Tigray, cutting off communication, transportation, and utilities —thereby aggravating the humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray. The food stock that humanitarian organizations have is severely depleted, and with the transportation of aid into Tigray prohibited by the Ethiopian government, the starvation crisis is set to reach its worst stage yet, endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands who are under siege. As the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stated, a meaningful ceasefire means “doing everything possible so that aid reaches the millions of children, women and men who urgently need it” ^[1]Joseph Borrell Fontelles [ @JosepBorrellF]. (2021, July 2). A cease fire doesn’t mean cutting a region off power or destroying critical infrastructure. A credible cease fire means doing everything … Continue reading.

While continuing to besiege Tigray by cutting off critical services and mobilizing troops to the region’s borders, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration and its allies have also ramped up the ethnically motivated verbal, physical, and existential attacks against Tigrayans throughout the country. Thousands of Tigrayans are arbitrarily arrested, detained, and face a new wave of ethnic targeting across Ethiopia, including in Addis Ababa, the Amhara region, and the Somali region. Ordinary Tigrayans across the country are increasingly under attack from the government as well as fellow citizens. The federal government and Abiy himself have fueled this flame of ethnic hatred, accusing all Tigrayans of being enemies of the ENDF and traitors to the country. In a July 18 statement, Abiy described the enemy as the “cancer of Ethiopia” and vowed to remove what he labelled an “invasive weed.” Similar to the derogatory use of the term “junta” to describe Tigrayans, words like “cancer” and “weed” serve to criminalize and demonize all Tigrayans, regardless of their political affiliation.

In a July 25, 2021, television address, the President of the Amhara regional government, Mr. Agegnehu Teshager, escalated the dehumanizing and inflammatory language against Tigrayans by declaring that the people of Tigray
are the enemy of all Ethiopians, including the Amhara, Oromo, Afar, and Somali peoples, after asserting that they will not rest until this enemy is eliminated. Labelling over 7 million Tigrayans as “cancer,” “invasive weed,” or “enemies of
the people of Ethiopia” and calling for their elimination is an explicit announcement of the genocidal intention that has fueled the war on Tigray. Unless those who use their power to espouse this dangerous genocidal rhetoric are held accountable for leading and fueling ethnically motivated attacks, the situation for the millions of Tigrayans will become even more life-threatening.

Since the official declaration of war on November 4, 2020, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF), and Amhara forces have wreaked havoc in Tigray, committing atrocities that amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide. This brutal war has caused immense human suffering with countless reports of massacres and extrajudicial executions, widespread weaponized Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), a man-made famine, and a refugee crisis that has displaced millions.

In addition to the massacres carried out in Axum, Maryam Dengelat, and Kola Tembien in which hundreds of civilians were killed by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, new video evidence of the January Mahbere Dego massacres surfaced in July. These extremely graphic videos show the ENDF grouping unarmed civilians by a cliff edge, executing and throwing their bodies over the cliff. A June 16 letter written by the interim administration of the Mai Kinetal zone in Central Tigray revealed that 440 people have been killed, 558 people have been victims of SGBV, and 125 people had died of starvation in this small region alone. Finally, an aerial bombardment on June 22 by the Ethiopian Air Force of the market town of Togoga, which is located 25 kilometers from Mekelle, killed over 60 civilians and injured hundreds. This Togoga Market airstrike took place around noon, with as many as 3,000 civilians trading goods on a busy market day. In an effort to maximize casualties, Ethiopian forces also blocked ambulances that were attempting to reach Togoga to help survivors.

As we continue to receive more reports of the atrocities committed in Tigray, the number of reported cases of SGBV, including rape and gang-rape is steeply rising. While over 500 cases of SGBV had been officially reported in May 2021, there were over 120 cases reported during the first week of June alone. As the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) reported, at least 22,500 women and girls in Tigray will seek medical help for SGBV in 2021. Due to the systematic destruction of health facilities, road blockades in the region, and the psychological trauma around SGBV, we know that reporting is hindered and this is a very conservative estimate. It is suspected that the actual number of women and girls who have endured SGBV is much higher. Finally, the man-made famine that has gripped the region will likely kill tens of thousands, unless corrective measures are taken immediately. The USAID revealed at the end of June that the number of people living in famine conditions in Tigray had grown exponentially, rising to a staggering 900,000 people. Of these, at least 33,000 are children, who are at high risk of acute malnutrition and famine.

On June 28, the ENDF began an abrupt withdrawal from Tigray’s capital city of Mekelle and many other parts of Tigray, after suffering military defeat at the hands of the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). Despite announcing what it has claimed to be a unilateral ceasefire, the Abiy Administration has stated that it has the power and ability to return to Tigray to continue committing atrocities and brutalizing the people. The ENDF reportedly emptied out banks, looted public and private property, and destroyed crucial infrastructure on their way out of Mekelle. Most notably, ENDF forces dismantled satellite equipment in UNICEF’s offices in Mekelle, in violation of international humanitarian law.

Moreover, the Abiy Administration imposed a telecommunications, transportation, and banking blockade in Tigray, exacerbating the insecurity of millions of people and worsening the humanitarian crisis. In addition, three days after the ceasefire on July 1, Amhara Regional Special Forces destroyed the bridge over the Tekeze River, which connects Gondar (Amhara) to Shire (Northwestern Tigray). The Tekeze bridge was one of the main supply routes for transferring aid to Western Tigray. According to Rashid Abdi, a Horn of Africa analyst, 60 percent of aid traffic goes through the Tekeze Bridge. The
destruction of the bridge is part of the Ethiopian government’s strategy to starve and isolate Tigray. Now that Tigray’s legitimately elected government has taken back control of many parts of Tigray, a full restoration of all essential services and unhindered humanitarian access by the federal government is required to ensure that thousands of people in Tigray do not die from the famine engineered by Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea.

Finally, in a war that has unleashed incomprehensible brutalities time and again, in June, humanitarian workers who have dedicated their lives to helping civilians were brutally attacked. OMNA Tigray has put out a press release (accessible here), but would like to reiterate its heartfelt condolences to the families of Maria Hernandez, Yohannes Halefom Reda, and Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael, who were killed while trying to provide aid to communities in dire need of assistance. In addition to Hernandez, Yohannes, and Tedros, at least 10 other humanitarian workers have tragically lost their lives in Tigray. Instead of ensuring their safety and security, in a televised June 23 interview, Abiy attacked and demonized humanitarian workers, which exposes workers on the ground to more danger. The harassment, attacks, and killing of humanitarian workers is part and parcel of the overall strategy of brutalizing and starving the people of Tigray, by scaring off the people who are best placed to provide relief. We condemn attacks against humanitarian workers in the strongest terms and call on international actors to ensure their protection, working in concert with the restored government of Tigray and the TDF.