U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock warned Thursday that “a campaign of destruction” is taking place in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray province, saying at least 4.5 million people need assistance and demanding that forces from neighboring Eritrea accused of committing atrocities in Tigray leave Ethiopia.
Tag: UN
ohchr: Ethiopia: Persistent, credible reports of grave violations in Tigray underscore urgent need for human rights access – Bachelet
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday stressed the urgent need for an objective, independent assessment of the facts on the ground in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, given the persistent reports of serious human rights violations and abuses she continues to receive.
“Deeply distressing reports of sexual and gender-based violence, extrajudicial killings, widespread destruction and looting of public and private property by all parties continue to be shared with us, as well as reports of continued fighting in central Tigray in particular,” Bachelet said. “Credible information also continues to emerge about serious violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict in Tigray in November last year.”
VOA: UN Calls On Ethiopia to Allow Probe Into Alleged Mass Killings in Tigray
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights called on Ethiopia to permit an investigation into allegations of murders and sexual violence in the Tigray region, which may amount to war crimes.
“We urge the government of Ethiopia to grant my office and other independent monitors access to the Tigray region, with a view to establishing the facts and contributing to accountability, regardless of the affiliation of the perpetrators,” Michelle Bachelet said Thursday in a statement.
Federal troops deployed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have been fighting forces of the region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Thousands of people have been killed in the area where hundreds of thousands of people were dependent on food aid before the conflict began, according to the U.N.
Geneva: Statement by the United States on the Human Rights Situation in Eritrea
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?
aljazeera: UN – Tigray malnutrition ‘very critical’, response woefully poor
A new United Nations report has sounded the alarm over a “very critical malnutrition situation” unfolding in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, citing continuing insecurity, bureaucracy and the presence of “various armed actors” as major obstructions to the efforts to deliver life-saving aid to rural areas still out of reach for humanitarian workers more than 100 days into the conflict.
“Despite some progress, the humanitarian response remains drastically inadequate compared to the sheer magnitude of needs across the region,” the report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) said on Saturday.
UN: ‘We had to run for our lives’: The pregnant women fleeing Tigray
Pregnant women are amongst the tens of thousands of people in need of assistance in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, where fighting between the Government and regional forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been ongoing since November 2020. Hiwot* is one of them.
UN: ‘Incomplete but troubling picture’ reveals impact of Tigray crisis on children
Shire has a population of approximately 170,000, and now hosts at least 52,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are trucking water to the town, where there was no drinking water as the water treatment plant is not functioning. The mobile network, Internet and banking services are still not working.
Many IDPs are sheltering in schools, none of which are operational, and conditions at displacement sites are dire.
“Many families were separated as they fled, and there were many unaccompanied or separated children among the IDPs”, said UNICEF. “Many families reported deep psychosocial distress and said they did not feel it was safe to return home, speaking of a persistent and pervasive fear of present and future harm.”
HRW: Ethiopia – Unlawful Shelling of Tigray Urban Areas
Ethiopian federal forces carried out apparently indiscriminate shelling of urban areas in the Tigray region in November 2020 in violation of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said today. Artillery attacks at the start of the armed conflict struck homes, hospitals, schools, and markets in the city of Mekelle, and the towns of Humera and Shire, killing at least 83 civilians, including children, and wounding over 300.
“At the war’s start, Ethiopian federal forces fired artillery into Tigray’s urban areas in an apparently indiscriminate manner that was bound to cause civilian casualties and property damage,” said Laetitia Bader, Horn of Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “These attacks have shattered civilian lives in Tigray and displaced thousands of people, underscoring the urgency for ending unlawful attacks and holding those responsible to account.”
HRW: Unlawful Shelling of Tigray Urban Areas
Ethiopian federal forces carried out apparently indiscriminate shelling of urban areas in the Tigray region in November 2020 in violation of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said today. Artillery attacks at the start of the armed conflict struck homes, hospitals, schools, and markets in the city of Mekelle, and the towns of Humera and Shire, killing at least 83 civilians, including children, and wounding over 300.
In the western border town of Humera, residents said that on November 9, artillery fired from Eritrea terrified unsuspecting civilians, striking them in their homes and as they fled. The shelling damaged residential areas in the Kebele 02 neighborhood, and struck near a church and a school, near a mosque in Kebele 01, and hit areas near the town’s main hospital.
Aid agencies renew appeals for aid access to all areas in Ethiopia’s Tigray
The UN renewed appeals on Friday for humanitarian access to all areas of Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region to help people displaced fighting, forcing the most desperate to eat leaves to survive..