UN calls for investigation into possible war crimes in Tigray

 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday called for an "objective and independent investigation" in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, after having "corroborated serious violations" likely to constitute "war crimes and crimes against humanity".

In a statement issued in Geneva, Bachelet said her office "has managed to corroborate information on some incidents that occurred in November last year, indicating indiscriminate bombings in the towns of Mekele, Humera and Adigrat in the Tigray region" in the north of the country, the scene of several months of fighting.

The UN office also verified "reports of serious violations and abuses including massacres in Aksoum and Dengelat in central Tigray by Eritrean armed forces," the statement said.

"Serious violations of international law, which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, may have been committed."

The forces on the ground include the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the Eritrean armed forces, the Amhara Regional Forces and affiliated militias, the same source said.

- "General denials" -

"With multiple actors in the conflict, general denials", there is "a clear need for an objective and independent assessment," said Ms. Bachelet.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the Ethiopian government to allow her office and other UN investigators access to Tigray "to establish the facts and help ensure accountability, regardless of the origin of the perpetrators".

She stressed that her office continued to receive information about ongoing fighting in central Tigray.

She deplored "deeply distressing reports of sexual and gender-based violence, extrajudicial killings, widespread destruction and looting of public and private property by all parties".

"Without prompt, impartial and transparent investigations and without holding those responsible accountable, I fear that (human rights) violations will continue to be committed with impunity and the situation will remain volatile for a long time to come," she said.

Ms. Bachelet also expressed concern about the detentions this week in Tigray of journalists and translators working for local and international media.

As they were released, she highlighted worrying remarks by a member of the government that representatives of the "misleading international media" would be held responsible.

"Victims and witnesses of human rights violations and abuses must not be prevented from sharing their testimony for fear of reprisals," Ms. Bachelet said.

In late November, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared an end to the military operation in Tigray with the capture of Mekele, but authorities fleeing the region promised to continue the fight and fighting has been reported since.

Several massacres have also been documented, some attributed by survivors to Eritrean troops in Tigray, whose presence continues to be denied to this day by Addis Ababa and Asmara.

Ethiopian and Eritrean troops responsible for possible "war crimes" in Tigray (UN).

 

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US calls for withdrawal of Eritrean forces in Ethiopia following investigation into massacre

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Saturday for the withdrawal of Eritrean and Ethiopian regional forces from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, and an end to killings and human rights violations there.

His call came a day after investigations by CNN and Amnesty International into the massacre of civilians in two separate assaults in the northern Tigray region late last year.

Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military operation against leaders in the Tigray region. CNN has previously reported that soldiers from neighboring Eritrea have perpetuated many of the extrajudicial killings, assaults and human rights abuses in the Tigray region.

"The United States is gravely concerned by reported atrocities and the overall deteriorating situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia," Blinken said in a statement Saturday.

 "We strongly condemn the killings, forced removals and displacements, sexual assaults, and other extremely serious human rights violations and abuses by several parties that multiple organizations have reported in Tigray." He added that "those responsible for them must be held accountable."

Eyewitnesses told CNN that a group of Eritrean soldiers opened fire on Maryam Dengelat church in Dengelat village, eastern Tigray, on November 30 while hundreds of congregants were celebrating mass. Dozens of people died over three days of mayhem, with soldiers slaughtering local residents, displaced people and pilgrims, they said.

Ethiopia responded to CNN's request for comment with a statement that did not directly address the attack in Dengelat. Eritrea has yet to respond to a CNN request for comment.

Amnesty International charged in a report Friday that Eritrean forces killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the city of Axum in November through indiscriminate shelling and shooting and extrajudicial killings, in what the human rights organization said could amount to a crime against humanity.

 

Members of the Amhara Special Forces keep guard at the 5th Battalion of the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Army in Dansha, Ethiopia, on November 25, 2020.

In his statement, Blinken recognized the Ethiopian Prime Minister's commitment to allow humanitarian aid to the region, adding: "The international community needs to work collectively to ensure that these commitments are realized.

"The immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces and Amhara regional forces from Tigray are essential first steps," Blinken said, referring to forces from Ethiopia's Amhara state, which neighbors Tigray. "They should be accompanied by unilateral declarations of cessation of hostilities by all parties to the conflict and a commitment to permit unhindered delivery of assistance to those in Tigray."

Blinken said the US was committed to working with the international community to achieve these goals and that the US Agency for International Development would send a disaster assistance response team to Ethiopia.

"We ask international partners, especially the African Union and regional partners, to work with us to address the crisis in Tigray, including through action at the UN and other relevant bodies," he added.

After seizing control of Tigray's main cities in late November, Abiy declared victory and maintained that no civilians were harmed in the offensive. Abiy has also denied that soldiers from Eritrea crossed into Tigray to support Ethiopian forces.

 

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Un ups food aid to Ethiopia’s Tigray over starvation fears

The announcement comes as fears grow of a humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray, three months after fighting erupted between forces loyal to the regional ruling party and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government.

 

Ethiopian refugees, who fled the Tigray conflict, gather to receive aid at the Tenedba camp in Mafaza, eastern Sudan on 8 January 2021, upon their arrival at the camp from the reception center. Picture: Ashraf Shazly/AFP

ADDIS ABABA – The head of the World Food Programme said Saturday he had reached a deal with Ethiopia to expand access for aid workers and "scale up" operations in the country's conflict-hit northern Tigray region.

David Beasley's announcement on Twitter comes as fears grow of a humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray, three months after fighting erupted between forces loyal to the regional ruling party and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government.

Important breakthroughs in #Ethiopia today! @WFP and the Government of Ethiopia have agreed on concrete steps to expand access for humanitarians across #Tigray, and WFP will scale up its operations. Nearly 3 million people need our help NOW and we have no time to waste. pic.twitter.com/u3y919K3bK

— David Beasley (@WFPChief) February 6, 2021

 

The government and WFP "have agreed on concrete steps to expand access for humanitarians across #Tigray, and WFP will scale up its operations," Beasley said on Twitter following a visit to the Tigray capital Mekele.

A WFP statement said Ethiopian officials had agreed to speed up reviews of aid workers' requests to move within the region.

It also said WFP had agreed to government requests to provide emergency food aid to one million people in Tigray and help with transportation to hard-to-reach rural areas.

Ethiopian peace minister Muferihat Kamil said in a separate statement the government was "moving with urgency to approve requests for international staff movements into and within Tigray."

Top UN officials and international NGOs have repeatedly complained about access restrictions to Tigray, where fighting persists despite Abiy's declaration of victory in late November after federal forces entered the regional capital.

The government has downplayed fears of widespread starvation while touting its own efforts to meet the needs of a population of around six million.

It says it has provided emergency food aid to 1.8 million people.

Tigray remains largely cut off to media, making it difficult to assess the situation on the ground.

During a visit to Ethiopia last week, UN refugees chief Filippo Grandi stressed the need for a more efficient system of facilitating access for aid workers and distributing aid.

"We heard from everywhere, including from the local authorities, that more is needed" beyond what the government is providing, Grandi said.

"The situation as I said is very grave, is very urgent. Without further action it will get worse."

In his Twitter post on Saturday, Beasley said "nearly 3 million people need our help NOW and we have no time to waste."

 

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Sudan denies occupying Ethiopian territory in contested region

Foreign Ministry spokesman tells News Media its troops redeployed on the Sudanese side of the border with Ethiopia.

The decades-old dispute over al-Fashqa, land within Sudan’s international boundaries that has long been settled by Ethiopian farmers, erupted into weeks of clashes between forces from both sides late last year [File: El Tayeb Siddig/Reuters]

Sudan has denied claims by Ethiopia of occupying its territory, in the latest dispute over the contested al-Fashqa area.

Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mansour Boulad said on Wednesday the Sudanese army had redeployed its forces in the border area with Ethiopia, and did not go beyond the Sudanese territory.

In an exclusive interview with media on Wednesday, Boulad said claims by Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti of Sudan occupying Ethiopian lands “are not true”.

“Our choice so far is that we must deal with the situation according to the mechanisms of good neighbourliness and cooperation between the two countries, but if Ethiopia does the opposite, we will have another position according to the circumstances,” he said.

The exact boundary of al-Fashqa – where the northwest of Ethiopia’s Amhara region meets Sudan’s breadbasket Gadarif state – is rarely delineated on the ground.

According to the colonial-era treaties of 1902 and 1907, the international boundary runs to the east.

This means that the land belongs to Sudan – but Ethiopians had settled in the area and were cultivating there and paying their taxes to Ethiopian authorities.

In 2008, the two governments settled on a compromise, which resulted in Ethiopia acknowledged the legal boundary, but Sudan allowing the Ethiopians to continue living there undisturbed.

Ethiopia committed to ‘peaceful resolution’

In late December, Sudanese soldiers reportedly moved up to 40km (25 miles) into Ethiopian-held territories, including the contested fertile agricultural region of al-Fashqa.

Ethiopia says Sudan took advantage of its forces being distracted by the Tigray conflict to occupy Ethiopian land and loot properties.

It then launched a diplomatic effort to get Sudanese forces out of the territories to promote a return to the normal mechanisms of dialogue to resolve the century-long border dispute.

“Ethiopia is committed to a peaceful resolution of the border differences with Sudan,” Dina Mufti said in a press statement on Tuesday.

Any possibility of mediation would require Sudan to pull its forces to positions prior to late December, when Ethiopia first signalled a breach of its borders, he added.

“We have had mechanisms, technical and political committees,” he said, adding that the two countries need to get back to those resolution mechanisms through dialogue.

Asked how long Ethiopia would maintain a diplomatic stance while Sudan remains in the contested territories, Mufti said: “We will cross that river when we come to it.”

Sudanese military leaders have not shown any sign of heeding Ethiopia’s call, though, and reiterate they reclaimed their own territories.

 

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Fear arose as fabled ark could be among ancient treasures in danger in Ethiopia’s deadly war

Tigray’s rich heritage is ‘highly endangered’, experts warn, as the conflict escalates near key cultural sites

The sacred Book of Miracles in the Church of Our Lady of Zion in Aksum, Ethiopia: experts fear sacred texts, Bibles and treasures are being looted amid fighting in the Tigray region. Photograph: agefotostock/Alamy

It has been hidden from view for thousands of years, and its whereabouts never proved. But if the Ark of the Covenant indeed rests in a chapel in northern Ethiopia, this extraordinary religious treasure could be at grave risk from fighting in the area.

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, which reputedly houses the ark – a casket of gilded wood containing stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, according to the Bible – was the scene of a recent massacre of 750 people, reports filtering out of the country say.

International experts have raised the alarm over the security of the ark and other religious and cultural artefacts as a result of escalating conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

Among those voicing concern are academics from the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies at Hamburg University, who warn that Tigray’s rich cultural heritage is “highly endangered”. In an appeal, they say reports suggest “hostilities are taking place in close proximity to renowned cultural sites”.

They add: “There are reports of looting of manuscripts from Tigrayan churches and monasteries, and warnings that they will ... be taken out of Ethiopia to be sold at antiquities markets in other countries.”

The conflict began in early November when Ethiopia’s Nobel peace prize-winning prime minister Abiy Ahmed sent federal forces to attack the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled the country for almost three decades until 2018. Abiy has accused the TPLF, which has its own military, of seeking to destabilise Ethiopia and holding illegitimate elections. Troops from Eritrea, Ethiopia’s former enemy to the north, have crossed the border to fight alongside Abiy’s forces.

 

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, in Aksum, said to be home to the Ark of the Covenant. Photograph: Neil McAllister/Alamy

Reliable reports of the fighting and its impact have been scarce due to a communications blackout and lack of humanitarian access, but the UN has warned of mass killings, the displacement of civilians and looting. More than 21,000 people have reportedly fled across the border to Sudan.

Heritage experts readily acknowledge that the humanitarian crisis must take priority over protection of the country’s artefacts and antiquities. But, said Alison Phipps, professor of languages and intercultural studies at Glasgow University, “these are sacred sites and of incalculable value to the history of Christianity and its development in Ethiopia in particular.

“Attacks on cultural heritage are devastating in the context of war as they speak of the destruction of the soul of a people, of things which have endured through the ancestors.”

Catherine D’Andrea, director of the Eastern Tigray archaeological project at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, said the region was “truly blessed with numerous and varied forms of tangible and intangible cultural patrimony”.

They include monumental architecture such as the Unesco world heritage site of Aksum, rock-hewn churches and remains of one of the earliest mosques in Africa, which are at high risk of damage, she said. “In addition, there are less visible cultural treasures, including manuscripts, paintings, oral traditions and artefacts held by churches and monasteries scattered throughout rural areas of Tigray. These tend not to be fully documented, so we can’t even begin to calculate the potential losses if destroyed or pillaged.”

 

Despite the absence of verifiable information, damage from the conflict to the recently reconstructed 7th-century mosque complex at Negash had been clearly documented, said D’Andrea. “It appears that the structure was shelled and images from within are suggestive of looting.”

At the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum, fleeing civilians have said the aim of the attack, in which hundreds of people hiding in the church were brought out and shot, was to remove the ark to Addis Ababa, according to Martin Plaut, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

The ancient Debre Damo monastery, which dates from the 6th century, is reported to have been attacked. Photograph: Tim Wege/Alamy

The ark is believed by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians to have been brought to Aksum by Menelik, the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel, after Jerusalem was sacked in 586/587BC and Solomon’s temple destroyed. It has since been guarded by a succession of monks who are forbidden until death to leave the church grounds.

As well as the potential threat to the ark, Eritrean troops were “looting everything they can get their hands on” in the region, Plaut told the Observer. “They’ve also gone through some monasteries and churches, taking Bibles and icons back across the border. It’s absolutely appalling.”

The monastery of Debre Damo, dating from the sixth century and containing painted ceilings and walls, is also reported to have been attacked.

Alessandro Bausi of the Hiob Ludolf Centre said he was “extremely concerned that unique artefacts will be destroyed or lost”. The centre is calling on Ethiopia’s state institutions to do “everything possible to protect the cultural property of Tigray”, and for warring parties “to abstain from attacking the cultural heritage and to respect the integrity of the places, both religious and secular, where this heritage is preserved”.

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