US Government Conducts Review into Possible War Crimes In Tigray

💭 “የኮሚቴው ሊቀመንበር ቦብ ሜኔንዴዝ “በእውነቱ እነዚህ የጦር ወንጀሎች ናቸው ብለን እናምናለን። በዓለም ላይ እንደዚህ ያሉ ነገሮች ሲከሰቱ በጭፍን ዞር ማለት አንችልም፡፡”

💭 “የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያን ፓትርያርክ አቡነ ማቲያስ፤ “ጦርነቱ በትግራይ ህዝብ ላይ ‘የዘር ማጥፋት’ነው” ሲሉ የሰጡትን አስተያየቶችም ልብ የሚስብ ነው ብለውታል።“

💭 “The chairman of the committee, Bob Menendez, said: “We believe in fact these are war crimes. We cannot turn blindly away when such things happen in the world.”

💭 „He said it also took great notice of comments by the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Mathias, “who has termed the conflict a ‘genocide’ against the Tigrayan people“.

US increases pressure on Ethiopia with sanctions imposed and congressional oversight

US President Joe Biden’s administration is conducting a review into possible war crimes committed in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, a senior official told Congress on Thursday.

“We have a fact-based review under way that is being conducted very quickly and the secretary of state will have the final determination,” Robert Godec, acting assistant secretary of state for African affairs, told the Senate foreign relations committee.

Washington takes “extremely seriously” comments by UN Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on “atrocities that may well amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity”, Mr Godec said.

He said it also took great notice of comments by the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Mathias, “who has termed the conflict a ‘genocide’ against the Tigrayan people”.

Fighting in the region is approaching its eighth month and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.

Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, along with allied militias, began an offensive in November against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

The fighting has displaced about two million people and left 5.2 million in urgent need, the UN says.

Human rights organisations such as Doctors without Borders and Amnesty International have documented cases of sexual violence, extrajudicial killings and massacres, as well as the use of starvation as a weapon.

“We are acutely aware of the need to determine whether the conduct meets the legal standard for atrocities or war crimes,” Mr Godec said.

The chairman of the committee, Bob Menendez, said: “We believe in fact these are war crimes. We cannot turn blindly away when such things happen in the world.”

Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Centre, said a war crimes conclusion by the US government would go a long way in increasing pressure on Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

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