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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US Hosts Ethiopian Orthodox Church Head After Tigray Warning

The United States ambassador to Ethiopia on Monday hosted the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church after he warned of “genocide” in the Tigray region in his first public comments on the war.

In a Facebook post, the U.S. Embassy said Ambassador Geeta Pasi discussed the humanitarian situation in Tigray with the patriarch, Abune Mathias, as well as his video message released last week and first reported by The Associated Press.

In the message, filmed by an American friend on a mobile phone and taken out of Ethiopia, the church leader said that “they want to destroy the people of Tigray” and said his previous attempts to speak out on the six-month conflict had been blocked.

The patriarch, an ethnic Tigrayan, also said that “many barbarisms have been conducted” these days all over Ethiopia, but “what is happening in Tigray is of the highest brutality and cruelty.” Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting between Ethiopian and allied forces and Tigray ones, the result of a political struggle that turned deadly in November.

The ambassador hosted the patriarch at her residence in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, and invited him to attend future interfaith community meetings at the embassy to “further explore and continue their conversation,” the Facebook post said.

It was not clear whether the patriarch requested protection from the U.S. and the embassy did not comment on that. While the U.S. government has been outspoken on the Tigray conflict, notably urging soldiers from neighboring Eritrea to leave immediately, the embassy has been publicly quiet.

The spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Billene Seyoum, did not respond to questions about the patriarch’s comments. The prime minister, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been under growing international pressure as atrocities in Tigray come to light, especially those committed by Eritrean forces, whose presence Abiy denied for months before admitting they were there.

Ethiopia’s government says it is “deeply dismayed” by the deaths of civilians, blames the former Tigray leaders and claims normality is returning in the region of some 6 million people. It has denied widespread profiling and targeting of Tigrayans.

But witnesses have told the AP about seeing bodies strewn on the ground on communities, Tigrayans rounded up and expelled and women raped by Ethiopian, Eritrean and allied forces. Others have described family members and colleagues including priests being swept up and detained, often without charge.

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Al-Jazeera on Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church patriarch condemnation of #TigrayGenocide

The United Nations is warning aid convoys to the Tigray region in Ethiopia are being blocked, leaving thousands without humanitarian relief and hundreds malnourished.

Now, after six months of conflict, one of the country’s top religious leaders has spoken out against what he describes as “genocide” in Tigray.

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አቡነ ማትያስ፤ “የትግራይ ሕዝብ ምን ቢያደርጋችሁ ነው ከምድረ ገጽ ልታጠፉት የፈለጋችሁት?”

እንግዲህ አሁን ቃኤላውያን የዋቄዮ-አላህ-አቴቴ ጭፍሮች የሚቀድማቸው የለምና እንደ ቁራዎች መንጫጫት ይጀምራሉ። እስከ አሁን “አባታችን ይፍቱን!” ሲሉ የነበሩት ሁሉ አሁን “ጁንታችን ይተውን!” ማለት ይጀምራሉ። እንግዲህ ምን ይደረጋል ይቅበዝበዙ እንጅ! ግን ልብ ብለናል፤ ብጹእነታቸውንም ሆነ ሌሎች የቤተ ክርስቲያን አባቶችን ለማነጋገር ወይም ቃለ-መጠይቅ ለማድረግ የሞከረ/የፈለገ አንድም “ኢትዮጵያዊ” ሜዲያ የለም። ባለፉት ስድስት ወራት ይህን ቃለ-መጠይቅ ያደረጉት ባዕዳውያን ፈረንጆች ብቻ መሆናቸው ለኢትዮጵያውያን ትልቅ ውርደት ነው። ብዙ የትግራይ ልጆች የሚከታተሏቸውና ኢትዮጵያ ያሉ እንደ “ኢትዮ-ፎረም” + “አውሎ ሜዲያ” ለምን ይህን የቤት ሥራ ሊሠሩ አልቻሉም/አልፈለጉም? ጋዜጠኛ ነን ለሚሉ ሁሉ ከዚህ የበለጠ ትልቅ ዕድልና አጋጣሚ እኮ የለም።

የትግራይ ልጆች ከእነዚህ ሜዲያዎች “ተጠንቀቁ፤ መስማት የምትፈልጉትን እየነገሯችሁ በስሜታቸውና በመንፈሳችሁ እየተጫወቱባችሁ ነው፤ እግረ መንገዳቸውንም ትንሽ የውጭ ገንዘብ ይሰበስቡ ዘንድ ነው” ብያለሁ። እስኪ በቻነሎቹ የአስተያየት መስጫ ሳጥኖች ውስጥ የሚቀመጡትን መል ዕክቶች አንብቡ፤ በተሰራጨው ዜና ላይ ሳይሆን አስተያየት በመስጠት ፋንታ ቻነሎቹን/ባለቤቶቹን “የሚያመልኩ” ነው የሚመስሉት። ተጠንቀቁ እንጠንቀቅ! ባሁኑ ሰዓት ኢትዮጵያ ሆኖ ትግራይን በመደገፍ የአረመኔውን ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድን አጀንዳ የማያራምድ ሜዲያ በጭራሽ ሊኖር አይችልም፤ በሃሳቤ ስህተተኛ ብሆን ደስ ባለኝ፤ ግን በኢትዮጵያ ነፃ የሆነ ሜዲያ በጭራሽ ሊኖር አይችልም፤100% እንኳን ትግራይን የሚደግፍ። ዛሬ የትግራይ ሕዝብ ከእግዚአብሔርና ቅዱሳኑ በቀር ማንም አጋርና ወዳጅ የለውምና፤ የስሜት ማስታገሻ ወገኖችን፣ ልሂቃንን፣ ሜዲያዎችን፣ ስልኮችን በመፈለግ ፈንታ መጽሐፍ ቅዱስን ማንበብ እጆቹን ወደ እግዚአብሔር ብቻ መዘርጋት ይኖርበታል።

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Ethiopian Orthodox Church Patriarch Blasts Tigray ‘Genocide’

The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in his first public comments on the war in the country’s Tigray region is sharply criticizing Ethiopia’s actions, saying he believes it’s genocide: “They want to destroy the people of Tigray.”

In a video shot last month on a mobile phone and carried out of Ethiopia, the elderly Patriarch Abune Mathias addresses the church’s scores of millions of followers and the international community, saying his previous attempts to speak out were blocked. He is ethnic Tigrayan.

The video comes as the conflict in Tigray marks six months. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting between Ethiopian and allied forces and Tigray ones, the result of a political struggle that turned deadly in November. Dozens of witnesses have told the AP that civilians are targeted.

“I am not clear why they want to declare genocide on the people of Tigray,” Abune Mathias says, speaking in Amharic and listing alleged atrocities including the destruction of churches, massacres, forced starvation and looting. “It is not the fault of the Tigray people. The whole world should know it.”

He calls for strength, adding that “this bad season might pass away.” And he urges the world to act.

The comments are a striking denunciation from someone so senior inside Ethiopia, where state media reflect the government’s narrative and both independent journalists and Tigrayans have been intimidated and harassed. The video also comes as Ethiopia, facing multiple crises of sometimes deadly ethnic tensions, faces a national election on June 5.

Dennis Wadley, who runs the U.S.-based Bridges of Hope organization and has been a friend of the church leader for several years, told the AP he shot the video in an impulsive moment while visiting him last month in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

“I just pulled out my iPhone and said if you want to get the word out, let’s do it,” Wadley said on Friday after arriving in the U.S. “He just poured out his heart. … It’s so sad. I actually hugged him; I never did that before.”

A church official reached on Friday confirmed the video and the interest of Abune Mathias in making it public. The church patriarch serves alongside a recently returned exile, Abune Merkorios.

“I have said a lot of things but no one allows the message to be shared. Rather, it is being stifled and censored,” Abune Mathias says in the video.

“Many barbarisms have been conducted” these days all over Ethiopia, he says, but “what is happening in Tigray is of the highest brutality and cruelty.”

God will judge everything, he adds.

Ethiopia’s government says it is “deeply dismayed” by the deaths of civilians, blames the former Tigray leaders and claims normality is returning in the region of some 6 million people. It has denied widespread profiling and targeting of Tigrayans.

But witnesses have told the AP about seeing bodies strewn on the ground on communities, Tigrayans rounded up and expelled and women raped by Ethiopian and allied forces including those from neighboring Eritrea. Others have described family members and colleagues including priests being swept up and detained, often without charge.

Churches have been the scenes of massacres — one deacon in Axum has told the AP he believes some 800 people were killed in a November weekend at the church and around the city — and of mass graves.

“People were dropped over the ground like leaves,” the patriarch says of Axum, Ethiopia’s holiest city.

Abune Mathias, born in 1942, has been outspoken in the past. In 1980, he became the first leader of the church to denounce the rule of Ethiopia’s communist regime “and was forced to live abroad for more than thirty years,” according to the United Nations refugee agency.

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