💭 The genocidal war in northern Ethiopia ranks among the deadliest conflicts in recent times. UN investigators have said rape was also used as a weapon of war. With a cease-fire agreed, more and more accounts of atrocities are emerging.
Sexual attacks on women and girls have continued since last year’s peace deal between Ethiopia’s government and Tigray leadership, witnesses told DW.
On the day that Ethiopian government forces reached a truce with rebel Tigrayan forces, 16-year-old Hadas was at home with her mother in a village near the Tigrayan town of Adwa. She heard someone banging on the door and then an Ethiopian soldier demanded to be let in.her name in this report.
Hadas, whose name has been changed to protect her from stigmatization and reprisals, described to DW how her ordeal unfolded on that day, November 2, 2022. It was a day which was supposed to bring peace after two years of conflict that killed approximately 600,000 people, displaced millions and left millions more hungry due to a de facto blockade of the Tigray region.
“He entered the house alone. He carried a stick with him,” Hadas told DW. “There was another soldier with a gun waiting outside. He tried to take me to the bush, but I refused. He told me that he had a knife and a handgun. Then he beat me with the stick.”
She started screaming. Neighbors came and tried to save her, but the soldiers threatened them, Hadas said. So they went back to their houses.
Hadas recalled how she started then to cry.
Nightmares
“He asked me for my age,” she said. “I told him I was 14, but he said ‘You are a liar. Don’t you have breasts?’ Then, my mother started crying.”
He raped her multiple times over the course of several hours. The attack left Hadas bleeding heavily. After he left, she sought treatment at a nearby hospital but because of a lack of supplies, they could only provide basic care, Hadas said.
Hadas still has nightmares about what happened to her that day and needs psychological help. She also wants the man who did this to her brought to justice.
“He should be held accountable,” she insisted. “They should be held accountable not only for me, but for all the other victims of rape.”
Human rights organizations have documented sexual assaults, rape, gang rape and other forms of sexual violence committed by Ethiopian soldiers and their allies, like the Eritrean army and local militia throughout the war.
Doctors told DW that many cases went unreported. And health workers confirmed to DW that rapes and other forms of sexual violence have continued well after the peace deal was signed.
A request for comment sent to Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu went unanswered.
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel denied any wrongdoings by Eritrean soldiers in Tigray in a response to DW.
Medicine shortage
Despite the peace agreement, the hospital can only provide a fraction of the medication required by its patients.
Doctor and director of General Hospital Mekelle, Dr. Filimon Mesfin, told DW that he and his colleagues struggled to provide care during the conflict.
“We don’t have any emergency medication or medication for chronic diseases, like hypertension, diabetes, HIV and psychiatric medications — we are out of all this. We can only provide 10% or 20% of the medication these patients need,” he said.
He described having to turn away most patients. The most he and his colleagues could do was to write a prescription in the hope that the patients could somehow find the necessary medication somewhere else.
Mesfin told DW that medication is urgently needed. “These patients cannot wait. They are dying every day,” he said.
Preventable Deaths
He had hoped that things would change for the better after the peace deal was inked in November, but the aid and deliveries of medical supplies that are reaching his hospital is not enough.
“It’s been almost four months since the agreement has been signed. I would have expected these things to be provided by now,” Mesfin said. “These patients, they cannot wait. They are dying every day, they are having so many complications every day.”
And those who make it to the hospital are just the tip of the iceberg, Dr. Mesfin said, because few can afford the transport costs.
Clinic for rape victims
At the start of the Tigray war, Dr. Mesfin established a unit especially for survivors of sexual violence at his hospital.
Over the two years of the conflict, he and his colleagues treated more than 500 victims.
“There were so many gang rapes, so many foreign materials inserted into their genitalia,” Mesfin said.
Dr Mesfin wrote down accounts of rape to apply for NGO funding, he said, adding that especially those committed by Eritrean forces were particularly agonizing to hear.
“These were not ‘normal’ rapes,” he said. “Without exaggeration, I have literally cried writing some of the stories.”
He said that, as a medical doctor, it was very difficult to see what these people have been through, let alone as a human being.
💭 While it is obvious that a horrendous crime was committed against these women, the west is still beautifying the ugly fascist regime. If a tiny bit of humanity is still prevailing on this planet, one should observe how they reacted to the Ukraine and Ethiopia cases. The hypocrisy is jaw-dropping. But, they will pay dearly for that soon. Actually they are, look at France – it’s burning!
War criminal US secretary of state Antony Blinken was there in Ethiopia two days ago:
💭 To Rehabilitate The Genocider Black Hitler Ahmed, SoS Antony Blinken Departs For Ethiopia
💭 Jill Biden and Antony Blinken Awarded a Transgender & an Ethiopian Muslim with International Women of Courage Award
♀️ Cold and Empathyless Female European Ministers Meet Black Hitler – whose Oromo soldiers brutally raped up to 200.000 Christian Women – and Massacred Over a Million Orthodox Christians.
👉 The Franco-German visit, 12 and 13 January 2023
Mme Catherine Colonna, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs pay a joint visit to Ethiopia with Mme Annalena Baerbock, the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs.
☆ Yesterday Nazi Ukraine – 🐺 Today Fascist Oromo of Ethiopia
😲 Just Unbelievable – Reel Mockery! What a wicked world!
👉 For These Muslims Solidarity With Their Christian Neighbors Doesn’t Exist, – Nada! it’s Haram!
For the past two years, when more than one million Orthodox Christians were massacred by Turkish, Arab, Iranian and Chinese drones, these renegade Ethiopian Muslims did not utter a single word. As of now, they are unwilling to provide any assistance. It’s amazing. When the mosque, which they are proud of as ‘the first Hijra or Al-Najashi mosque’ in Tigray was destroyed by Turkish drones two years ago, these Muslims, who are usually the first to riot and kill, did not say a word, nada! Now they are organizing to give their support and help to Turkey. Can there be more betrayal than this?
Five hundred years ago, together with the Ottoman Turks, Ethiopian Muslims carried out a major Jihad campaign against Ethiopian Christians, and were heavily involved in the East African and trans-saharan slave trade. In the 1930s, they sided with Fascist Italy and Benito Mussolini and massacred Christians, destroyed churches and monasteries. Just like what they are doing right now! Traitors, Hypocrites, Antichrist!
🔥 World War III | For the past 500 years, Anti-Christ Turkey is Bombing The World’s Most Ancient Christian Nations: Armenia & Ethiopia
🔥 Ottoman-Portuguese War in Africa – Ethiopian–Adal /Turkish War
☪ Muslims of Ethiopia Who Invited the Turkish Army to Massacre a Million Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia Now hold aid campaign for Turkey’s quake victims
Ethiopians launched an aid campaign and have raised 10 million Ethiopian birr ($186,320) for the victims affected by the 6 February earthquakes in southern Turkey, Anadolu News Agency reports.
Despite being struck by civil war and drought, where tens of thousands of lives were lost, the people in Ethiopia gathered forces and mobilised to help the quake-hit victims in Turkey’s 11 provinces.
Since the first day, Ethiopia’s Muslims who went to Turkish representative offices in the country to convey condolences, performed funeral prayers in absentia in mosques and prayed for the quake victims and Turkey.
On Monday, a program was organised in the capital, Addis Ababa, for the aid campaign initiated by Turkey’s Addis Ababa Embassy.
The program participants included Turkish Ambassador to Addis Ababa, Yaprak Alp, Ethiopian Federal Parliament Harar deputy and Ethiopia-Turkey Friendship Group Chairman, Fatih Wazir, TIKA Ethiopia Program Coordinator, Cengiz Polat, and Ethiopian-Turkish Alumni Association President, Fennan Mohammed, as well as philanthropists in the country.
During the program, Muslim donors presented symbolic donation checks to Ambassador Alp in Addis Ababa.
Alp said the Ethiopian government has been supporting Turkey since the first day of the quake, sending thousands of blankets and tents, along with soldiers and professional search and rescue workers.
“Turkey is facing an unprecedented disaster,” Alp said, adding: “Turkey is going through really difficult times, but it is precisely this kind of solidarity, of which we have seen a very good example today, that makes these difficult days bearable, “she added.
Wazir said: “Turkey is reaping the fruits of the seeds of love, compassion and solidarity it has been sowing for years. I don’t know which other country in the world could be the recipient of such an act of solidarity. I don’t know if there is a country in the world that does not owe Turkey a debt of loyalty. God bless Turkey.”
Mohammed, for his part, said that for the alumni, supporting Turkey is not an option but an obligation.
“You can see the traces of Turkey and Turkish NGOs in every inch of Ethiopia. It breaks our hearts when we see the super-human efforts of these organisations not to leave the work they started here unfinished, even in this earthquake disaster. No matter what we do, we cannot repay our debt to Turkey,” he added.
Polat said the Ethiopian people have been going through very difficult times in recent years, and noted: “Our tears have been mixed together since the first day of the quakes. It is impossible to describe with words the appreciation of our Ethiopian brothers and sisters towards Turkey.”
💭 USA make a statement at the World Cup in Qatar by REDESIGNING their crest with rainbow colors to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community
The USMNT squad have arrived in Qatar to continue their World Cup preparation
Team showed solidarity with LGBTQ+ community by redesigning their USA crest
Rather than the usual red stripes, the new crest incorporates rainbow colors
USA plays its first game against Wales on Monday before facing England and Iran
The United States men’s national soccer team (USMNT) redesigned its crest with gay pride rainbow stripes ahead of the World Cup in Qatar in an effort to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
Earlier this year, USMNT announced a partnership with the You Can Play Project for the fourth consecutive year to support LGBTQ+.
“As part of its “One Nation” social responsibility platform to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), U.S. Soccer, with support from Volkswagen, will partner with the You Can Play Project for the fourth consecutive year to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride month during its friendly matches in June. The You Can Play Project is an organization dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, coaches and fans no matter their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.”
“U.S. Soccer is proud to support all fans, players, and employees to share their voices during LGBTQ+ Pride Month and create a more diverse and inclusive environment. We will continue in our support for the LGBTQ+ community in our belief that a diverse and inclusive environment enables our fans, players, and employees to thrive and make a real impact on people across the world.”
At the World Cup in Qatar, the U.S. men’s national team made headlines by redesigning their crest to include the rainbow flag.
This is a bold move from the US team despite the strict law in Qatar regarding LGBTQ+ people.
Qatar criminalizes same-sex sexual activity between men and between women. Punishment can be as severe as the death penalty by stoning.
The country’s human rights record has led to calls for teams and officials to boycott the November 20 to December 18 tournament.
💭 Ethiopia’s government has turned the northern Tigray region into a virtual prison. Five million people. No way in. No way out. No food, no medicine, no electricity. How long can the world look the other way?
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on July 5, 2021
💭 My Note: They say, there is war in Oromia too – so, why don’t they do the same to the Oromos in Addis? The Answer is because it’s the Oromos who are the perpetrators. It’s all lies, there is no war in Oromia – there ain’t no such thing as “Eritrean soldiers in Oromia” – Evil Abiy Ahmed’s fascist regime is an Oromo one – and it’s the Oromos + the Amharas who are responsible for the #TigrayGenocide. Will the Addis Ababa residents now have a desire to show solidarity with Tigrayans against this sort of barbarity? No, they won’t! Unless the TDF advance towards Addis Ababa, I smell Auschwitz!
Thousands of Ethnic-Tigrayan Residents of Addis Ababa Being Marched to Mass Detention Centers
FRESH WAVE OF ARBITRARY ARREST OF TIGRAYANS IN ADDIS ABEBA
Video showing thousands of ethnic Tigrayan residents of Addis Ababa – the city they built and modernized — being marched on the street to mass detention centers before they are transferred to concentration camps in Awash Arba and other locations.
Reports are surfacing to the arbitrary arrest and rounding up of ethnic Tigrayans residing in Addis Abeba by police along with non-uniformed security forces. Addis Standard received reports indicating that these arrests are taking place in different locations around the capital.
An eyewitness who wants to remain anonymous in fear of reprisal told Addis Standard that Addis Abeba police accompanied by men wearing civilian clothes appeared in Summit, a neighborhood with a huge presence of Tigrinya speaking community, and started to check for IDs and conduct body searches checking on what is on them. The eyewitness said that the police took people who didn’t have their IDs on them and sarcastically made inappropriate remarks and asked those being checked, “Are you a junta?”
Another eyewitness who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal detailed for Addis Standard similar incidents and said, “It was a mix of Addis Abeba police and Federal police personnels.” Addis Standard learned from the same source who was previously arrested that there was physical abuse of detainees at the police station he was held at.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also said that it is monitoring reports of arrests of media personnel in Addis Abeba as well as residents of Tigray origin suspected of connection with the ongoing situation in the region and warned, “Such measures could aggravate the public‘s concerns on the risk of ethnic profiling.” Addis Standard contacted the senior media advisor at the rights commission, Aaron Maasho who on his part said that no further information is available but added, “Our team is monitoring the situation closely.”
The wife of the Awlo Media cameraman Muse Hadera who was arrested on Friday, July 02, 2021 said that she doesn’t know his whereabouts and was told when she went to the federal police with his lawyer that he was freed. Mesi told Addis Standard, “I know that he wasn’t released and is held somewhere. We just want to know what his charges are as we are still not clear on them. Also we want to make sure that he was not arrested for his identity and we can only understand by having answers as to his whereabouts and his charges.”
This fresh wave of arbitrary arrests coincides with the arrest of at least 12 journalists at two online media platforms. The lawyer, Tadele Gebre, told Addis Standard that the 10 journalists, a cameraman alongside Five members of the Awlo media staff, were arrested by federal police. Tadele also disclosed that Two journalists, Abebe Bayu and Yayesew Shimeles from Ethio-Forum, a Youtube based news outlet were also arrested. At the time the Federal police commission said their arrests were due to their affiliation with a terrorist group which is banned by the parliament. It also comes in the backdrop of an earlier wave of arrests that swapped returnees from the Middle East earlier in May, 2021.
Addis Standard also contacted both the spokesperson of the Addis Abeba Police commission and the spokesperson of the Federal police commission to verify claims made by eyewitnesses and concerned family members. While Fasika Fanta, Addis Abeba police commission spokesperson denied having any knowledge of the arrests, the spokesperson for the federal police commission said, “The federal police commission did not and does not arrest citizens based on their identity unless otherwise they are involved in criminal acts,” he added, “ Police can arrest every one without any discrimination, when suspected with criminal act.” AS
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on June 11, 2021
Your Excellency,
We, the undersigned human rights non-governmental organizations, strongly urge the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to adopt a resolution at its upcoming 47thsession (HRC47) on the ongoing human rights crisis in Tigray, Ethiopia.
Over the last seven months an overwhelming number of reports have emerged of abuses and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law (IHL/IHRL) during the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. Reports by civil society organizations have detailed widespread massacres, violence against civilians and indiscriminate attacks across Tigray while preliminary analysis by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) indicates that all warring parties have committed abuses that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. There is now ample evidence that atrocities continue to be committed, notably by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Eritrean Defense Forces, and Amhara regional special police and affiliated Fano militias. These include indiscriminateattacks and direct attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, widespread and mass extrajudicial executions, rape and other sexual violence, forced displacement, arbitrary detentions, including of displaced persons, widespread destruction and pillage of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, factories and businesses, and the destruction of refugee camps, crops and livestock.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict has repeatedly expressed alarm over the widespread and systematic commission of rape and sexual violence in Tigray. On 21 April she stated that women and girls in Tigray are being subjected to sexual violence “with a cruelty that is beyond comprehension,” including gang rape by men in uniform, targeted sexual attacks on young girls and pregnant women, and family members forced to witness these horrific abuses. The SRSG also stated that these reports, coupled with assessments by healthcare providers in the region, indicate that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war.
Thousands of civilians are estimated to have been killed, while the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs believes at least 1.7 million people remain displaced. On top of ethnic targeting and massacres within Tigray, there have been reports of government discrimination, demonization and hate speech directed at Tigrayans in other parts of Ethiopia. A number of UN officials, from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to UNICEF’s Executive Director and the UN Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect, have publicly called for urgent action to end the abuses in Tigray and alleviate the conflict’s devastating impact on the region’s civilian population.
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator has also warned that famine is imminent in Tigray and that without a drastic upscaling of funding and access, hundreds of thousands of people could starve. Despite this looming risk, humanitarian workers have also been targeted throughout the conflict, with nine aid workers killed since November, the most recent on 29 May.
On 25 March, OHCHR and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission announced the launch of a joint investigation into the ongoing reports of atrocity crimes in Tigray. On 12 May, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) adopted an important resolution establishing a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate violations of IHL and IHRL and identify perpetrators. Unfortunately, the HRC has so far remained largely silent on Tigray, aside from a welcome joint statement delivered by Germany on behalf of 42 states on 26 February 2021.
A robust, dedicated and coordinated approach to this human rights crisis by the international community is both critical and urgent, given the gravity of ongoing crimes, the complex nature of the situation, and the involvement of various parties. After seven months of serious violations and abuses, the HRC can no longer stay silent. It should take urgent action to address the crisis and fulfil its mandate to address and prevent violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations and abuses, and to respond promptly to emergencies. We therefore respectfully urge your Mission to work towards the adoption of a resolution at HRC47 that:
· Recognizes the serious concerns expressed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, SRSG on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and Responsibility to Protect, and other senior UN officials regarding possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Tigray;
· Requests the High Commissioner to report on her investigations, findings and recommendations to date regarding the human rights situation in Tigray, Ethiopia, and possible violations of IHL and IHRL at the HRC’s 48th session in the context of an enhanced interactive dialogue;
· Also invites the ACHPR’s CoI to brief the HRC on its investigation at the enhanced interactive dialogue at the 48th session;
· Emphasizes the important role of the HRC’s prevention mandate, as outlined in Resolution 45/31, and requests the High Commissioner to brief UN member states intersessionally and on an ad-hoc basis to update the HRC on the situation in Tigray.
The adoption of such a resolution would provide a concrete foundation for the HRC to decide on the action needed to prevent further human rights violations and abuses in Tigray and ensure accountability.
Excellencies, please accept the assurances of our highest consideration,
Where’s the UN Security Council’s formal Meeting on Tigray?
At a high-level U.S. and EU event on the ongoing crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region yesterday, USAID Administrator Samantha Power expressed frustration that the U.N. — the body in which she used to represent U.S. interests — hasn’t been able to act to stop atrocities.
The meeting came as U.N. agencies warned of “looming famine” in Tigray, where over 350,000 people are already facing catastrophic food insecurity.
“I’ve lived through great frustration on the Security Council,” Power said, referencing being unable to secure “a tough resolution on an issue of grave concern.” On Tigray: “Not even to have a formal meeting on something of this enormity — it’s shocking, truly, and will go down in history … as a very shameful period.”
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield called the Security Council’s failure to act “unacceptable.” “Do African lives not matter?” she asked. The Irish Mission to the U.N. has asked the Security Council to meet on Tigray, and expects it to happen next Tuesday.
The U.S. and EU released a joint statement following the meeting, calling for a cease-fire, adherence to international humanitarian law, immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access, withdrawal of Eritrean forces from Ethiopia, and a scale-up of international support.
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