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Nairobi – Amnesty International revealed in Friday’s report that a crime against humanity had occurred with the killing of “hundreds of civilians” by Eritrean soldiers in November 2020 in Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia witnessing a conflict between the government and militants.
In a new report, the human rights organization collected testimonies from survivors of this massacre and used satellite images to form a complete picture of this event, which took place last November in the historic city of Axum in the northern region of Tigray. .
“The evidence is compelling and points to a shocking conclusion,” said Debros Muchena, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern and Southern Africa. Ethiopian and Eritrean forces committed numerous war crimes in their offensive to gain control of Axum.
“Furthermore, Eritrean forces have systematically killed hundreds of civilians in cold blood, which appears to constitute crimes against humanity,” he added. This atrocity is one of the worst documented so far in this conflict.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said she was concerned “by the reports that indicate the participation of the Eritrean forces in the Tigray conflict with the Ethiopian army, and their alleged participation in cases of serious human rights violations.”
However, Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel attacked Amnesty International saying his “report is false”. “Eritrea is angry and categorically rejects the ridiculous accusations against it,” he wrote on Twitter.
Tigray has become a battlefield since the beginning of November 2020, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military operation against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which he accused of attacking federal army camps.
On November 28, Abiy Ahmed declared victory after his forces seized control of Makele, the capital of Tigray province, despite the TPLF’s commitment to continue the fight.
Tigray has been disconnected from the Internet and difficult to access since the start of the conflict, making it difficult to confirm or deny allegations of violence.
But local residents, aid workers and officials in the region have documented the presence of Eritrean forces in Ethiopia, despite exile from Addis Ababa and Asmara.
Eritrea fought a bloody border war with Ethiopia between 1998 and 2000, when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated the ruling coalition in Ethiopia.
Abiy Ahmed’s Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 is largely due to his early rapprochement with Eritrea, whose president, Isaias Afwerki, remains the arch enemy of the front.
Dead in the streets
Amnesty said it spoke with 41 survivors who reported that on November 19, 2020, the military forces of Ethiopia and Eritrea seized control of Axum “in a large-scale attack, and indiscriminate shooting and shelling killed and displaced civilians.”
“In the nine days that followed, the Eritrean army engaged in widespread looting of civilian property and extrajudicial killings,” he added.
Eyewitnesses indicated that Eritrean soldiers were easy to identify through their vehicles, their language and the traditional tattoos on their faces, and that they openly declared their identity.
The worst acts of violence, according to testimonies, occurred when a small group loyal to the TPLF attacked a troop base on November 28, and they responded with revenge against the people who broke in and left many corpses.
“At around 4:00 pm on November 28, Eritrean soldiers entered the city and started killing residents indiscriminately,” said a 22-year-old.
Residents told Amnesty International that many of the victims in Axum were unarmed and gunshot wounded while fleeing. They also claimed that the following day, the soldiers fired at those who tried to remove the bodies.
One man said he saw soldiers in front of his house ordering six men to line up before shooting them in the back.
Another 21-year-old, who is also a local resident, said: “I saw a lot of dead people on the streets. Even my relatives. Six members of my uncle’s family died. Many people died “.
Another survivor explained: “When night fell, there was nothing on the street except bodies and people crying.”
Urgent investigation
The organization stated that it collected the names of more than 240 victims, but was unable to independently verify the total number of people killed, yet testimonies and evidence make it reasonable to estimate hundreds of deaths.
Amnesty International said that this figure coincides with the testimonies of neighbors who “estimate that several hundred people were buried after the massacre, and they attended funerals in various churches where dozens were buried.” Satellite images showed signs of mass graves near two churches in the city.
“There must be an urgent UN-led investigation into the grave violations in Axum,” Muchina said. And to prosecute those suspected of being responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity ”.
“We reiterate our call to the Ethiopian government to allow humanitarian, human rights and media organizations to enter Tigray without hindrance,” he added.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, an independent public body, said in a statement on Friday that Amnesty International’s report should be taken “seriously”.
The committee claimed that it is also investigating this incomplete massacre, during which “an unknown number of civilians were killed by Eritrean soldiers in the city of Axum.”
