Governance
UN Warns of War Crimes in Spiralling Ethiopia Conflict By AFP
THE UNITED NATIONS WARNED recently of possible war crimes in Ethiopia's Tigray region, as the US condemned the massacre of civilians in fighting which the prime minister claimed had left his enemy "in the final throes of death". Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, ordered military operations in Tigray last week, shocking the international community which fears the start of a long and bloody civil war. Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed, some in a gruesome massacre reported by Amnesty International, and thousands have fled fighting and air strikes in Tigray, whose leaders Abiy accuses of seeking to destabilise the country. The United States urged an immediate deescalation. "We condemn the massacre of civilians in MaiKadra and strongly urge immediate steps to deescalate and end conflict throughout the Tigray region," said Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa, referring to a town where Amnesty International reported mass killings. UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for a full investigation into the report of mass killings in Mai-Kadra, where Amnesty said it had "digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers". "If confirmed as having been deliberately carried out by a party to the current fighting, these killings of civilians would of course amount to war crimes," she said in a statement. Amnesty said it had not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings, however witnesses 52
November-December 2020
blamed forces backing the region's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Witnesses also reported the identity cards of some victims indicated they were from the Amhara region, an area with a long history of tensions with Tigrayans, notably over land. Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael told AFP on Friday the accusations were "baseless". Abiy says his military operation was in response to attacks on two federal military camps by the TPLF, which once dominated Ethiopian politics and claims it has been sidelined and targeted under Abiy. The party denies carrying out the attacks.
Surrounded on all sides On Friday Abiy addressed the region's soldiers, urging them to "rise up" and side with the national army. "This mischievous force is surrounded on all sides. It is a force in its final throes of death" he said in the Tigrinya language in a speech broadcast on Facebook. "Rise up against the clique or defect to the Ethiopian defence forces." A communications blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground, but Abiy has vowed to deliver a decisive win "in a relatively short period of time". "This is a daydream," Debretsion said. "We are proud people who can defend ourselves. This is a burial ground for invaders."
DAWN
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