AMNESTY REPORTS ‘MASSACRE’ IN ETHIOPIA’S TIGRAY REGION

Fri 13 October 2020:

Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a ‘massacre’ in Ethiopia’s Tigray region that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.

The ‘massacre’ is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

‘Amnesty International can today confirm… that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the South West Zone of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,’ the rights group said in a report.

EXCLUSIVE: @amnesty investigation reveals evidence that scores of civilians were killed in #Maikadra massacre in Ethiopia’s Tigray state. https://t.co/CDxxJsXNS5

— amnestypress (@amnestypress) November 12, 2020

Citing witnesses interviewed and “verified” photo, video and satellite imagery, the human rights group said bodies had been “strewn” across the town. Fighting between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) party and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been ongoing for a week now.

Declining to identify who was responsible, Amnesty did however cite witnesses who alleged that Tigray special police members had used weapons such as knives and machetes, after a local defeat by Ethiopian EDF federal forces.

“There were no signs of gunshot wounds,” said Amnesty in its statement, citing witnesses as saying bodies were found on central streets and at “rental dormitories frequented by seasonal workers.”

Tigray’s leader Debretsion Gebremichael, who chairs the TPLF, denied his forces had been involved in Mai-Kadra killings

Amnesty’s regional East Africa director Deporose Muchena called on Addis Ababa to “immediately investigate this blatant attack on civilians.”

All parties to the conflict must ensure ‘paramount’ protection of civilians, he said, adding that Ethiopian communications across Tigray remained “shut down.”

Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps – a claim the party denies.

The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.

Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.

Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighbouring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.

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