NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Civilians killed. Journalists arrested. People who are starving. The Ethiopian government is under increasing pressure to show the world first-hand what has happened in the Tigray region, as its Nobel Prize-winning prime minister rejects ‘partisan interventions’.
The pressure is expected to increase this month as the United States chairs the United Nations Security Council and addresses the first major African crisis of the Biden government. Millions of dollars in aid to Ethiopia, a key ally for security in the region, is at stake.
Here’s a look at the unrest in Tigray as the Security Council meets behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss:
WHAT ABOUT CIVILIANS MASSAKING?
Last month, The Associated Press exposed the death of an estimated 800 people in the city of Axum, citing several witnesses, and a week later Amnesty International reported that “many hundreds” were killed there, referring to more than 40 witnesses. Soldiers from neighboring Eritrea, who had long been an enemy of Tigray’s now fleeing leaders, were blamed.
Ethiopia still denies the presence of the Eritreans, even though senior officials with the interim government of Tigray appointed by Ethiopia are becoming increasingly vocal about it. There is growing concern that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 with Eritrea, has now teamed up in a war. Eritrea calls the AP story about Axum ‘outrageous lies’.
Amid the denial, countless thousands of civilians were killed when Ethiopian and allied forces pursued the former Tigray leaders who once dominated the Ethiopian government before Abiy took office in 2018.
Axum is by no means the only massacre claimed in the Tigray conflict. More are now coming to light as the telephone service in the region resumes and more people flee.
The Telegraph, citing witnesses, reported one in Debre Abay. CNN, citing witnesses, reported one in Dengelat. In Agence France-Presse further exposed the Dengelat murders during a rare visit to the scene.
Michelle Bachelet, head of UN human rights, said on Thursday her office had confirmed information on incidents including ‘mass murders’ in Axum and Dengelat, and warned of possible war crimes by all major armed groups. Victims “should not be denied their rights to the truth and to justice,” she said, urging Ethiopia to allow independent monitors into Tigray.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued the strongest statement so far this weekend of Washington on Tigray and this week talks to Abiy, the Prime Minister’s office on Wednesday reversed his skeptical stance on the Axum massacre, saying he was investigating ‘credible allegations’ in the city and elsewhere in the region.
But human rights groups and others are calling for independent international investigations, ideally led by the UN, arguing that a government accused of involvement in atrocities cannot itself investigate effectively.
CAN TIGRAY JOURNALISTS REPORT?
Yes, at their peril. Ethiopia has begun allowing a limited number of foreign media to visit Tigray in recent days – the AP did not get permission – but several Ethiopian media workers with the outlets being held fast.
Although the limited access to the media was announced, Ethiopia warned journalists to behave essentially. The government statement on Wednesday said Ethiopian military would ensure the safety of journalists in parts of Tigray under their control, but those leaving the area were doing so at their own risk. And journalists who violate national laws, “among other things by assisting criminal entities and offenders, will be held accountable.”
The Journalists ‘Protection Committee this week criticized Ethiopia’s actions, saying that’ the scarcity of independent reporting that came out of Tigray during this conflict was already deeply disturbing. Now the Ethiopian army’s arrests of journalists and media workers will undoubtedly lead to fear and self-censorship. ”
Without unrestricted access to Tigray, it is difficult to determine the fate of about 6 million people four months after the region was cut off from the world.
DO PEOPLE STRIVE TO DEATH?
Yes, according to local officials, although it is not clear how many. Although humanitarian aid to Tigray has increased in recent weeks, aid workers have said it is far from enough and that about 80% of the region is unreachable.
In the strongest warning to date, the Ethiopian Red Cross said last month that if humanitarian access did not improve, thousands of people would starve to death. in a month, and tens of thousands in two months.
The Ethiopian government said on Wednesday that it had distributed food aid to about 3.8 million people, and again claimed that humanitarian organizations now had unrestricted access to Tigray.
But humanitarian workers believe that the reality is very different, citing obstacles of authorities and uncertainty. An access card published this week by the UN humanitarian agency, showed that much of Tigray is inaccessible off major roads and cities.
The fighting, which is going on in parts of Tigray, broke out on the verge of harvest in the largely agricultural area and an innumerable number of people fled their homes. Witnesses described widespread looting by Eritrean soldiers as well as the burning of crops, while the forces from the neighboring Amhara region apparently occupied large parts of Tigray.
This week, a senior tigray official, Gebremeskel Kassa, told the BBC that “we do not know where a million people are.”
The US now says that the Eritreans and the Amhara forces must leave Tigray immediately.