Security forces 'committed war crimes' against Tigrayans in Ethiopia

Security forces and their allies in a disputed part of conflict-hit northern Ethiopia have committed abuses against Tigrayans that amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity, two rights groups said.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday that Tigrayans had been targeted in "a relentless campaign of ethnic cleansing" in the long-contested western Tigray region since the outbreak of the conflict between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebels in November 2020.

Over the ensuing months, several hundred thousand Tigrayans were forcibly expelled from western Tigray in a "coordinated" manner by security forces and civilian authorities through ethnically motivated rape, murder, starvation, and other serious violations.

"These widespread and systematic attacks against the Tigrayan civilian population amount to crimes against humanity, as well as war crimes," Amnesty and HRW said in a joint report titled "We Will Erase You From This Land".

Over 15 months, HRW and Amnesty interviewed more than 400 people including refugees who fled into Sudan, and witnesses to the violence still living inside western Tigray and elsewhere in Ethiopia.

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Sexual enslavement

They documented the sexual enslavement and gang rape of Tigrayan women, including a victim whose attackers said they were "purifying" her blood.

They also gathered testimony about the death of Tigrayans in overcrowded prisons, and the summary execution of dozens of men by a river.

The atrocities were blamed on newly appointed civilian administrators in western Tigray, and regional forces and irregular militias from the neighbouring Amhara region.

Gizachew Muluneh, a spokesperson for Amhara's regional government accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the former ruling party in Tigray that once dominated Ethiopian politics, of subjecting Amharas to such abuses for decades.

Amharas and Tigrayans are two of Ethiopia's largest ethnic groups, and both lay historic claim in full to the vast fertile expanse of western Tigray that stretches from the Tekeze River to Sudan.

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Shocking crimes

But the rights watchdogs also pointed the finger at Addis Ababa, accusing the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of covering up abuses and severely restricting independent access to western Tigray.

The atrocities there unfolded "with the acquiescence and possible participation of Ethiopian federal forces", the report said.

"Ethiopian authorities have steadfastly denied the shocking breadth of the crimes that have unfolded and have egregiously failed to address them," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW.

Seventeen months ago Abiy sent troops into Tigray after accusing the TPLF of orchestrating attacks on federal army camps.

Western Tigray was swiftly captured by federal and Amhara forces, and a new administration appointed.