Amnesty International: Mass executions in Tigray may constitute crimes against humanity

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) –
Amnesty International has stated that the massacre of a large number of civilians in the historical city of Axum in Ethiopia’s Tigray region last year may constitute crimes against humanity, Sky News reports. It is understood that on November 28, 2020, hundreds of people, including children, were systematically executed by Eritrean forces fighting with the Ethiopian government against the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF).

The massacre in Axum is part of a regional war that began on November 4, 2020, when Ethiopian prime minister Aiby Ahmed sent troops to a military base in Tigray, which borders Eritrea and Sudan, Sky News reports. Ahmed accused the area’s ruling party, the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), of attacking the base and later said Ethiopian forces had bombed the base in retaliation. A violent conflict was triggered, with Eritrean forces reportedly coming to the aid of the Ethiopian government.

Over 40 witnesses gave evidence to Amnesty International about the events of November 28 in Axum, describing house-to-house searches, mass executions, and shelling which took place once Ethiopian and Eritrean troops had wrested control of the city from the TPLF. Atrocities included men and boys being lined up and shot in the back.

Sky News itself interviewed witnesses independently, and one man called Solomon told the media outlet: “In the afternoon, a division of Eritrean soldiers came into the city and they killed so many people, so many people. They were targeting young people especially and anyone they thought could be a (member of a) militia – so three people from one house, four siblings from one house along with their dad. They were killing them.”

Amnesty has called on the Ethiopian government to allow full access to the region for humanitarian organizations and human rights monitors, Sky News said. Agencies including the Red Cross have been unable to reach most of Tigray, and officials have warned of “imminent starvation” there.

Latest Worthy News