Amnesty International (AI) has reported the alleged killing of civilians by fighters affiliated with the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.
In a 26-page report, titled, Ethiopia: Summary killings, rape and looting by Tigrayan forces in Amhara, the human rights organisation documented gang-raping of women and girls – some as young as 14 – and looting of property.
Amnesty said it interviewed 27 witnesses and survivors, including some who helped collect and bury the bodies of those killed.
‘Tigrayan forces carried out a string of atrocities in and around Chenna and Kobo in late August and early September last year, after these forces had taken control of the areas in July’, the report read.
The new AI report noted that Tigrayan forces also made numerous death threats and used ethnic slurs. According to the report, Tigrayan forces in Kobo lashed out at the civilian population in retaliation for increased resistance from local militias and armed residents.
Public properties, including schools and medical clinics, have also been vandalised and looted, making it impossible for rape survivors and other victims of violence to obtain medical treatment in the area.
‘Tigrayan forces have shown utter disregard for fundamental rules of international humanitarian law which all warring parties must follow’, AI’s Deputy Director for East Africa, Sarah Jackson, said in a statement.
‘Evidence is mounting of a pattern of Tigrayan forces committing war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in areas under their control in the Amhara region. This includes repeated incidents of widespread rape, summary killings and looting’.
The organisation called on the international community to take immediate steps in investigating all abuses and crimes in the region.
‘There needs to be swift action by the international community to investigate abuses by all sides, bring those responsible to account and ensure that survivors can realise their rights’, the report said.
Conflict in Tigray broke out in November 2020 and has since then spread to other regions of northern Ethiopia.
More than 2.1 million people have been displaced due to fighting between Ethiopian troops and the TPLF.
Source: Amnesty International
Photo source: Rod Waddington
