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Ethiopia’s Ambassador to UN slams reports of human rights violations in Tigray

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Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) says his country has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual crimes and anyone found responsible for the despicable acts will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. He was speaking to news agency Reuters after a detailed humanitarian briefing at the UN revealed that more than 500 rape cases had been reported to five clinics in the country’s Tigray region, warning that the actual numbers were likely much higher.

Staff from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) last week reported seeing Ethiopian soldiers shoot dead four male civilians after ordering them off a bus near the regional capital Mekelle.

A statement from 12 senior UN officials called for a stop to reports of indiscriminate and targeted attacks against civilians, including rape and other horrific forms of sexual violence, which continue to surface.

“When it comes to Sexual & Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) – just to give you facts, I think in mid-March reports from 5 medical facilities at Mekelle, Adigrat, Wukro, Shire & Axum recorded around 516 rape cases, given the fact that most health facilities are not functioning and also the stigma associated with rape, it is projected that actual numbers are much higher. Women say they have been raped by armed actors, they also told stories of gang rape, rape in front of family members and men being forced to rape their own family members under the threat of violence,” says UN’s Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Ethiopia, Wafaa Said.

Fighting between Ethiopian Government troops supported by Eritrean troops to the north and the regional Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which began in early November, has since killed thousands and forced close to one million people from their homes in the mountainous region – with safety and food cited as the top priorities for those arriving in places like Shire in the North West of Tigray, at rates of over 1 000 per day.

As food insecurity and nutrition in a worsening, socio-economic climate with reduced harvests further complicate the situation on the ground. Most of the internally displaced people (IDPs) left with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing, they are generally traumatised and tell stories of the difficult journey they took in search of safety.

Some reported walking for two weeks and some as far as 500km. Of the people who travelled with them, some were reportedly killed particularly youngsters, people were reportedly beaten, women were subject to rape, some were pregnant and delivered on the way losing their babies.

The United States has referred to violence in the region as ethnic cleansing as Washington presses for a full investigation and an exit of Eritrean troops who have since agreed to withdraw.

“The administration has repeatedly engaged the Ethiopian government on the importance of ending the violence, ensuring unhindered humanitarian access and allowing a full independent international investigation into all reports of human rights abuses.

Secretary of State Blinken has spoken to the Ethiopian prime minister twice to emphasise the United States concern about the humanitarian and human rights crisis we’re seeing. During his testimony yesterday, he reiterated the situation is unacceptable and has to change, and that we’re calling on the Ethiopian government to follow through on its commitments that it’s made,” says White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki.

Ethiopia’s envoy to the UN affirmed that all those responsible for crimes committed would be held accountable.

“Prime Minister Abiy issued a couple of days ago a statement that those who really very much care about their people in Tigray should have the courage and bravado, turn over themselves to the law enforcement agencies and help us in rebuilding the mass destructed region of our Tigray.

So we are trying our level best to apprehend those who committed crimes, egregious crimes, but in the meantime we call on them to hand themselves over and have their days in court. This we believe is the right approach so that we’re not giving anyone out there, not only in the Tigray region but in any parts of Ethiopia that whomever committed a crime must be held accountable,” says Ambassador, Taye Atskesalassie Amde.

The UN also confirmed last week that a joint investigation between its Human Rights Office and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission would be undertaken as part of a much-needed accountability process for the victims.

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