(Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, Anadolu) World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom has been “fully engaged in soliciting diplomatic and military support” for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in many parts of the world, a top official said Monday.
Tedros, who has been serving in his position at the WHO since 2017, was a member of the TPLF’s powerful Executive Committee. He was also Ethiopia’s health minister from 2005 to 2012 and foreign affairs minister from 2012 to 2016.
The official, who was not allowed to publicly discuss the matter, told Anadolu Agency on the condition of anonymity that the Ethiopian government had been well aware of Tedros’s activities since the beginning of the National Defense Force’s law enforcement operation against the TPLF, which is entrenched in the northern Tigray region.
“Tedros had been lobbying the UN agencies to exert pressure on the Ethiopian government to unconditionally stop its military action against the TPLF,” he noted. “He was relentlessly demonizing us.”
The official added that Tedros had also been soliciting Egyptian military support for the TPLF.
“To ally with Egypt, which had been bent on destabilizing Ethiopia for decades and aborting construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), is tantamount to treason,” he said.
According to the official, who attended many high-profile government briefings on the matter, Tedros was also active in eastern Africa.
“He repeatedly called top officials of many neighboring nations and pressured them to provide military and diplomatic support to the TPLF,” he noted, adding those countries informed the Ethiopian government.
“Those countries, which we cannot name, told us they declined Tedros’s requests, saying the conflict was an internal Ethiopian affair and they stand with us,” he said.
The official said from what they have gathered, Tedros was serving as a “full-time diplomat of the TPLF, breaching the duties of the director-general of the WHO.”
“We are readying a protest note to the WHO and other relevant bodies,” the official added.
Ethiopia has launched what it describes as a law enforcement operation in Tigray after forces of the TPLF attacked the northern command of the federal army stationed across the Tigray region, killing soldiers and looting military assets.
The TPLF dominated political life in Ethiopia for more than three decades before current Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who hails from the Oromo ethnic group, came to power in 2018.
The Oromo is the largest ethnic tribe in Ethiopia, representing around 34.9% of the country’s population of 114.9 million, while the Tigray account for only 7.3%.
After resisting public pressure for more than two-and-half years, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed finally launched a full-scale military operation against Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), ruling the northernmost Tigray region.
Ethiopian officials said the TPLF crossed a red line on Nov. 3, when it allegedly organized a multi-pronged attack on the Ethiopian military’s Northern Command. Abiy described the attack as treason, vowing that it will never be forgotten…
Amnesty International can today confirm that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the South West Zone of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region on the night of 9 November.
The organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab has examined and digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers. It confirmed the images were recent and using satellite imagery, geolocated them to Mai-Kadra in western Tigray state (14.071008, 36.564681).
“We have confirmed the massacre of a very large number of civilians, who appear to have been day labourers in no way involved in the ongoing military offensive. This is a horrific tragedy whose true extent only time will tell as communication in Tigray remains shut down,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.We have confirmed the massacre of a very large number of civilians, who appear to have been day labourers in no way involved in the ongoing military offensive. This is a horrific tragedy whose true extent only time will tell as communication in Tigray remains shut down. Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.
“The government must restore all communication to Tigray as an act of accountability and transparency for its military operations in the region, as well as ensure unfettered access to humanitarian organizations and human rights monitors. Amnesty International will regardless continue to use all means available to document and expose violations by all parties to the conflict.”
The organization has also spoken to witnesses, who were providing food and other supplies to the Ethiopian Defense Forces (EDF), who visited the town immediately after the deadly attack, on the morning of 10 November, to find dead bodies strewn all over the town, as well as injured survivors.
Most of the dead bodies were found in the town centre, near the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, and along a road that exits to the neighbouring Humera town, according to the witnesses and verified images.
People who saw the dead bodies told Amnesty International that they had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes, reports which have been confirmed by an independent pathologist commissioned by Amnesty International. Witnesses said there were no signs of gunshot wounds.
The witnesses said that together with the EDF soldiers, they found some wounded people among the dead and took them to nearby hospitals in Abreha-Jira and Gondar, before removing dead bodies from the streets.
“Those wounded told me they were attacked with machetes, axes and knives. You can also tell from the wounds that those who died were attacked by sharp objects. It is horrible and I am really sad that I witnessed this in my life,” one distraught witness said
‘Soaked in blood’
Amnesty International has not yet been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings, but has spoken to witnesses who said forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) were responsible for the mass killings, apparently after they suffered defeat from the federal EDF forces.
Three people told Amnesty International that survivors of the massacre told them that they were attacked by members of Tigray Special Police Force and other TPLF members.
“There was a military operation by the EDF and Amhara Special Force against the Tigray Special Police and militia at a place called Lugdi during the daytime on 9 November. After they defeated the Tigray forces, the EDF spent the night on the outskirts of Mai-Kadra town. When we entered, we saw a lot of dead bodies, soaked in blood, on the streets and rental dormitories frequented by seasonal workers. The view was really debasing, and I am still in shock struggling to cope with the experience,” a civilian who entered the town after it was retaken by EDF told Amnesty International.When we entered the town, what we saw was devastating. The roads were strewn with dead bodies especially in the centre of the town, and on the road the connects the town to Humera. Civilian who witnessed the aftermath of the massacre
This was corroborated by another who said: “We went to the town immediately after the army and the Amhara Special Force took control of Mai-Kadra town on 10 November around 10 am. The army entered … after encircling the town overnight. There was no exchange of fire for the army to take over the town. But when we entered the town, what we saw was devastating. The roads were strewn with dead bodies especially in the centre of the town, and on the road the connects the town to Humera.”
“The Ethiopian authorities must immediately, thoroughly, impartially and effectively investigate this blatant attack on civilians and bring those responsible to justice in fair trials,” said Deprose Muchena.
“TPLF commanders and officials must make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes. All parties in the Tigray conflict must ensure full respect for international humanitarian law and human rights law in their operations. The safety and protection of civilians must be paramount.”
While the official death toll in Mai-Kadra is not yet known, the Amhara regional government’s media agency AMMA reported there were around 500 victims, adding that they were primarily non-Tigrayan residents of the town. A man who is helping to clear the bodies from the streets told Amnesty International that he had looked at the state-issued identification cards of some victims, and most were Amhara.
Background
On 4 November 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered the Ethiopian Defence Forces (EDF) to militarily engage with the Tigray Regional Paramilitary Police and militia loyal to the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) in what he stated was a response to multiple attacks by the Tigray security forces on the EDF North Command base in Mekelle and other military camps in Tigray Region.
Since the start of the conflict, there have been armed confrontations between federal forces (Federal Army, Amhara Region’s Special Force Police and Amhara local militia) on one side and the Tigray regional forces (Tigray Special Force Police and militia) on the other side
The Ministry of Defence and the Prime Minister have announced that Ethiopian Air Force planes carried out multiple air strikes against TPLF military installations. The Prime Minister and the Army Chief of Staff pledged to continue air strikes on selected targets without endangering civilian life, advising residents to stay away from ammunition depots and other military targets.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of 11 November, some 7,000 refugees had fled western Tigray state into neighbouring Sudan.
The press release is issued by UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet.
GENEVA (13 November 2020) – Amid emerging reports of mass killings in the town of Mai-Kadra, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday expressed increasing alarm at the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Ethiopian region of Tigray.
She warned that if the Tigray regional forces and Ethiopian Government forces continue down the path they are on “there is a risk this situation will spiral totally out of control, leading to heavy casualties and destruction, as well as mass displacement within Ethiopia itself and across borders.”
While the details of the alleged mass killings reported by Amnesty International in Mai-Kadra in south-west Tigray have not yet been fully verified, Bachelet called for a full inquiry.
“If confirmed as having been deliberately carried out by a party to the current fighting, these killings of civilianswould of course amount to war crimes, and there must be an independent investigation and full accountability for what has happened,” she said. “However, the first priority right now must be to stop the fighting and prevent any further atrocities from taking place.”
The UN Human Rights Chief said that despite the severing of communications with Tigray making it difficult to verify the extent of the damage so far, she had received reports from a variety of sources suggesting increased airstrikes by Government forces as well as fierce ground fighting between the opposing forces.
“I am also extremely alarmed at reports of cuts to essential water and electricity supplies, in addition to the communications blackout and blocking of access by road and air,” she said. “This means there is already a dramatic impact on the civilian population, in addition to the risk of death or injury as a result of hostilities.”
The UN Human Rights Chief repeated her 6 November appeal to both sides to begin talks with the aim of an immediate cessation of hostilities.
“I strongly urge both sides to realize that there will be no winner in such a situation and begin a serious dialogue to resolve their differences without delay,” Bachelet said. “A protracted internal conflict will inflict devastating damage on both Tigray and Ethiopia as a whole, undoing years of vital development progress. It could, in addition, all too easily spill across borders, potentially destabilizing the whole sub-region.”
I agree with the Ethiopian Government headed by Abiy Amed in firmly resolving to bring to justice the inhuman TPLF bandits, who have dehumanised our people and raided our country for over three decades!
War is ugly! But the ugliest war must be taken to these cruel animals, who can never be reformed!
It’s easier to trust a hyena, because it’s an animal that would eat you at the first instance. While TPLF members are talking and walking like humans, it is sad to state the fact that they are animals, because the primary condition for TPLF membership is a human reducing himself into animal and act and behave as an animal!
Because of the horrible experiences TPLF forced upon my country, I urge fellow citizens, to demand the end of ethnic politics!
"When they [government officials] first came they told us an investor was coming and we would develop the land alongside one another. They didn't say the land would be taken away from us entirely. I don't understand why the government took the land."
Farmer Gemechu Garbaba
His wife adds:
"Since the land was taken away from us we are impoverished. Nothing has gone right for us, since these investors came."
Africa succumbs to colonial-style land grab
Channel 4 News, 7 January 2012
