Ethiopia: Tepid international response to Tigray conflict fuels horrific violations over past six months
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3 May 2021
African and other world leaders must urgently speak out and do more to stem the ferocious tide of human rights and international humanitarian law violations in the armed conflict that has now raged for six months in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, Amnesty International said today.
Since the fighting broke out on 4 November 2020, thousands of civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced within Tigray, and 63,000 refugees have fled to Sudan. Amnesty International and other organizations have documented a string of serious human rights violations that include war crimes and likely crimes against humanity. There are also numerous credible reports of women and girls being subjected to sexual violence, including gang rape by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers.
4 May 2021, 00:26 UTC
African and other world leaders must urgently speak out and do more to stem the ferocious tide of human rights and international humanitarian law violations in the armed conflict that has now raged for six months in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, Amnesty International said today. Since the fighting broke out on 4 November 2020, thousands of civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced within Tigray, and 63,000 refugees have fled to Sudan. Amnesty International and other organizations have documented a string of serious human rights violations that include war crimes and likely crimes against humanity. There are also numerous credible reports of women and girls being subjected to sexual violence, including gang rape by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers.
UN breaks silence on Ethiopia crisis, urges investigation into reported Tigray atrocities
The United Nations Security Council has voiced “deep concern” over a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region for the first time since conflict erupted there five months ago, calling for reported atrocities to be investigated.
In a statement Thursday, the body urged investigations into “human rights violations and abuses, including reports of sexual violence against women and girls in the Tigray region.” CNN has previously investigated horrific, widespread reports of rape by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops in the region.
The Security Council also called for a “scaled up humanitarian response and unfettered humanitarian access,” noting that ongoing insecurity in the region hindered current humanitarian operations.
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