Ethiopia: Can Addis Clear Its Human Rights Wrongs Using Tigray Rebellion?
Posted: 09 Mar 2021, 14:37
By Aggrey Mutambo
Addis Ababa may be a victim of its own history, even as it walks the thin line between handling the Tigray crisis while fighting off pressure from international community.
And historians and political analysts who spoke to The East African this week say the crisis in Ethiopia's northern region is very much a result of a mismanaged ethnic diversity in the country, rather than revenge attacks on the Tigray as some rights watchdogs have claimed.
What started as a law enforcement operation, according to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, to tame the remnants of former ruling party, Tigray People's Liberation Front, has now become a humanitarian crisis.
Last week, Amnesty International published a damning report, accusing Eritrean troops of misusing a free hand given to them by Ethiopia, to rape, maim and kill civilians.
After speaking to 41 survivors and witnesses, AI reported that there had been extra-judicial executions, indiscriminate shelling and looting by both Ethiopian and Eritrean troops.
"The evidence is compelling and points to a chilling conclusion. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops carried out multiple war crimes in their offensive to take control of Axum," said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty's director for East and Southern Africa.
Yemane Meskel, Eritrea's Government Information Minister rejected the report as he accused the rights watchdog of interviewing TPLF members who had fled as refugees, saying, "Amnesty made absolutely no attempt to seek any information from Eritrea."
Saving face
The problem though, argued Horn of Africa Researcher Rashid Abdi, is that Western governments may be issuing statements against Ethiopia to save their own face.
"As long as the world keeps issuing facile statements of concern and condemnation nothing will change in Tigray," he argued on Tuesday.
"Let's see some robust and coercive policy responses targeting senior regime figures in Ethiopia and Eritrea."
Initially, the Trump government didn't seem to have a problem with Eritrean troops in Ethiopia.
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Addis Ababa may be a victim of its own history, even as it walks the thin line between handling the Tigray crisis while fighting off pressure from international community.
And historians and political analysts who spoke to The East African this week say the crisis in Ethiopia's northern region is very much a result of a mismanaged ethnic diversity in the country, rather than revenge attacks on the Tigray as some rights watchdogs have claimed.
What started as a law enforcement operation, according to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, to tame the remnants of former ruling party, Tigray People's Liberation Front, has now become a humanitarian crisis.
Last week, Amnesty International published a damning report, accusing Eritrean troops of misusing a free hand given to them by Ethiopia, to rape, maim and kill civilians.
After speaking to 41 survivors and witnesses, AI reported that there had been extra-judicial executions, indiscriminate shelling and looting by both Ethiopian and Eritrean troops.
"The evidence is compelling and points to a chilling conclusion. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops carried out multiple war crimes in their offensive to take control of Axum," said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty's director for East and Southern Africa.
Yemane Meskel, Eritrea's Government Information Minister rejected the report as he accused the rights watchdog of interviewing TPLF members who had fled as refugees, saying, "Amnesty made absolutely no attempt to seek any information from Eritrea."
Saving face
The problem though, argued Horn of Africa Researcher Rashid Abdi, is that Western governments may be issuing statements against Ethiopia to save their own face.
"As long as the world keeps issuing facile statements of concern and condemnation nothing will change in Tigray," he argued on Tuesday.
"Let's see some robust and coercive policy responses targeting senior regime figures in Ethiopia and Eritrea."
Initially, the Trump government didn't seem to have a problem with Eritrean troops in Ethiopia.
Continue reading