The UN is failing its Tigrayan peacekeeping troops (The Africa Report)
Posted: 16 Dec 2021, 09:54
Ethiopia: The UN is failing its Tigrayan peacekeeping troops
Continue reading https://www.theafricareport.com/156531/ ... ng-troops/
There has been little to no action taken to address the Ethiopian government's ethnically-based expulsion and arrest of Tigrayan peacekeepers.
This article was published in partnership with Ethiopia Insight.
When Tigrayan members of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) were deployed to UN peacekeeping missions, they did so under the banner of “Together for Peace”.
Respecting and honouring the brave few who put their own lives at risk in the service of their country and for the cause of world peace is a cherished norm. However, Tigrayan members of UN peacekeeping missions are getting the opposite treatment.
When the Ethiopian government launched an armed offensive against the Tigray region in November 2020, it withdrew troops from international peacekeeping missions to bolster its offensive. Citing fears over their loyalty to the federal government and ENDF, Tigrayan members of this contingent were also purged from their ranks without cause. Other Tigrayans were left with no choice but to seek asylum in order to escape abduction and internment.
Evidence of this purge was first attested to in a leaked video published by The Associated Press in which an Ethiopian military leader speaks of the need to ‘clean out our insides’ in a reference to the removal of Tigrayan service members.
Soon after, an article published in Foreign Policy on 23 November revealed an internal UN document that detailed concerns that these troops were likely to face torture or execution.
The UN’s fears were confirmed after it was revealed that military tribunals are being held to sentence Tigrayan security officers to death. The Ethiopian government is seemingly using the judicial system to make a show of passing judgment on defendants who were in fact criminalised by virtue of ethnic profiling alone. The risk to the lives of these service members, including those who served under the auspices of the UN peacekeeping missions, is real.
Continue reading https://www.theafricareport.com/156531/ ... ng-troops/
Continue reading https://www.theafricareport.com/156531/ ... ng-troops/
There has been little to no action taken to address the Ethiopian government's ethnically-based expulsion and arrest of Tigrayan peacekeepers.
This article was published in partnership with Ethiopia Insight.
When Tigrayan members of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) were deployed to UN peacekeeping missions, they did so under the banner of “Together for Peace”.
Respecting and honouring the brave few who put their own lives at risk in the service of their country and for the cause of world peace is a cherished norm. However, Tigrayan members of UN peacekeeping missions are getting the opposite treatment.
When the Ethiopian government launched an armed offensive against the Tigray region in November 2020, it withdrew troops from international peacekeeping missions to bolster its offensive. Citing fears over their loyalty to the federal government and ENDF, Tigrayan members of this contingent were also purged from their ranks without cause. Other Tigrayans were left with no choice but to seek asylum in order to escape abduction and internment.
Evidence of this purge was first attested to in a leaked video published by The Associated Press in which an Ethiopian military leader speaks of the need to ‘clean out our insides’ in a reference to the removal of Tigrayan service members.
Soon after, an article published in Foreign Policy on 23 November revealed an internal UN document that detailed concerns that these troops were likely to face torture or execution.
The UN’s fears were confirmed after it was revealed that military tribunals are being held to sentence Tigrayan security officers to death. The Ethiopian government is seemingly using the judicial system to make a show of passing judgment on defendants who were in fact criminalised by virtue of ethnic profiling alone. The risk to the lives of these service members, including those who served under the auspices of the UN peacekeeping missions, is real.
Continue reading https://www.theafricareport.com/156531/ ... ng-troops/