Share
August 23, 2021 The US Treasury Department has blacklisted Filipos Woldeyonnes, the chief of staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF).
The decision was made in relation to the human rights violations, sexual abuse, massacres that the EDF carried out during the operation in Tigray
Eritrea has sent its troops to Tigray in support of the Addis Ababa army fighting against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (Tplf). The conflict resulted in the internal displacement of thousands of people and the flight of over 63 thousand Tigers in the neighboring regions of eastern Sudan, while the UN confirmed the blockade of access to communication routes by the military, preventing distribution of food and aid in the region where 80% of the population is now at risk of dying of hunger.
The UN report, released in June, talks about abuses including the kidnapping of refugees.
Andrea Gacki, director of oversight of the Treasury Department's foreign activities, wrote that "it is urgent that Eritrea withdraw its forces from Ethiopia and it is urgent that the forces in the field decide on a ceasefire to open negotiations and end abuses and violations of human rights ".
In the report, released in April by Reuters, doctors tell of many women who have suffered horrific sexual violence by Ethiopian forces and Eritrean allies. UNICEF says over 100,000 children in Tigray could suffer from malnutrition in the next 12 months as well as hundreds of thousands more in the region.