Two leading human rights organizations on Wednesday (April 6th) accused the armed forces of Ethiopia's Amhara region of carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Tigrayans in a war that has killed thousands. civilians and displaced more than a million people.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a joint report that abuses committed by officials from the Amhara region, regional special forces and militias during fighting in western Tigray constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They also accused the Ethiopian army of complicity in these acts.

"Since November 2020, officials and security forces in the Amhara region have engaged in a relentless campaign of ethnic cleansing to force Tigrayans in western Tigray from their homes," said Kenneth Roth, Director executive of HRW.

"Lies"

Gizachew Muluneh, spokesman for the Amhara region government, told Reuters that allegations of abuse and ethnic cleansing in western Tigray were "lies" and "fabricated" information.

Amnesty and HRW said Tigrayan forces also committed abuses during the 17-month war, but that was not the focus of the report.

The report, which is based on 427 interviews with survivors, family members and witnesses, is the most comprehensive assessment to date of abuses committed during the war in Western Tigray.

This region has seen some of the worst violence in the war, which pitted Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and its allies in the Amhara region against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

The TPLF dominated Ethiopia's government before Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018. Both Amhara and Tigray regions claim the area, which is controlled by Amhara forces and the Ethiopian military.

Language restrictions

Besides the repeated massacres, the report cites meetings in which officials from the Amhara region discussed plans to eliminate Tigrayans and the restrictions they imposed on the Tigrayan language as evidence of ethnic cleansing.

Federal authorities failed to investigate allegations of ethnic cleansing, while, according to the report, the national army committed "murders, arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as acts of torture against the Tigrayan population". .

With Reuters

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