ugc_banner

Now there is evidence of barbarity of Ethiopian Army. Will there be action?

WION
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaEdited By: Gravitas deskUpdated: Apr 03, 2021, 12:59 AM IST
main img
Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

There is a long list of allegations against Ethiopia, but they have been difficult to prove because the government has cut off the internet

Five months back Ethiopian troops entered Tigray with Prime minister Abiy Ahmed saying he wanted to bring the restive northern province to heel.

He promised a swift and decisive victory and a quick return to normalcy and prosperity.

Instead, his troops have bathed the province in blood, raped entire villages and massacred Tigrayan youth.

Watch | 

It's a humanitarian crisis of biblical proportions.

There is a long list of allegations against Ethiopia, but they have been difficult to prove because the government has cut off the internet.

Foreign media have been barred from entering Tigray.

Inside this dome of radio static, Ethiopian troops have committed untold horrors.

We do get reports of their ruthless tactics, but until now there was no visual evidence.

A video of this you be viewed in this Gravitas story and is clearly a massacre caught on camera.

A mass execution by bullets carried out by the Ethiopian Army.

The images are disturbing and we advise viewer discretion.

More than a dozen young Tigrayans were shot dead and the manner of their execution speaks volumes of the Army's conduct.

There is no dignity even in death and the victims' bodies are flung off the cliffside.

The soldiers are mouthing abuses at the dead bodies and one of them can be heard saying don't waste bullets, use minimum shots to kill the captives.

What's even more worrying is that thousands of civilians have been killed in the war.

Some opposition parties claim as many as 50,000 people may have died.

However, these reports cannot be confirmed since there is no internet. 

Informants in Tigray have compiled a list of casualties for a University in Belgium, it talks about 151 massacres, each of them with at least 5 victims.

The UN says more than 500 rape cases have been reported in Tigray.

These are only the reported ones and only 5 clinics were covered, suggesting that the actual number could be much higher. 

The details of these cases are even more gruesome.

In some instances, men were forced to rape their own family members at gunpoint.

The army has abandoned its commitment to protecting the people and the government has forsaken justice.

This is nothing short of a campaign of extermination and Ethiopia isn't alone.

For months now, troops from neighbouring Eritrea have been involved as well.

The Ethiopian PM kept denying this until last month when he promised that the foreign soldiers would withdraw under a new agreement.

But what about his own army's abuses? He says the government will hold the troops accountable.

But for that, he will have to win the war and he is no closer to doing that than he was five months back.

The atrocities have galvanised the Tigrayan people and the rebel army is swelling.

The ethnic cleansing in Tigray is the collective failure of the world community.

The UN failed to mediate and the African Union failed to dissuade the Ethiopian PM. 

The speechwriters in Washington and London prepared excellent drafts for their leaders, strong words of condemnation, but nothing more.

As for the prime minister, it's a fall from grace and he's yet to hit the bottom.

A Nobel Peace Prize winner who is now leading a war on his own people.

Abiy will forever be remembered as the man who shredded the social fabric of Ethiopia, a merchant of the peace who traded in massacres.


 

Gravitas desk

Gravitas desk is a team of writers that creates reports for WION's prime time show which brings to you news and discussions on concurrent issues from India aviewMore