Thread by @MapEthiopia

Comprehensive thread on an apparent mass-execution of 14 men in Debre Abay. This thread will be extremely graphic! Please be warned.

On January 12, the pro-TPLF site Tghat posted about two separate massacres. One of which they claimed killed 100 in Debre Abay on the 5 and 6 of January. Just over a month ago. However, it was impossible to verify the claim due to the internet situation. tghat.com/2021/01/12/mas…

Yesterday, footage finally came out which confirms that a massacre did take place in Debre Abay. From this point on, the thread will be very graphic as we will examine the video. Below is the video in its entirety. Again. Extremely graphic.

With geolocation by @ViiHaakon the location of the massacre was confirmed to be Debre Abay. Coordinates are 13°49'14.33"N 38° 7'32.11"E. 13°49'14.3"N 38°07'32.1"E
goo.gl/maps/TPKwWCeES…

In the video, a man closely films 14 men in civilian clothing who have been shot dead, with an additional man appearing to have played dead in order to survive. We will return to this man later.

The dead men are found in 3 groups. The first group, consisting of 5 men has all the bodies (including the man who survived) face down with all but one facing the same direction. They all seem to be shot from behind. One has an entry wound to his back, another to his head.

The second group consists of four men. They are closer to one another than the first group. Blood has soaked into the dirt away from the bodies as well as next to the bodies. Potentially these bodies were moved postmortem in order to be searched for valuables and documents.

The third group of men is huddled very closely together. Some look very young. Multiple wounds are visible, including those at an angle which suggests a shooter directly over them after they had already fallen. The perpetrators shot until they were sure their victims were dead.

Who are the perpetrators of this? Tghat claimed Eritrean or Ethiopian “reinforcements” committed this atrocity. But uniforms do not match with those we have observed Eritreans using in-country. While quality is bad, the closest match is an Ethiopian uniform. But it’s hard to say.

In actuality, it is likely a perpetrator who is filming. This can be seen in his interaction with the survivor. “You, who didn’t die. We should have gotten rid of you.” He then goes on to insult the man. “Fuck your mother” he says as he walks away. “son of a bitch”.

We’ve talked to several people about the language used. All have agreed that there is a noticeable accent. And two say that the speaker sounds like his first language is Afaan Oromo. Neither of us are native speakers. So perhaps others can pitch in?

But the horror of this video gets worse as you look past the foreground into the background. There are bodies everywhere. We’ve counted at least ten with high confidence. Meaning on video we have at least 24 fatalities. It’s likely the survivor was murdered after this video ended

It is hard to describe the full ugliness of this video as we see what appears to be a significant amount of the male population of Debre Abay slaughtered in a deliberate massacre. This has been a very difficult thread to write.
The international community must act on this.