Thread by @hrw

BREAKING @hrw & @amnesty report on abuses amounting to crimes against humanity & war crimes in Ethiopia’s Western Tigray Zone

Since November 2020, officials & Amhara security forces have engaged in a relentless campaign of ethnic cleansing to force Tigrayans from their homes🧵

Officials & #Amhara security forces in Western #Tigray have systematically expelled several hundred thousand Tigrayan civilians from their homes, using:

Threats

Unlawful killings

Sexual violence

Mass detention

Denial of humanitarian aid + more

hrw.org/news/2022/04/0…

In several towns across Western #Tigray, signs were displayed ordering Tigrayans to leave, & local administrators openly discussed plans to remove Tigrayans.

A Tigrayan woman from Baeker town described threats she faced by Fanos, an irregular Amhara militia: “They kept saying every night, ‘We will kill you… Go out of the area’.”

Pamphlets appeared giving Tigrayans 24-hour or 72-hour ultimatums to leave or be killed.

“‘This is your end! We will erase you from this land. This land is ours. This is the last time a Tigrayan will live in the area,’” a 23-year-old trader trying to flee says he was told by Amhara Special Forces.

NEW 245-page report available here: hrw.org/report/2022/04…

Authorities have rounded up thousands of Tigrayans for long-term detention and abuse in overcrowded facilities. We believe 100s if not thousands of Tigrayans are still held in life-threatening conditions.

.@hrw and @amnesty interviewed more than 400 people who suffered or witnessed abuses.

We’ve also verified satellite imagery and photographic and video evidence corroborating accounts of grave abuses.

The campaign of ethnic cleansing has remained largely hidden, thanks to Ethiopian authorities severely restricting access and scrutiny of the region.

Authorities have also denied the shocking breadth of the crimes.

The protection of communities is key. Tigrayans held in detention sites must be released. Unhindered, independent, and sustained humanitarian assistance, with a strong protection focus MUST be allowed to Western #Tigray Zone.

The Ethiopian government & its international partners need to call on security forces and militia to end these atrocities and support credible justice efforts to ensure those responsible are held accountable.

Any consensual agreement between the warring parties should also include the deployment of an AU-led international peacekeeping force with a robust civilian protection mandate to Western Tigray.