Authorities moving bodies from Western Tigray following Ethiopia’s failure to block UN fund for the investigation
Source: Globe News Net
Authorities in Ethiopia are rushing to move bodies from Western Tigray following Ethiopia’s inability to block funds for the investigation at the UN.
Authorities from neighboring Amhara region and the Federal government are moving bodies from Western Tigray where tens of thousands of Tigrayans are thought to have been massacred by Ethiopian army and forces from Eritrea, Somalia, and from neighboring Amhara region in Ethiopia, following the war which began in November 2020, to unknown places.
Ethiopian and Amhara state media are extensively covering the news since yesterday, arguing that the bodies were victims of ‘Tigray’s forces’, without explaining reasons behind the rush to move the bodies.
According to sources, the University of Gondar in Amhara region is also part of the team that conducts the relocation.
Tigrayan advocacy groups believe that Ethiopian and Amhara authorities are deliberately moving the bodies to unknown places ahead of the UN investigation to destroy evidences regarding atrocities committed in Western Tigray, including massacres, and are calling for the international community to act and stop it.
The USA in March last year declared that “ethnic cleansing” has been committed in the Western Tigray region in Ethiopia.
A resolution proposed by Ethiopiain the General Assembly´s budget committee against approving resources for a team from the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to scrutinize abuses during the 17-month war, was defeated by a vote of 27-66, with 39 abstentions in a session conducted last week on 31st March, 2022.
On the other hand,the United States Senate has passed the ‘Ethiopia Peace and Stabilisation Act’ of 2022. The Act aims at imposing sanctions on those that are providing training, weapons, or financial support to those involved in the conflict. If enacted, the bill would sanction individuals as well as suspend U.S. security and financial assistance to the Ethiopian government until certain human rights conditions are met.
The Tigray war began in November 2020 when Ethiopia’s army, backed by Eritrean and Somalia national armies and troops from Ethiopian regional states, moved to oust a TPLF-led regional government in Tigray. The more than 17-month-old war has been marked by extreme brutality, including the use of rape and hunger as instruments of war, and massacres against Tigrayans. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead and forced many others to flee their homes with hundreds of thousands driven to the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.
