{"id":14564,"date":"2022-05-12T00:02:54","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T00:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/?p=14564"},"modified":"2022-05-12T00:03:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T00:03:40","slug":"ethiopia-is-committing-genocide-against-the-tigrayan-people-say-priests-from-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/?p=14564","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia is Committing Genocide Against the Tigrayan People, Say Priests From Region"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Priests from Tigray recount hellish scenes from their native land.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: National Catholic Register<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTigray is really in hell,\u201d said a Catholic priest from the war-ravaged northern region of Ethiopia. \u201cNever before has a government denied medicine to millions of its own people, closed their infrastructure, cut off their banking system and completely deprived all means of survival.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The priest, one of three from Tigray who spoke to the Register on April 29 strictly on condition of anonymity due to fears of reprisals against them and their flocks by the Ethiopian government, conveyed in detail the stark reality facing the Tigrayan people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since last June, the priest said Tigrayans have been effectively severed from the outside world, driven to starvation and death, and continue face \u201ccountless\u201d atrocities. \u201cI know of a lot of people killed unjustly and brutally \u2014 innocent people, children, mothers with babies,\u201d the priest said. \u201cI consider them war crimes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The priest\u2019s testimony echoes those of other Church leaders in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an April 6\u00a0appeal<\/a>\u00a0to the international community, Bishop Tesfasellassie Medhin of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat, eastern Tigray, said the \u201cdevastating crisis\u201d is inflicting \u201cevery sort of evil on the Tigrayan population on a scale beyond imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He referred to \u201cthe genocidal massacres of civilians, rampant rape and gender-related violence, looting and burning of property, homes, destruction of places of worship (churches, mosques), economic installations, health institutions, schools, museums.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 1.7 million children across Tigray have been \u201cdeprived of education in these two years!\u201d he added, and described a particularly disturbing incident<\/a> on March 3 involving 11 people, nine of whom were Tigrayans, who were burned on a pyre, at least one of them still alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hardly publicized Tigrayan conflict, which erupted in November 2020, has so far led to tens of thousands of casualties from fighting or deprivation, and forced 2.5 million Tigrayans to flee to neighboring Sudan or to become internally displaced, according<\/a> to the United Nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.N. has said atrocities during the war \u2014 fought principally between local Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) helped by Eritrean and other forces \u2014 have been committed on all sides<\/a>, but with the majority of the crimes committed by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an April 4 joint report<\/a> entitled \u201cWe Will Erase You From This Land,\u201d Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch highlighted what they described as \u201cwidespread and systematic attacks\u201d on Tigray that \u201camount to crimes against humanity, as well as war crimes.\u201d The violence, they said, was \u201crelentless ethnic cleansing\u201d and something the Ethiopian authorities had \u201csteadfastly denied\u201d and \u201cegregiously failed to address.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finland\u2019s foreign minister and the EU\u2019s envoy to Ethiopia, Pekka Haavisto, said<\/a> last year that Ethiopian leaders had told him in February 2021 that they planned to \u201cwipe out the Tigrayans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pope Francis has issued several appeals<\/a> for peace on behalf of the 7 million Tigrayan people affected, almost all of whom are Orthodox faithful. But a ban imposed last June on both journalists and aid workers entering the region has meant that little of what is happening there has filtered out to Western media and other institutions, including the Church (media and aid agencies had already been banned from the western part of the region after the war began).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel Church authorities have no real picture of the terrible situation,\u201d said one of the three priests contacted by the Register. The Ethiopian authorities, he said, are \u201cgoing around checking the mobile phones of civilians so they don\u2019t record any of the evil, and have cut all means of mass communications so the world doesn\u2019t know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know this,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause we have family there and they do all they can to send messages, even going across the border during the night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Register contacted the apostolic nuncio to Ethiopia and Djibouti, Archbishop Antoine Camilleri, for comment on the situation but he had not responded by press time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longstanding and Complex Causes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The conflict in Tigray has longstanding and complex causes, rooted in a mix of power-politics, ethnic rivalries and a region prized for its copper and gold deposits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPFL) led Ethiopia\u2019s coalition government from 1991 to 2019, a period of general stability but not without problems. After protests against corruption and human rights violations, its leadership was replaced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who liberalized politics and ended a territorial dispute with Eritrea, earning him the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Tigray\u2019s leaders looked with unease on Abiy\u2019s reforms which they saw as an attempt to centralize power and destroy Ethiopia\u2019s federal system, of which Tigray is a part. The TPFL refused to join Abiy\u2019s newly-founded Prosperity Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matters came to a head in September 2020 when Tigray defied the central government and held its own regional election, a move the Abiy government deemed illegal. Tensions increased a month later when the central Ethiopian government suspended funding for Tigray, which the latter viewed as a \u201cdeclaration of war.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military confrontations began in November 2020 after the Abiy government accused Tigrayan forces of attacking Ethiopian army bases to steal weapons. An alliance between the Abiy government and Eritrea against Tigray also worsened relations: Animosity has long existed between Tigray, which borders Eritrea to the south, and the Eritrean government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of the now-18-month war, observers say Tigray has been brought to ruin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is hard to describe in words what is going on Tigray \u2018out of sight\u2019 of the world, as deliberate total communications blackout and blockade have made sure even the cries of agony and death are not heard outside Tigray,\u201d said Gebrekirstos Gebremeskel, founder of Tghat<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>a news portal he set up to monitor events and counter the media blackout of Tigray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told the Register that since July 2021, \u201cnothing gets into Tigray and nothing goes out \u2014 no trade, no banking, no fuel, no telephone, no internet. And everything has been deliberately destroyed.\u201d A Tigrayan researcher based in the Netherlands, Gebremeskel said 80% of health facilities have been eliminated, \u201cirrigation infrastructure destroyed, farm implements destroyed and factories destroyed. Now imagine life under these conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that people are \u201cperishing everyday due to engineered famine and lack of medication, and all of that out of sight.\u201d The world, he said, \u201chas forgotten Tigray or ignored it for geopolitical and business interests. It is such a sad story of people being wiped out in this age and after the world has supposedly learned to say, \u2018Never Again\u2019 to genocide.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most powerful testimonies from Ethiopia came recently from Bishop Mathias, the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, who in a March 19 video message<\/a> cited Tigrayans burned alive and other alleged atrocities, including reports of boys being thrown off cliffs. Such crimes, he said, \u201cmake one despise being alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing has been left in Tigray,\u201d Patriarch Mathias said. \u201cAnd now, in addition to all of this, children are crying in their mothers\u2019 arms and perishing from starvation, like dried leaves.\u201d He added that the war \u201cwas started to annihilate Tigrayans, to destroy Tigrayans, to eradicate them from the face of the world [and] has now spread across Ethiopia and is bringing instability, unrest, famine.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardinal Berhaneyesus Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, who Pope Francis elevated to cardinal in 2015, has also warned<\/a> of a \u201chuge\u201d humanitarian situation, and not just in Tigray but in the surrounding areas. But the cardinal, whom Catholics have criticized<\/a> for being too close to the Abiy Government, said the situation is being worsened by a drought brought on by \u201cclimate change\u201d<\/a> rather than war. He also rejected calling the military operation in Tigray a conflict or war. The priests contacted in Ethiopia disagreed, telling the Register the cardinal is \u201ctrying to protect the image of the country.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians Targeted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although the war is primarily being fought along ethnic lines, Christians are being specifically targeted in the region. Monasteries, clergy and faithful<\/a> in Tigray, whose Christian heritage dates back to the fourth century, have been attacked, sometimes by Muslim troops from Somalia and Eritrea assigned to kill priests<\/a>, Gebremeskel said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen there is the drone technology and financial help of Muslim countries such as the UAE, Iran and Turkey that also helped devastate Tigray,\u201d he added. Ethiopian forces have also destroyed churches<\/a> and looted their properties,<\/a> and Gebremeskel cited a May 2021 religious councils’ report showing a total of 326 religious leaders had been killed<\/a> in the first six months of the conflict \u2014 priests, deacons, religious and some Muslim leaders. A report<\/a> on the religious dimensions of the Tigrayan conflict, released by Georgetown University\u2019s Berkley Center, also cited a number of these events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last October, Gebremeskel tweeted that Tigrayan Sister Tiemtu Afewerki said three Eritrean soldiers had raped her after she traveled to Tigray from Jerusalem to pay her respects to her sister who had died. Sister Tiemtu said the enemy then shot dead her nieces and threw them, along with their mother, into the Tekeze river, according<\/a> to Tghat<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A ceasefire<\/a> was called on March 24 and the Ethiopian government said it would allow aid to reach stricken civilians, but evidence suggests little has changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claire Nevill, head of communications and reports for the World Food Program in Addis Ababa, told the Register April 28 that 145 trucks \u201cloaded with food, nutrition and non-food items and nine fuel tankers\u201d arrived that week and that WFP had delivered enough food to reach \u201c165,000 beneficiaries.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Nevill noted that that amounted to just 8% of the WFP\u2019s target population of 2.1 million. According to U.N. estimates, at least 100 trucks of food<\/a> and supplies are needed every day to cover the needs of 6-7 million people in the conflict region. An official quoted by the Holy See\u2019s missionary news agency Fides said<\/a> the humanitarian help could reach the affected areas if efforts were made, but the Ethiopian government is \u201cusing the aid as part of the political process.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has denied this, Fides reported, and accused the TPLF of looting trucks and blocking the route, but the Tigrayan priests who spoke to the Register disagreed with that narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTigrayan people are not beggars, but the government deliberately destroyed last year\u2019s harvest so now they\u2019re trying to portray us as the poorest region,\u201d said one of the priests. \u201cYou can see the psychology they\u2019re using, but what they say is not true. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn normal times, Tigray doesn\u2019t have to depend on anyone,\u201d he added, asserting that Tigrayans are known for their industry and commitment, and that they contribute the most taxes because they are hard-working. He also claimed the Tigrayan militias are no longer a force as they have all been effectively halted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Community Failure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most senior of the priests told the Register he has been \u201creally discouraged and really offended\u201d by the lack of action by the international community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the government becomes the enemy of its people and there is a danger of extermination of its people, for the international community to remain silent for months and months isn\u2019t justifiable, moral or acceptable,\u201d he said. \u201cOther countries get a swift response which is good,\u201d but he added that some countries are ignored. He said a \u201cno-fly zone\u201d should be imposed by the international community so medicines \u201ccan reach the people and allow lives to be saved \u2014 life is the priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The priests said they appreciated the Pope\u2019s appeals but wondered if he could go further and perhaps warn, without necessarily mentioning it explicitly, that \u201canother Rwanda is happening\u201d in Africa \u2014 a reference to the genocide that took place there in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his April 6 statement, Bishop Medhin called on the international community to \u201ctake quick action\u201d to save the Tigrayan people \u201cbefore it reaches an irreversible level due to our collective, unfulfilled humanitarian duty and moral obligation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Priests from Tigray recount hellish scenes from their native land. Source: National Catholic Register \u201cTigray is really in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[32,286],"class_list":["post-14564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-english","tag-national-catholic-register"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36.png",941,625,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36.png",300,199,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36.png",640,425,false],"large":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36.png",640,425,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36.png",941,625,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36.png",941,625,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36.png",825,548,false],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36.png",590,392,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36-300x300.png",300,300,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36-600x399.png",600,399,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/axumawian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-36-100x100.png",100,100,true]},"author_info":{"info":["Axumawian Media"]},"category_info":"Article<\/a>","tag_info":"Article","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14568,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14564\/revisions\/14568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}