“It is disgraceful that Ciham Ali, who was just 15 years old at the time of her detention, has been forcibly disappeared for a decade. The last years of her childhood and early adult life have been stolen from her, while her family faces the agonizing despair of not knowing where she is.” 

The last years of her childhood and early adult life have been stolen from her.

Flavia Mwangovya, Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes Region

“Ciham Ali continues to be secretly detained without trial. Her family has heard nothing from her, despite concerns over her wellbeing. Her arrest and detention by the Eritrean authorities’ amounts to enforced disappearance, which is a crime under international law. She should be immediately and unconditionally released. All those responsible for her enforced disappearance should be held criminally accountable and all victims, including her family members, should have access to justice and full reparations.”

“The US government has also failed to intervene in Ciham’s case. Amnesty International is calling on the US State Department to urgently act, as the status quo of refusing to speak up amounts to a failure to protect one of its own citizens.”

The US State Department should urgently act to protect one of its own citizens.

Flavia Mwangovya

Background

Ciham, who is now 25 years old, has been secretly detained for ten years in an unknown location. She was arrested in December 2012 at the Sudan border as she was attempting to flee Eritrea. Ciham was born in Los Angeles but raised in Eritrea.

Prior to her arrest, Ciham’s father, Ali Abdu, who was Minister of Information at the time, had fled into exile following an attempted military coup against the government. Her enforced disappearance appears to be in retaliation against her father’s suspected involvement in the coup.

In 2021, Amnesty International launched a petition calling on the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to intervene in Ciham’s case and demand her immediate and unconditional release.

The post Eritrea: Ten years on, Ciham Ali’s ongoing enforced disappearance ‘a disgrace’ appeared first on Amnesty International.

The African Union must pressure the Ethiopian government to ensure justice for victims and survivors of violations especially sexual violence

Flavia Mwangovya, Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes Region.

“The African Union must urgently pressure the Ethiopian government to fully cooperate with both regional and international investigative mechanisms on human rights to ensure justice for victims and survivors of violations — especially sexual violence,” said Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes Region.

“The Ethiopian authorities must urgently allow unfettered access to the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights to enable investigations to take place, and ultimately to ensure those responsible for atrocities in Ethiopia’s two-year conflict face justice.”

On 2 November 2022, Amnesty International launched a campaign which highlights the atrocities committed by all sides to the conflict. It also called on the international community to stand in solidarity with survivors and victims of sexual violence during the conflict.

The Ethiopian authorities must allow unfettered access to the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights to enable investigations to take place

Flavia Mwangovya

16 Days of Activism

On 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Amnesty International will also hold an exhibition in Nairobi at the Baraza Media Lab, in which a documentary film will highlight the demands for justice by survivors of sexual violence during the conflict in Ethiopia.

The exhibition will also be showcased in London on 28 and 29 November 2022, during the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Conference.

Background 

On 2 November 2022, the Government of Ethiopia, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a peace agreement. The accord, however, fails to offer a clear roadmap on how to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and overlooks rampant impunity in the country, which could lead to violations being repeated.

All parties to the armed conflict in Ethiopia, which pits forces aligned with Ethiopia’s federal government, including the Eritrean army, against those affiliated with Tigray’s regional government led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), have committed serious human rights violations and abuses, including extrajudicial executions, summary killings and sexual violence against women and girls. Abuses documented by Amnesty International in the conflict include war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The post Ethiopia: Survivors of sexual violence deserve justice and accountability appeared first on Amnesty International.

“The signing of a peace agreement on Wednesday is a step in the right direction, yet further strides must be taken to address the accountability deficit that has permeated the conflict since it began. All parties to the war have committed unspeakable abuses, including mass, extrajudicial executions and sexual violence against women and girls. These appalling crimes cannot simply be washed away.

The accord fails to offer a clear roadmap on how to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity

Muleya Mwananyanda, Director for East and Southern Africa

“At present, the accord fails to offer a clear roadmap on how to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and overlooks rampant impunity in the country, which could lead to violations being repeated.

“To ensure justice for victims and survivors of atrocities, the Ethiopian authorities must allow unfettered access to human rights investigators, including the UN-mandated International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia. They must also provide humanitarian corridors so that the thousands of people facing starvation and medical emergencies can get the assistance they need.”

To ensure justice for victims and survivors of atrocities, the Ethiopian authorities must allow unfettered access to human rights investigators,

Muleya Mwananyanda

Background

The signing of the peace agreement on Wednesday follows a week of negotiations and two years of fighting. The armed conflict in Ethiopia pits forces aligned with Ethiopia’s federal government against those affiliated with Tigray’s regional government led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Amid the conflict, millions of civilians have been displaced, while thousands of people have been killed due to ethnic violence. The region has been largely cut off from the outside world, and so humanitarian aid has also been denied to millions of people in Tigray.

The post Ethiopia: Peace agreement must deliver justice to victims and survivors of conflict    appeared first on Amnesty International.

“To protect everyone’s right to health, equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines is essential. Global pharmaceutical companies and world leaders must fulfil their respective human rights responsibilities and obligations.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

The vaccines that do make it to East Africa are often supplied at short notice on an unpredictable schedule with little time remaining before they expire, complicating efforts to roll out effective vaccination campaigns. In one example, in April 2021, South Sudan destroyed 59,000 doses that they had received just two weeks before the expiry date.

“To protect everyone’s right to health, equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines is essential. Global pharmaceutical companies and world leaders must fulfil their respective human rights responsibilities and obligations. They must ramp up fair distribution of vaccines and ensure that a fair number of doses go to low-income countries, including in East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

This lack of predictability and clear supply timelines has also contributed to undermining trust in national vaccination programmes, with vaccines often unavailable at vaccination centres after people have been told to return for their second dose.

Supply issues have also made it more difficult to reach the most at-risk groups. While all countries in the region identified older people and people with chronic health conditions as priority groups for vaccination, inadequate supply has meant the rate of uptake among these groups has remained consistently low throughout the region.

They must ramp up fair distribution of vaccines and ensure that a fair number of doses go to low-income countries, including in East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes

Deprose Muchena

Inadequate supply of vaccines has a direct impact on the lives, health outcomes and livelihoods of populations in the region. Apart from a short, phased reopening between February and June 2021, schools in Uganda have remained closed since March 2020. Large numbers of people in countries across the region reported losing income and missing or delaying meals and health appointments as a result.

Background

To date, less than 8% of people in Africa have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. East Africa, Horn and Great Lakes has some of lowest rates in world, with 0.01% fully vaccinated in Burundi and 0.07% in DRC. The highest is Rwanda with 29% but most countries in region remain below 6%.

Recent research by the organization has found that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has made misleading statements about its commitment to vaccine fairness, as it continues to supply the majority of its Covid-19 doses to wealthy nations.

Amnesty International is calling on wealthy states who have stockpiled Covid-19 vaccines to urgently redistribute surplus vaccines to low- and lower-middle-income countries. Pharmaceutical companies should deliver at least 50% of vaccines they produce between now and 31 December to low and lower-middle income countries whilst ensuring timely and predictable supply.

The organization is also calling on wealthy states and pharmaceutical companies to urgently increase the global supply of Covid-19 vaccines through the temporary suspension of intellectual property rights and sharing of technology, resources and know-how.

The post East Africa: Global pharmaceutical firms must improve vaccine distribution across the region to save lives appeared first on Amnesty International.

This year, Amnesty International is calling for justice for 10 more brave individuals and groups, including a citizen journalist imprisoned in China for reporting on Covid-19, an environmental activist imprisoned in Guatemala for campaigning against the destruction of one of his country’s sacred rivers, a teenage journalist from the occupied West Bank and a Mexican women’s rights activist who survived a police shooting.

“Every year, Write for Rights offers a lifeline for people around the world whose human rights are under attack, simply because they stood up for what they believe in. They are challenging inequality, discrimination, political repression and campaigning to protect all our rights, whether for environmental justice or against the death penalty. The Write for Rights campaign signifies everything Amnesty stands for – people from all over the world coming with one voice, in global solidarity, to challenge injustice,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“They need you to stand with them – whether that’s through a tweet, a signature or a letter to those in authority. Sometimes the smallest act can make the biggest difference. The last 20 years of Write for Rights shows words really do have power.”

The last 20 years of Write for Rights shows words really do have power

Secretary General, Agnès Callamard

Every December, people around the world write millions of letters, emails, tweets, Facebook posts and postcards in support of those whose human rights are under attack. Write for Rights has helped transform the lives of more than 100 people since 2001, freeing them from torture, harassment, or unjust imprisonment. 

One of the cases featured in this year’s campaign is 15-year-old Janna Jihad, who grew up in the small Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh. In 2009, when Janna was three, her community began to hold weekly peaceful demonstrations against the occupation, which were met with violence by Israeli forces. When Janna was seven, she began using her mother’s phone to record the experiences of her community, and she has been recognized as one of the youngest ever human rights reporters.

Janna has faced death threats and intimidation for her work, but is determined to keep speaking out. She said:

“Being raised in an activist family – hearing the stories of my grandma or grandpa, listening to my uncles talk about getting arrested, learning about the resistance — inspired me to not stay silent. Staying silent in such situations is impossible. Why would I stay silent if I want to change the reality of what we’re living through and what we’re still going through?”

Amnesty International is calling on supporters to write letters to demand protection for Janna.

Amnesty International is also calling for justice for:    

• Mikita Zalatarou, who just 16 when he was arrested after being caught up in crowds leaving a protest in Belarus. He was held in solitary confinement where he was reportedly tortured.
• Wendy Galarza, who was shot after attending a protest to demand justice for a murdered woman in Cancún, Mexico.
• Bernardo Caal Xol, who is imprisoned in Guatemala for campaigning against the destruction of the river Cahabón.
• Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, imprisoned in China for her work reporting on the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan.
• Panusaya (“Rung”) Sithijirawattanakul, a 22-year-old activist who is facing life in prison for calling for freedom and democracy in Thailand.
• Imoleayo Adeyeun Michael, who is facing prison for taking part in the #EndSARs movement in Nigeria.
• Anna Sharyhina and Vira Chernygina, who run an LGBTI organization in Ukraine. Anna and Vera have been attacked and abused, and the authorities have failed to protect them.
• Mohamed Baker, a lawyer imprisoned in Egypt. Mohamed has dedicated his life to protecting the human rights of others.
• Ciham Ali from Eritrea, who has been missing for more than eight years. When she was 15, she was taken by the Eritrean authorities while trying to leave the country and has not been seen since.

Write for Rights began 20 years ago in Warsaw, Poland, when a group of friends decided to celebrate Human Rights Day (10 December) with a 24-hour letter-writing marathon. From 2,326 letters in 2001 to 4.5 million letters, tweets and petition signatures in 2020, Write for Rights has grown into the world’s biggest human rights campaign.

It’s a campaign that really does work – as Jani Silva, an environmental activist from Colombia, can attest. Jani’s fearless opposition to environment contamination and human rights violations has led to harassment, intimidation and death threats. In 2020, more than 400,000 people took action through Write for Rights, calling for her protection.

Jani said:

“I am so very grateful for the letters. From the bottom of my heart, this campaign has kept me alive. It’s what has stopped them from killing me because they know that you are there.”

The post Write for Rights: World’s biggest human rights campaign marks 20th birthday appeared first on Amnesty International.

The arrests of the journalists between 21 and 23 September 2001 followed the arrest on 18 September 2001 of politicians popularly known as G-15 and the banning of independent media after they had published an open letter urging reforms.

“It is unconscionable that these brave prisoners of conscience are still languishing in jail 20 years since they were arrested for exercising their human rights, with no word from the authorities on their current circumstances, and that the ban on independent media remains in place,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.  

Days have turned into months, months into years and now years have turned into decades of unending anguish for these detainees, their families and loved ones. We call on President Isaias Afewerki to take meaningful steps to bring an end to this travesty of justice

Deprose Muchena

“Days have turned into months, months into years and now years have turned into decades of unending anguish for these detainees, their families and loved ones. We call on President Isaias Afewerki to take meaningful steps to bring an end to this travesty of justice.”

The journalists arrested between 21 and 23 September 2001 are Dawit Isaak, Seyoum Tsehaye, Dawit Habtemichael, Mattewos Habteab, Fesseaye “Joshua” Yohannes, Amanuel Asrat and Temesegn Gebreyesus, Said Abdelkader, Yosuf Muhamed Ali and Medhanie Haile. The politicians – all members of Isaias’ ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) – include former Vice-President Mahmoud Ahmed Sheriffo and his wife and independence war heroine Aster Fissehatsion, and former foreign ministers Haile Woldetensae and Petros Solomon. Nine of the politicians and journalists have previously been reported to have died in detention, a claim the Eritrean authorities refuse to confirm.

“There are also many other politicians, journalists and activists that were arrested and detained without charge before September 2001 and since then and they must be released too,” said Deprose Muchena

Some of the high-profile detainees in Eritrea include former Finance Minister Berhane Abraha, who was arrested in September 2018 following his publication of a book considered critical of President Isaias, and Ciham Ali,  the daughter of the defected former Minister of Information Ali Abdu, who was arrested in 2012 aged 15, as she tried to flee the country. Amnesty International has documented extremely poor prison conditions in Eritrea, in some cases amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Prisons in Eritrea are generally overcrowded, with inadequate water and sanitation facilities and providing poor-quality food and drinking water.

The post Eritrea: Release journalists and politicians arrested 20 years ago appeared first on Amnesty International.

… the response from the African Union and United Nations has been woefully insufficient

Deprose Muchena, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

“Six months on from the start of the conflict in Tigray, there is no lack of credible evidence of human rights and international humanitarian law violations, but the response from the African Union and United Nations has been woefully insufficient,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

“The UN Security Council stalled for months before finally expressing concern about the increasingly dire situation in Tigray. The African Union and governments in the region, meanwhile, have done very little to speak out against the raft of likely war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Violations on all sides

 The Ethiopian government has ignored Amnesty International’s requests to access Tigray, making it challenging to verify allegations of human rights violations amid severe, ongoing communications restrictions.
However, Amnesty International has been able to document numerous atrocities in detail using open source investigative methods – including satellite imagery analysis and verification of video evidence – as well as by interviewing dozens of survivors, either via telephone with people in Tigray or in person with refugees in eastern Sudan.

The African Union and governments in the region … have done very little to speak out against the raft of likely war crimes and crimes against humanity

Deprose Muchena

Among the atrocities the organization documented was the mass killing of hundreds of civilians in Mai-Kadra in western Tigray on 9-10 November 2020, allegedly by forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Subsequently, Amnesty has received reports of reprisal attacks targeting ethnic Tigrayan residents of Mai-Kadra, including extrajudicial executions, looting of property, and mass detention.

Amnesty International found that Eritrean troops killed hundreds of civilians in Axum – in what likely amounted to a crime against humanity – on 28-29 November, and indiscriminately shot at civilians in Adwa, killing three of them and wounding 19 others, on 12 April 2021. Working in collaboration with CNN, Amnesty International also confirmed that Ethiopian National Defence Force troops carried out extrajudicial executions in Mahibere Dego, near Axum, on 15 January 2021.

Since being granted access to Tigray in late February, international media outlets have published a string of reports confirming earlier accounts, by Amnesty International and others, of atrocities, as well as revealing harrowing new reports of violations.

These have included allegations of ethnic cleansing in western Tigray –  an area under the control of pro-government Amhara Special Police and Fano, an Amhara militia – forcibly displacing tens of thousands of people. Amnesty International has not yet independently verified these allegations but continues to research the situation.
In addition, there have been appalling reports of widespread rape and other gender-based violence targeting women and girls across Tigray. A recent statement by UN agencies and NGOs working in the region said they were “alarmed by reports of increasing violence against women and girls – including harrowing accounts of sexual violence” and that “the response remains wholly inadequate to the scale of need.” Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies have reported attacks on and looting of hospitals and other medical facilities across Tigray.

“It is unconscionable that women and girls in Tigray are facing sexual violence while the world looks on. Meanwhile hospitals and humanitarian providers have had supplies decimated in the conflict and are ill-equipped to assist,” said Deprose Muchena.

Humanitarian aid hampered and fears of famine
Amnesty International has repeatedly called on all parties to the conflict in Tigray to allow unfettered humanitarian access. As of 27 April, the UN cited improvements, but said that “the situation in Tigray remains volatile and is hampering partners’ efforts to deliver timely humanitarian assistance.”

 In late March, workers for the humanitarian agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) had one of their missions to the regional capital Mekelle brutally interrupted twice. At the first stop, they witnessed soldiers carrying out extrajudicial executions along the roadside; a short distance away, soldiers again stopped the MSF vehicle, pulling out the Ethiopian driver and beating him with the back of a gun before threatening to kill him.

It is imperative that international, independent investigations are carried out into the allegations of serious violations by all sides

Deprose Muchena

The mass displacement of people from agrarian areas of Tigray, as well as allegations that crops have been deliberately destroyed and grain stores looted, have prompted the UN and other commentators to warn of “catastrophic” food insecurity and even the risk of impending famine.  

Meanwhile, there has also been a worrying increase in recent violence and violations against civilians in other parts of Ethiopia, most notably in Amhara, Benishangul, and Oromia regional states. There have been reports of attacks on civilians in Chilga District, North Shewa Zone, and Oromo Special Zone of Amhara region, and armed violence in Metekel Zone of Benishangul-Gumuz Region. In western Oromia Zones, armed people killed and displaced Amhara residents since November 2020.

“It is imperative that international, independent investigations are carried out into the allegations of serious violations by all sides, with those responsible held to account, to send a clear message that there will be zero impunity,” said Deprose Muchena.

 “If the international community’s tepid response to the conflict in Tigray continues, there is a real threat that the already dire situation could spiral completely out of control.”

The post Ethiopia: Tepid international response to Tigray conflict fuels horrific violations over past six months appeared first on Amnesty International.

Witnesses told Amnesty International that Eritrean troops were passing through the town located in the Tigray region, when they suddenly opened fire at people on the main street close to the bus station.

“Three people lost their lives and at least 19 others are in hospital from yet another unlawful attack by Eritrean troops on civilians in Tigray. Deliberate attacks on civilians are prohibited by international humanitarian law and must stop,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

“We are calling for an international investigation into this and other incidents and allegations of human rights violations, including war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, committed in the ongoing conflict in Tigray”.

Six witnesses told Amnesty International that the some of the injured were taken to Don Bosco hospital in Adwa town, and 19 of them were rushed to Axum referral hospital for advanced medical care.

Teklu*, who works in the bus station told Amnesty International: “The Eritrean soldiers on the back of one Ural military truck and another heavy truck started shooting. We scattered in different directions. I hid in the drainage. We knew that they are Eritreans soldiers because they were swearing in Tigrinya, the heavy trucks had Eritrean number plates and Eritrean defense force camouflages. They were shooting from the backs of the moving trucks”.

There must be justice and accountability for war crimes and human rights violations in Tigray. This attack and other allegations of violations must be independently and impartially investigated by an international inquiry

Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes

Sertse*, who was also near the bus station at the time of the incident, told Amnesty International: “I was walking from my shop which is near the PanAfric hotel towards the bus station. The shooting started immediately after the two trucks passed me. There were rickshaws on the road and the soldiers on the first truck were shouting in Tigrinya to the rickshaw drivers to clear off the road. Then the soldiers on the second truck started shooting. There were many people on the street”.

According to a member of the medical staff at Axum University Teaching and Referral Hospital, all of the people that were received at the hospital had either been shot in their chests, stomachs, legs, and hands, and six of them were in critical condition as of 13 April. The staffer said one girl was in shock due to blood loss, and that other patients had suffered broken hands and legs.

Solomon*, another witness, said: “The Eritrean soldiers came on two heavy trucks from the Adi Abun area. I was on the road just outside of my home when the shooting started at around 8 am. It was sudden and I thought there was a gunfight going on in the area. In fact, there was no fighting but just shooting at passersby. One of the deceased was killed just five metres from my home. He died instantly. I saw him”.

“There must be justice and accountability for war crimes and human rights violations in Tigray. This attack and other allegations of violations must be independently and impartially investigated by an international inquiry. Ethiopia and Eritrea must fully cooperate with such investigations and ensure full reparation for victims and their families”, said Sarah Jackson.

The post Ethiopia: Three killed, 19 injured in Tigray as Eritrean troops open fire on civilians appeared first on Amnesty International.

 Eritrean troops fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray state systematically killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the northern city of Axum on 28-29 November 2020, opening fire in the streets and conducting house-to-house raids in a massacre that may amount to a crime against humanity, Amnesty International said today in a new report.
Amnesty International spoke to 41 survivors and witnesses – including in-person interviews with recently arrived refugees in eastern Sudan and phone interviews with people in Axum – as well as 20 others with knowledge of the events. They consistently described extrajudicial executions, indiscriminate shelling and widespread looting after Ethiopian and Eritrean troops led an offensive to take control of the city amid the conflict with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in mid-November.

Satellite imagery analysis by the organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab corroborates reports of indiscriminate shelling and mass looting, as well as identifies signs of new mass burials near two of the city’s churches.

“The evidence is compelling and points to a chilling conclusion. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops carried out multiple war crimes in their offensive to take control of Axum. Above and beyond that, Eritrean troops went on a rampage and systematically killed hundreds of civilians in cold blood, which appears to constitute crimes against humanity,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

This atrocity ranks among the worst documented so far in this conflict. Besides the soaring death toll, Axum’s residents were plunged into days of collective trauma amid violence, mourning and mass burials.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“This atrocity ranks among the worst documented so far in this conflict. Besides the soaring death toll, Axum’s residents were plunged into days of collective trauma amid violence, mourning and mass burials.”

The mass killings came just before the annual celebration at Axum Tsion Mariam, a major Ethiopian Orthodox Christian festival on 30 November, compounding the trauma by casting a pall over an annual event that typically draws many pilgrims and tourists to the sacred city.

Large-scale military offensive

Image: Google © 2021 Maxar Technologies

On 19 November 2020, Ethiopian and Eritrean military forces took control of Axum in a large-scale offensive, killing and displacing civilians with indiscriminate shelling and shooting.
In the nine days that followed, the Eritrean military engaged in widespread looting of civilian property and extrajudicial executions.

Witnesses could easily identify the Eritrean forces. They drove vehicles with Eritrean license plates, wore distinctive camouflage and footwear used by the Eritrean army and spoke Arabic or a dialect of Tigrinya not spoken in Ethiopia. Some bore the ritual facial scars of the Ben Amir, an ethnic group absent from Ethiopia. Finally, some of the soldiers made no secret of their identity; they openly told residents they were Eritrean.

‘All we could see were dead bodies and people crying’

According to witnesses, the Eritrean troops unleashed the worst of the violence on 28-29 November. The onslaught came directly after a small band of pro-TPLF militiamen attacked the soldiers’ base on Mai Koho mountain on the morning of 28 November. The militiamen were armed with rifles and supported by residents brandishing improvised weapons, including sticks, knives and stones.
Sustained gunfire can be heard ringing out across the city in a video recorded early that day from several locations at the bottom of the mountain.

A 22-year-old man who wanted to bring food to the militia told Amnesty International: “The Eritrean soldiers were trained but the young residents didn’t even know how to shoot… a lot of the [local] fighters started running away and dropped their weapons. The Eritrean soldiers came into the city and started killing randomly.”

Survivors and witnesses said Eritrean forces deliberately and wantonly shot at civilians from about 4pm onwards on 28 November.

According to residents, the victims carried no weapons and many were running away from the soldiers when they were shot. One man who hid in an unfinished building said he saw a group of six Eritrean soldiers kill a neighbour with a vehicle-mounted heavy machine-gun on the street near the Mana Hotel: “He was standing. I think he was confused. They were probably around 10 metres from him. They shot him in the head.”

I saw a lot of people dead on the street. Even my uncle’s family. Six of his family members were killed. So many people were killed.

21-year-old male resident of Axum

A 21-year-old male resident said: “I saw a lot of people dead on the street. Even my uncle’s family. Six of his family members were killed. So many people were killed.”
The killings left Axum’s streets and cobblestone plazas strewn with bodies. One man who had run out of the city returned at night after the shooting stopped. “All we could see on the streets were dead bodies and people crying,” he said.

On 29 November, Eritrean soldiers shot at anyone who tried to move the bodies of those killed.

The soldiers also continued to carry out house-to-house raids, hunting down and killing adult men, as well as some teenage boys and a smaller number of women. One man said he watched through his window and saw six men killed in the street outside his house on 29 November. He said the soldiers lined them up and shot from behind, using a light-machine gun to kill several at a time with a single bullet.

Interviewees named scores of people they knew who were killed, and Amnesty International has collected the names of more than 240 of the victims. The organization has been unable to independently verify the overall death toll, but consistent witness testimonies and corroborating evidence make it plausible that hundreds of residents were killed.

Burying the dead

Most of the burials took place on 30 November, but the process of collecting and burying the bodies lasted several days.
Many residents said they volunteered to move the bodies on carts, in batches of five to 10 at a time; one said he transported 45 bodies. Residents estimate that several hundred people were buried in the aftermath of the massacre, and they attended funerals at several churches where scores were buried. Hundreds were buried at the largest funeral, held at the complex that includes the Arba’etu Ensessa church and the Axum Tsion St Mariam Church.

Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab geolocated a video showing people carrying a dead man on a stretcher in Da’Ero Ela Plaza (14.129918, 38.717113), towards Arba’etu Ensessa church. High-resolution satellite imagery from 13 December shows disturbed earth consistent with recent graves around the Arba’etu Ensessa and the Abune Aregawi churches.

Intimidation and looting

In the days following the burials, the Eritrean army rounded up hundreds of residents in different parts of the city. They beat some of the men, threatening them with a new round of revenge killings if they resisted.
Axum residents witnessed a surge in the Eritrean army’s looting during this period, targeting stores, public buildings including a hospital, and private homes. Luxury goods and vehicles were widely looted, as well as medication, furniture, household items, food, and drink.

International humanitarian law (the laws of war) prohibits deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks, and pillage (looting). Violations of these rules constitute war crimes. Unlawful killings that form part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population are crimes against humanity.

“As a matter of urgency, there must be a UN-led investigation into the grave violations in Axum. Those suspected of responsibility for war crimes or crimes against humanity must be prosecuted in fair trials and victims and their families must receive full reparation,” said Deprose Muchena.“We repeat our call on the Ethiopian government to grant full and unimpeded access across Tigray for humanitarian, human rights, and media organizations.”

The post Ethiopia: Eritrean troops’ massacre of hundreds of Axum civilians may amount to crime against humanity appeared first on Amnesty International.

 Eritrean troops fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray state systematically killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the northern city of Axum on 28-29 November 2020, opening fire in the streets and conducting house-to-house raids in a massacre that may amount to a crime against humanity, Amnesty International said today in a new report.
Amnesty International spoke to 41 survivors and witnesses – including in-person interviews with recently arrived refugees in eastern Sudan and phone interviews with people in Axum – as well as 20 others with knowledge of the events. They consistently described extrajudicial executions, indiscriminate shelling and widespread looting after Ethiopian and Eritrean troops led an offensive to take control of the city amid the conflict with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in mid-November.

Satellite imagery analysis by the organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab corroborates reports of indiscriminate shelling and mass looting, as well as identifies signs of new mass burials near two of the city’s churches.

“The evidence is compelling and points to a chilling conclusion. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops carried out multiple war crimes in their offensive to take control of Axum. Above and beyond that, Eritrean troops went on a rampage and systematically killed hundreds of civilians in cold blood, which appears to constitute crimes against humanity,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

This atrocity ranks among the worst documented so far in this conflict. Besides the soaring death toll, Axum’s residents were plunged into days of collective trauma amid violence, mourning and mass burials.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“This atrocity ranks among the worst documented so far in this conflict. Besides the soaring death toll, Axum’s residents were plunged into days of collective trauma amid violence, mourning and mass burials.”

The mass killings came just before the annual celebration at Axum Tsion Mariam, a major Ethiopian Orthodox Christian festival on 30 November, compounding the trauma by casting a pall over an annual event that typically draws many pilgrims and tourists to the sacred city.

Large-scale military offensive

Image: Google © 2021 Maxar Technologies

On 19 November 2020, Ethiopian and Eritrean military forces took control of Axum in a large-scale offensive, killing and displacing civilians with indiscriminate shelling and shooting.
In the nine days that followed, the Eritrean military engaged in widespread looting of civilian property and extrajudicial executions.

Witnesses could easily identify the Eritrean forces. They drove vehicles with Eritrean license plates, wore distinctive camouflage and footwear used by the Eritrean army and spoke Arabic or a dialect of Tigrinya not spoken in Ethiopia. Some bore the ritual facial scars of the Ben Amir, an ethnic group absent from Ethiopia. Finally, some of the soldiers made no secret of their identity; they openly told residents they were Eritrean.

‘All we could see were dead bodies and people crying’

According to witnesses, the Eritrean troops unleashed the worst of the violence on 28-29 November. The onslaught came directly after a small band of pro-TPLF militiamen attacked the soldiers’ base on Mai Koho mountain on the morning of 28 November. The militiamen were armed with rifles and supported by residents brandishing improvised weapons, including sticks, knives and stones.
Sustained gunfire can be heard ringing out across the city in a video recorded early that day from several locations at the bottom of the mountain.

A 22-year-old man who wanted to bring food to the militia told Amnesty International: “The Eritrean soldiers were trained but the young residents didn’t even know how to shoot… a lot of the [local] fighters started running away and dropped their weapons. The Eritrean soldiers came into the city and started killing randomly.”

Survivors and witnesses said Eritrean forces deliberately and wantonly shot at civilians from about 4pm onwards on 28 November.

According to residents, the victims carried no weapons and many were running away from the soldiers when they were shot. One man who hid in an unfinished building said he saw a group of six Eritrean soldiers kill a neighbour with a vehicle-mounted heavy machine-gun on the street near the Mana Hotel: “He was standing. I think he was confused. They were probably around 10 metres from him. They shot him in the head.”

I saw a lot of people dead on the street. Even my uncle’s family. Six of his family members were killed. So many people were killed.

21-year-old male resident of Axum

A 21-year-old male resident said: “I saw a lot of people dead on the street. Even my uncle’s family. Six of his family members were killed. So many people were killed.”
The killings left Axum’s streets and cobblestone plazas strewn with bodies. One man who had run out of the city returned at night after the shooting stopped. “All we could see on the streets were dead bodies and people crying,” he said.

On 29 November, Eritrean soldiers shot at anyone who tried to move the bodies of those killed.

The soldiers also continued to carry out house-to-house raids, hunting down and killing adult men, as well as some teenage boys and a smaller number of women. One man said he watched through his window and saw six men killed in the street outside his house on 29 November. He said the soldiers lined them up and shot from behind, using a light-machine gun to kill several at a time with a single bullet.

Interviewees named scores of people they knew who were killed, and Amnesty International has collected the names of more than 240 of the victims. The organization has been unable to independently verify the overall death toll, but consistent witness testimonies and corroborating evidence make it plausible that hundreds of residents were killed.

Burying the dead

Most of the burials took place on 30 November, but the process of collecting and burying the bodies lasted several days.
Many residents said they volunteered to move the bodies on carts, in batches of five to 10 at a time; one said he transported 45 bodies. Residents estimate that several hundred people were buried in the aftermath of the massacre, and they attended funerals at several churches where scores were buried. Hundreds were buried at the largest funeral, held at the complex that includes the Arba’etu Ensessa church and the Axum Tsion St Mariam Church.

Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab geolocated a video showing people carrying a dead man on a stretcher in Da’Ero Ela Plaza (14.129918, 38.717113), towards Arba’etu Ensessa church. High-resolution satellite imagery from 13 December shows disturbed earth consistent with recent graves around the Arba’etu Ensessa and the Abune Aregawi churches.

Intimidation and looting

In the days following the burials, the Eritrean army rounded up hundreds of residents in different parts of the city. They beat some of the men, threatening them with a new round of revenge killings if they resisted.
Axum residents witnessed a surge in the Eritrean army’s looting during this period, targeting stores, public buildings including a hospital, and private homes. Luxury goods and vehicles were widely looted, as well as medication, furniture, household items, food, and drink.

International humanitarian law (the laws of war) prohibits deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks, and pillage (looting). Violations of these rules constitute war crimes. Unlawful killings that form part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population are crimes against humanity.

“As a matter of urgency, there must be a UN-led investigation into the grave violations in Axum. Those suspected of responsibility for war crimes or crimes against humanity must be prosecuted in fair trials and victims and their families must receive full reparation,” said Deprose Muchena.“We repeat our call on the Ethiopian government to grant full and unimpeded access across Tigray for humanitarian, human rights, and media organizations.”

The post Ethiopia: Eritrean troops’ massacre of hundreds of Axum civilians may amount to crime against humanity appeared first on Amnesty International.

Testimonies pieced together since 2017 provide new insights into life in four prisons; Adi Abeyito prison, Mai Serwa Maximum prison and Mai Serwa Asmera Flowers detention camp, which are within 2-3km from each other, and about 6km north of the capital Asmara; and Ala, an all-male prison located 66km south of Asmara.

With overcrowding and general lack of adequate sanitation, healthcare and food, conditions in these detention facilities are inhumane and a cause of major concern in the face of COVID-19.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International Director for East and Southern Africa

“With overcrowding and general lack of adequate sanitation, healthcare and food, conditions in these detention facilities are inhumane and a cause of major concern in the face of COVID-19. No one should be held in conditions that can have disastrous consequences on their mental and physical health,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

At Adi Abeyito, which currently holds about 2,500 people in a space designed for 800, detainees are allowed to shower and wash their clothes twice a week. However, in the other three facilities, detainees are rarely allowed to bathe or wash their clothes. Shoes and slippers are strictly prohibited to prevent detainees from jumping over barbed wire fencing.

Authorities do not provide personal hygiene products like soap, so detainees rely on their families for supplies. But since 2 April 2020, there has been a total lockdown of prisons with no visitors allowed in, cutting off the very supplies needed to keep COVID-19 and other diseases out of prisons.

No one should be held in conditions that can have disastrous consequences on their mental and physical health.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“Detainees in Eritrea are at great risk of contracting infectious diseases because of the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions they are being held in,” said Deprose Muchena.

At the Mai Serwa Asmera Flowers facility, in reality a forced labour camp where Jehovah’s Witnesses and other detainees are forced to work on flower farms, there are no toilets for detainees. All 700 of them, both men and women, relieve themselves out in the open. At Mai Serwa Maximum Security prison, there are only 20 toilets for 500 detainees.

In Adi Abeyito, detainees can relieve themselves only twice daily in toilets located outside the compound. The prison has toilets within its grounds reserved for use in the rainy season or extraordinary circumstances such as suspected strikes or prison breaks. In 2015, detainees raised money and built a toilet in each detention hall to cater for the needs of the sick, elderly or those with disabilities.

No social distance

The four prisons are extremely congested; Adi Abeyito holds more than four times its capacity of 800 people, Ala prison holding about triple its capacity of 1,200 people while Mai Serwa has more than double its 230-person capacity.

The vast majority have never been formally charged or brought to court and do not know when, or if, their detention will end.

They are held in spaces ranging from 2x2m cells for solitary confinement at the Mai Serwa Maximum prison, to shipping containers holding more than 20 detainees, and halls measuring up to 10x20m. Detainees generally take turns to sleep on bare floors because beds or mattresses are not allowed.

They are fed a standard diet of tea and bread in the morning, and bread with lentil sauce for lunch and supper. Security guards hand out the food in detention halls and cells because detainees are not allowed to leave their cramped holding places except to go to the toilet, or to the infirmary.

Their meals were supplemented by families visiting once a week, but the COVID-19 lockdown has cut off this supply line, putting detainees at greater risk of malnutrition and illness and disease.

First aid no match for serious illnesses

Testimonies received by Amnesty International reveal that detainees in all four detention facilities suffer a wide range of serious ailments including mental illnesses, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, anemia, diarrhea, asthma, tuberculosis, eye and ear infections, and gastro-intestinal infections. But they are attended to by health workers who only have first aid training.

Detainees pay for medication, infirmaries within detention facilities lacking even the most basic medical equipment such as thermometers. At Ala prison, detainees had to raise money to buy a thermometer and a blood pressure monitor that detained doctors use to help the sick monitor some of their conditions.

Very sick detainees at Ala prison are taken to a hospital 26 Km away in Dekemahare town, some dying on the way. The critically ill at Adi Abiyeto and other nearby prisons are taken to Halibet Hospital in Asmara every Friday.

The Eritrean authorities must free all prisoners of conscience and consider releasing children, pre-trial detainees and those who may be more vulnerable to COVID-19, including the sick and older people.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“Too many detainees are wasting away in unofficial detention facilities across the country with no idea what will become of them. The Eritrean authorities have a duty to ensure that all detainees have access to adequate food, water, sanitation facilities and healthcare. They must also free all prisoners of conscience and consider releasing children, pre-trial detainees and those who may be more vulnerable to COVID-19, including the sick and older people,” said Deprose Muchena.

The post Eritrea: Detainees in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions defenceless against COVID-19 appeared first on Amnesty International.

As of 2 April, Eritrea, a country notorious for arbitrarily arresting and detaining or forcibly disappearing people simply for speaking their minds, had at least 22 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to its Ministry of Health.

We join Eritrean families and activists who are extremely worried about their loved ones in calling on the Eritrean authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ciham Ali and all others jailed simply for exercising their rights.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“We join Eritrean families and activists who are extremely worried about their loved ones in calling on the Eritrean authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ciham Ali and all others jailed simply for exercising their rights,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

 “The overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in Eritrea’s prisons increase chances of transmission of COVID-19, putting Ciham’s and other prisoners’ health and lives at risk. President Isaias Afewerki must urgently take measures to reduce the number of people in prison – including pre-trial detainees, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.”

The overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in Eritrea’s prisons increase chances of transmission of COVID-19, putting Ciham’s and other prisoners’ health and lives at risk.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

The Eritrean authorities must further ensure that prisoners enjoy the same standards of health care as are available to everyone in the community, including access to testing, prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

Ciham Ali was arrested when she was just 15 years old, shortly after her father, then a minister in President Aferwerki’s government defected and fled to exile. She has neither been charged with any crime nor allowed access to her lawyers or family since her arrest. Her family does not even know where she is being held or her state of health. 

Ciham Ali, like other prisoners of conscience in Eritrea, has lost many years and has seen her life aspirations dashed as days in prison have turned into months and years. She must be released and allowed to pursue her dreams.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“Ciham Ali, like other prisoners of conscience in Eritrea, has lost many years and has seen her life aspirations dashed as days in prison have turned into months and years. She must be released and allowed to pursue her dreams,” said Deprose Muchena.

Eritrea is known for jailing thousands of people for their political views, their work as journalists or even for practising their religions.  Many are arrested and detained without charge or trial. Once in detention, many are denied access to lawyers or family members.

Amnesty International has documented poor prison conditions in Eritrea, in some cases amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Prisons in Eritrea are generally overcrowded, with inadequate water and sanitation facilities and providing poor-quality food and drinking water.

The post Eritrea: Show humanity and release prisoners of conscience amid COVID-19 appeared first on Amnesty International.