Mai Kadra massacre by TPLF in Ethiopia

Mai Kadra massacre by TPLF in Ethiopia

Mai Kadra massacre by TPLF in Ethiopia

The Mai Kadra massacre was a series of ethnic cleansing and mass murders carried out on 9–10 November 2020 in the town of Mai Kadra, allegedly by forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front,^[1] in the Tigray Region of northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border.^[4]

The killings took place amidst an armed conflict between the TPLF-led regional government and the federal government, as troops of the Ethiopian National Defense Force were advancing towards the town. The victims have been described as "civilians, who appear to have been migrant laborers in no way involved in the ongoing military offensive," particularly those hailing from outside the area.^[1]

The total death toll remains unclear, but according to Amnesty International, "likely hundreds" were killed.^[5] Two videos, which were analyzed by Amnesty International to prove that the massacre had taken place, show dozens of corpses with injuries caused by bladed weapons, like machetes. According to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which described the massacre as a "widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population" at least 600 people have been killed. Most of the victims were Amhara.^[1][6]

Throughout 2019 and 2020, tensions progressively increased between the Ethiopian federal government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and the local government of the Tigray Region, led by Chief Administrator Debretsion Gebremichael, over allegations that members of the ruling Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which was the dominant force in Ethiopian politics after the fall of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, were being unfairly targeted for prosecution by the central government, and misgivings of the Eritrea–Ethiopia peace deal, which the TPLF viewed as endangering its security.

Federal-state relations deteriorated considerably after the region held local elections in September 2020, which the TPLF claimed to have won in a landslide, despite the Ethiopian government having postponed elections until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[7] After the elections, both sets of governments proclaimed the other illegitmate and illegal; the federal government maintaining that the regional elections had been extra-constitutional and neither free nor fair, and the regional government insisting that the federal government did not uphold the constitution which stated that elections should occur every 5 years and that its mandate had expired, rendering its authority null and void.^[7]

In November 2020, open conflict broke out between the two governments when Tigray Region security forces allegedly attacked the headquarters of the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) in Mekelle.^[1] The federal government quickly launched an offensive to restore its authority, in concerted effort with regional security forces from the Amhara and Afar Regions. The Ethiopian government shut down communications in Tigray, access to the Internet was blocked, banking was closed for residents of Tigray, as was transportation to and from Tigray. The central government also imposed tight restrictions on access for aid and humanitarian agencies.^[8] Despite these calls,^{[clarification needed]} the Ethiopian government prioritized securing of the region's border with Sudan and the border town of Humera, thereby forestalling any possibility of TPLF forces opening a cross-border supply route.^[9]

Killings

Preparations

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, an independent agency of the Ethiopian government, published its preliminary findings on 24 November, reporting that a few days before the attack, local militia (or "special force") and the police barred all exit points from Mai Kadra. Migrant workers, who mainly hailed from the neighboring Amhara Region, were additionally prohibited from going to their places of work or moving about the town.^[2] Checkpoints were established at the four main exit points by a Tigrayan youth group known as "Samri". Residents who attempted to flee the town to the outlying farmlands or across the border to Sudan were forced back by the local security foces.^[2][10]

On the morning of 9 November, local police began going door-to-door in certain neighborhoods, particularly those where migrant workers lived, checking identity cards to identify non-Tigrayans, detaining at least 60 people who were found to be in possession of Sudanese SIM cards in their mobile phones.^[2][a] According to survivors, this was done to prevent calls for help or other communications once the attack had started, as the federal government had already shut off Internet and mobile services to the region, meaning Ethiopian SIM cards did not work.^[5] Ethnic Tigrayan women and children were also told to leave the town shortly before the massacre.^{[citation needed]}

Attacks

The killings started in the early afternoon of 9 November, around 15:00, when a former militiaman who had refused to get involved as tensions mounted was killed by a former colleague and his body burned along with his house, according to survivors, including the militiaman's wife.^[2][10] After this incident, the Samri, in groups of 20 to 30 each, accompanied by 3 or 4 members of the local police and militia, went house-to-house killing people who had already been identified as ethnic Amharas or other minorities, "beating them with batons/sticks, stabbing them with knives, machetes and hatchets and strangling them with ropes", as well as looting properties.^[5] Because migrant workers were living up to 10 to 15 in a house, the death toll quickly escalated. Police and militiamen were posted at key street intersections, shooting anyone trying to escape the violence.^[2] Some people managed to survive by hiding in rafters, pretending to be dead, or successfully evading security forces and fleeing into the rural hinterland. Nevertheless, some people were followed into the outlying areas and killed there as well. Many ethnic Tigrayan residents however gave shelter to their neighbors, by hiding them in their homes, in churches and on farms.^[10] One woman first hid 13 people in her home, before leading them to a nearby farm, and another was struck by the Samri with a machete while trying to separate them from a man who had been lit on fire.^[2]

Amnesty International has not yet been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings, but has spoken to witnesses who said forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) were responsible, apparently after they suffered defeat from the federal EDF forces. Three people told Amnesty International that survivors of the massacre told them that they were attacked by members of Tigray Special Police Force and other TPLF members.^[1] According to witnesses, ethnic Amharas and local Wolkait people were the primary targets of the attack, but several members of other ethnic groups were also killed in the violence. Men were also specifically targeted over women and children, but many of them were physically injured and threatened with future attacks. The killings continued until the early hours of 10 November, when the perpetrators fled the town to avoid the advancing forces of the Ethiopian Army, which arrived late that morning.^[2]

Casualties

According to Amnesty, "scores", likely hundreds, were killed. Local media reported at least 500 fatalities.^[1] While the EHRC was unable to independently confirm death tolls, local funeral committees estimated at least 600 people had been killed, taking three days to be buried in mass graves, and that this number did not include people who had been killed in the outlying areas and had yet be buried. Victims were being treated in hospital as far as Gonder. While most victims were men, several women had "suffered physical and mental injuries".^[2]

Alternative account

A refugee, Barhat, aged 52, who had fled to Sudan and claimed to be present at the massacre recounted a different series of events. She had fled from "Moya Khadra" and was interviewed by Thomson Reuters. Barhat stated that she fled after people from the Amhara region attacked ethnic Tigrayans. She stated that people from Amhara "killed anyone who said they were Tigrayan. They stole our money, our cattle, and our crops from our homes and we ran with just the clothing on our backs."^[3]

Wider region

Araqi Naqashi, a 48-year-old refugee stated that in an unnamed town, he "saw the bodies of people who had been slain thrown in the streets. Others who were injured were dragged with a rope tied to a rickshaw", further claiming that "the Tigrayans are being killed and chased down. Anything is looted, and our area was attacked with tanks".^[3] Local Sudanese in the vicinity claimed to have heard airstrikes, and witnesses said that some of the refugees were wounded and were getting medical help at a medical facility. One said that bombings had "demolished buildings and killed people" and that he "escaped, part running on foot and part in a car, afraid [that] civilians are being killed".^[3]

Humera massacre

Refugees who had been interviewed by the Daily Telegraph implicated the Ethopian military and Amhara militias in a massacre in Humera on unknown dates in early November 2020. The refugees stated that they "were attacked by knife-wielding militiamen from the neighbouring Amhara region, who had joined forces with federal troops and cut people to death as they tried to escape." Zenebe, an ethnic Tigrayan, stated, "The soldiers of Abiy Ahmed didn't differentiate between people. They crushed all the people. It is like a genocide." Gidey, also a Tigrayan, stated, "I saw soldiers kill a taxi man and the two people in the taxi because there was a poster of the Tigrayan president in the car." One witness said that he had seen twenty bodies killed by knives, guns and shelling.^[11]

Federal government point of view

The Ethiopian government, which has repeatedly offered to shelter refugees internally, has suggested that such reports may be disinformation, similarly to how ethnic Hutus fled the country following the Rwandan genocide, including the Interahamwe which perpetrated the genocide, so too have members of the Samri and security forces and are seeking to mislead the international press by presenting themselves as victims.^[12][10][13]

Aftermath

A witness said that of those who fled, many were women and children. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that the fighting in Ethiopia had prompted more than 11,000 people to flee into Sudan so far.^[5] Amnesty International Director for East and Southern Africa, Deprose Muchena, urged the government to restore all communications to Tigray as an act of accountability and transparency for its military operations in the region and allow unfettered access to humanitarian organizations and human rights monitors. TPLF was also urged to make clear to their commanders that deliberate attacks on civilians are prohibited.^[1] Tigray's leader Debretsion Gebremichael denied responsibility in a statement to Reuters, saying that "This is unbelievable ... this should be investigated," and accused Abiy of "creating facts on [the] ground".^[5]

A group of investigators sent by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission visited Mai Kadra to investigate the mass killings^[14] between 14 and 19 November 2020, as part of its investigations into human rights violations after reports of ethnic cleansing.^[10] Its preliminary findings were released on 24 November.^[2] The EHRC report found that a massacre of civilians did indeed took place on 9 November, by a Tigrayan youth group known as Samri aided by the then local administration security forces. EHRC Chief Commissioner Daniel Bekele said, "The unimaginably atrocious crimes committed against civilians for no reason other than their ethnicity is heartbreaking. Yet we are consoled by the stories of Ethiopians who saw beyond ethnic origin to come to the aid of their compatriots in their time of need. These stories keep the hope of a return to peaceful coexistence going. It is now an urgent priority that victims are provided redress and rehabilitation, and that perpetrators involved directly or indirectly at all levels are held to account before the law".^[6]

References

1. ^ In Ethiopia ID cards include one's ethnic identification.

1. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f g h i} "Ethiopia: Investigation reveals evidence that scores of civilians were killed in massacre in Tigray state". Amnesty International. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
2. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f g h i j} "Rapid Investigation into Grave Human Rights Violations in Maikadra: Preliminary Findings" (Digital report). Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
3. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Khalid Abdelaziz, El Tayeb Siddig (13 November 2020). "Ethiopians fleeing to Sudan describe air strikes and machete killings in Tigray". Reuters. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
4. ^ "Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: 'Civilians massacred', says Amnesty International". BBC World News.
5. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} Guilia, Parravicini (12 November 2020). "Ethiopia claims big advance in Tigray, Amnesty reports mass killing". Reuters. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b "Maikadra massacre is a "crime of atrocity": Human Rights Commission". Addis Standard. 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
7. ^ Jump up to:^a b Gebremedhin, Desta (5 November 2020). "Tigray crisis: Why there are fears of civil war in Ethiopia". BBC World News. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
8. ^ "Ethiopia: Protect People as Tigray Crisis Escalates". Human Rights Watch. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
9. ^ Atit, Michael (9 November 2020). "Sudan Closes Ethiopia Border Until Tigray Tensions Subside". Voice of America. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
10. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} "Ethiopia commission says Tigray youth group killed 600 civilians in November 9 attack". Reuters. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
11. ^ Brown, Will (23 November 2020). "After the bombs they attacked with knives, claim Ethiopians fleeing peace prize winner's war". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
12. ^ "'We just ran': Ethiopians fleeing war find little relief". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
13. ^ "Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check on Twitter". 24 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020. We have received credible intelligence that TPLF operatives have infiltrated refugees fleeing into Sudan to carry out missions of disinformation. We caution media entities & international organizations to thoroughly investigate & verify information they receive.
14. ^ "Two missiles target Ethiopian airports as Tigray conflict widens".