
Ethiopia: Oromo Political Prisoners Defence Team – The officials of ABO Mr. Lemmi Benya and Mr. Dawit Abdata were arrested today after being released in court, they were returned (29.03.2021)




















This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has gained access to the Shimelba and Hitsats refugee camps in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region for the first time since November 2020, amid ongoing security concerns.
During a joint mission to the area with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, we found both camps completely destroyed, and all the humanitarian facilities looted and vandalized.
In Hitsats, most of the shelters in an area known as zone A, as well as UNHCR’s offices and staff guest house, were found burnt to the ground. The mission confirmed what satellite imagery and accounts from refugees had indicated at the beginning of this year.
UNHCR is deeply concerned for the well-being of the Eritrean refugees who had been residing there, all of whom have fled the camps.
The joint mission was also able to visit Shiraro town; refugees are understood to be scattered in the area and in urgent need of safety and support. A subsequent mission will seek to identify the numbers living there and assess the possibility for UNHCR and Ethiopia’s Agency for Refugees and Returnee Affairs, ARRA, to deliver assistance and plan for voluntary relocation.
Of some 20,000 refugees that lived in the two northern camps of Hitsats and Shimelba prior the crisis, more than 7,000 have either made their own way or were assisted by Ethiopian authorities to reach the other two Eritrean refugee camps, Mai Aini and Adi Harush. In addition, we have so far been in contact with more than 2,000 refugees from Hitsats and Shimelba in Shire, Mekelle, Afar, and Addis Ababa.
In Mai Aini and Adi Harush camps, food and core relief supplies have been provided to the relocated refugees. They are currently living with relatives, in schools or other communal buildings in the camps which are already over-capacity, as well in some 500 newly-built emergency shelters. While another 100 shelters are under construction, they will not be sufficient. Urgent identification of alternative locations to accommodate more refugee arrivals is a priority, especially with the coming rainy season.
UNHCR’s individual reception, counselling and registration services have reopened in both camps. UNHCR and its partners are scaling up child protection and gender-based violence support services.
Local authorities have reported the presence of some 95,000 Ethiopians who are internally displaced within Shiraro’s administrative area. About 47,000 people were registered by authorities last month while the rest are estimated to have arrived since. To date, the vast majority of internally displaced people (IDPs) are living within the host community, and some 30,000 are living in five settlements. In Shimelba camp, the humanitarian team found over 2,000 IDPs and vulnerable host community members who had sought sanctuary in the camp.
All of the displaced people in Shiraro and Shimelba are in dire need of urgent life-saving assistance, including food, shelter, health care, water and sanitation. UNHCR reiterates the joint UN call for all parties to urgently enable the free and safe movement of affected people in search of safety and assistance, including across international and within national borders, regardless of their ethnic identification. We call for the right to seek asylum to be fully respected.



This piece is written because the Ethiopian government and others went out quickly to dismiss the evidence and the reporting of the Amnesty International Report, which was published in end of February 2021. While now, the same state actors are addressing and not questioning the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRC). This is very ironic and is the reason why I will show the similarities and differences.
Amnesty first reports:
“Between 19 and 29 November 2020, Eritrean troops operating in the Ethiopian city of Axum, Tigray, committed a series of human rights and humanitarian law violations, including killing hundreds of civilians. Over an approximately 24-hour period on 28-29 November, Eritrean soldiers deliberately shot civilians on the street and carried out systematic house-to-house searches, extrajudicially executing men and boys. The massacre was carried out in retaliation for an earlier attack by a small number of local militiamen, joined by local residents armed with sticks and stones” (Amnesty, February 2021).
EHRC states:
“Information collected during this preliminary investigation confirm that during the two days of November 28 and November 29, grave violations of human rights were committed and that in Aksum, over one hundred residents including visitors from other parts of the country who came to mark the annual Aksum Tsion celebration and internally displaced persons from other parts of Tigray, were killed by Eritrean soldiers” (EHRC, March 2021).
Just by these statements alone. We can see that Amnesty International wasn’t wrong or had the wrong witnesses. As the state own authority is saying the same thing. They are claiming the human rights violations by Eritrean soldiers in Axum during November 2020 last year. These two things are showing the ones speaking ill of Amnesty should reconsider stance. Especially, if they are accepting the Preliminary Report of EHRC.
About the November 28th November Amnesty wrote this:
“From about 3 to 4 pm, lines of Eritrean trucks and tanks reportedly entered the city from the east. Their numbers bolstered by the new arrivals, Eritrean soldiers went on a rampage, shooting at civilian men and youths who were out on the streets attempting to flee in panic. The killing, which one witness said began around 4 pm, was carried out on a large scale and continued until the evening” (Amnesty, February 2021).
EHRC report says this:
“On November 25, members of ENDF were seen to be leaving Aksum and on November 26, residents said they could not see any “soldiers moving around the city”. On November 27, however, “a large number of Eritrean soldiers began coming into Aksum”. “They took up posts in three different locations of the city: ‘Maye Kuho’; ‘Samuna Fabrika’ and ‘Tsele’a’. On November 28, 2020, we started hearing heavy gun fire all around the city.”” (EHRC, March 2021).
Here we see again that the reports are saying similar things. The stories are fitting together. So, the ones who dismissed the Amnesty report was insincere. As both the EHRC and Amnesty is saying the same thing went down.
We know the EHRC is working in favour of the state. The EHRC will downplay and also undermine the total damage done by the state authorities and its allies. However, the Amnesty has its interests too. Still, it is interesting how similar the stories are and how they can co-exist together.
When you read the two reports. The stories could be mended together and explain further what happened. Both reports are blaming Eritrean forces in Axum and they were using vile force on civilians. Therefore, they are the ones responsible for the massacre occurring there in November 2020.
The ones that went after Amnesty and called it “fake news”. Have to go out and held accountable. As the state authority EHRC is validating the same things. They are both claiming the same things and showing similar results. When that is happening. The Amnesty clearly didn’t make things up, but reported factual evidence on the ground. EHRC is doing the same, but are not as direct as Amnesty. As Amnesty is there to defend civilians and their rights. While the EHRC is there to do its duty and mandate in concern with orders of Addis Ababa. This is why the EHRC report isn’t as horrific and straightforward in comparison to Amnesty. However, that is because of their role and their mandate is vastly different.
We can clearly see that the massacre went down. That innocent lives was taken. The Eritrean forces violated the rules of war. The accounts mentioned in the reports is devastating and shows a sinister side. The war in Tigray is clearly more bloody than the authorities and the state wants out. They are clearly aiming at civilians and destroying society. That is the clear message in the reports and reflects the actions made by the ones in-charge of Law Enforcement Operation. They have to be held to account and answer for the injustice served in Tigray. Not only what happened on those days in Axum, but all across the State of Tigray. Peace.