Allegations of Genocide in Northern Ethiopia
Tigray in northern Ethiopia has been a warzone since November 2020. ACN managed to speak to a source on the ground who has alleged that there is a genocide being committed against the people of Tigray. The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has made similar allegations.
By ACN Staff
A monastery on a mountain top in Tigray. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need/Magdalena Wolnik)
Since November 2020, there has been a horrific conflict ongoing in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. The fighting is between the Ethiopian Federal Government and the local Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Sources from the area have told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that there is indiscriminate killings and widespread sexual violence occurring in the region. In particular young people are being targeted. ACN’s sources need to be kept confidential for security reasons. They tell us that troops from neighbouring Eritrea have crossed the boarder into Tigray and have engaged in fighting as allies of the Ethiopian government. The Eritrean troops have been carrying out massacres of the local civilian population.
A crucifix on a church wall in Tigray. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need/Magdalena Wolnik)
The source gave more details:
“This is clearly genocide against the people of Tigray. This is not just fighting; they are killing everybody – that is a sign of genocide. Many people are escaping from Tigray to Sudan and some of them, especially the young, are escaping because they are being targeted. They are deliberately targeting the young. Young people are killed, our ladies and women are abused with sexual harassment – that is a sign of genocide itself.”
The Patriarch and Catholicos of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Abune Mathias, made similar accusations in early May. Patriarch Mathias is an ethnic Tigryan himself. The region of Tigray is around 96% Christian, mostly Ethiopian Orthodox. The region was initially evangelised in the early 4th century and is considered by many to be the heartland of Ethiopia’s ancient Christian heritage. The area is famous for its rock-hewn churches and isolated monolithic churches carved into mountains. According to local tradition, the Ark of the Covenant is kept in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, Tigray. It was reported that there were massacres of civilians at the church by Eritrean troops, with it even being suggested that the Ark was stolen. It has been so far impossible to fully verify the specifics of these reported atrocities.
The Associated Press reported on a video of Patriarch Mathias speaking, that was smuggled out of Ethiopia to the NGO Bridges of Hope. The patriarch spoke in the Amharic language and is reported as saying the following by the Associated Press:
“They want to destroy the people of Tigray… I am not clear why they want to declare genocide on the people of Tigray… It is not the fault of the Tigray people. The whole world should know it.”
Food distribution in Tigray. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need/Magdalena Wolnik)
One of the most disturbing aspects of the conflict has the mass sexual assaults carried out against women and girls. ACN’s source tells us that even nuns have been targeted:
“[Our relatives], our sisters have been raped. Some of them we had to take to hospital, even nuns have been raped. The women and the girls are receiving a different kind of abuse, like you’ve never heard before, things that are very bad. Some of the places that can help support us are closed by the soldiers.”
Our source has also reported of the desperate humanitarian situation in Tigray:
“The situation as you heard is very, very bad here… Nearly 90 percent of people in Tigray are displaced. This war has brought about a huge humanitarian crisis, manifested by overwhelming numbers of civilian killings, the displacement of millions, the destruction of economic and social foundations, psychological pain and panic… In this regard, the most affected are pregnant mothers, children, disabled and elderly members of society…The Church is everywhere – it is opening its hand. I remember Aid to the Church in Need, I remember for a long time we are partners, you are very kind. The current crisis in Tigray is unparalleled to any humanitarian crises happened in any date that we know in memory.”
ACN’s help for Tigray has included emergency support for nuns and monks as well as mass stipends. Since 2019 ACN has supported nearly 100 projects in Ethiopia including construction of chapels and monasteries, formation of catechists and support for transport. Please join us in prayer for peace in Ethiopia.