In a letter today to Foreign Office Ministers I asked why the UK has not raised the reports of atrocity crimes in Tigray at the UN Security Council. Who is being held to account? As US condemns killings, forced removals and displacements, sexual assaults, and other extremely serious human rights violations along with the worsening humanitarian crisis, where is the voice of Global Britain? Further Questions Tabled Today and Links To reports.
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps it is taking to verify reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International concerning atrocities in Tigray and Amnesty’s claim that a massacre at Axum “may amount to crimes against humanity”; whether it is collecting evidence of such crimes; and what steps it is taking to bring to justice those responsible.
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty’s Governmentwhat assessment it has made of the Statement by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that “The United States is gravely concerned by reported atrocities and the overall deteriorating situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia” , his condemnation of killings, forced removals and displacements, sexual assaults, and other extremely serious human rights violations along with the worsening humanitarian crisis; his demand that “The immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces and Amhara regional forces from Tigray are essential first steps” and what discussions it is having with the US about the imposition of sanctions on Eritrea until its troops have left Ethiopia.
Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment it has made of the call to the Government of Ethiopia by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to end the violence in Tigray, to enable unhindered humanitarian access and to allow a full, independent, international investigation into all reports of human rights violations, abuses, and atrocities what steps it is taking to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice and that reported atrocities are brought before the UN Security Council as a matter of urgency
Amnesty says the atrocities “may amount to crimes against humanity.”
“Over the past month, VICE World News has documented harrowing testimony from nine displaced Tigrayans who recalled wanton slaughter, the destruction of crops and livelihoods, and tens of thousands fleeing from areas of Ethiopia’s Tigray region under Eritrean military control. Their testimony has been largely confirmed by satellite image analysis by the U.K.-based research organization DX Open Network, and their recounting and the image analysis both suggest that Eritrean soldiers involved in Ethiopia’s war in Tigray are ethnically cleansing communities near the Ethiopian-Eritrean border.”
This report by CNN.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/26/africa/ethiopia-tigray-dengelat-massacre-intl/index.html
“A group of Eritrean soldiers opened fire on Maryam Dengelat church while hundreds of congregants were celebrating mass, eyewitnesses say. People tried to flee on foot, scrambling up cliff paths to neighbouring villages. The troops followed, spraying the mountainside with bullets”.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken issued a strong statement on Saturday.
https://www.state.gov/atrocities-in-ethiopias-tigray-region/
“The United States is gravely concerned by reported atrocities and the overall deteriorating situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. We strongly condemn the killings, forced removals and displacements, sexual assaults, and other extremely serious human rights violations and abuses by several parties that multiple organizations have reported in Tigray. We are also deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian crisis. The United States has repeatedly engaged the Ethiopian government on the importance of ending the violence, ensuring unhindered humanitarian access to Tigray, and allowing a full, independent, international investigation into all reports of human rights violations, abuses, and atrocities. Those responsible for them must be held accountable…
