Eyewitnesses told CNN that a group of Eritrean soldiers opened fire in November on Maryam Dengelat Church in the village of Dengelat, east of Tigray, while hundreds of congregants celebrated Mass. Dozens of people died during three days of chaos, with soldiers killing local residents, displaced people and pilgrims, they said.
Thousands of civilians are believed to have died since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military operation against leaders in the Tigray region, sending troops from the neighboring Amhara region. CNN has previously reported that soldiers from neighboring Eritrea have perpetrated many extrajudicial killings, assaults and human rights abuses in the Tigray region.
After seizing control of Tigray’s major cities in late November, Abiy declared victory and claimed no offensive was wounded.
“They kill our people in this country, they kill children, of all ages of the population and they are committing rapes,” Debretsion told CNN in a phone interview from an undisclosed location.
“All kinds of acts of genocide have been committed in Tigray. So the most important thing is that an investigation has to be carried out,” he added.
“We’re calling for an investigation into CNN’s findings on the ground in Tigray.”
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry on Monday rejected a U.S. call for the Ethiopian federal government to withdraw its forces from Tigray, saying it was “unfortunate” that the U.S. had tried to “rule on Ethiopia’s internal affairs. and specifically, the reference to the Redistribution of Amhara regional forces. ”
“It must be clear that these issues are the sole responsibility of the Ethiopian government, which, as a sovereign nation, is responsible for deploying the necessary structures and means of security to ensure the rule of law in all corners of its borders.” , explains the ministry. he said in a statement.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that the United States was “very concerned about the reported atrocities and the deteriorating general situation,” and called for the immediate withdrawal of regional forces from Eritrea and Amhara. . Blinken’s statement came a day after CNN’s investigation, as well as another from Amnesty International, detailing eyewitnesses to civilian massacres in two separate assaults in late 2020.
The Eritrean government has denied involvement in the atrocities reported by Amnesty, but has yet to respond to a request for comment from CNN in connection with the Dengelat massacre.
Debretsion said he was urging the Biden administration to keep up the pressure on the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments.
“We want to have peace in this region, in this country, that’s how we want it [the US] keep pushing [for the withdrawal] of Tigray’s invading forces to stop atrocities, genocide and destruction, “he told CNN.
“We need, you know, humanitarian assistance … The whole Tigray is in economic and social crisis. Our people need help, they need humanitarian support. So it’s an urgent call. We need this push from the [US] President “.
Repeated denials of Eritrean participation
The Amnesty International report accused Eritrean forces of killing hundreds of unarmed civilians in the town of Axum, also in the Tigray region, in November through bombings and indiscriminate shootings and extrajudicial killings, in what the organization said. human rights said it could constitute a crime against humanity.
The statement from the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry did not mention on Monday the presence of forces from neighboring Eritrea during the recent offensive. He added that he was “fully committed” to investigating any human rights violations. Prime Minister Abiy has also denied that Eritrean soldiers crossed into Tigray to support Ethiopian forces.
Blinken had called for a “comprehensive and independent international investigation into all reports of human rights violations, abuses and atrocities.”
“We strongly condemn the killings, forced relocations and displacements, sexual assaults and other extremely serious human rights violations and abuses by various parties that various organizations have denounced to Tigray,” he said.
Blinken also acknowledged Abiy’s stated commitment to allow humanitarian aid to the region and said the U.S. Agency for International Development would send a disaster response team to Ethiopia. On Monday, Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said it was working to ensure free access to Tigray for the provision of humanitarian assistance.
TPLF troops took power in Ethiopia in 1991 with the support of Eritrea. TPLF leader Meles Zenawi became the nation’s leader, with Debretsion as his alternate. The TPLF ruled until 2018, when members of the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups united against the party. Abiy was appointed prime minister in 2018 and last year won a Nobel Prize for his peace deal with Eritrea.
Violence erupted in the region last year after Tigray continued with local elections that the Abiy government had banned due to the pandemic.
CNN’s Angela Dewan, Eliza Mackintosh, Emmet Lyons, Bethlehem Feleke, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Katie Polglase contributed to this report.