Amnesty Says Women Raped at Gunpoint, Robbed and Assaulted in Amhara Region by TPLF
Amnesty International disclosed today that women from the town of Nifas Mewcha in Ethiopia’s Amhara region were raped by fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) during the group’s attack on the town in mid-August 2021.
According to Amnesty International, survivors have rape at gunpoint, robbery, and subjection to physical and verbal assaults by TPLF fighters, who also destroyed and looted medical facilities in the town.
The TPLF took control of Nifas Mewcha town in Amhara’s Gaint District for nine days between 12 and 21 August 2021, as part of an ongoing offensive into parts of the Amhara and Afar regions.
Sixteen women from the town told Amnesty International that they were raped by fighters from the TPLF during the group’s attack on the town in mid-August 2021.
Fourteen of the 16 women Amnesty International interviewed said they were gang raped.
Regional government officials on their part told Amnesty International that more than 70 women reported to authorities that they were raped in Nifas Mewcha during the period.
“The testimonies we heard from survivors describe despicable acts by TPLF fighters that amount to war crimes, and potentially crimes against humanity. They defy morality or any iota of humanity,” Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard said.
Survivors told Amnesty International that the attacks began as soon as the TPLF took control of the town on 12 August 2021. The women all identified the perpetrators as TPLF fighters based on their accents and the ethnic slurs they used against victims, as well as their overt announcements that they were TPLF.
A 30-year-old food seller in the town, Gebeyanesh told Amnesty International, “It is not easy to tell you what they did to me. They raped me. Three of them raped me while my children were crying. My elder son is 10 and the other is nine years, they were crying when [the TPLF fighters] raped me. [The fighters] did whatever they wanted and left. They also assaulted me physically and took shiro and berbere [local food items]. They slapped me [and] kicked me. They were cocking their guns as if they are going to shoot me.”
Amnesty International further recounted that Hamelmal, 28, sells enjera in the town. She explained that four TPLF fighters raped her during the night of 13 August at her home, while her daughter watched.
“I have children, 10- and two-year-old girls. I was scared they might kill my daughter. I said, ‘don’t kill my children, do whatever you want to me.’ The youngest was asleep, but the older [one] was awake and saw what happened. I don’t have the strength to tell you what she saw.”
Bemnet, a 45-year-old Nifas Mewcha resident, told Amnesty International that four TPLF fighters came to her house on the evening of 14 August and demanded she make them coffee, before three of them gang raped her.
“I suspected their intentions, and I sent away my daughters to stay away from the house. [The soldiers] told me to bring them home. I told them they won’t come. Then they started to insult me. They were saying ‘Amhara is donkey’, ‘Amhara is useless’. One of them told the others to stop insulting me. He said, ‘she is our mother; we don’t have to harm her’. They forced him to leave the house and three of them stayed back at my home. Then they raped me in turns.”
Meskerem, the other resident aged 30 told Amnesty International that three TPLF fighters raped her and beat her with the butts of their guns.
“They were insulting me, calling me ‘donkey Amhara, you are strong, you can carry much more than this’. I was unconscious for more than an hour.”
The lady who sells kollo [a local cereal-based food] said, “Four of the soldiers came to my restaurant and they ate and drank whatever was in the house. Then two of them raped me. They also took my ring and necklace.”
Frehiwot said she was gang raped several times by TPLF fighters between 12 and 20 August, and that one fighter stole her phone and cash.
Tigist said the TPLF fighters who raped her on 12 August also destroyed her shop items and took her jewelry.
“They took my property. After they drank the beer, they broke the beer bottles in four caskets. They also broke the two caskets of soft drink and took my gold necklace. They also took my beddings. Now I am not able to [run] my business as before since I lost all I had. I am only selling coffee… I am also a sex worker. But it has become difficult for me to trust anyone after what they did to me.”
Amnesty International noted that while two of the women have sought basic private medical treatment since the rape, damage and looting to the town’s hospital and health station by the TPLF attack has meant that none of the survivors interviewed has been able to access comprehensive post-rape care, including emergency contraception, post emergency prophylaxis for HIV and sexually transmitted infections, assessment and treatment of injuries, or focused therapy for mental health care.
An NGO that normally provides such services told Amnesty International that it cannot access the area due to security concerns prompted by the government’s hostile public statements about international humanitarian organizations.
Fifteen of the 16 rape survivors Amnesty International interviewed described suffering physical and mental health problems as a result of the attacks. They described a variety of symptoms including back pain, bloody urine, difficulty walking, anxiety and depression.
Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard finally noted that “TPLF fighters must immediately stop all human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including sexual and gender-based violence. The leadership must make clear that such abuses will not be tolerated and remove suspected perpetrators from their ranks.”
He further stressed that “the government must ensure allegations of all sexual violence are promptly, effectively, independently and impartially investigated. They must bring those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in open, accessible civilian courts in full compliance with international standards for fair trial without recourse to the death penalty and reparations for the survivors.”
It is to be recalled that the Government of Ethiopia has been repeatedly trying to expose the atrocities being committed by the group.
These concerns of the government were not, however, given the appropriate attention by the international community.
Source: Ethiopia News Agency