AYNA, ETHIOPIA – DECEMBER 23, 2021: This photo, taken on December 23, 2021 in Ayna Eyesus, Ethiopia shows a pair of sandels that mark the spot where a 12 year of age girl, was sexually assaulted by 2 soldiers of the TPLF during the occupation of Ayna Eyesus in September of 2021. On the evening of September 4, 2021, elements of the TPLF entered the town of Ayna Eyesus after capturing Lalibela just over 40 kilometers to the south.
The girl was sleeping in her home with 3 other friends when she heard a knock at the door. Upon opening the door she was snatched and dragged to another room in her compound and raped by two TPLF soldiers.
The soldiers entered the town and began to demand food and alcohol from the residents who had been busy preparing for Ethiopian New Year. After consuming alcohol, the soldiers began to roam the city committing acts of sexual violence. The girl was sleeping in her home with 3 other friends when she heard a knock at the door. Upon opening the door she was snatched and dragged to another room in her compound and raped by two TPLF soldiers.
According to local government representative Geut Mella Tesema, over the three days the TPLF first occupied Ayna Eyesus, 32 woman between the ages of 12 and 60 were raped by members of the TPLF. In one instance it was reported that a Priest had his wife raped in front of him. Earlier this week, the head of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has battled the Ethiopian government in a 13-month war, announced the group’s withdrawal from the Amhara and Afar regions, suggesting terms of a potential ceasefire.
The announcement came after the Ethiopian military said it had regained control of the town of Lalibela and several other major cities in the Amhara region and had reached the Tigray border on all fronts. (Photo by J. Countess/Getty Images) When I was in Ayna Eyesus on that day in 2021 I interviewed 2 woman and the relative of a girl who had been the victims of sexual violence.
During the course of my follow-up research in successive months I discovered that one of the victims of rape was carrying her child to term and suffering from trauma related illness. In looking at the cases of rape in Ethiopia during the war sexual violence in the Amhara and Afar regions are barely mentioned while the world responds to the astronomical numbers being claimed in the Tigray region.
A region that, truth be told was barely occupied by Amhara or FANO forces and those Eritrean units that occupied the northern parts of the country were mixed units of male and female as are just about all of Eritreas fighting forces. With numbers of victims of sexual violence being stated at 100,000 and now 300,000, I thought back to figures and statistics from another brutal episode in human history, the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi’s.
In that conflict, according to CNN journalist Kieron Monks, “During those 100 days of extreme violence, many women suffered at the hands of militias. According to UN figures, as many as 250,000 were raped. British NGO Survivors Fund (SURF) estimates that 20,000 children were born to women as a result of rape.” “……..20,000 children were born to woman as a result of rape”. In Ethiopias case, not only are Amhara and Afar victims barely mentioned, but according to Amnesty International 300,000 woman (namely of the Tigray region) have been victims of sexual violence.
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.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
Yet there has been no mention, outcry or appeal to the humanitarian sector for childcare for a massive amount children born to victims of rape. There has been no suggestion that the Tigray region is struggling with the physical presence of hundreds or thousands of newborns born to rape victims. As I mentioned in a previous tweet, the group of NGO’s and Humanitarian organizations that formed the nucleus of the TPLF propaganda machine created and maintained narratives to be sure the TPLF maintained a psychological advantage on the world stage, appearing as victims, while they VICTIMIZED others.
Yes there were acts of sexual violence during the war and there were prosecutions stemming from those incidents. But what’s happening now with the world being fed fantastically large numbers without strong evidence while victims in Amhara and Afar languish in purposeful suppression and denial at the hands of the TPLF propaganda network is a gross and deeply evil crime against humanity. No body heals at this rate as we continue with this diabolical behavior of gross exaggeration and outright lying. Healing begins when we put an end to this weapon of war known as propaganda and gas-lighting and we seek justice for those who have been targeted and who have survived attempts at extermination. Truth and reconciliation are the only way forward, lest we travel down the dark path of balkanization and destruction.
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