A study by Human Rights Watch (HRW) that claims a “ethnic cleansing” effort is ongoing in western Tigray despite a truce agreed in November has been disputed by the Ethiopian government.
The Government Communication Service of Ethiopia stated in a statement on Tuesday that the accusations are “not substantiated by evidence.”
“This distorted and misleading portrayal of the situation attempts to undermine peaceful coexistence and fuel inter-ethnic conflict and obstruct the national efforts for peace and reconciliation,” it said.
Regional forces from Tigray have been fighting Ethiopia’s federal army and its allies, including forces from other regions and neighboring Eritrea, since the conflict began in November 2020. It is a result of resentments from times in Ethiopia’s violent past when specific regional power blocs ruled the nation as a whole.
Since then, fighting has raged, killing thousands of civilians, uprooting millions, and putting hundreds of thousands in danger of starvation.
In a study released last week, the Human Rights Watch claimed that “ethnic cleansing” continued in the Western Tigray Zone, the contested western portion of the territory that is the subject of the peace accord signed in November to end the two-year violence in Tigray.
“The Ethiopian government should suspend, investigate, and appropriately prosecute commanders and officials implicated in serious rights abuses in Western Tigray,” the report said.
“Since the outbreak of armed conflict in Tigray in November 2020, Amhara security forces and interim authorities have carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Tigrayan population in Western Tigray, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
It was not the first time that groups associated with the federal government of Ethiopia were charged with committing forced evictions and other human rights violations in western Tigray.
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Amhara region troops are conducting “acts of ethnic cleansing” and must leave Tigray by 2021. At the time, an Amhara spokesman called the accusations “propaganda”.
Western Tigray, a fertile region under Tigray’s control but also claimed as ancestrally belonging to the ethnic Amharas, was quickly taken by federal and Amhara forces during the conflict. The HRW claims that despite the November peace agreement, a coordinated campaign of “forced expulsions” started in earnest and has continued unabated.
The Ethiopian government, however, said the US-based rights group made the allegations “without conducting a thorough and credible investigation in all areas affected by the conflict”.
The government said it has embarked on nationwide consultations in a process for transitional justice that will allow a “comprehensive investigation”.
“The truth will be told and perpetrators of crimes will be held accountable,” the statement said.
The UN-backed Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia issued a report in September saying there was evidence of widespread human rights violations by all sides during the fighting.