Amnesty’s report, released Wednesday, said TPLF fighters “deliberately killed dozens of people, gang-raped dozens of women and girls – some as young as 14 – and women in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia in late August”. looted private and public property in two areas”. and in early September 2021.
According to Amnesty, Tigris forces took control of those two areas in July 2021.
According to Amnesty, in the city of Kobo, “Tigreyan fighters deliberately killed unarmed civilians, seemingly to avenge losses among their ranks at the hands of the Amhara militia and armed peasants,” on interviewing 27 witnesses and survivors. Based on his investigation – 10 of which the date of massacre has been given as September 9, 2021.
According to Amnesty’s interviews with Kobo residents, many were found “death-style, shot in the head, chest or back, some with their hands tied behind their backs”.
Amnesty said TPLF did not respond to their request for comment.
Ground photos and satellite imagery collected and analyzed by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab show new burial sites on the grounds of two churches where residents said they buried the dead after the massacre.
The investigation also found that dozens of women and girls in Amhara village of Chenna were raped and brutalized by Tigrayan fighters since July 2021. According to the report, sexual violence was often committed in the homes of the victims and sometimes in front of their families.
The seven survivors Amnesty spoke to were under the age of 18, and at least one was 14 years old.
“Three months after the rape, many survivors, including 10 who remained hospitalized, suffered severe and long-term physical and psychological damage. Doctors providing medical care to rape victims told Amnesty International that two rape victims were to be treated for wounds caused by inserting a rifle bayonet into their genitals,” the report said.
Amnesty has also received credible reports of rape by Tigreyan fighters in other areas of Amhara.
The report documents widespread looting in both Kobo and Chenna, where residents accused Tigreyan fighters of “stealing property from their homes and shops, and looting and vandalizing public properties, including medical clinics and schools.”
The report said looting and damage to medical facilities made it impossible for rape victims and other residents to receive local treatment, forcing them to wait for weeks to reach hospitals in Debark, Gondar and Bahir Dar. ,
,