MSF says 3 of its workers were ‘intentionally’ killed in Ethiopia’s Tigray

The 2021 incidental was an ‘intentional and targeted killing’ of 3 intelligibly identified assistance workers, says the aesculapian charity.

Doctors Without Borders says 3 of its unit were “intentionally” killed successful 2021 during the fierce warring successful Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

The organisation, known by its French initials MSF, connected Tuesday published the findings of its interior reappraisal into the killings of Maria Hernandez, a Spanish national, and Ethiopians Yohannes Halefom Reda and Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael.

The bluish portion of Tigray erupted successful a brutal civilian war against the national authorities from 2020 and 2022 that killed immoderate 600,000 people.

The struggle prompted a humanitarian disaster, leaving a cardinal displaced, and a fragile bid deal has caused simmering resentment.

MSF accused the Ethiopian authorities of failing to “fulfil its motivation obligations” to reason investigations. “The reappraisal confirmed that the onslaught was an intentional and targeted sidesplitting of 3 intelligibly identified assistance workers,” says its statement.

Hernandez was 1 of MSF’s exigency coordinators successful Tigray, portion Reda and Gebremichael were a coordination adjunct and operator for the NGO. All 3 employees of MSF-Spain were changeable dormant connected June 24, 2021, successful confederate Tigray.

The NGO said they and their conveyance were each intelligibly identified. According to the aesculapian charity, a convoy of Ethiopian soldiers was contiguous astatine the clip of the attack.

MSF said contempt galore follow-ups with the national authorities successful Addis Ababa, they had not received “any credible answers” and the authorities had “failed to fulfil its motivation obligations to reason an probe into the attack”.

“This was not the effect of crossfire, nor was it a tragic mistake. Our colleagues were killed successful what tin lone beryllium described arsenic a deliberate attack,” said Paula Gil, president of MSF-Spain.

The study follows from an planetary probe successful 2022 erstwhile the NGO said the 3 assistance workers had been killed “intentionally,” without providing further details.

The New York Times paper claimed successful a 2022 probe that an Ethiopian service serviceman had fixed the bid to termination the 3 assistance workers.

But Raquel Ayora, director-general of MSF-Spain, said connected Tuesday, “We cannot corroborate that oregon spell that far.”

The report’s findings were presented to authorities, who did not respond, the NGO said. Ethiopian authorities refused to conscionable the president of MSF-Spain to sermon the MSF probe into the killings.

The 2020-2022 warfare pitted national forces, supported by section militias and the Eritrean army, against Tigrayan rebels. All of the warring parties person been accused of warfare crimes.

However, an NGO called The Sentry said successful June that, portion each sides perpetrated warfare crimes, the quality of the atrocities committed by the Eritrean service was “unmatched successful standard and premeditation”.

Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous state with astir 130 cardinal inhabitants, has been led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since 2018.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies