Sexual violence is used as a weapon of war in Tigray, Ethiopia, the UN says

Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war in Ethiopia’s Tigray, the head of UN Security Council assistance said on Thursday, prompting the US envoy to challenge the body’s silence, asking: “African life doesn’t matter as much as those facing it. in other countries?”

UN official Mark Lowcock said the humanitarian crisis in Tigray had deteriorated in recent months with challenges to help access and starving people. He said the world body saw no evidence that soldiers in neighboring Eritrea – accused of massacres and crimes in Tigray – had withdrawn.

“To be very clear: the conflict is not over and things are not getting better,” Lowcock said, according to his notes for the private briefing, which was requested by the United States.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Thursday’s briefing was the fifth private council meeting since fighting began between Ethiopian federal government troops and Tigray’s former ruling party. November, according to diplomats familiar with her remarks.

“The Security Council was unified in Syria, Yemen and even Burma, where we were able to meet to issue a statement,” she said, according to diplomats. “We call on the council to reconsider a statement on Ethiopia … The victims need to know that the Security Council cares about this conflict.”

The Council has so far been unable to agree on a public statement on Tigray, the Western countries facing Russia and China, which diplomats say raises the question of whether the body – which is tasked with maintaining international peace and security. – should be involved in the crisis.

The conflict has killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands more to leave their homes in the mountainous region of about 5 million. Eritrea has helped Ethiopian troops, although Eritrea has repeatedly denied that its forces are in Tigray.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed acknowledged Eritrean presence, and the United Nations and the United States called for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray.

“Neither the UN nor any of the humanitarian agencies we work with have seen evidence of Eritrean withdrawal,” Lowcock said.

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Lowcock said he received an earlier report Thursday that 150 people had died of starvation in Tigray and warned that “hunger as a weapon of war is a violation.”

Dr Fasika Amdeselassie, the chief public health official of the Tigray-appointed interim administration, told Reuters that at least 829 cases of sexual assault had been reported in five hospitals since the conflict began. Read more

“There is no doubt that sexual violence is used in this conflict as a weapon of war,” Lowcock said, adding that most rapes were committed by men in uniform, with charges against all parties to the fight.

“Nearly a quarter of reports received by an agency involve gang rape, with several men attacking the victim; in some cases, women have been repeatedly raped over a period of days. Girls up to eight years old are targeted,” she said. Lowcock.

Ethiopia’s UN ambassador Taye Atskeselassie Amde told Reuters that the government is investigating all rights violations. He accused Lowcock of “not behaving like a humanitarian, but like a determined enemy demanding revenge.”

“Human rights violations are too serious and serious to be speculated on. It is unfortunate that the head of OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) has resorted to such an act before the UN Security Council,” he said. “There is no gap in humanitarian access.”

Eritrea’s UN mission in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lowcock’s remarks. Last month, Eritrean Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel said that sexual violence and rape “are an abomination to Eritrean society” and that they should be severely punished if they occur.

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