Media Roll-up: June 20th-27th
Opinion
He Promised Peace. Then He Tore His Country Apart.; Guest Essay
Tsedale Lemma, June 22nd, 2021, International New York Times
Ahead of Ethiopia’s general election on Monday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been laying out his grand ambitions for the country. He wants it to be “comfortable for all Ethiopians,” he recently told a TV interviewer, “where every Ethiopian moves around relaxed, works and prospers.” The country, he said, should be one whose “sovereignty is respected and feared, and whose territorial integrity is preserved.”
Gender-Based Violence
Tigray – a challenge to the UN day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
World Peace Foundation, June 18th, 2021
Sexual violence is the brutal hallmark of the conflict that broke out in Tigray, Ethiopia last November.
War in Tigray
Gianluca Mezzofiore, Katie Polglase, Nima Elbagir and Barbara Arvanitidis, June 26th, 2021, CNN
A few scattered human bones lay on the rocky ground, along with a broken skull and several half-burned identification cards.
UPDATE 1-U.N. rights chief deplores abuse reports in Ethiopia's Tigray
Emma Farge, June 21st, 2021, Reuters
GENEVA, June 21 (Reuters) - The U.N. rights chief said on Monday she was "deeply disturbed" by reports of continued violations including executions in Ethiopia's Tigray region, and added that a long-awaited joint investigation should be ready by August.
MSF
Three MSF workers ‘brutally murdered’ in Ethiopia’s Tigray
Al Jazeera, June 25th, 2021
Medical charity expresses shock and sadness over killing of three of its staff in embattled northern Ethiopian region.
Similar Articles:
UPDATE 1-Three MSF employees killed in Ethiopia's Tigray, aid agency says (Reuters)
3 Aid Workers for Doctors Without Borders Are Killed in Tigray (The New York Times)
Air Strike
Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Heavy casualties reported after air strike
BBC News, June 24th, 2021
Dozens of people have reportedly been killed or injured after Ethiopia's air force bombed a market in the northern region of Tigray.
'Like a hell': Ethiopia airstrike survivors recall massacre
ABC News, June 27th, 2021
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Maerg was serving customers at his cafe in Ethiopia’s Tigray village of Togoga when the military airstrike occurred, filling the room with dust and bringing down debris that struck him on the head.
UPDATE 1-WHO's Tedros says victims of Ethiopia air strike denied access to care
Reuters, June 25th, 2021
GENEVA, June 25 (Reuters) - WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused authorities in Ethiopia on Friday of blocking ambulances from reaching scores of victims of an air strike this week, a rare case of speaking out in his official capacity about the conflict in his homeland.
Ethiopia says it targeted combatants, not civilians in Tigray
Al Jazeera, June 24th, 2021
Military spokesman denies it was behind attack on busy market in Tigray, but admits attacking rebels in restive region.
UPDATE 4-Death toll from Tigray air strike at over 50, health official says
Reuters, June 24th, 2021
ADDIS ABABA, June 24 (Reuters) - The number of civilians killed in an air strike in Ethiopia's Tigray region has risen to 51 with 33 people still unaccounted for, a health official involved in the response said, disputing the army's account that the victims were combatants.
Condemnation builds over deadly government airstrike in Tigray
Bethlehem Feleke and Eliza Mackintosh, June 24th, 2021, CNN
International condemnation is growing over an airstrike that killed dozens of people in Ethiopia's war-torn northern Tigray region earlier this week, as Africa's second-most populous nationtallied ballots to decide its next leader.
U.S. condemns 'reprehensible' Tigray market attack
Reuters, June 23rd, 2021
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The United States is gravely concerned by reports of civilian deaths in a market attack in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and urged Ethiopian authorities to ensure full medical access for all the victims, the State Department said on Wednesday.
Famine
Ethiopia is facing a human-made famine
Jen Kirby, June 25th, 2021, VOX
Ethiopia’s Tigray region is facing a deepening hunger emergency, with about 350,000 people threatened by famine. It is the most severe starvation crisis in the world right now, and it is almost entirely manmade.
Up to 900,000 in Ethiopia's Tigray face famine, US says
Associated Press, June 26th, 2021, CP24
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The United States estimates that up to 900,000 people in Ethiopia's Tigray region now face famine conditions amid a deadly conflict, even as the prime minister says there is “no hunger” there.
Elections
Vote count under way in Ethiopia after contentious election
Al Jazeera, June 22nd, 2021
Authorities unable to hold elections in four of Ethiopia’s 10 regions, says election board.
World News: Ethiopians Go to Polls as Violence Escalates
Gabriele Steinhauser, June 22nd, 2021, The Wall Street Journal
Ethiopia's election was meant to be the crowning moment for Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a popular recognition of his efforts to break open one of Africa's most entrenched one-party states and liberalize its tightly controlled economy.
Ethiopians vote in elections seen as test for PM Abiy Ahmed
Al Jazeera, June 21st, 2021
Vote held against the backdrop of internal strife, with PM Abiy Ahmed expected to cement his hold on power.
Voting underway in Ethiopia amid conflict and a raging humanitarian crisis
Nimi Princewill, June 21st, 2021, CNN
Ethiopians headed to the polls Monday amid widespread nationwide unrest, famine, and a raging humanitarian crisis in the country's Tigray region.
Abiy set to sweep Ethiopian election, but conflicts likely to rage on across country
Geoffrey York, June 21st, 2021, The Globe and Mail
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is almost certain to win Ethiopia's much-delayed election on Monday, but the wartime vote is unlikely to restore the global support and domestic stability that he craves.
CORRECTED-Ethiopians to vote in what government bills as first free election
Dawit Endeshaw and Ayenat Mersie, June 20th, 2021, Reuters
ADDIS ABABA, June 21 (Reuters) - Ethiopians vote on Monday in national and regional elections that the prime minister has billed as proof of his commitment to democracy after decades of repressive rule in Africa's second-most populous nation.
4 Things to Know about Tigray's Humanitarian Crisis as Ethiopia Counts Votes
Khanyi Miaba, June 25th, 2021, The Global Citizen
While Ethiopia’s national elections took place on June 21 2021, the conflict in the country’s Tigray region only worsened.