An Ethiopian woman who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, carries her child near the Setit river on the Sudan-Ethiopia border in Hamdayet village in eastern Kassala state, Sudan November 22, 2020.

UN calls for stop to sexual violence in Tigray

Last updated Mar 23, 2021

Top United Nations officials on Monday called for a stop to indiscriminate and targeted attacks against civilians in Ethiopia’s Northern Tigray region, particularly calling out reports of rape and other horrific forms of sexual violence.

In a joint statement, the officials, including UN Aid Chief Mark Lowcock, Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet and Refugee Chief Filippo Grandi, called on the warring parties to protect civilians from human rights abuse, condemn sexual violence and hold perpetrators accountable.

“It is essential that an independent investigation into conflict-related sexual violence in Tigray be initiated, with the involvement of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,” the statement said.

Fighting between government troops and the region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in the mountainous region of about 5 million.

The United Nations has raised concerns about atrocities being committed in Tigray, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has described acts carried out in the region as ethnic cleansing. Ethiopia has however, denied Blinken’s allegation.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke

Ethiopia's Tigray region