March, 11th 2021 – The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, says that the people of Tigray in northern Ethiopia are being subjected to what he called ethnic cleansing.
Testifying before a Congressional committee, he called on the Ethiopian government to and stop abusing human rights in the region. He said that he wanted to see security forces who do not abuse the human rights of the people of Tigray or commit acts of ethnic cleansing which we’ve seen in western Tigray.
He added, “That has to stop. We also need full accountability. We need to get an independent investigation into what took place there, and we need some kind of process so that the country can move forward politically.”
Blinken said that Eritrean troops and a separate Ethiopian militia must get out of Tigray. He also said that there should be full accountability and an independent investigation into what took place.
Earlier this month, he urged Addis Ababa to allow an international investigation into alleged atrocities in the region. The Ethiopian government has dismissed US criticisms saying that the Tigray war is an internal matter.
Meanwhile, a senior Ethiopian diplomat has resigned. This is allegedly due t o the protests over the abominations being committed in the ongoing conflict in Tigray.
Berhane Kidanemariam, the deputy chief of mission at the Ethiopian embassy in Washington said, “I resign from my post in protest of the genocidal war in Tigray, and in protest of all the repression and destruction the government is inflicting on the rest of Ethiopia.”
He said that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had led the country down a destruction path adding that the government is lying about the whole issue with witnesses. Thousands have been reported killed and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.