war crimes in the Tigray war

File:VOA Hawzen6.jpg |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406194138/https://www.voanews.com/a/gallery_destruction-ethiopias-tigray-region/6158425.html |url-status=live }}]]

The EHRC claimed in November 2020 that the Mai Kadra massacre could constitute a crime against humanity. Human Rights Concern Eritrea claimed in February 2021 that crimes against humanity occurred during the war, in particular in the "appalling treatment of Eritrean refugees in the Shimelba and Hitsats camps" and called for an immediate independent international enquiry.{{cite web | title= The Hidden Truth of Ethiopia's plan 'to Close Two Refugee Camps in Tigray' | website= Human Rights Concern Eritrea |date = 10 February 2021 | url = https://hrc-eritrea.org/the-hidden-truth-of-ethiopias-plan-to-close-two-refugee-camps-in-tigray | access-date = 11 February 2021 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210210224745/https://hrc-eritrea.org/the-hidden-truth-of-ethiopias-plan-to-close-two-refugee-camps-in-tigray/ |archive-date= 10 February 2021 |url-status=live }}

Many sources have accused the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments of engaging in crimes against humanity via ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans.{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Declan |date=26 February 2021 |title=Ethiopia's War Leads to Ethnic Cleansing in Tigray Region, U.S. Report Says |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/world/middleeast/ethiopia-tigray-ethnic-cleansing.html |issn=0362-4331 |quote=The American report is not the first accusation of ethnic cleansing since the Tigray crisis erupted. |archive-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210226235751/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/world/middleeast/ethiopia-tigray-ethnic-cleansing.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Anna |first=Cara |date=26 April 2021 |title='Leave no Tigrayan': In Ethiopia, an ethnicity is erased |url=https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-tigray-minority-ethnic-cleansing-sudan-world-news-842741eebf9bf0984946619c0fc15023 |website=AP NEWS |quote="What started as a political dispute in one of Africa's most powerful and populous countries has turned into a campaign of ethnic cleansing against minority Tigrayans, according to AP interviews with 30 refugees in Sudan and dozens more by phone, along with international experts." |archive-date=21 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621235714/https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-tigray-minority-ethnic-cleansing-sudan-world-news-842741eebf9bf0984946619c0fc15023 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Hansler |first=Jennifer |title=Blinken: Acts of 'ethnic cleansing' committed in Western Tigray |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/10/politics/blinken-tigray-ethnic-cleansing/index.html |publisher=CNN |quote=Secretary of State Tony Blinken for the first time Wednesday used the term "ethnic cleansing" to describe human rights abuses he said have been carried out in the Western Tigray region of Ethiopia, calling the situation "unacceptable." |archive-date=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420164544/https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/10/politics/blinken-tigray-ethnic-cleansing/index.html |url-status=live }} In its 26 February 2021 report on the Axum massacre, Amnesty International described the indiscriminate shelling of Axum by the ENDF and EDF in January 2021 as possibly "amount[ing] to war crimes", and the following mass executions of Axum civilians by Eritrean troops as a crime against humanity.{{cite web | title= The massacre in Axum | website= Amnesty International |date =26 February 2021 | url = https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/02/ethiopia-eritrean-troops-massacre-of-hundreds-of-axum-civilians-may-amount-to-crime-against-humanity | access-date = 27 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210226160802/https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR2537302021ENGLISH.PDF |archive-date= 26 February 2021 |url-status=live}}{{citation|title=Massacre by Eritrean troops in Ethiopia's Tigray region may constitute crime against humanity, Amnesty says|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/25/tigray-eritrea-ethiopia-crime-against-humanity/|date=27 February 2021|archive-date=26 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226083105/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/25/tigray-eritrea-ethiopia-crime-against-humanity/|url-status=live}}{{citation|title=Killings in Axum by Eritrea troops 'may amount to war crimes'|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/26/killings-in-axum-by-eritrea-may-amount-to-war-crimes-amnesty|date=26 February 2021|archive-date=2 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302201440/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/26/killings-in-axum-by-eritrea-may-amount-to-war-crimes-amnesty|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Sexual violence in the Tigray war}}

War rape and sexual violence were widespread throughout the war, and was perpetrated by virtually all sides.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|pp=125–129}}{{Citation |last= |first= |title=Ethiopia's Tigray conflict: Rape as a weapon of war |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ethiopias-tigray-conflict-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/av-60857552 |publication-date=2022-02-26 |publisher=Deutsche Welle |language=en-GB |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401032705/https://www.dw.com/en/ethiopias-tigray-conflict-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/av-60857552 |url-status=live }} According to one witness in May 2021, girls as young as 8 and women as old as 72 were among those being raped.{{Cite web |last=McVeigh |first=Tracy |date=May 14, 2021 |title=Rape is being used as weapon of war in Ethiopia, say witnesses |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/may/14/rape-used-as-weapon-war-tigray-ethiopia-witnesses |website=The Guardian |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009024203/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/may/14/rape-used-as-weapon-war-tigray-ethiopia-witnesses |url-status=live }} Such sexual violence was often accompanied by other forms of physical and mental abuse. Physical abuses included burning their victims with hot iron or cigarettes, forcing metal rods or nails into their victim's genitals, etc.{{Cite web |title=Ethiopia: "I don't know if they realized I was a person": Rape and sexual violence in the conflict in Tigray, Ethiopia |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr25/4569/2021/en/ |website=Amnesty International |language=en |archive-date=19 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619180617/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr25/4569/2021/en/ |url-status=live }} Mental abuses included raping their victim in front of their family members, forcing their victims to rape their family members, calling their victims derogatory words and ethnic slurs, etc.{{Cite web |last=Boezio |first=Geraldine |title=United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, urges all parties to prohibit the use of sexual violence and cease hostilities in the Tigray region of Ethiopia |url=https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/press-release/united-nations-special-representative-of-the-secretary-general-on-sexual-violence-in-conflict-ms-pramila-patten-urges-all-parties-to-prohibit-the-use-of-sexual-violence-and-cease-hostilities-in-the/ |website=United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict |language=en-US |archive-date=28 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428042724/https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/press-release/united-nations-special-representative-of-the-secretary-general-on-sexual-violence-in-conflict-ms-pramila-patten-urges-all-parties-to-prohibit-the-use-of-sexual-violence-and-cease-hostilities-in-the/ |url-status=live }} After being subjected to sexual violence, many women became infected with STIs like HIV, and often found difficulty seeking treatments due to a combination of shame and the collapse of medical infrastructure due to the war.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-10 |title=Ethiopia: Troops and militia rape, abduct women and girls in Tigray conflict – new report |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/08/ethiopia-troops-and-militia-rape-abduct-women-and-girls-in-tigray-conflict-new-report/ |website=Amnesty International |language=en |archive-date=27 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627025117/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/08/ethiopia-troops-and-militia-rape-abduct-women-and-girls-in-tigray-conflict-new-report/ |url-status=live }}

A UN investigation in September 2022 confirmed the reports of widespread rape and sexual violence by all parties, including the practice of mass rape as perceived retribution by the TDF, as well as the use of sexual slavery by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces.{{Cite web |last=Keaten |first=Jamey |date=September 22, 2022 |title=UN experts detail extensive war crimes amid Tigray conflict |url=https://apnews.com/article/health-united-nations-africa-ethiopia-eritrea-dcb992b8389069490c8b44357500cabe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003215829/https://apnews.com/article/health-united-nations-africa-ethiopia-eritrea-dcb992b8389069490c8b44357500cabe |archive-date=October 3, 2022 |website=Associated Press}}

File:Manif pour Tigray-21 (51253507391) (cropped).jpg

Soldiers and militias often subjected Tigrayan women and girls (including pregnant women and young girls) to rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, sexual mutilation, and other forms of sexual torture. According to nine doctors in Ethiopia and one in a Sudanese refugee camp interviewed by CNN, sexual violence in the Tigray war violated laws regarding rape as a weapon of war. The women treated by the doctors stated that the ENDF, EDF and ASF soldiers who raped them described Tigrayans as having no history and culture, that the intent was to "ethnically cleans[e] Tigray", to "Amharise" them or remove their Tigrayan identity and "blood line." One of the doctors, Tedros Tefera, stated, "Practically this has been a genocide." In March 2021, The Daily Telegraph argued that testimonies supported the view that sexual violence was being weaponized, stating that "Survivors, doctors, aid workers and experts speaking to the Telegraph all pointed to rape being systematically used as a weapon of war by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces."{{cite news | last1= Kassa | first1= Lucy |last2=Pujol-Mazzini|first2=Anna | title= 'We're here to make you HIV positive': Hundreds of women rush to Tigray hospitals as soldiers use rape as weapon of war | date= 27 March 2021 |newspaper= The Daily Telegraph | url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/make-hiv-positive-hundreds-women-rush-tigray-hospitals-soldiers |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210327170234/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/make-hiv-positive-hundreds-women-rush-tigray-hospitals-soldiers/ |archive-date= 27 March 2021 |url-status=live }} Reasons for the rape that were stated to the victims included the aim of "cleansing Tigrayan blood."{{cite news | last1= Patta | first1= Debora | title= Reports of executions and mass-rape emerge from the obscured war in Ethiopia's Tigray region | date= 25 March 2021 |newspaper= CBS News | url= https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ethiopia-tigray-news-executions-rape-war-atrocities-genocide |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210328192221/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ethiopia-tigray-news-executions-rape-war-atrocities-genocide/ |archive-date= 28 March 2021 |url-status=live }} These reports of targeted, mass sexual violence against Tigrayans was corroborated by an April 2022 joint Human Rights Watch–Amnesty International report on the Western Zone, describing similar occurrences.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|pp=125–129}}{{Cite web |date=April 6, 2022 |title=Ethiopia war: Ethnic cleansing documented in western Tigray |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61009077 |website=BBC News |archive-date=20 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020071437/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61009077 |url-status=live }}

In January 2022, Amnesty International published a report stating that acts of rape and violence by the TPLF in the Amhara Region "may have been committed as part of a systematic attack against the Amhara civilian population." Survivors spoke of being gang raped, beaten and called ethnic slurs, often in front of their children. Reportedly, some TPLF fighters used the rape of Tigrayan women by pro-government forces as a justification for committing sexual violence themselves. In March 2022, the EHRC published a report stating that the TDF committed widespread and systematic acts of sexual violence against women and girls in the Afar and Amhara regions, including through gang rape and rape with foreign objects.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-11 |title=Afar and Amhara Regions: Report on Violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in Afar and Amhara Regions of Ethiopia Published |url=https://ehrc.org/afar-and-amhara-regions-report-on-violations-of-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law-in-afar-and-amhara-regions-of-ethiopia-published/ |website=Ethiopian Human Rights Commission - EHRC |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402132248/https://ehrc.org/afar-and-amhara-regions-report-on-violations-of-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law-in-afar-and-amhara-regions-of-ethiopia-published/ |url-status=live }}

File:Internal migration due to the Tigray War as a function of the initial population at woreda level.jpgAccording to a report by The New York Times released in February 2021, confidential U.S. government documents described Amhara Region officials and armed forces as carrying out ethnic cleansing in the Western Zone, "deliberately and efficiently rendering Western Tigray ethnically homogeneous through the organized use of force and intimidation […] Whole villages were severely damaged or completely erased." Many Tigrayans fled across the border to Sudan, and those unable to flee were captured, and forcibly transferred to other parts of Tigray.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|pp=129–137}}{{cite news | last1= Walsh | first1= Declan | title= Ethiopia's War Leads to Ethnic Cleansing in Tigray Region, U.S. Report Says | date= 26 February 2020 |newspaper= The New York Times | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/world/middleeast/ethiopia-tigray-ethnic-cleansing.html |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210226235751/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/world/middleeast/ethiopia-tigray-ethnic-cleansing.html |archive-date= 26 February 2021 |url-status=live }} In March, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that "tens of thousands of people [had] been displaced from [the Western Zone] allegedly on ethnic grounds." The OCHA also confirmed that the zone was run by Amhara regional authorities, with humanitarian access "only [being] possible through Amhara Region."{{cite web | title= Ethiopia – Tigray Region Humanitarian Update – Situation Report Last updated: 13 Mar 2021 | website= United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |date =14 March 2021 | url = https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/ethiopia | access-date = 15 March 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210315120539/https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/ethiopia |archive-date= 15 March 2021 |url-status=live }} The Norwegian Refugee Council estimated that between 140,000 and 185,000 people had fled from the Western Zone to Shire, in the span of around 2 weeks in March 2021.{{Cite web |last1=Houreld |first1=Katharine |last2=Aloisi |first2=Silvia |date=19 July 2021 |orig-date=March 29, 2021 |title='You don't belong': land dispute drives new exodus in Ethiopia's Tigray |url=https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/you-dont-belong-land-dispute-drives-new-exodus-in-ethiopias-tigray |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027231224/https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/you-dont-belong-land-dispute-drives-new-exodus-in-ethiopias-tigray |archive-date=27 October 2022 |website=Reuters}}

In contrast to towns with majority Tigrayan populations, the Times said that towns with majority Amhara populations were "thriving, with bustling shops, bars and restaurants."

In a 240-page report by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International released on 6 April 2022, it was documented that Amhara Special Forces engaged in systemic campaigns deliberately targeting Tigrayans in the Western Zone.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|pp=70–155}} Tigrayans were often killed en masse, forcibly expelled, or otherwise experienced a number of crimes against humanity, including torture, rape, sex slavery, forced disappearances and arbitrary detention.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=2}} In some cases, the Mai Kadra massacre was used as a justification to commit mass killings in "revenge", while in other cases, there was "little apparent motive beyond spreading terror."{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=118}} According to one witness, recounting what she discovered upon returning to her hometown in December 2020:

{{Blockquote|text=In Dansha, I saw the heads of people who had been beheaded around the gates of my home. The people say that Tigrayans' dead bodies shouldn't go to the grave.... The smell of dead bodies. I saw bodies where limbs were separating itself from each other because they had been left out for too long.{{sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=119}}}}

Tigrayans had their personal documents either confiscated or destroyed, and while the new Western Zone authorities issued new ID cards, they were reportedly not given to Tigrayans. The aforementioned IDs were required to access any essential service in the area, and when one resident attempted to get one, an administrator allegedly told him that orders "from above" were made to not give them to Tigrayans.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=|pp=76–78}}

Tigrayans were also told, in no uncertain terms, to leave the Western Zone or be killed;{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=|pp=137–138}} some recalled seeing pamphlets telling them to leave within 24 or 72 hours if they did not want to die.{{Cite web |last1=Callamard |first1=Agnès |last2=Roth |first2=Kenneth |date=16 June 2022 |orig-date=2 June 2022 |title=Ethiopia's Invisible Ethnic Cleansing |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/16/ethiopias-invisible-ethnic-cleansing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022151535/https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/16/ethiopias-invisible-ethnic-cleansing |archive-date=22 October 2022 |website=Foreign Affairs |via=Human Rights Watch}} 42 Tigrayans who were interviewed by Reuters gave broadly similar accounts of receiving papers explicitly mentioning this, with some of them also saying that they witnessed Tigrayans being rounded up by "Amhara gunmen." At the same time, federal Ethiopian and Amhara forces prevented civilians from trying to cross the border into Sudan, telling them to go back to their homes "in an apparent attempt to present a veneer of normalcy."{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=|pp=77–82}}

Both Amhara and federal Ethiopian authorities had repeatedly denied that ethnic cleansing or targeted ethnic violence was taking place in the area.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|pp=182–183}} Prime Minister Abiy dismissed reports of crimes committed by the ASF, saying in an April 2021 speech to Ethiopian parliament that "portraying [the Amhara Special Forces] as a looter and conqueror is very wrong."{{Cite web |last=Kirby |first=Jen |date=24 April 2021 |title="Dying by blood or by hunger": The war in Ethiopia's Tigray region, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/22370629/ethiopia-tigray-eritrea-amhara-war-ethnic-cleansing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027231224/https://www.vox.com/22370629/ethiopia-tigray-eritrea-amhara-war-ethnic-cleansing |archive-date=27 October 2022 |website=Vox}} The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Ethiopia "vehemently opposes such accusations," describing them as "completely unfounded," "spurious" and "[blown] out of proportion."{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=182}}{{Cite web |last=Muhumuza |first=Rodney |date=13 March 2021 |title=Ethiopia denies 'ethnic cleansing,' is open to outside probe |url=https://apnews.com/article/world-news-race-and-ethnicity-antony-blinken-ethiopia-uganda-1e1b536ccc1cd686db75ae2040bbdfc0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013212214/https://apnews.com/article/world-news-race-and-ethnicity-antony-blinken-ethiopia-uganda-1e1b536ccc1cd686db75ae2040bbdfc0 |archive-date=13 October 2022 |website=Associated Press}}

Yabsira Eshetie, the administrator of the occupied Western Zone, claimed that "no one was kicking them out, no one was destroying their houses even. […] It is lawful here", and said that "only criminals had been detained." Gizachew Muluneh, head of Amhara Regional Communication Affairs, denied the reports of ethnic cleansing in the Western Zone, calling it "propaganda", and claiming that the number of displaced Tigrayans was exaggerated.{{Cite web |last=Mulugeta Atsbeha |date=17 March 2021 |title=ቢሮ ኮሚኒኼሽን ክልል ትግራይ 700 ሽሕ ነበርቲ ካብ ም/ትግራይ ተመዛቢሎም ይብል መንግስቲ ክልል ኣምሓራ ግን ነዚ ይነጽግ |trans-title=The Tigray Regional Communication Bureau says 700,000 residents have been displaced from the state, but the Amhara Regional State government denies this |url=https://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/%E1%89%A2%E1%88%AE-%E1%8A%AE%E1%88%9A%E1%8A%92%E1%8A%BC%E1%88%BD%E1%8A%95-%E1%8A%AD%E1%88%8D%E1%88%8D-%E1%89%B5%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%AB%E1%8B%AD-700-%E1%88%BD%E1%88%95-%E1%8A%90%E1%89%A0%E1%88%AD%E1%89%B2-%E1%8A%AB%E1%89%A5-%E1%88%9D-%E1%89%B5%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%AB%E1%8B%AD-%E1%89%B0%E1%88%98%E1%8B%9B%E1%89%A2%E1%88%8E%E1%88%9D-%E1%8B%AD%E1%89%A5%E1%88%8D-%E1%88%98%E1%8A%95%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%B5%E1%89%B2-%E1%8A%AD%E1%88%8D%E1%88%8D-%E1%8A%A3%E1%88%9D%E1%88%93%E1%88%AB-%E1%8C%8D%E1%8A%95-%E1%8A%90%E1%8B%9A-%E1%8B%AD%E1%8A%90%E1%8C%BD%E1%8C%8D/5818530.html |website=Voice of America |language=ti |archive-date=15 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415022522/https://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/%E1%89%A2%E1%88%AE-%E1%8A%AE%E1%88%9A%E1%8A%92%E1%8A%BC%E1%88%BD%E1%8A%95-%E1%8A%AD%E1%88%8D%E1%88%8D-%E1%89%B5%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%AB%E1%8B%AD-700-%E1%88%BD%E1%88%95-%E1%8A%90%E1%89%A0%E1%88%AD%E1%89%B2-%E1%8A%AB%E1%89%A5-%E1%88%9D-%E1%89%B5%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%AB%E1%8B%AD-%E1%89%B0%E1%88%98%E1%8B%9B%E1%89%A2%E1%88%8E%E1%88%9D-%E1%8B%AD%E1%89%A5%E1%88%8D-%E1%88%98%E1%8A%95%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%B5%E1%89%B2-%E1%8A%AD%E1%88%8D%E1%88%8D-%E1%8A%A3%E1%88%9D%E1%88%93%E1%88%AB-%E1%8C%8D%E1%8A%95-%E1%8A%90%E1%8B%9A-%E1%8B%AD%E1%8A%90%E1%8C%BD%E1%8C%8D/5818530.html |url-status=live }} Gizachew also said, in response to U.S. criticism, that "these areas are not Tigrayan areas, [historically]. […] Our forces are not in the Tigrayan areas, rather our forces are in Amhara", making an apparent revanchist claim that the Western Zone belongs to the Amhara Region.{{Cite web |date=11 March 2021 |title=Ethiopia's Amhara rejects charge of 'ethnic cleansing' in Tigray |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/11/ethiopias-amhara-rejects-charges-of-ethnic-cleansing-in-tigray |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022103745/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/11/ethiopias-amhara-rejects-charges-of-ethnic-cleansing-in-tigray |archive-date=22 October 2022 |website=Al Jazeera}}

The BBC reported on 7 May 2022 that, according to the testimonies of 15 eyewitnesses, the ASF and Fano militias – throughout the occupied Western Zone – began systemically digging up mass graves of ethnic Tigrayans, burning their bodies, and moving them to another, separate location. Witnesses stated that this started to occur a few days after funding for a UN war crimes investigation into the Tigray war was approved in March 2022 (which Ethiopia voted against).{{Cite web |last=Nichols |first=Michelle |date=March 31, 2022 |title=Ethiopia fails at U.N. to block funding for independent abuse inquiry |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ethiopia-fails-un-block-funding-independent-abuse-inquiry-2022-03-31/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616041942/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ethiopia-fails-un-block-funding-independent-abuse-inquiry-2022-03-31/ |archive-date=June 16, 2022 |website=Reuters}} This practice is alleged to have occurred Humera, Adebay and Beaker.{{Cite web |last=Kassa |first=Lucy |date=May 7, 2022 |title=Ethiopia war: Evidence of mass killing being burned - witnesses |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61335530 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018173952/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61335530 |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |website=BBC News}}

{{main|Ethiopia–Tigray peace agreement}}

Charges of forced removals of Tigrayans continued into late 2022, even as peace agreements were being signed and implemented by the federal government and the TPLF. On 10 November, according to an aid group (which chose to remain anonymous), over 2,800 people (including children) were held in detention centres for at least a year, before Fano militias rounded them up into trucks and moved them to a town near Sheraro in the North Western Zone, which lies outside of Amhara's territorial claims.{{Cite web |date=2 December 2022 |title=Looting, forced removals plague Ethiopia's Tigray despite truce - witnesses |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/looting-forced-removals-plague-ethiopias-tigray-despite-truce-witnesses-2022-12-02/ |website=Reuters |archive-date=12 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212061928/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/looting-forced-removals-plague-ethiopias-tigray-despite-truce-witnesses-2022-12-02/ |url-status=live }}

{{main|Famine in northern Ethiopia (2020–present)}}

File:Number of people in need reached with food aid (31-05-2021).png

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International described Tigrayans being targeted with impunity, both by military and civilian groups:

{{Blockquote|text=Federal and allied forces looted Tigrayan homes, businesses, livestock, and crops as they took over towns and villages. Amhara Special Forces, Fano militias, and Eritrean military forces […] carried out the bulk of the looting, but groups in civilian clothes, some armed, others not, later joined them. […] Two interviewees said they saw security force members loot homes and businesses, selectively targeting Tigrayan property.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=88}}}}

Anti-Tigrayan forces engaged in what HRW and Amnesty described as "pillag[ing]", with "schools, courts, churches, and health centers", in addition to civilian houses, being subject to looting.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|pp=89–90|p=}} Amhara and Eritrean forces also took harvests, livestock and medicine from Tigrayan farmers, who were threatened with violence if they did not comply; these actions caused the looted areas to face "extreme starvation" by June 2021.{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|pp=91–95|p=}} Multiple witnesses, from separate villages, gave similar descriptions of Amhara militias and security forces "waiting for farmers to collect or harvest [sorghum crops] before stealing [them]."{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=92}} The new government of the occupied Western Zone did little to help the local Tigrayan population, and in a number of cases, actively participated in marginalizing and discriminating against them. The HRW–Amnesty report described them as "complicit in the theft of Tigrayan property".{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|p=95}} The authorities placed restrictions on their ability to harvest food, and denied them access to international aid.{{Cite web |date=15 April 2021 |title=Ethiopia - Access Snapshot - Tigray region (As of 31 March 2021) |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/ethiopia-access-snapshot-tigray-region-31-march-2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509024434/https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/ethiopia-access-snapshot-tigray-region-31-march-2021 |archive-date=9 May 2021 |website=Reliefweb |publisher=OCHA}}{{Sfn|HRW|Amnesty|2022|pp=78; 91–102}}

A witness to the Axum massacre stated that the EDF "burned crops […] forced farmers and priests to slaughter their own animals […] stole medicine from health facilities and destroyed the infrastructure."{{cite web |date=21 January 2021 |title=Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 62 – 21 January 2021 |url=https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Situation-Report-EEPA-Horn-No.-62-21-January-2021.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121161813/https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Situation-Report-EEPA-Horn-No.-62-21-January-2021.pdf |archive-date=21 January 2021 |website=EEPA}} Reports of Eritrean looting continued into late 2022, with allegations that the EDF was seizing food and other materials from Tigrayan homes,{{Cite web |last=Muhumuza |first=Rodney |date=27 November 2022 |title=Kidnappings, looting cited in Ethiopia's Tigray after truce |url=https://apnews.com/article/africa-ethiopia-eritrea-uganda-4142726b6924505dd33d4a1c09136ee1 |website=Associated Press |archive-date=10 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210213051/https://apnews.com/article/africa-ethiopia-eritrea-uganda-4142726b6924505dd33d4a1c09136ee1 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=News: Tigrayan officials say peace agreement aims to "rescue people of Tigray", accuse Eritrean forces of continued atrocities on civilians |url=https://addisstandard.com/news-tigrayan-officials-say-peace-agreement-aims-to-rescue-people-of-tigray-accuse-eritrean-forces-of-continued-atrocities-on-civilians/ |website=Addis Standard |archive-date=7 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207073910/https://addisstandard.com/news-tigrayan-officials-say-peace-agreement-aims-to-rescue-people-of-tigray-accuse-eritrean-forces-of-continued-atrocities-on-civilians/ |url-status=live }} in violation of the November 2022 peace agreement.{{cite news |date=2022-11-02 |title=Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front |newspaper=Addis Standard |url=https://addisstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AU-led-Ethiopia-Peace-Agreement.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104222058/https://addisstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AU-led-Ethiopia-Peace-Agreement.pdf |archive-date=2022-11-04}}

File:Farmer's field hit by Ethiopian airstrike, October 2021.jpg, October 2021{{Cite news |last=Mulugeta Atsbeha |last2=Abraham Tesfalul |date=22 October 2021 |title=መቐለ ንራብዓይ መዓልቲ ደብዳብ ነፈርቲ ተኻዪዱ፣ 11 ሰራሕተኛታት ዩኒቨርስቲ መቐለ ቆሲሎም |language=ti |trans-title=11 employees of Mekelle University injured in airstrikes on Mekelle for the fourth day |work=Voice of America |url=https://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/%E1%88%98%E1%89%90%E1%88%88-%E1%8A%95%E1%88%AB%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%93%E1%8B%AD-%E1%88%98%E1%8B%93%E1%88%8D%E1%89%B2-%E1%8B%B0%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%B3%E1%89%A5-%E1%8A%90%E1%8D%88%E1%88%AD%E1%89%B2-%E1%89%B0%E1%8A%BB%E1%8B%AA%E1%8B%B1-%E1%8B%9B%E1%8C%8A%E1%89%B5-%E1%8B%9D%E1%8B%88%E1%88%A8%E1%8B%B0-%E1%88%B0%E1%89%A5%E1%8A%A3%E1%8B%8A-%E1%8C%89%E1%8B%B5%E1%8A%A3%E1%89%B5-%E1%8A%A3%E1%8B%AD%E1%89%B0%E1%8D%88%E1%88%8D%E1%8C%A0%E1%8A%95/6281547.html |archive-date=6 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106222244/https://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/%E1%88%98%E1%89%90%E1%88%88-%E1%8A%95%E1%88%AB%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%93%E1%8B%AD-%E1%88%98%E1%8B%93%E1%88%8D%E1%89%B2-%E1%8B%B0%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%B3%E1%89%A5-%E1%8A%90%E1%8D%88%E1%88%AD%E1%89%B2-%E1%89%B0%E1%8A%BB%E1%8B%AA%E1%8B%B1-%E1%8B%9B%E1%8C%8A%E1%89%B5-%E1%8B%9D%E1%8B%88%E1%88%A8%E1%8B%B0-%E1%88%B0%E1%89%A5%E1%8A%A3%E1%8B%8A-%E1%8C%89%E1%8B%B5%E1%8A%A3%E1%89%B5-%E1%8A%A3%E1%8B%AD%E1%89%B0%E1%8D%88%E1%88%8D%E1%8C%A0%E1%8A%95/6281547.html |url-status=live }}]]

Mark Lowcock, who formerly led OCHA, stated in October 2021 that the Ethiopian federal government was deliberately starving Tigray, "running a sophisticated campaign to stop aid getting in" and that there was "not just an attempt to starve six million people but an attempt to cover up what's going on."{{cite news |last1=Schifrin |first1=Nick |date=6 October 2021 |title=Ethiopia's 'sophisticated campaign' to withhold food, fuel and other aid from Tigray |newspaper=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/ethiopias-sophisticated-campaign-to-withhold-food-fuel-and-other-aid-from-tigray |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016045014/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/ethiopias-sophisticated-campaign-to-withhold-food-fuel-and-other-aid-from-tigray |archive-date=16 October 2021}} Ethiopian troops had reportedly withheld food from going to Tigrayan civilians who were suspected of having links to Tigrayan fighters. A student based in Europe, and in contact with her family in Tigray Region, said that in the Irob woreda where her family lives, "If you don't bring your father, your brothers, you don't get the aid, you'll starve."{{Cite web |date=11 February 2021 |title='We'll be left without families': Fear in Ethiopia's Tigray |url=https://apnews.com/article/world-news-eritrea-ethiopia-kenya-e84f072e2f08e542652b8f4dac09a3f8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210212020618/https://apnews.com/article/world-news-eritrea-ethiopia-kenya-e84f072e2f08e542652b8f4dac09a3f8 |archive-date=12 February 2021 |work=Associated Press}} De Waal argued that the looting by the EDF of cars, generators, food stores, cattle, sheep and goats in the Tigray Region was a violation of international criminal law that "prohibits a belligerent from removing, destroying or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population" (Rome Statute, Article 7, 2.(b)).File:Restricted humanitarian access due to the ongoing conflict (31-07-2021).pngIn early April 2021, the World Peace Foundation argued that Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was likely to be relevant to the case of starvation in the Tigray war. The authors concluded that the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments were responsible for starvation, listing evidence in Section 4 of their report. The authors argued that "circumstantial evidence suggest[ed] that [the starvation was] intentional, systematic and widespread."{{cite web |date=5 April 2021 |title=Starving Tigray – How armed conflict and mass atrocities have destroyed an Ethiopian Region's economy and food system and are threatening famine |url=https://sites.tufts.edu/wpf/files/2021/04/Starving-Tigray-report-final.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406104446/https://sites.tufts.edu/wpf/files/2021/04/Starving-Tigray-report-final.pdf |archive-date=6 April 2021 |website=World Peace Foundation}} Additionally, a September 2022 UN commission concluded that the Ethiopian government, along with forces allied with them, engaged in deliberate efforts to deny the Tigray Region "access to basic services […] and humanitarian assistance," leaving 90% of Tigrayan residents in dire conditions. The commission also stated that they had "reasonable grounds to believe" that the Ethiopian government was using deliberate starvation as a war tactic,{{Cite web |date=September 22, 2022 |title=UN Investigators Accuse Ethiopia of Possible War Crimes in Tigray |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/un-investigators-accuse-ethiopia-of-possible-war-crimes-in-tigray-/6758619.html |website=Voice of America |archive-date=10 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010015228/https://www.voanews.com/a/un-investigators-accuse-ethiopia-of-possible-war-crimes-in-tigray-/6758619.html |url-status=live }} and called on both the federal government and the TPLF to let these services resume without hindrance.

In June 2023, the Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic of Yale Law School, in a summary of its 18-month study mostly based on public reports, stated that the Ethiopian federal government and its allies had extensively looted and attacked and blocked supplies of food, water, healthcare, electricity, cash, fuel, and humanitarian relief in Tigray during the war.{{Sfn|Lowenstein Clinic|2023|pp=3–10}} The report stated that they were using starvation as a method of combat, in violation of international humanitarian law, and called for investigations to determine if these actions constituted war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.{{cite Q|Q122538476|url-status=live}}

A March 2022 Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report stated that the TDF "carried out widespread and organized pillaging, looting and destruction" of civilian infrastructure in the Amhara and Afar Regions, including government offices, businesses, schools and healthcare facilities; 2,409 health facilities were destroyed or damaged; a total of 4,310 schools damaged, of which 1,090 were "completely destroyed". The report concluded that the conduct of the TDF was the biggest cause of forced displacement in Amhara and Afar.

Analysis of satellite imagery, done by UK-based researchers at DX Open Network, confirmed that Tigrayan forces burned a farming village to the ground near the town of Agamsa in Kobo district, Amhara Region; according to the researchers, the village in question did not appear to be used for military purposes. A report by The Telegraph characterized these actions as "war crimes".{{Cite news |last=Zecharias Zelalem |date=2021-08-17 |title='They are out for revenge': Evidence of war crimes as rebels roar out of Ethiopia's Tigray region |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/08/17/revenge-evidence-war-crimes-rebels-roar-ethiopias-tigray-region/ |archive-date=11 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511100016/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/08/17/revenge-evidence-war-crimes-rebels-roar-ethiopias-tigray-region/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=August 25, 2021 |title=ራያ ቆቦ አጋምሳ ከተባለው ስፍራ አቅራቢያ የተከሰተው ምንድን ነው? |language=am |trans-title=What happened near Raya Kobo Agamsa? |work=BBC News አማርኛ |url=https://www.bbc.com/amharic/news-58321269 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815092822/https://www.bbc.com/amharic/news-58321269 |archive-date=August 15, 2022}}

There have been several reported attacks on humanitarian workers, including attacks by Ethiopian government soldiers.{{Cite web |last=Kleijer |first=Karline |date=24 March 2021 |title=Ethiopia: MSF staff attacked after witnessing killings by soldiers in Tigray |url=https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/ethiopia-msf-staff-attacked-after-witnessing-killings-soldiers-tigray |website=Doctors Without Borders – USA |archive-date=24 March 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210324222317/https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/ethiopia-msf-staff-attacked-after-witnessing-killings-soldiers-tigray |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Dawit Endeshaw |last2=Keely |first2=Graham |last3=Miriri |first3=Duncan |last4=McCool |first4=Graham |date=25 June 2021 |title=Three MSF employees killed in Ethiopia's Tigray, aid agency says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/three-msf-employees-killed-ethiopias-tigray-aid-agency-says-2021-06-25/ |work=Reuters |archive-date=25 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625215408/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/three-msf-employees-killed-ethiopias-tigray-aid-agency-says-2021-06-25/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=23 June 2021 |title=Witnesses: Airstrike in Ethiopia's Tigray kills more than 50 |url=https://apnews.com/article/ethiopoia-tigray-airstrike-togoga-424851651a0e02c21df71c86d9b70ec2 |website=AP News |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624084846/https://apnews.com/article/ethiopoia-tigray-airstrike-togoga-424851651a0e02c21df71c86d9b70ec2 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=11 December 2020 |title=Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Four aid workers killed |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55274583 |archive-date=21 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221170542/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55274583 |url-status=live }} The Danish Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee reported killings of their staff in early December 2020. Although the Ethiopian federal government claimed to have given "full and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to operate in all parts of the [Tigray] region," many humanitarian agencies reported having been repulsed at army checkpoints and blocked from entry to various regions. There were accusations by US officials that armed forces were specifically singling out humanitarian workers for an attack.{{Cite web |date=1 June 2021 |title=Aid worker killed in Tigray as humanitarians are targeted |url=https://apnews.com/article/africa-a26a60eb13e573192e7e5a75a8abad47 |website=AP News |archive-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627024956/https://apnews.com/article/africa-a26a60eb13e573192e7e5a75a8abad47 |url-status=live }} Violence against healthcare workers and the destruction of health facilities is a violation of international laws regarding medical neutrality, and has been described as such in regards to the Tigray war.{{Cite web |last=Hailay Gesesew |last2=Fasika Amdesellassie |last3=Fisaha Tesfay |date=13 October 2022 |title=Tigray’s healthcare workers haven’t been paid in over a year – and bear the brunt of the war |url=https://theconversation.com/tigrays-healthcare-workers-havent-been-paid-in-over-a-year-and-bear-the-brunt-of-the-war-192344 |website=The Conversation |archive-date=1 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101065128/https://theconversation.com/tigrays-healthcare-workers-havent-been-paid-in-over-a-year-and-bear-the-brunt-of-the-war-192344 |url-status=live }}

On 23 March 2021, a driver from Médecins Sans Frontières was beaten by Ethiopian soldiers after witnessing extrajudicial killings by Ethiopian government soldiers. Following the 23 June bombing of Togoga, there were reports of Ethiopian government soldiers firing on ambulances to prevent them from reaching the injured.{{Cite web |date=23 June 2021 |title=Witnesses: Airstrike in Ethiopia's Tigray kills more than 50 |url=https://apnews.com/article/ethiopoia-tigray-airstrike-togoga-424851651a0e02c21df71c86d9b70ec2 |website=AP News |quote=Another doctor said the Red Cross ambulance he was traveling in on Tuesday while trying to reach the scene was shot at twice by Ethiopian soldiers, who held his team for 45 minutes before ordering them back to Mekele. |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624084846/https://apnews.com/article/ethiopoia-tigray-airstrike-togoga-424851651a0e02c21df71c86d9b70ec2 |url-status=live }} On 25 June 2021, three MSF workers were found murdered near their car in Tigray.{{Cite web |last=Canas |first=Marta |date=25 June 2021 |title=Ethiopia: Three MSF staff killed in attack |url=https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/ethiopia-three-msf-staff-killed-attack |website=Doctors Without Borders – USA |archive-date=25 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625211349/https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/ethiopia-three-msf-staff-killed-attack |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=25 June 2021 |title=Three MSF workers 'brutally murdered' in Ethiopia's Tigray |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/25/three-msf-workers-brutally-murdered-ethiopia-tigray |publisher=Al Jazeera |archive-date=25 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625221947/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/25/three-msf-workers-brutally-murdered-ethiopia-tigray |url-status=live }}

{{Further|Casualties of the Tigray war#Massacres}}

File:Hs Aftermath 2, rotated.webm in Hagere Selam, Tigray. (December 2020)]]

In early February 2021, a writer for Ethiopia Insight, who had spent two months walking between villages in central Tigray, described scenes of towns and cities being completely abandoned, and that "once the center of trade, exchange and hope", they had turned into "the scene of war crimes that [can] never be fully articulated".{{cite news |last1=Mistir Sew |date=8 February 2021 |title='The sadism is very disturbing': Two months on the run in Tigray |newspaper=Ethiopia Insight |url=https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2021/02/08/the-sadism-is-very-disturbing-two-months-on-the-run-in-tigray |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210208194032/https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2021/02/08/the-sadism-is-very-disturbing-two-months-on-the-run-in-tigray/ |archive-date=8 February 2021}}

Extrajudicial executions of civilians by the ENDF and EDF were reported in and around Adigrat, Hagere Selam, Hitsats,{{cite web |date=10 January 2021 |title=Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 51 – 10 January 2021 |url=https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Situation-Report-EEPA-Horn-No.-51-10-January-2021.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111181059/https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Situation-Report-EEPA-Horn-No.-51-10-January-2021.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2021 |website=Europe External Programme with Africa}} Humera,{{cite news |last1=Akinwotu |first1=Emmanuel |date=2 December 2020 |title='I saw people dying on the road': Tigray's traumatised war refugees |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/02/tigray-war-refugees-ethiopia-sudan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201202185821/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/02/tigray-war-refugees-ethiopia-sudan |archive-date=2 December 2020}} Irob,{{cite web |date=31 January 2021 |title=Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 72 – 31 January 2021 |url=https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Situation-Report-EEPA-Horn-No.-72-31-January-2021-1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131201228/https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Situation-Report-EEPA-Horn-No.-72-31-January-2021-1.pdf |archive-date=31 January 2021 |website=Europe External Programme with Africa}} Axum,{{cite web |date=12 January 2021 |title=Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 53 – 12 January 2021 |url=https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Situation-Report-EEPA-Horn-No.-53-12-January-2021.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112135725/https://www.eepa.be//wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Situation-Report-EEPA-Horn-No.-53-12-January-2021.pdf |archive-date=12 January 2021 |website=Europe External Programme with Africa}} Chefa Robit,{{Cite news |title=Looking for clues in video of forgotten massacre |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/63515162 |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213035711/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/63515162 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2022-02-15 |title=Analysis: Massacre in plain sight; behind silent killings in Oromo special zone, Amhara region |url=https://addisstandard.com/analysis-massacre-in-plain-sight-behind-silent-killings-in-oromo-special-zone-amhara-region/ |website=Addis Standard |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213032307/https://addisstandard.com/analysis-massacre-in-plain-sight-behind-silent-killings-in-oromo-special-zone-amhara-region/ |url-status=live }} and Amuru,{{Cite web |date=6 September 2022 |title=News: Rights Commission says militants from local, neighboring Amhara region responsible for recent massacre of more than 60 in Oromia |url=https://addisstandard.com/news-rights-commission-says-militants-from-local-neighboring-amhara-region-responsible-for-recent-massacre-of-more-than-60-in-oromia/ |website=Addis Standard |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022231148/https://addisstandard.com/news-rights-commission-says-militants-from-local-neighboring-amhara-region-responsible-for-recent-massacre-of-more-than-60-in-oromia/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2022-08-31 |title=Ethiopia: Civilians in Western Oromia Left Unprotected |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/31/ethiopia-civilians-western-oromia-left-unprotected |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207161504/https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/31/ethiopia-civilians-western-oromia-left-unprotected |url-status=live }} among others.

{{main|Axum massacre}}

Witnesses and survivors, including refugees in Sudan, reported that the Eritrean Defence Forces carried out a massacre in Axum that killed between 100 and 800 civilians in late November 2020.{{Cite web |date=26 February 2021 |title=Ethiopia: The Massacre in Axum |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr25/3730/2021/en/ |website=Amnesty International |archive-date=28 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028001602/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr25/3730/2021/en/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=5 March 2021 |title=Ethiopia: Eritrean Forces Massacre Tigray Civilians |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/05/ethiopia-eritrean-forces-massacre-tigray-civilians |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210308011441/https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/05/ethiopia-eritrean-forces-massacre-tigray-civilians%23 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |website=Human Rights Watch}} These reports have been corroborated by a number of news agencies and human rights organizations.{{Cite web |date=March 24, 2021 |title=Investigation into Grave Human Rights Violations in Aksum - Preliminary Findings |url=https://ehrc.org/investigation-into-grave-human-rights-violations-in-aksum-city-report-on-preliminary-findings/ |website=Ethiopian Human Rights Commission |archive-date=28 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028001606/https://ehrc.org/investigation-into-grave-human-rights-violations-in-aksum-city-report-on-preliminary-findings/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Malagardis |first1=Maria |date=11 February 2021 |title=Ethiopie : "A Aksoum, j'ai aidé à transporter plus de 300 morts" |language=fr |trans-title=Ethiopia: 'In Axum, I helped transport more than 300 dead bodies' |newspaper=Libération |url=https://www.liberation.fr/international/afrique/ethiopie-a-aksoum-jai-aide-a-transporter-plus-de-300-morts-20210211_AU67DACZ5NFALMJDVKPCSISYHM |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210214031845/https://ermiashaile.com/2021/02/12/ethiopia-in-axum-i-helped-transport-more-than-300-dead/ |archive-date=14 February 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Anna |first1=Cara |date=18 February 2021 |title='Horrible': Witnesses recall massacre in Ethiopian holy city |work=Associated Press |url=https://apnews.com/article/eritrea-ethiopia-massacres-only-on-ap-kenya-fa1b531fea069aed6768409bd1d20bfa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210218133144/https://apnews.com/article/eritrea-ethiopia-massacres-only-on-ap-kenya-fa1b531fea069aed6768409bd1d20bfa |archive-date=18 February 2021}} The Eritrean government denied these allegations, and expressed anger at Amnesty International's report on the massacre, claiming it was "transparently unprofessional" and "politically motivated," accusing Amnesty of fabricating evidence.{{Cite web |date=27 February 2021 |title='Many hundreds' killed by Eritrean soldiers in Ethiopian massacre, Amnesty International says |url=https://news.sky.com/story/many-hundreds-killed-by-eritrean-soldiers-in-ethiopian-massacre-amnesty-international-says-12229332 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812195623/https://news.sky.com/story/many-hundreds-killed-by-eritrean-soldiers-in-ethiopian-massacre-amnesty-international-says-12229332 |archive-date=12 August 2022 |website=Sky News}}

A witness to the first part of the Axum massacre stated that the EDF soldiers had been ordered to kill all Tigrayan males older than four years old. Alem Berhe, who was in Mekelle on 3 November, on the evening of which the Northern Command attacks occurred, escaped to Addis Ababa after two months. Alem stated that the EDF's orders were "to exterminate you [Tigrayans] – all of you" above the age of seven years.{{cite web |last1=Berhe |first1=Alam |date=30 January 2021 |title=The horrors of the Tigray war: Eyewitness accounts |url=https://eritreahub.org/the-horrors-of-the-tigray-war-eyewitness-accounts |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207060147/https://eritreahub.org/the-horrors-of-the-tigray-war-eyewitness-accounts |archive-date=7 February 2021 |website=Eritrea Hub}} Another witness described the limit as either "any male over the age of 14" or "those who 'pee against the wall.'"

File:Screenshot_of_a_massacre_at_the_Debre_Abay_monastery_in_the_Tigray_Region,_Ethiopia_(19_February_2021).jpg

In February 2021, footage surfaced on the internet showing what appeared to be the aftermath of a massacre, roughly geolocated near the Debre Abbay monastery. The videos (dated 5 January 2021) featured multiple people wearing Ethiopian army uniforms and speaking Amharic, with one noted as saying "you should have finished off the survivors."{{Cite web |last=Mas |first=Liselotte |date=10 March 2021 |title=Ethiopia: video of Tigray massacre lifts lid on 'war without photos' |url=https://observers.france24.com/en/africa/20210312-ethiopia-tigray-video-massacre-war-mai-harmaz-investigation |website=France 24 (The Observers) |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811170546/https://observers.france24.com/en/africa/20210312-ethiopia-tigray-video-massacre-war-mai-harmaz-investigation |url-status=live }} The video's authenticity was verified by multiple news outlets as genuine, with total estimates of dead civilians ranging from between 30 and 40. The Daily Telegraph described the full video as "too graphic to publish."{{Cite web |last=Zecharias Zelalem |date=19 February 2021 |title='You should have finished off the survivors': Ethiopian army implicated in brutal war crime video |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/19/should-have-finished-survivors-ethiopian-army-implicated-brutal/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020160853/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/19/should-have-finished-survivors-ethiopian-army-implicated-brutal/ |archive-date=20 October 2022 |website=The Daily Telegraph}}

{{Main|Mahbere Dego massacres}}

In early March 2021 (and again in June that same year), graphic video clips surfaced of a massacre taking place in Mahbere Dego, Tigray. Soldiers in ENDF uniforms were recorded rounding up a group of unarmed men in civilian clothing, "shooting them at point-blank range", and tossing their bodies off of a nearby cliff. Investigations by CNN World and BBC Africa Eye (in collaboration with Bellingcat and Newsy) judged the footage to be authentic.{{Cite news |last1=Feleke |first1=Bethlehem |last2=Mackintosh |first2=Eliza |last3=Mezzofiore |first3=Gianluca |last4=Polglase |first4=Katie |last5=Elbagir |first5=Nima |others=Translated by Mebrahtu Kindeya Hagos |date=2 April 2021 |title=Tigray: Analysis of massacre video raises questions for Ethiopian Army |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/01/africa/tigray-mahibere-dego-massacre-video-cmd-intl/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427195440/https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/01/africa/tigray-mahibere-dego-massacre-video-cmd-intl/index.html |archive-date=27 April 2023}}{{Cite news |last1=Leroy |first1=Aliaume |last2=Fiorella |first2=Giancarlo |last3=Godin |first3=Jake |others=Additional reporting by Adamson, Gunter, Francavilla, Hill, Gonzales, Osman, Samir, and Nathoo |date=1 April 2021 |title=Evidence suggests Ethiopian military carried out massacre in Tigray |work=BBC Africa Eye |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56603022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230808141948/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56603022 |archive-date=8 August 2023}}{{Cite web |last=Fiorella |first=Giancarlo |date=24 June 2021 |title=Tigray Conflict: Videos Provide New Details of Mahbere Dego Massacre |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2021/06/24/tigray-conflict-videos-provide-new-details-of-mahbere-dego-massacre/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323161159/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2021/06/24/tigray-conflict-videos-provide-new-details-of-mahbere-dego-massacre/ |archive-date=23 March 2023 |website=Bellingcat}}

Amharic-language conversations can be heard in the footage, with one voice saying "I wish we could pour gas over them and burn them"; another voice can be heard saying "This is the end of woyane{{Efn|"Woyane" is another term for the TPLF}} […] we don't show mercy."

{{main|Chenna massacre|Kobo massacre}}

In early September 2021, the Tigray Defense Forces were accused of extrajudicially killing 120–200 villagers in Chenna Teklehaymanot and 600 residents of Kobo district in the Amhara Region.{{Cite news |date=2021-09-09 |title=Tigray forces killed 120 civilians in village in Amhara - Ethiopia officials |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/tigray-forces-killed-120-civilians-amhara-village-ethiopia-officials-2021-09-08/ |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105210402/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/tigray-forces-killed-120-civilians-amhara-village-ethiopia-officials-2021-09-08/ |url-status=live }} In both incidents, residents said that Tigrayan forces had killed villagers who had resisted looting. On 9 December 2021, Human Rights Watch published a report in which residents described witnessing Tigrayan forces summarily execute dozens of civilians in the village of Chenna and the town of Kobo between 31 August and 9 September 2021.{{Cite web |last=Corey-Boulet |first=Robbie |date=8 September 2021 |title=Tigray rebels massacre 125 villagers in Ethiopia's Amhara: doctors |url=https://news.yahoo.com/tigray-rebels-massacre-125-villagers-130637354.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909034450/https://news.yahoo.com/tigray-rebels-massacre-125-villagers-130637354.html |archive-date=2021-09-09 |website=Agence France-Presse |via=Yahoo! News}}{{Cite web |date=2021-09-25 |title='Then the killing started': Witnesses accuse Tigray fighters |url=https://apnews.com/article/africa-kenya-nairobi-ethiopia-7a8b7aa08db4e0710105bc36a8321298 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=26 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926011834/https://apnews.com/article/africa-kenya-nairobi-ethiopia-7a8b7aa08db4e0710105bc36a8321298 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Amha |first=Meleshakeh |date=20 September 2021 |title=ቆቦ ውስጥ ስድስት መቶ ሰው እንደተገደለ ነዋሪዎች ተናገሩ |trans-title=Residents said that six hundred people were killed in Kobo |url=https://amharic.voanews.com/a/kobo-civilian-killings-9-20-2021/6236279.html |website=Voice of America |language=am |archive-date=21 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921205624/https://amharic.voanews.com/a/kobo-civilian-killings-9-20-2021/6236279.html |url-status=live }}

File:Mass graves in Maikadra have been prayed for and their bodies laid to rest in a church cemetery (cropped2).jpg.{{Cite web |last=Johnathan Zebedee |date=December 23, 2020 |title=በማይካድራ በጅምላ ለተገደሉ መታሰቢያ መሰረት ድንጋይ ተቀመጠ |trans-title=A stone was placed at the base of the memorial to those who were killed in the massacre |url=https://amharic.voanews.com/a/5709989.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024192540/https://amharic.voanews.com/a/5709989.html |archive-date=October 24, 2021 |website=Voice of America (Amharic)}}|206x206px]]{{Excerpt|Mai Kadra massacre|paragraphs=1|files=0|links=no}}

{{Further-text|Galikoma massacre|Togoga airstrike|Dedebit Elementary School airstrike|Adi Daero school airstrike|Mekelle kindergarten airstrike}}{{Multiple image

| image1 = Togoga victim in Ayder hospital VOAT 25 june 2021.jpg

| direction = horizontal

| image2 = Destroyed buildings in Mekelle, Tigray (2022).jpg

| caption2 = Buildings in Mekelle destroyed by an airstrike on 26 August 2022.{{Cite news |title=ኣብ ከተማ መቐለ ብዝተፈፀመ ደብዳብ ነፋሪት ኣርባዕተ ሰባት ሞይቶም |url=https://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/%E1%8A%A3%E1%89%A5-%E1%8A%A8%E1%89%B0%E1%88%9B-%E1%88%98%E1%89%90%E1%88%88-%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%9D%E1%89%B0%E1%8D%88%E1%8D%80%E1%88%98-%E1%8B%B0%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%B3%E1%89%A5-%E1%8A%90%E1%8D%8B%E1%88%AA%E1%89%B5-%E1%8A%A3%E1%88%AD%E1%89%A3%E1%8B%95%E1%89%B0-%E1%88%B0%E1%89%A3%E1%89%B5-%E1%88%9E%E1%8B%AD%E1%89%B6%E1%88%9D/6718018.html |author=Mulugeta Atsbeha |date=2022-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327224947/https://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/%E1%8A%A3%E1%89%A5-%E1%8A%A8%E1%89%B0%E1%88%9B-%E1%88%98%E1%89%90%E1%88%88-%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%9D%E1%89%B0%E1%8D%88%E1%8D%80%E1%88%98-%E1%8B%B0%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%B3%E1%89%A5-%E1%8A%90%E1%8D%8B%E1%88%AA%E1%89%B5-%E1%8A%A3%E1%88%AD%E1%89%A3%E1%8B%95%E1%89%B0-%E1%88%B0%E1%89%A3%E1%89%B5-%E1%88%9E%E1%8B%AD%E1%89%B6%E1%88%9D/6718018.html |archive-date=27 March 2023 |work=Voice of America |agency=Reuters |language=ti |trans-title=Four people have been killed in a plane strike in the city of Mekelle}}

| caption1 = A victim of the Togoga airstrike, 25 June 2021.

| total_width = 300

}}

Human Rights Watch stated that, during the early days of the war, Ethiopian forces launched artillery attacks which struck hospitals, schools, and markets in Mekelle, Humera and Shire, killing at least 83 civilians, including children, and wounding over 300. In each of these attacks, the Tigrayan special forces had already retreated. In places that had armed forces present such as Humera, the presence of local militias was too insignificant to defend the town.{{Cite web|date=11 February 2021|title=Ethiopia: Unlawful Shelling of Tigray Urban Areas|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/11/ethiopia-unlawful-shelling-tigray-urban-areas |website=Human Rights Watch|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210214021052/https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/11/ethiopia-unlawful-shelling-tigray-urban-areas|archive-date=14 February 2021|url-status=live|language=en}} In Humera, local residents said artillery fire also came from Eritrea on 9 November 2020.

In August 2021, the TDF indiscriminately shelled and killed 107 civilians, including 27 children, and injured 35 civilians during an offensive in Galikoma, Afar Region.{{Cite web |title=Ethiopia calls on civilians to join army to fight Tigray forces |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/10/ethiopia-calls-on-civilians-to-join-army-to-fight-tigray-rebels |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403002235/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/10/ethiopia-calls-on-civilians-to-join-army-to-fight-tigray-rebels |url-status=live }}

In an airstrike on 22 June 2021, the Ethiopian Air Force killed 64 civilians in Togogwa (Southwestern Tigray) and injured 180 others.{{Cite web |date=23 June 2021 |title=Witnesses: Airstrike in Ethiopia's Tigray kills more than 50 |url=https://apnews.com/article/ethiopoia-tigray-airstrike-togoga-424851651a0e02c21df71c86d9b70ec2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624084846/https://apnews.com/article/ethiopoia-tigray-airstrike-togoga-424851651a0e02c21df71c86d9b70ec2 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |website=AP NEWS}}{{Cite web |last=Burke |first=Jason |date=24 June 2021 |title=Scores killed in Ethiopian airstrike on Tigray market |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/24/ethiopian-airstrike-tigray-market |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625090804/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/24/ethiopian-airstrike-tigray-market |archive-date=25 June 2021 |website=The Guardian}}{{Cite web |author=Mulugeta Atsbeha |date=2021-06-24 |title=ኣብ ቶጎጋ ትግራይ ብዝተፈጸመ መጥቓዕቲ ዝቆሰሉ ናብ ዓይደር ሆስፒታል ምእታው ምጅማሮም ተገሊጹ |trans-title=The injured in the attack in Togoga, Tigray, have started being admitted to Ayder Hospital |url=https://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/%E1%8A%A3%E1%89%A5-%E1%89%B6%E1%8C%8E%E1%8C%8B-%E1%89%B5%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%AB%E1%8B%AD-%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%9D%E1%89%B0%E1%8D%88%E1%8C%B8%E1%88%98-%E1%88%98%E1%8C%A5%E1%89%93%E1%8B%95%E1%89%B2-%E1%8B%9D%E1%89%86%E1%88%B0%E1%88%89-%E1%8A%93%E1%89%A5-%E1%8B%93%E1%8B%AD%E1%8B%B0%E1%88%AD-%E1%88%86%E1%88%B5%E1%8D%92%E1%89%B3%E1%88%8D-%E1%88%9D%E1%8A%A5%E1%89%B3%E1%8B%8D-%E1%88%9D%E1%8C%85%E1%88%9B%E1%88%AE%E1%88%9D-%E1%89%B0%E1%8C%88%E1%88%8A%E1%8C%B9/5941682.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624212800/https://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/%E1%8A%A3%E1%89%A5-%E1%89%B6%E1%8C%8E%E1%8C%8B-%E1%89%B5%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%AB%E1%8B%AD-%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%9D%E1%89%B0%E1%8D%88%E1%8C%B8%E1%88%98-%E1%88%98%E1%8C%A5%E1%89%93%E1%8B%95%E1%89%B2-%E1%8B%9D%E1%89%86%E1%88%B0%E1%88%89-%E1%8A%93%E1%89%A5-%E1%8B%93%E1%8B%AD%E1%8B%B0%E1%88%AD-%E1%88%86%E1%88%B5%E1%8D%92%E1%89%B3%E1%88%8D-%E1%88%9D%E1%8A%A5%E1%89%B3%E1%8B%8D-%E1%88%9D%E1%8C%85%E1%88%9B%E1%88%AE%E1%88%9D-%E1%89%B0%E1%8C%88%E1%88%8A%E1%8C%B9/5941682.html |archive-date=24 June 2023 |website=ቪኦኤ |language=ti}} In January 2022, the Ethiopian Ari Force also launched an airstrike into an IDP camp located in Dedebit, killing at least 56.{{Cite web |date=January 8, 2022 |title=Ethiopia: 56 people killed in airstrike at camp for internally displaced |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/08/ethiopia-people-killed-in-airstrike-at-camp-for-internally-displaced |website=Reuters (via The Guardian) |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007233729/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/08/ethiopia-people-killed-in-airstrike-at-camp-for-internally-displaced |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last1=Bearak |first1=Max |last2=Kelly |first2=Meg |last3=Lee |first3=Joyce Sohyun |date=February 7, 2022 |title=How Ethiopia used a Turkish drone in a strike that killed nearly 60 civilians |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/ethiopia-tigray-dedebit-drone-strike/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=18 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218030125/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/ethiopia-tigray-dedebit-drone-strike/ |url-status=live }} Both Human Rights Watch and UN investigators have characterized this as a war crime.{{Cite web |date=March 24, 2022 |title=Human Rights Watch calls on Ethiopia to probe possible "war crime" |url=https://www.africanews.com/2022/03/24/human-rights-watch-calls-on-ethiopia-to-probe-possible-war-crime/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605210646/https://www.africanews.com/2022/03/24/human-rights-watch-calls-on-ethiopia-to-probe-possible-war-crime/ |archive-date=5 June 2023 |website=Africanews & Agence France-Presse}}{{Cite web |date=March 24, 2022 |title=Ethiopia: Airstrike on Camp for Displaced Likely War Crime |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/24/ethiopia-airstrike-camp-displaced-likely-war-crime |website=Human Rights Watch |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007233727/https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/24/ethiopia-airstrike-camp-displaced-likely-war-crime |url-status=live }}

According to Abiy Ahmed, ENDF prisoners of war were executed by the TPLF during the Northern Command attacks. Abiy stated that the "TPLF identified and separated hundreds of unarmed Ethiopian soldiers of non-Tigrayan origin, tied their hands and feet together, massacred them in cold blood, and left their bodies lying in open air." He suggested that the TPLF forces had "record[ed] themselves singing and dancing on the bodies of their victims."{{cite web |last1=Abiy Ahmed |author1-link=Abiy Ahmed |date=24 December 2020 |title=Operations to Restore Law and Order in Ethiopia's Tigray Region: How Did We Get Here? |url=https://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/operations-to-restore-law-and-order-in-ethiopias-tigray-region-how-did-we-get-here |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210120205107/https://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/operations-to-restore-law-and-order-in-ethiopias-tigray-region-how-did-we-get-here/ |archive-date=20 January 2021 |newspaper=Ethiopian News Agency}} The Tigray Regional Government denied this.{{Cite news |date=2020-12-17 |title=Inside a military base in Ethiopia's Tigray: soldiers decry betrayal by former comrades |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-conflict-attack-idUSKBN28R1IE |archive-date=17 December 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201217225827/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-conflict-attack-idUSKBN28R1IE |url-status=live }}

{{Further|Internment camps in Ethiopia}}

According to an investigation by Reuters, thousands of Tigrayan civilians were forcibly detained and held without trial throughout Ethiopia. Tens of thousands of Tigrayans (alongside some Oromo) were arrested between November 2020 and February 2022, with roughly 9,000 still being imprisoned by June 2022, many of them in makeshift facilities. Of these 9,000 detainees, around 2,900 were moved to a single, 18-cell prison surrounded by barbed wire in Mizan Teferi, South West Region.{{Cite news |last=Dawit Endeshaw |last2=Houreld |first2=Katharine |date=17 June 2022 |title=In Ethiopia’s civil war, thousands of jailed Tigrayans endured squalor |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ethiopia-conflict-prisoners/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718154555/https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ethiopia-conflict-prisoners/ |archive-date=18 July 2023}}

The prison in Mizan Teferi suffered from severe overcrowding and poor sanitation; some of these prisoners said that hundreds of people were crammed into their cells, and many were exposed to lice, meningitis and malaria. At least 17 prisoners had died due to these conditions, and similar accounts were reported to have occurred elsewhere in the country.

In December 2022, a report by The Washington Post described a massacre of detained Tigrayan soldiers (which left 83 dead and around 20 missing) occurred in November 2021 at a prison camp in Mirab Abaya, SSNPR.{{Efn|The Washington Post stated that their description of the massacre was "based on 26 interviews with prisoners, medical personnel, officials, local residents and relatives", as well as "a review of satellite imagery, social media posts and medical records."}} According to the Post, the soldiers in question had not engaged in fighting against the government;{{Cite news |last=Houreld |first=Katharine |date=4 December 2022 |title=Ethiopian guards massacred scores of Tigrayan prisoners, witnesses say |work=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/05/ethiopia-tigray-massacre-killing-prisoners/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330072544/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/05/ethiopia-tigray-massacre-killing-prisoners/ |archive-date=30 March 2023}} Article 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that "Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces […] placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely".{{Cite web |title=IHL Treaties - Geneva Convention (IV) on Civilians, 1949 - Article 3 |url=https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013135505/https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-3 |archive-date=13 October 2023 |website=ICRC Database}}

During Tigrayan celebrations for Saint Michael's Day, a group of Ethiopian prison guards began shooting and killing the prisoners. Fearing the violence, other prisoners ran into the woods, where they were pursued by ENDF soldiers. When the Tigrayan prisoners encountered local civilians, they tried asking for their help; instead, the locals began attacking them as well. A lynch mob of between 150 and 200 people formed, using "machetes, sticks and stones" to kill the prisoners. A survivor of these attacks alleged that many of them "begged for mercy" as they were killed, and others jumped into a nearby lake in an attempt to escape.

On 24 May 2021, a report by The Telegraph featured pictures of severe burn victims, and detailed accounts from them and their families, who described incendiary weapons being launched into multiple civilian areas in Central and Eastern Tigray throughout the month of April. Chemical weapons experts, including former Joint CBRN Regiment commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon and Dan Kaszeta of the Royal United Services Institute, considered their injuries to bare a strong resemblance with those caused by white phosphorus munitions. Witnesses attributed responsibility for the attacks to Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, and said that fighting was not happing in these areas when the attacks occurred.{{Cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Will |last2=Kassa |first2=Lucy |date=24 May 2021 |title=Exclusive: Ethiopians suffer horrific burns in suspected white phosphorus attacks |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/23/exclusive-ethiopians-suffer-horrific-burns-suspected-white-phosphorus/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524163315/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/23/exclusive-ethiopians-suffer-horrific-burns-suspected-white-phosphorus/ |archive-date=24 May 2023 |website=The Daily Telegraph}}

Ethiopia rejected the claims of the Telegraph report, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that the country "has not employed and will never use such banned munitions," further stating that it takes the Chemical Weapons Convention "extremely seriously."{{Cite web |date=24 May 2021 |title=News: Ethiopia "categorically rejects" media report on "suspected white phosphorus attacks" in Tigray |url=https://addisstandard.com/news-ethiopia-categorically-rejects-media-report-on-suspected-white-phosphorus-attacks-in-tigray/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609014057/https://addisstandard.com/news-ethiopia-categorically-rejects-media-report-on-suspected-white-phosphorus-attacks-in-tigray/ |archive-date=9 June 2023 |website=Addis Standard}}

An anonymous former member of the Transitional Government of Tigray claimed that Ethiopia and Eritrea used the destruction of the Tigrayan economy as "a tactic to defeat the enemy", arguing they succeeded in taking the region "back 40 years"; Noé Hochet-Bodin of {{lang|fr|Le Monde}} described this as an act of "collective punishment".{{Cite news |last=Hochet-Bodin |first=Noé |date=13 July 2022 |orig-date=2 June 2022 |title=How the war in Ethiopia brought Tigray region to its knees |language=en |work=Le Monde |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2022/06/02/how-the-war-in-ethiopia-brought-tigray-region-to-its-knees_5985502_124.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230913003214/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2022/06/02/how-the-war-in-ethiopia-brought-tigray-region-to-its-knees_5985502_124.html |archive-date=13 September 2023}} On 27 May 2021, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert F. Godec made the argument that the EDF and ENDF had enacted "[what] amounts to the collective punishment of the people of Tigray" through a "campaign of unremitting violence and destruction".{{Cite news |date=27 May 2021 |title=US official condemns violence in Tigray, warns of new sanctions |work=Al Jazeera English |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/27/us-official-condemns-violence-in-tigray-warns-of-new-sanctions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609014545/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/27/us-official-condemns-violence-in-tigray-warns-of-new-sanctions |archive-date=9 June 2023}}

Beginning in mid-2022, and escalating after mobilization in September that same year, Eritrea engaged in a mass conscription campaign. Human Rights Watch reported that families of those who wished to avoid the draft became targets of collective punishment, with government authorities subjecting them to arbitrary detention and forced evictions from their homes.{{Cite web |date=9 February 2023 |title=Eritrea: Crackdown on Draft Evaders’ Families |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/09/eritrea-crackdown-draft-evaders-families |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920174229/https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/09/eritrea-crackdown-draft-evaders-families |archive-date=20 September 2023 |website=Human Rights Watch}}

{{Main|Refoulement of Eritrean refugees during the Tigray war}}

De Waal argued that the refoulement of Eritrean refugees back to Eritrea was a violation of international law.{{cite news |last1=Marks |first1=Simon |last2=Walsh |first2=Declan |date=28 December 2020 |title=Refugees Come Under Fire as Old Foes Fight in Concert in Ethiopia |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/world/africa/Ethiopia-Eritrea-Tigray.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201228094720/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/world/africa/Ethiopia-Eritrea-Tigray.html |archive-date=28 December 2020}}{{cite web |date=27 January 2021 |title=Eritrean Refugees from Two Camps Deported at Gunpoint by Eritrean Soldiers to the Country They Fled From; Unarmed civilians and Refugees Shot Dead |url=https://hrc-eritrea.org/eritrean-refugees-from-two-camps-deported-at-gunpoint-by-eritrean-soldiers-to-the-country-they-fled-from-unarmed-civilians-and-refugees-shot-dead/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210205160831/https://hrc-eritrea.org/eritrean-refugees-from-two-camps-deported-at-gunpoint-by-eritrean-soldiers-to-the-country-they-fled-from-unarmed-civilians-and-refugees-shot-dead/ |archive-date=5 February 2021 |website=Human Rights Concern Eritrea}}

In August 2021, in Chenna, Amhara Region, the TDF entered residential areas without allowing civilians to leave, then started shooting at ENDF positions, effectively utilizing the local population as human shields.

{{Redirect|Tigray genocide|a broader overview of the topic of genocide in Ethiopia|predictions of a genocide in Ethiopia}}

File:Stop -TigrayGenocide- Columbus, OH (12.09.21) IMG 9416 (51735603382).jpg, USA, holding a banner saying "Call to Action: Stop #TigrayGenocide" (Dec. 2021)]]

The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments have been repeatedly accused of committing a genocide against Tigrayans.{{Cite web |date=16 June 2021 |title=US congressman Michael McCaul raises spectre of 'genocide' in Tigray |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/the-americas/us-congressman-michael-mccaul-raises-spectre-of-genocide-in-tigray-1.1242853 |website=The National |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205050/https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/the-americas/us-congressman-michael-mccaul-raises-spectre-of-genocide-in-tigray-1.1242853 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=8 May 2021 |title=Ethiopian patriarch pleads for international help to stop rape and genocide by government troops |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/08/ethiopian-patriarch-pleads-for-international-help-to-stop-and-genocide-by-government-troops |website=The Guardian |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624041400/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/08/ethiopian-patriarch-pleads-for-international-help-to-stop-and-genocide-by-government-troops |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=28 May 2021 |title=Ethiopia Tigray crisis: Warnings of genocide and famine |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57226551 |archive-date=22 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622132152/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57226551 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Helen |last2=Lapsley |first2=Michael |last3=Alton |first3=David |date=26 November 2021 |title=The warning signs are there for genocide in Ethiopia – the world must act to prevent it |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/26/ethiopia-genocide-warning-signs-abiy-ahmed |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221029115635/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/26/ethiopia-genocide-warning-signs-abiy-ahmed |archive-date=29 October 2022 |website=The Guardian}}

In December 2020, Alex de Waal argued that Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki had "the intention of annihilating the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and reducing Tigray to a condition of complete incapacity." De Waal argued for intent on the part of Isaias by referring to "eleven high-ranking colleagues [of Isaias], heroes of the [Eritrean War of Independence] […] and ten journalists" who were arrested in 2001 and remained missing.

Also in December 2020, Rashid Abdi, interviewed by Vice, stated that there had been two years' of planning by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Isaias, who had "fears and suspicions about the TPLF", and stated that Abiy had "criminalised the entire TPLF, tagged them with treason." Vice also interviewed a refugee, Amanael Kahsay, who attributed part of the Mai Kadra massacre to the Fano militia, and stated "We know he is planning to exterminate us, all Tigrayans in general." According to investigations by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Amnesty International, the EHRC, and the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), most of the victims of the Mai Kadra massacre were Amhara.{{Cite web |date=2020-11-12 |title=Ethiopia: Investigation reveals evidence that scores of civilians were killed in massacre in Tigray state |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/11/ethiopia-investigation-reveals-evidence-that-scores-of-civilians-were-killed-in-massacre-in-tigray-state/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201121190255/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/11/ethiopia-investigation-reveals-evidence-that-scores-of-civilians-were-killed-in-massacre-in-tigray-state/ |archive-date=21 November 2020 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}}{{cite web |date=25 March 2021 |title=Ethiopia: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to conduct a joint investigation with a view to a credible accountability process |url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26949 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210704223146/https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26949 |archive-date=4 July 2021 |website=OHCRC}}{{Cite web |date=2020-12-25 |title=EHRCO Preliminary Investigation Report on Major Human Rights Violations in and around Maikadra |url=https://ehrco.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EHRCO-Preliminary-Investigation-Report-on-Major-Human-Rights-Violations-in-and-around-Maikadra-1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225223923/https://ehrco.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EHRCO-Preliminary-Investigation-Report-on-Major-Human-Rights-Violations-in-and-around-Maikadra-1.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2020 |website=Ethiopian Human Rights Council}}

File:Detail of a mound covering the corpse of a Tigrayan civilian killed by Ethiopian or Eritrean troops between 15 and 18 December 2020 – remnants of a leg, half eaten by hyenas and stray dogs, emerges. Southern side of Werkamba, Tigray.jpg. A leg sticks out from the mound, half-eaten by scavengers.]]

On 28 January 2021, Robert I. Rotberg, a professor in governance and foreign affairs, classified the war crimes of the Tigray war using the informal term "purposeful ethnic cleansing", which he saw as "a precursor to all-out genocide." He called for the responsibility to protect procedures to be implemented. Rotberg attributed intent to Abiy, claiming that he "had seemingly decided that [the] very existence [of Tigrayans] threatened his control of 110 million Ethiopians."{{cite news |last1=Rotberg |first1=Robert I. |author1-link=Robert I. Rotberg |date=28 January 2021 |title=A pogrom is happening in Ethiopia |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-a-pogrom-is-happening-in-ethiopia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210216171940/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-a-pogrom-is-happening-in-ethiopia/ |archive-date=16 February 2021 |website=The Globe and Mail}} On 19 October 2022, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Tigrayan himself, said that there was a "very narrow window now to prevent genocide," in response to the major wave of violence that occurred after the collapse of the March–August ceasefire that same year.{{Cite web |date=19 October 2022 |title=WHO chief warns time running out to 'prevent genocide' in Tigray |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/19/who-chief-tedros-preventing-genocide-tigray-ethiopia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030064544/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/19/who-chief-tedros-preventing-genocide-tigray-ethiopia |archive-date=30 October 2022 |website=Al Jazeera}}

In a 120-page report published on 3 June 2024, the U.S.-based New Lines Institute stated that they had "a reasonable basis to believe" that the ENDF, EDF and ASF committed acts of genocide against Tigrayans during the war. The report argued that Ethiopia violated its obligations as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, and was critical of what it considered to be an unwillingness from world leaders to hold them accountable for their actions. They further stated Ethiopia should be made to stand trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).{{Cite web |date=4 June 2024 |title=Ethiopian forces and backers 'committed genocide in Tigray' |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2024/06/04/ethiopian-forces-and-backers-committed-genocide-tigray |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604183248/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2024/06/04/ethiopian-forces-and-backers-committed-genocide-tigray |archive-date=4 June 2024 |website=The New Humanitarian}}{{Cite news |last=York |first=Geoffrey |date=3 June 2024 |title=Ethiopia committed genocidal acts against Tigrayans during two-year war, study says |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-ethiopia-committed-genocidal-acts-against-tigrayans-during-two-year/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604042145/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-ethiopia-committed-genocidal-acts-against-tigrayans-during-two-year/ |archive-date=4 June 2024 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}

On 15 June 2021, the EU's special envoy to Ethiopia, Pekka Haavisto, said that senior members of the Ethiopian government called for "wip[ing] out all Tigrayans for 100 years."{{Cite web |title=Ethiopian leaders said they would 'wipe out' Tigrayans: EU envoy |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/18/ethiopian-leaders-said-they-would-wipe-out-tigrayans-eu-envoy |publisher=Al Jazeera |archive-date=30 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630163219/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/18/ethiopian-leaders-said-they-would-wipe-out-tigrayans-eu-envoy |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=18 June 2021 |title=EU envoy: Ethiopian leadership vowed to 'wipe out' Tigrayans |url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-ethiopia-africa-ffd3dc3faf15d0501fd87cafe274e65a |website=AP News |archive-date=16 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416005424/https://apnews.com/article/europe-ethiopia-africa-ffd3dc3faf15d0501fd87cafe274e65a |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=18 June 2021 |title=Ethiopia vowed to wipe out Tigrayan people "for 100 years," EU official says |url=https://www.newsweek.com/ethiopia-vowed-wipe-out-tigrayan-people-100-years-eu-official-says-1601950 |website=Newsweek |archive-date=23 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623150930/https://www.newsweek.com/ethiopia-vowed-wipe-out-tigrayan-people-100-years-eu-official-says-1601950 |url-status=live }} The Ethiopian Government denied these allegations.{{Cite news |date=13 March 2021 |title=Ethiopia rejects U.S. allegations of ethnic cleansing in Tigray |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-ethiopia-conflict-idUSKBN2B50ES |archive-date=31 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031063729/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-ethiopia-conflict-idUSKBN2B50ES |url-status=live }} In mid-September 2021, Daniel Kibret – an advisor to Prime Minister Abiy – made a speech in which he compared Tigrayan forces to Satan, and described them as "weeds" that "should be erased and disappeared from historical records."{{Cite web |date=September 20, 2021 |title=US Blasts 'Dangerous' Rhetoric By Ally Of Ethiopia PM |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/us-blasts-dangerous-rhetoric-by-ally-of-ethiopia-pm-01632159008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026212457/https://www.barrons.com/news/us-blasts-dangerous-rhetoric-by-ally-of-ethiopia-pm-01632159008 |archive-date=October 26, 2022 |website=Barron's |agency=Agence France Presse}} In October 2022, numerous agencies, human rights organizations and scholars began issuing warnings of dramatically escalating levels of violence and hate speech against Tigrayans, with some warning of the emergence of a possible genocide.{{Cite web |last=York |first=Geoffrey |date=October 21, 2022 |title=Surge of dehumanizing hate speech points to mounting risk of mass atrocities in northern Ethiopia, experts say |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-surge-of-dehumanizing-hate-speech-points-to-mounting-risk-of-mass/ |url-access=registration |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022002129/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-surge-of-dehumanizing-hate-speech-points-to-mounting-risk-of-mass/ |archive-date=October 22, 2022 |website=The Globe and Mail |quote=Sarah Teich, a Toronto-based international human-rights lawyer, told a Canadian parliamentary committee on Friday that there is emerging evidence of genocide in Tigray, which would require Canada to take action under its obligations in international treaties to prevent the crime. She was testifying on behalf of a Canadian Tigrayan organization.}}{{Cite web |date=20 October 2022 |title=A Call to Action: Averting Atrocities in Ethiopia's Tigray War |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/call-action-averting-atrocities-ethiopias-tigray-war |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221029115452/https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/call-action-averting-atrocities-ethiopias-tigray-war |archive-date=29 October 2022 |website=International Crisis Group}} UN adviser for genocide prevention Alice Wairimu Nderitu expressed her unease at the "horrifying levels of hate speech and incitement to violence" in the country. She gave examples of social media posts describing Tigrayans as a "cancer" or "virus," with one post expressing a desire for killing "every single youth from Tigray."{{Cite web |last=Muhumuza |first=Rodney |date=October 19, 2022 |title=UN genocide official: Hate speech is fueling Ethiopia's war |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/genocide-official-hate-speech-fueling-ethiopias-war-91752145 |website=ABC News |agency=Associated Press |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105065316/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/genocide-official-hate-speech-fueling-ethiopias-war-91752145 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=19 October 2022 |title=Statement by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, condemning the recent escalation of fighting in Ethiopia |url=https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/SA-Statement-on-Ethiopia.pdf |website=United Nations (press release) |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024170937/https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/SA-Statement-on-Ethiopia.pdf |url-status=live }}

In November 2020, Genocide Watch upgraded its alert status for Ethiopia as a whole to the ninth stage of genocide, extermination, referring to the Gawa Qanqa massacre, casualties of the Tigray war, Benishangul-Gumuz conflict and the Metekel massacre and listing affected groups as the Amhara, Tigrayans, Oromo, Gedeo, Gumuz, Agaw and Qemant.{{cite web |year=2020 |title=Update: Genocide emergency alert on Ethiopia – November 2020 |url=https://www.genocidewatch.com/ethiopia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210212170531/https://www.genocidewatch.com/ethiopia |archive-date=12 February 2021 |website=Genocide Watch}} On 20 November 2021, Genocide Watch again issued a Genocide Emergency Alert for Ethiopia, stating that "both sides are committing genocide", and that "Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's hate speech and calls for war" together with attacks by the ENDF and TPLF put Ethiopia into stages 4 (dehumanization), 6 (polarization), 8 (persecution), and 9 (extermination) of the ten stages of genocide.{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Eric |last2=Hill |first2=Nat |date=2021-11-20 |title=Genocide Emergency: Ethiopia |url=https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/genocide-emergency-ethiopia-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123151639/https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/genocide-emergency-ethiopia-1 |archive-date=2021-11-23 |website=Genocide Watch}}

Former Tigray rebel, peace researcher, and founder of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Mulugeta Gebrehiwot, stated on 27 January 2021 that the killings of Tigrayans by the ENDF and EDF were "literally genocide by decree. Wherever they're moving, whomever they find, they kill him or her, [whether it's] an old man, a child, a nursing women, or anything."{{cite web |last1=de Waal |first1=Alex |author1-link=Alex de Waal |last2=Gebrehiwot Berhe |first2=Mulugeta |author2-link=Mulugeta Gebrehiwot |date=27 January 2021 |title=Transcript – Call between Mulugeta Gebrehiwot and Alex de Waal 27 January 2021 |url=https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/files/2021/01/Mulugeta-Call-27-Jan-Full-transcript1-1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129211458/https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/files/2021/01/Mulugeta-Call-27-Jan-Full-transcript1-1.pdf |archive-date=29 January 2021 |website=World Peace Foundation}}

Kjetil Tronvoll, a peace and conflict studies researcher and professor at the Oslo New University College, stated in a Twitter thread on 27 February 2021 that the term genocide might apply to the actions of the EDF in the Tigray war. He stated that the federal Ethiopian authorities could hold part of the responsibility by having "invited and accommodated" the EDF to participate in the Tigray war.{{Cite web |last=Tronvoll |first=Kjetil |date=February 27, 2021 |title=Thread 1) Are we witnessing a #genocidal campaign by #Eritrea'n forces in the #war in #Tigray #Ethiopia? The atrocities committed and the apparent intent may seem to point in that direction. In this thread I will outline the argument supporting such possible claim. #genocide |url=https://twitter.com/KjetilTronvoll/status/1365731886614671363 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015175517/https://twitter.com/KjetilTronvoll/status/1365731886614671363 |archive-date=October 15, 2022 |website=Twitter}}

Conversely, EHRC Director Daniel Bekele said the EHRC-OHCHR Joint Investigation did not identify violations amounting to genocide.{{Cite web |date=2021-11-03 |title=UN report says Ethiopia's war marked by 'extreme brutality' |url=https://apnews.com/article/africa-united-nations-ethiopia-320c6cfa7434efe62a92faa03560a59f |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403060932/https://apnews.com/article/africa-united-nations-ethiopia-320c6cfa7434efe62a92faa03560a59f |url-status=live }}

The elected and deposed leader of Tigray Region, Debretsion Gebremichael, stated on 30 January 2021 that the war was a "genocidal war [that was being] waged upon the People of Tigray to illegally appropriate by force [their] identity and [their] basic right to existence." Debretsion stated that the Tigrayans were being attacked "to exterminate them with bullets and weaponized hunger."{{Cite news |date=31 January 2021 |title=Tigray crisis: 'Genocidal war' waged in Ethiopia region, says ex-leader |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55877939 |archive-date=10 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210114635/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55877939 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=31 January 2021 |title=Removed leader of Ethiopia's Tigray promises 'resistance': Audio |newspaper=Al Jazeera English |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/31/ex-leader-of-ethiopias-tigray-region-vows-extended-resistance |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210131222419/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/31/ex-leader-of-ethiopias-tigray-region-vows-extended-resistance |archive-date=31 January 2021}}

Kassahun Molla Yilma, former head of Jimma University School of Law and prosecutor, argued in February 2021 that for the Mai Kadra massacre of the Tigray war and other atrocities taking place in Ethiopia, it would be in Ethiopia's interests to become party to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Among other reasons, Kassahun said that joining the ICC would "help catalyze reform regarding the legal framework regulating atrocity crimes in Ethiopia", since the provisions in the Ethiopian Criminal Code at the time "[did] not fit the nature of atrocity crimes committed [in] Ethiopia", and that the ICC would the Ethiopian justice system build capacity for investigations and prosecutions for the crimes. Kassahun said that as the ICC is a court of last resort, and since Ethiopia was not, as of February 2021, a party to the ICC, war crimes committed during the Tigray war would not be tried in the ICC.{{cite news | last1= Molla Yilma | first1= Kassahun | title= Accountability for atrocities—why Ethiopia should join the ICC | date= 2 February 2021 |newspaper= Ethiopia Insight | url= https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2021/02/02/accountability-for-atrocities-why-ethiopia-should-join-the-icc |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210208203641/https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2021/02/02/accountability-for-atrocities-why-ethiopia-should-join-the-icc/ |archive-date= 8 February 2021 |url-status=live }}

Debretsion called for Isaias and Abiy to be tried in an international court.

{{see also|Mai Kadra massacre#Ethiopian Federal Police}}

Enkuayehu Mesele, head of TPLF militias in Western Zone, was arrested in Shire in mid-December 2020. Amanuel Belete, a commander in the Northern Command, accused Enkuayehu of "countless murders and intimidation" in Baeker, Qafta and Humera, of ethnic profiling of the ENDF.{{cite news | title= TPLF Western Front Militia Leader Captured in Refugee Camp | date= 18 December 2020 |agency= Ethiopian News Agency | url= https://www.ena.et/en/?p=19794 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210315230938/https://www.ena.et/en/?p=19794 |archive-date= 15 March 2021 |url-status=live }}

{{main|ACHPR Tigray investigation}}

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights stated that it would start a Commission of Inquiry on Tigray on 17 June 2021 under Article 45 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. The commission was planned to initially start for three months, with headquarters in Banjul, and to "conduct investigations on the ground and in neighbouring countries when the conditions are met."{{cite web | title= Press Statement on the official launch of the Commission of Inquiry on the Tigray Region in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | website= African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights |date = 16 June 2021 | url = https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20210616/press-statement-official-launch-commission-inquiry-tigray-region-federal | access-date = 3 July 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210618074319/https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20210616/press-statement-official-launch-commission-inquiry-tigray-region-federal |archive-date= 18 June 2021 |url-status=live }} The chair of the Commission of Inquiry, Rémy Ngoy Lumbu,{{cite web | title= 482 Resolution on the Fact-Finding Mission to the Tigray Region of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia - ACHPR/Res. 482 (EXT.OS/XXXII) 2021 | website= African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights |date = 2021-05-12 | url = https://www.achpr.org/sessions/resolutions?id=513 | access-date = 2021-10-24 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211023233149/https://www.achpr.org/sessions/resolutions?id=513 |archive-date= 2021-10-23 |url-status=live }} stated that the commission's report would be published by the end of 2021.{{cite news | title= Probe in Ethiopia's Tigray did not reach site of Axum attack: UN | date= 2021-09-13 |newspaper=Al Jazeera English | url= https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/13/un-probe-in-ethiopias-tigray-didnt-reach-axum-massacre |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211023224808/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/13/un-probe-in-ethiopias-tigray-didnt-reach-axum-massacre |archive-date= 2021-10-23 |url-status=live }}

{{main|EHRC–OHCHR Tigray investigation}}

In mid-2021, the EHRC and the OHCHR launched a joint investigation into human rights violations of the Tigray war committed by all parties.{{cite news | last1= Nichols | first1= Michelle | title= U.N. rights chief agrees to Ethiopia request for joint Tigray inquiry | date= 18 March 2021 |newspaper= Thomson Reuters | url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-conflict-un-idUSKBN2B934E |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210704220725/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-conflict-un-idUSKBN2B934E |archive-date= 4 July 2021 |url-status=live }}{{cite news | last1= Sahlu | first1= Sisay | title= Joint team to start investigation in Tigray | date= 15 May 2021 |newspaper= The Ethiopian Reporter | url= https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/article/joint-team-start-investigation-tigray |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210704223955/https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/article/joint-team-start-investigation-tigray |archive-date= 4 July 2021 |url-status=live }} The EHRC–OHCHR joint investigation team's report was published on 3 November 2021.{{cite web | title= Report of the EHRC/OHCHR Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by all Parties to the Conflict in the Tigray Region of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | website= EHRC, OHCHR |date = 2021-11-03 | url = https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ET/OHCHR-EHRC-Tigray-Report.pdf | access-date = 2021-11-03 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211103092214/https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ET/OHCHR-EHRC-Tigray-Report.pdf |archive-date= 2021-11-03 |url-status=live }}

{{main|International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia}}

The International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) was established by the UN Human Rights Council in December 2021, with a mandate extended {{as of|2022|10|lc=yes}} to December 2023, to investigate violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law in Ethiopia since 3 November 2020.{{Cite web |title=International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/ichre-ethiopa/index |website=OHCHR |language=en |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230914205202/https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/ichre-ethiopa/index|archive-date=2023-09-14|url-status=live}}

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• {{Cite journal |date=June 2023 |title='All of Us Are in Constant Hunger' – Ethiopia's Responsibility for Starvation in Tigray |url=https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/center/schell/document/all_of_us_are_in_constant_hunger.pdf |journal=Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic |publisher=Yale Law School |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624203420/https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/center/schell/document/all_of_us_are_in_constant_hunger.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2023 |ref={{harvid|Lowenstein Clinic|2023}}}}
• {{Cite journal |date=6 April 2022 |title='We will erase you from this land': Crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in Ethiopia's Western Tigray Zone |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr25/5444/2022/en/ |journal=Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International |series=AFR 25/5444/2022 |isbn=9781623139759 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811132943/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr25/5444/2022/en/ |archive-date=11 August 2023 |ref={{harvid|HRW|Amnesty|2022}} }}

{{Refend}}

• {{Cite news |last1=Houreld |first1=Katharine |last2=Kelly |first2=Meg |last3=Le |first3=Stefanie |date=1 March 2023 |title=Hundreds massacred in Ethiopia even as peace deal was being reached |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/28/ethiopia-massacre-tigray-eritrea/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324003633/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/28/ethiopia-massacre-tigray-eritrea/ |archive-date=24 March 2023}}
• {{Cite report |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4002405 |title=Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia |date=5 October 2022 |publisher=United Nations Digital Library |issue=A/HRC/51/46}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Weldemichel |first=Teklehaymanot G. |date=18 November 2021 |title=Inventing hell: how the Ethiopian and Eritrean regimes produced famine in Tigray |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/19427786211061431 |journal= Human Geography|volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=290–294 |doi=10.1177/19427786211061431 |s2cid=244412611 |url-access=limited}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Woldemariam |first1=Michael |last2=Woldgabreal |first2=Yilma |year=2023 |title=Atrocity denial and emotions in the Ethiopian civil war |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178923000629 |journal=Aggression and Violent Behavior |volume=73 |pages=101875 |doi=10.1016/j.avb.2023.101875 |s2cid=261477262 |issn=1359-1789 |url-access=registration}}

• [https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/ichre-ethiopa/index International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia] – United Nations
• {{Wikisource-inline|list=
• Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 3
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 7: Crimes against humanity
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 8: War crimes}}

{{Tigray conflict}}{{Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present) }}

{{World topic| Extrajudicial killings in | title =Extrajudicial killings in… | noredlinks=yes }}

{{War crimes}}