“Since November 2020, Amhara officials and security forces have been engaged in a relentless campaign of ethnic cleansing to force Tigris in western Tigris to flee their homes,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the Observatory. Amhara government spokesman Gizatsu Mulune told Reuters that allegations of abuse and ethnic cleansing in western Tigray were “lies” and “fabricated” news. Representatives of the Ethiopian government and army, the former commander of the Amhara special forces and the governor of western Tigray did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Amnesty and HRW said Tigrayan’s forces also committed abuses during the 17-month war, but that this was not the focus of the report. The report, based on 427 interviews with survivors, family members and witnesses, is the most comprehensive assessment to date of war in western Tigray. Western Tigray has seen some of the worst violence in the war, which has brought to light the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and its allies in the Amhara region against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The TPLF dominated the Ethiopian government before Abiy came to power in 2018. Both the Amhara and the Tigray claim the area, which is controlled by Amhara forces and the Ethiopian army. In addition to the repeated massacres, the report cited meetings in which Amhara officials discussed plans to remove the Tigris and restrictions imposed on the Tigray language as evidence of ethnic cleansing. Federal authorities failed to investigate allegations of ethnic cleansing, while the national army committed “killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions and torture against the Tigray population,” the report said. Amhara Gizatsu government spokesman said regional forces had always respected the rule of law. Reuters could not independently verify the details of the report. The news agency has previously reported on massacres committed by Amhara and Tigrayan forces in western Tigray. In March 2021, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused the Amharic forces of committing “acts of ethnic cleansing.”
