Eritrean Renaissance Party(Al Nahda) condemns The appalling crimes in the Tigray Region Unbelievable and shameful

We are shocked and horrified by reports of widespread Human Rights violations in the Tigray region. Hundreds of civilians are reported killed, women raped, young girls disvirgined, inflicting severe social and psycological traumas on them, factories are dismantled or destroyed,hospitals and pharmaceutical plants are looted and farms burned. Unbelievable and shameful acts. Eritrean refugee camps are transgressed. Refugees killed and abducted. The whole region is in complete turmoil. Eyewitnesses, Ethiopian Human Rights Council, UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict in Geneva,Ethiopian (insider reporter) and other journalists have confirmed the atrocities as being committed by militias, armed forces and criminals who escaped from prisons, particularly around Mekelle after they were abandoned by Law Enforcement Service Men and Women.
Whoever the perpetrators are, shall be held responsible for the heinous acts of war crimes and as such punishable according to international laws agreed upon by UN and other Conventions.We ask the African Union, UN Human Rights Commission, Amnesty international, Human Rights Watch, Ethiopian Human Rights Council, US-Authorities and the EU to immediately send professionals, experts of inquiry with full mandate to painstakingly assess the crimes and identify the perpetrators which should be then brought to justice.

The war which we still believe should have been averted is the root cause.Thousands mainly women and children fled the region towards the Sudan. Severe humanitarian crisis is still looming.There are projections of famine and starvations of the scale of the 1984 catastrophy. We therefore ask the international community to grasp its responsibility and swiftly act to avoid a possible humanitarian trajedy.

The Eritrean Presence in Tigray Region

According to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Dr Abiy Ahmed, in a converastion with UN General Secreatary Mr A. Guiterrez the Eritrean military is confined within the territories being ruled in favour of Eritrea and recognised by the international community as Eritrean boundary. Eritrea has every right concurrent with international law, even serving military forces to ensure its sovereignity. But Eritrea does not have any right to penetrate into the Tigray region and illegally transgress the Ethiopian territory. This is an invasion that amounts to aggression and as such constitutes violation of international law. The Ethiopian Commander in charge of Northeren Command General Belay Seyoum and a high official of the current Tigray region Mr Atakilti have confirmed the presence of the Eritrean Army in Tigray. Satalite images and communications eavesdropped possibly by the NSA reaffirm the evidence. According to the General the Eritrean Army entered Tigray without consensual agreemt and is undesired.

We, thus demand the immediate withdrawal of the Eritrean Army from Tigray and remind everyone to refrain from any wrong doing. The Geneva Convention prohibits actions that contravene Rules of Engagement. Anything beyond it is a 'War Crime' which is dealt with before an international tribunal. Accountable are not only higher officers in the Command Chain but also ordinary soldiers as immediate perpetrators of a crime. We also demand as in our prior calls that we made public and distributed to international Institutions a peaceful solution of the war in Tigray.

Copies are sent to

European Union
African Union
US Secretary of State
UNHCR
Ethiopian Human Rights Council
Human Rights Watch

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