War and conflicts bring what many commonly call unfortunate consequences to communities living around conflict-ridden areas and beyond. The human cost of war is staggering. But sometimes the human casualties and suffering deliberately caused by warring parties go deep down and unnoticed most of the time.
Surely and usually, women find themselves caught up in devastating crises and conflicts. Best by myriads and pressing socio-economic challenges and targeted by warring parties, women appear to be the number one victims of war bearing unbearable trauma that would last for a long time. Past conflicts showcase women being the target of aggressors as the latter used rape, abduction, and exploitation as a weapon of war in many instances.
Though having a limited role in instigating conflicts, women are the most to suffer in wars. The mayhem and the plight African women have to endure appear to be more severe during war times. African women have agonizing burdens at normal times even. From Boko-Haram to the TPLF criminal enterprise, many violent and extremist groups instigate horrific physical and mental injury against women including underage girls.
In Ethiopia, women have been going through the same horrors due to the immoral and inhumane acts of the terrorist TPLF group. The atrocities committed by the group on women and girls are largely undocumented, but few stories have shed light on the physical and mental abuses TPLF caused against women in Afar and Amhara states.
Just to mention a few, Amnesty International`s (AI) previous report laid bare the horrendous crimes perpetrated against girls and women by the TPLF rogue element.
According to AI survivors described being raped at gunpoint, robbed, and subjected to physical and verbal assaults by TPLF fighters, who also destroyed and looted medical facilities in the town. Fourteen of the 16 women Amnesty International interviewed said they were gang-raped.
The TPLF took control of Nifas Mewcha, in Amhara`s Gaint District, for nine days between 12 and 21 August 2021, as part of an ongoing offensive into parts of the Amhara and Afar regions. Regional government officials told Amnesty that more than 70 women reported to authorities that they were raped in Nifas Mewcha during this period.
The testimonies we heard from survivors describe despicable acts by TPLF fighters that amount to war crimes, and potentially crimes against humanity. They defy morality or any iota of humanity, said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary-General.
TPLF fighters must immediately stop all human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including sexual and gender-based violence. The leadership must make clear that such abuses will not be tolerated and remove suspected perpetrators from their ranks..
Amnesty International used secure video call applications to individually interview 16 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Nifas Mewcha.
The organization also interviewed the head of Nifas Mewcha hospital, as well as local and regional government officials with knowledge of the assault and its aftermath.
According to a local government desk officer for Women, Children, and Youth Affairs, 71 women reported that they were raped by TPLF fighters during the period in question; the Federal Ministry of Justice puts the number at 73.
Survivors told Amnesty International that the attack began as soon as the TPLF took control of the town on 12 August 2021. The women all identified the perpetrators as TPLF fighters based on their accents and the ethnic slurs they used against victims, as well as their overt announcements that they were TPLF.
TPLF fighters also subjected the women to degrading ethnic slurs, such as donkey Amhara, and greedy Amhara. In some cases, the TPLF forces told women they were raping them in revenge for the raped Tigrayan women by Federal forces. Amnesty International previously documented widespread rape and sexual violence by government-allied troops and militias in Tigray.
Amnesty International heard that, after raping the women, TPLF fighters then looted their homes. Survivors, many of whom live hand-to-mouth by working in low-paid and informal jobs, running small businesses, or engaging in sex work, described fighters stealing food, jewelry, cash, and mobile phones.
Amnesty’s testimony is only the tip of the iceberg. TPLF and its henchmen have been causing excruciating pain to girls and women. Millions of women have continued to suffer at the hands of the ragtag group. The actions have gone largely unpunished, even worse unnoticed.
Despite the gruesome tragedies though, the tsunami of misinformation and media propaganda has been adding an insult to the injuries of women victims. The trend has been exonerating the criminals and criminalizing the innocents making the path to accountability rocky.
But again, in spite of the harrowing stories, courageous women are standing up against the abusers fighting disinformation and injustice waged on Ethiopia. Hermela Aregawi, Blen Mamo, Bethlehem Tekeste and foreigners like Ann Garrison have been at the forefront in combating misinformation.
These brave women have been leading campaigns and providing unvarnished truth to the international communities who have largely been either mystified or mute on the criminal activities of the TPLF clique. From staging street campaigns to starting social media campaigns, Ethiopian women at home and abroad have been fighting injustice using whatever means they have.
Nowadays many more girls are joining these women and standing up for common cause despite having different backgrounds.
Most importantly, these women have been lifting the lead on the atrocities TPLF committed against girls and women while battling the hybrid war waged on Ethiopia. Their efforts have brought people together and awakened communities though most of the voices fell on the deaf ears of the international community.
Losing the fighting on the ground, remnants of the TPLF clique has taken the battle to the media frontiers unleashing information war. The war is meant to besmirch the successful law enforcement operation. They are furious that their paymasters have been brought to demise.
The information wars both waged in and outside by internal and external forces are meant to beg sympathy from the international communities and blacken the decisive victory Ethiopians triumphed over the divisive and hate mongering force.
In fact, fighting misinformation and disinformation does not rest on the government only, the Ethiopian people particularly those residing overseas should give the true picture of the law enforcement operation to the international communities. Availing rightful information timely and through all channels should receive due attention to counter fight the proliferation of fake news.
In general, girls and women are rarely mere passive victims of conflict, yet they have been at the heart of peace movements ending conflicts and healing communities. In this regard, other women regardless of their status and profession should join the forerunners to turn the tide on information warfare and champion the truth.
BY BETELHEM BEDLU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 28 APRIL 2022
