In Ethiopia, the Tigray conflict continues. Our special envoy was able to document a massacre perpetrated by the Eritreans, who in this conflict are fighting alongside the Ethiopian Federal Army.
With our special correspondent in Goda, Sebastien nemeth
Tigray, this region of northern Ethiopia, has been plagued by violence since early November. Fatal clashes take place between, on the one hand, the former power of the TPLF and, on the other, the Ethiopian Federal Army, with the help of Eritrean soldiers. The latter are suspected of several abuses against civilians. In Goda, soldiers led residents of the villages surrounding Goda’s glass bottle factory. They performed them on the company’s website.
Residents burst into tears when they see the graves of their loved ones buried in the factory. 19 people are buried. The families accuse the Eritreans of having executed them in early December. Hagos, 66, has lost his three sons.
The soldiers looted my house, took my children before shooting them here. They forbade me to bury them for two weeks. We buried them there because the bodies were too damaged. They had life ahead of them. I will never forgive. I’m not even looking in the direction of Eritrea anymore.
Families come to meditate on these graves every day. Kahsa is almost blind, but she looks at the place where two of her children, her brother and her nephew are buried. Her voice is suffocated.
They beat them and removed them. My children were everything to me. My heart is broken. We still see Eritreans passing by. Every time it scares us. I do not know if we will be able to live normally again.
Prison pieces twist in the wind. The factory was completely looted and destroyed by the Eritreans. Gebrehiwot is one of the keepers.
The soldiers loaded everything they could on trucks. Today the factory is destroyed. We had over 300 employees. This attack dragged down the economy and crushed our families.
Residents do not expect too much to get justice one day. However, some hope that this crime will be known and that the site will one day turn into a memorial.
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