UN warns Eritrean troops of engagement in Tigray

NEW YORK - The United Nations has yet again blamed Eritrean troops for continued violations of human rights in the Tigray region, adding that the abuses call for accountability and discipline for the sake of transparency.

Ilze Brands-Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General at the UN Human Rights Office, said the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF) remain in Tigray despite the 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which mandated their withdrawal. The agreement was signed in South Africa.

Citing the joint OHCHR–Ethiopia Human Rights Investigations Team in 2023, she said the Eritrean troops were found culpable of serious violations of human rights in northern Ethiopia, within Tigray state.

“This impunity continues to embolden perpetrators of human rights violations,” she added.

For two years since the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed, the Eritrean Defence Forces have refused to withdraw from Tigray. The agreement called for the immediate withdrawal of international forces from Tigray.

“Our Office has credible information that the Eritrean Defence Forces remain in Tigray,” she said, adding that they are responsible for “abductions, rape, property looting, and arbitrary arrests.” She called for their “immediate withdrawal.”

Several international human rights organizations have documented abuses by Eritrean forces in the Tigray region both during and after the war. In its 2024 annual report, Human Rights Watch cited “ongoing abuses by Eritrean forces,” including “rape, sexual violence against women and girls, and looting of civilian property.”

A previous report by Addis Standard also documented accounts of abductions in Zalambessa, where residents said they are “living in fear” and avoiding going outside after dark due to the presence of Eritrean troops, Addis Standard reports.

GAROWE ONLINE