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Over 400 000 people have "crossed the threshold into famine" in Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region, a senior UN official said on Friday, appealing for urgent humanitarian action to help the millions affected by the brutal eight-month long conflict.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
The Congo, in west-central Africa, is bordered by the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, the Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one-quarter the size of the U.S. The principal rivers are the Ubangi and Bomu in the north and the Congo in the west, which flows into the Atlantic. The entire length of Lake Tanganyika lies along the eastern border with Tanzania and Burundi.
Transitional government.
Formerly the Belgian Congo, this territory was inhabited by ancient Negrito peoples (Pygmies), who were pushed into the mountains by Bantu and Nilotic invaders. The American correspondent Henry M. Stanley navigated the Congo River in 1877 and opened the interior to exploration. Commissioned by King Leopold II of the Belgians, Stanley made treaties with native chiefs that enabled the king to obtain personal title to the territory at the Berlin Conference of 1885.
Leopold accumulated a vast personal fortune from ivory and rubber through Congolese slave labor; 10 million people are estimated to have died from forced labor, starvation, and outright extermination during Leopolds colonial rule. His brutal exploitation of the Congo eventually became an international cause célèbre, prompting Belgium to take over administration of the Congo, which remained a colony until agitation for independence forced Brussels to grant freedom on June 30, 1960. In elections that month, two prominent nationalists won: Patrice Lumumba of the leftist Mouvement National Congolais became prime minister and Joseph Kasavubu of the ABAKO Party became head of state.
But within weeks of independence, the Katanga Province, led by Moise Tshombe, seceded from the new republic, and another mining province, South Kasai, followed. Belgium sent paratroopers to quell the civil war, and the United Nations flew in a peacekeeping force.
Kasavubu staged an army coup in 1960 and handed Lumumba over to the Katangan forces. A UN investigating commission found that Lumumba had been killed by a Belgian
[Ethiopian Herald] Ethiopia's law enforcement operation in the northern part of Ethiopia was distorted and at best misrepresented in reputable media outlets in the West. Tibebe Samuel, who is the Executive Director of Tibebe and Associates, a US based consulting firm, questions \"Why are Western Media outlets against Ethiopia?\"
U.S. Department of State Background Note
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Zimbabwe
Geography
Area: 390,580 sq. km. (150,760 sq. mi.), slightly larger than Montana.
Cities: Capital--Harare (pronounced Ha-RAR-e), pop. 1.5 million. Other towns--Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Mutare, Gweru, Kwekwe, Masvingo, Marondera.
Terrain: Desert and savanna.
Climate: Mostly subtropical.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Zimbabwean (sing.), Zimbabweans (pl.).
Population (2003 est.): 12.5 million.
Annual growth rate (2003 est.): 0.83%. (Note: the population growth rate is depressed by an HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate estimated to be 18% and a high level of net emigration.)
Ethnic groups: Shona 71%, Ndebele 16%, other African 11%, white 1%, mixed and Asian 1%.
Religions: Christianity 75%, offshoot Christian sects, animist, and Muslim.
Languages: English (official), Shona, Sindebele.
Education: Attendance--mandatory for primary level. Adult literacy--90.5% (2004 est.).
Health: Infant mortality rate--51.7/1,000 (2006 est.). Life expectancy--men 37 (2006), women 34 (2006).
Work force (2006 est.): 900,000 in formal sector.
Government
Type: Parliamentary.
Constitution: December 21, 1979.
Independence: April 18, 1980.
Branches: Executive--President (chief of state and head of government), Cabinet. Legislative--In the 150-seat House of Assembly, 120 seats are popularly elected and 30 are directly appointed by the president or selected through a process strongly influenced by him. In the 66 seat Senate, 50 seats are popularly elected, 6 are directly appointed by the president, 8 chiefs are elected from the 8 rural provinces (excluding the metropolitan provinces), and 2 are the president and vice president of the Council of Chiefs. Judicial--High Court, Court of Appeal, local and customary courts.
Administrative subdivisions: Town Councils and District Councils.
Main political parties: Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF); Movement for Democratic Change (MDC); United Peoples Party (UPP).
Economy
GDP (2006
While delivering the Thabo Mbeki lecture, Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin said the war in Ethiopia's Tigray region was evidence of the shortcomings of the African Union.
[HRW] Nairobi -- The Ethiopian government and Tigray regional authorities should protect people and property at risk from the fighting, Human Rights Watch said today. Amid credible reports of increasing casualties, the authorities on both sides should facilitate access for humanitarian groups, stop interrupting essential services, and immediately restore communication services in the region.
[State Department] Since the January 28, 2021 Presidential Memorandum on Protecting Women's Health at Home and Abroad, the United States has been re-engaging with UNFPA in support of its essential work to address preventable maternal deaths and the unmet need for family planning, and prevent and respond to gender-based violence and harmful practices around the world. Our re-engagement directly benefits communities around the globe, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the efforts that have taken place
[Ethiopian Herald] ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia's 6th round general elections would be a historic milestone as it is highly expected to address long -awaited citizens' quest for democracy , politicians so remarked. All Ethiopian Social Movement Member Abera Yemaneab told local media that he is so hopeful that the upcoming general elections would be credible and offer a glimmer of hope for Ethiopia's democracy Abera added that the elections would for sure bring about socio-political freedom and equality despite various shortcomings
[New Times] The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, have started rolling out a new mechanism in Rwanda to prioritise general food assistance to the most vulnerable refugees.
[RFI] Countries of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) will hold another summit in 10 days to discuss the situation in the Central African Republic. A summit held on Friday reaffirmed the regional bloc's support for the validity of elections held on 27 December.
75 Military police officers from a peacekeeping mission in Sudan received at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport [Courtesy]. After being away from her family for about two years, Senior Private Hildah Makandi is happy to be back home. Makandi was among the 75 troops from Military Police Company who were deployed…
