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Events in Hawzen in the Tigray War included five mass extrajudicial killings that took place in Hawzen in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War in November and December 2020 and January and February 2021, looting and destruction Hawzen Primary Hospital by the Eritrean Defence Force (EDF),[1][2] and the establishment of a rape camp in the hospital by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF).[3]
| Hawzen in the Tigray War | |
|---|---|
| Part of Tigray War | |
 6 June 2021, house destroyed in a battle in Hawzen | |
  Hawzen  Hawzen Location of Hawzen in Ethiopia | |
| Location | Hawzen, Tigray Region, Ethiopia |
| Target | Tigrayans |
Attack type | |
| Deaths | 8 civilians |
| Perpetrators |  Ethiopian National Defence Force  Eritrean Defence Forces |
Military events
editHawzen, the capital of Hawzen woreda, in the Eastern zone of Tigray, is a small town with a few thousand inhabitants. Six incidents of heavy fighting and bombing took place from November 2020 to August 2021 during the Tigray War.[3]
November 2020
editFrom 25 to 27 November 2020, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) killed 8 civilians in Hawzen (Eastern Tigray). In the wake of the battles, they organised a killing spree that spread towards the nearby small towns of Megab and Koraro.[citation needed]
December 2020
editThe Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) killed five civilians in Hawzen (Eastern Tigray) on 1 December 2020.[citation needed]
The EDF carried out a massacre in Hawzen around 23 December 2020.[citation needed] Estimates are up to seventy people killed.[4]
January 2021
editThe ENDF and EDF killed thirty civilians in Hawzen on 23 January 2021.[citation needed] The EHRC–OHCHR Tigray investigation reported the massacres in this locality, without going into further detail.[5]
February 2021
editThe ENDF and EDF killed eleven civilians in Hawzen from 8 to 14 February 2021.[citation needed]
Perpetrators
editWitnesses interpreted the identity of the late November perpetrators as Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers.[4]
Local residents identified the perpetrators of the late December massacre as mainly EDF, identified as Eritrean by cheek markings and pronunciation when speaking Tigrinya, and some ENDF and Amhara special forces.[4]
Rape camp
edit
Hawzen Primary Hospital was looted and destroyed by the EDF.[1][2] The ENDF used the hospital as a military base several times. In one of the periods of ENDF military use of the hospital, the ENDF established the hospital as a rape camp, holding captive girls and women that they had brought with them into Hawzen. The beds normally meant for medical patients were used for the rapes. Methods used to prevent girls and women from escaping included tying them to the beds or locking doors.[3]
See also
edit- Hawzen massacre (1988)
References
edit- ^ a b Muhumuza, Rodney (2021-05-28). "'Our season': Eritrean troops kill, rape, loot in Tigray". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ a b "Eritreans commit atrocities in Tigray region". Africanews. 2021-05-28. Archived from the original on 2021-08-13. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ a b c Mazurana, Dyan; Mekonen, Hayelom K.; Conley, Bridget; de Waal, Alex; Burns, Delia (2021-08-10). "What 'Rape as a Weapon of War' in Tigray Really Means". World Peace Foundation. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ a b c Associated Press, 26 January 2021: Witnesses: Eritrean soldiers loot, kill in Ethiopia’s Tigray
- ^ Tibebu, Israel (2021-11-03). "Report of the EHRC/OHCHR Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by all Parties to the Conflict in the Tigray Region of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" (PDF). EHRC, OHCHR. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-20.