Ethiopian Embassy Rejects Unfounded Report of Swedish Paper on Tigray

April 13/2021(ENA)  The Embassy of Ethiopia to the Nordic countries strongly responded to a report carried by "The Swedish Daily News" under the title "Sorry, But A Genocide Is Going On Now."

The embassy dismissed the unfounded report by Svenska Dagbladet (SVD) which  also goes on to allege that ethnic cleansing is happening in Ethiopia.

SVD did not dare to make little effort to include the story from the other side, it rather based its story on inputs from personalities known for anti-Ethiopia rhetoric, the embassy noted.

" We would like to make it clear that there is nothing in Tigray that can be defined as a ‘genocide’ during or after the law enforcement operation that was conducted by the federal government last year in November, " it pointed out.

As for alleged human right violations, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has conducted investigations into purported human rights violations in Tigray and publicized its findings for which the government is taking corrective measures.

For instance, 200 individuals suspected of committing violations in Maikadra have been identified by authorities, of which 21 were brought before justice and the rest fled to Sudan.

The Government of Ethiopia has also welcomed joint investigations with international organizations.

It is to be recalled that the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission have agreed to conduct a joint investigation into human rights violations in Tigray.

African Commission on Human and People’s Rights has also been invited to jointly undertake investigations and it is in the process to do so. " Despite such efforts on the ground, SVD has rather chosen to report unsubstantiated accusations that ‘genocide’ and ethnic cleansing are going on in Tigray."

The embassy elaborated that while the international community has been loudly proclaiming the need for assistance in Tigray, partner support remains at 30% even after unfettered access was granted while the federal government has covered the lion’s share of 70%.

Thus, it would be more helpful to undertake constructive engagements and support Ethiopia in its effort to provide humanitarian assistance to those impacted by the operation than complicating the situations with unfounded reports.