February 1 - March 31, 2021 Social Media Situation Report on Tigray Conflict D KE Contents Summary .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .1 Context .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 Reports of Atrocities, Extreme Sexual Violence and Extrajudicial Killings .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 Intentional Destruction of Public and Private Property and Widespread Looting .. .. 8 Humanitarian Crisis .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10 Disinformation and Misinformation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11 4.1 The Unknown Diplomat. 11 4.2 The Axum “Priest” .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..12 4.3 Fake USAID Investigation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..13 4.4 The Partly Destroyed Church .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..13 4.5 Thirsty Children . .14 4.6 The Destroyed Hospital .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..14 Tigrians Remain Angry .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..15 5.1 The Juba Incident .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..15 5.2 Civil Disobedience .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .16 5.3 Birhane Gebremariam’s Resignation . .17 5.4 Refusal to Celebrate .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..17 5.5 The Demonstrations .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..17 The International Community’s Stand on The Tigray War . 20 Incitement, Hate Speech and Communal Relations .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 24 Other Talks of Social Media . 25 Summary Ť Despite the Ethiopian Federal Government’s denial, reports show that fighting between the ENDF (and ‘Allies’) and Tigray’s People Liberation Front, (Hereinafter referred as TPLF1 is still intensifying.2 Ť Various reports of human rights abuse have been reported. of Atrocities, Extreme Sexual Violence and Extrajudicial Killings are being reported vastly. The report released by amnesty international exposed the killing of hundreds of civilians the northern city of Axum on 28-29 November, 2020. The Human Rights Watch also released a report showing the killings of hundreds of civilians in Axum on the same period of time. Both Amnesty and Human rights watch called The United Nations to establish an independent inquiry into war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in Tigray region. Ť On March 23, 2021, The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission released a pre liminary report on the Axum Massacre. The report claims that grave human rights abuses have been committed and over 100 civilians were killed by Eritrean Soldiers on November 28-29, 2021. Ť News reports from several media outlets also came out with credible allegations of massacres, extreme sexual violence, destruction of public and civilian prop- erty and mass looting. These news reports controlled the social media atmo- sphere for the past several weeks. 1 Prominent TPLF leaders including Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael and Getachew Reda repeatedly use the name ‘TDF’ on various media 2 outlets such as Tigrai Media House (TMH) and Dimtsi Weyane to refer the forces fighting on their side. Social Media Situation Report on Tigray Conflict 1 Context It has been over 140 days since the conflict between Federal Forces and TPLF erupted in Tigray Region erupted. Ever since the war started, the international community have been putting immense pressure on the Ethiopian government. The pressure has gone mounting over the past three months. Continuous calls were made for the permission to unhindered humanitarian access, withdrawal of Eritrean and Amhara forces and opening for independent investigations into the alleged human rights abuses. As a result of immense pressure from the international community, the Ethiopian govern- ment allowed access to humanitarian aid into Tigrai on February 12, 2021. For the first time since the start of the Tigray war the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed admitted the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray during his wide ranging speech to parliament on March 23, 2021. He also mentioned that soldiers committed sexual violence and war crimes. As communication lines are not yet fully restored (the internet is still shut down in the entire region and telephone lines are only working in Mekelle and a few towns), well- founded fears exist that the recent reports only uncover the tip of the iceberg. 2 Context 1. Reports of Atrocities, Extreme Sexual Violence and Extrajudicial Killings Amid the continuation of fighting, atrocities, summary executions and extrajudicial killings are being reported to have been committed on many places across Tigrai. For the purpose of this report, only the ones verified by relatively independent organizations are presented. The first organization to document human called The United Nations to establish an rights violation at the level of atrocity as far independent inquiry to investigate possi- as the Tigrai War is concerned is Amnesty ble war crimes and crime against humanity International. After a release of results of an in Tigray region. Both organizations also investigation on the Mai-Cadra Massacre, noted that knowing the exact number of Amnesty released another report on 26th deaths requires full scale investigation. February, 2021, about a massacre, this time in Axum. The report exposed the system- On March 24, 2021, The Ethiopian Human atic and deliberate killings of hundreds of Rights Council (EHRC) followed in releasing civilians by Eritrean troops in the northern a preliminary report on the Axum massa- city of Axum on 28-29 November 2020. cre. The report claims that grave human rights abuses have been committed and over 100 civilians were killed by Eritrean Soldiers on November 28-29, 2021. Figure 1: An abstract from Amnesty’s report on the Axum massacre The Human Rights Watch also released a report showing the killings of hundreds of civilians on the same period of time in Axum. Figure 2: Tweet from EHRC about Axum Both Amnesty and Human rights watch massacre Social Media Situation Report on Tigray Conflict 3 On February 27, 2021, CNN released an exclusive report about a massa- cre on Maryam Dengelat, a church near the town of Edaga-Hamus. CNN said it has received the names of 50 people (though the exact figure may be double that), including children as young as 15, women and elders, who are killed by the Eritrean Troops. On the other hand, CNN mentioned that the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments denied the involvement of Eritrean Army in the Tigray war. Figure 4: Screenshot from VOA’s website reporting about killings and looting in “Irob” Moreover, Irob advocacy group says further difficulties loom as the Irob wereda remains under communications blackout, coupled with the prevalence of Eritrean military in the area. Figure 3: Tweet by CNN Africa about a massacre at Maryam Dengelat Voice of America reported that accord- ing to the Irob Advocacy Association, a non-governmental organization, Eritrean soldiers have killed 63 civilians and set fire to 58 houses in Irob Woreda of Tigray State. Figure 5: A tweet from Irob Advocacy Group 4 Reports of Atrocities, Extreme Sexual Violence and Extrajudicial Killings In March 24, 2021, Medecines Sans Fron- to health centers in the capital, Mekelle, tieres/Doctors without Borders (MSF) East Adi-Grat and surrounding areas during the Africa tweeted that their staff members period of December to February only. witnessed extrajudicial killings of civil- ians. In an interview with channel 4 news on 25th March, MSF’s emergency coor- dinator explained what her colleagues had seen. She reported that people were being dragged out of public transport minibuses and killed by members of the Ethiopian army. Moreover, she stated that the killings were acts of active revenge over an ambush by the TPLF forces. She also mentioned that their driver was beaten by the back of the gun. Figure 7: Screenshot from Deutsche Welle’s website Channel 4 News made an exclusive report on the victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence in Tigray. According to the medical professionals interviewed by the news agency, since the commence- Figure 6: A tweet from Medecines Sans ment of the war, more than 260 cases of Frontieres/Doctors without Borders rape have been reported to Ayder Refer- (MSF) East Africa ral Hospital alone. Testimonies of rape Widespread rape is another devastating victims also indicate mass use of rape as aspect of the Tigray war. Womens’ Bureau a weapon of war and repression. of Tigray Interim Government