Analysis
Ethiopian Security Forces Burn Tigrayans alive, talk about Cannibalism
A shocking video emerged on social media on 11th March 2022 showing Amharic-speaking Ethiopian security forces in uniforms burning Tigrayans alive, mocking them, and talking about how delicious their roasted flesh would be with injera or bread.
This gruesome recording shows security forces dragging a severely beaten man to a smoldering pyre. The victim seems to be stripped naked and one man is seen carrying a piece of his cloth on a stick, which he later throws into the fire. The partially burned bodies of other people are discernible in the fire. The soldier refers to them as “his” (the man who is being dragged to the fire) brothers. They then count until three and throw their victim onto the fire. They go on to add more dry grass and firewood to it and revel in the act of burning. They mock the victim and ask him to speak while he is burning.
They keep asking him “እውነቱን ተናገር” (tell the truth). He answers “What can I tell you?”. The victim makes a final appeal from the fire begging “Please, Please”. To which the attackers respond with taunts, humiliation, and encouragement to each other “burn him” (አቃጥለው), “roast him” (ቁለው) and other descriptions associated with cooking (አቁላላው). One of them makes a bizarre cannibalistic suggestion, saying that they ought to eat the burning flesh with injera, and another of the attackers replies saying it is probably best with bread.
The victim makes a few desperate attempts to move out of the fire. His killers push him back to the fire with sticks, and they add firewood and grass.
According to an analysis of this video with some translations, the uniforms reveal the presence of special forces from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s and Amhara regions as well as the Fano vigilante groups. Our sources in Gilgel Beles also informed told us that there are SNNP and Amhara ‘leyu” force operating in tandem in the area. But Ethiopian National Defence Force uniforms are also seen in the video. The use of “junta” in reference to the victim reveals that the victims are Tigrayans. (See below why they are Tigrayans).
The perpetrators used extremely abusive language “mother f*cker”; “This is your destiny – you are not yet annihilated”; “This is the price you have to pay”
Important Context
An Amharic Youtube channel, Ethio 360 Media, in its Saturday, March 05, 2022, aired programming which may offer some context about this (starts from minute mark 10). Citing a truck driver (part of his interview is also partially aired in the program), Habtamu Ayalew of 360 Media says that on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, OLA and Benishangul Gumuz forces attacked a convoy of Ethiopian troops that was traveling from Gilgel Beles town to the GERD site. This attack was also confirmed in a BBC Amharic news piece citing an anonymous high-level official from the Benishangul Gumuz region.
According to the Ethio 360 reporting which is more detailed than the one from BBC, following the attack, 12 Tigrayans were arrested in Dangur Woreda of Benishangul Gumuz.
Then they were made to travel on a bus towards the site of the GERD. He doesn’t specify the date, but he makes it clear that it is after March 2, the day of the alleged attack. Habtamu says that the Tigrayans said [to their captors] that they were put by ENDF troops on board the bus bound to the GERD site. Habtamu says the Tigrayans were then shot dead in public in the town (not clear which town he meant). Habtamu remarks about a conspiracy in taking the civilian Tigrayans from prison and putting them on the bus and that no one knows who exactly did that.
Concluding Remarks
Habtamu is an ardent Amhara nationalist and he never reveals information that can in anyway show Amhara forces and Fano in bad light. That explains a bit why Habtamu simply said they were executed in public without any details and why the part of the interview where the truck driver talks about the way the Tigrayans are killed was not aired.
Habtamu says the Tigrayans were arrested following the attack on the convey traveling to the Gerd site, but many other social media activists have said they were arrested earlier following the sweeping arrests following the declaration of state of emergency. Habtamu says the Tigrayans are 12, but the person who first released the video says his source told him they are 13.
The men in the video claim that this was a retaliation for the killing of their captain and tell their victim: “This is how you burned us yesterday”. This would suggest that the events in the video occurred on March 3, assuming the date of the attack is March 2. If this account from Ethio 360 Media and BBC is the context of the murders in the video, it seems that innocent Tigrayans were set up for retaliation.
Based on our sources in Gilgel Beles town, the BBC report, and the EThio 360 report, we have established the site of the attack to be in the blue line below and its date on 3 March 2022.
And the site of the massacre to be in Aysid, the area below. The government also confirms [archived] that the burning took place in Aysid
Also see
1) A graphic footage of the Debre Abay massacre: What do we know about it?
2) A footage of Aksum residents identifying one of the 700 massacred
Bayu
March 20, 2022 at 4:22 am
They kept repeating:
“This is how you burned us.”
“This is how we felt when you burned us yesterday”
“This is how you burned the Captain”
We can expect more of these videos as long was the war keeps going on. It is time for Tigrayans to decide if it is worth it going this direction. TPLF is hated by the rest of Ethiopia, and now also TDF.
TPLF/TDF needs to stop its war against Ethiopia and Ethiopians. Every word of hate against Ethiopians by TPLF or its supporters translates to danger to Tigrayans living all over Ethiopia, because it erodes trust.
The disturbing destruction in Tigray should have been communicated to Ethiopians as a call to support, instead of making enmies with the rest of Ethiopia.
Too bad we don’t have videos of TDF raping and slaughtering civilians because that’s exactly what they did too. hypocrisy and lies only pave the road to one sided views which will lead to more of this.
Amhara war criminals were caught their hands in the cookie jar-and died in vain
March 21, 2022 at 2:02 pm
Mr Bayu ,
Don’t you bore the feeling of self-accusation , while saying TDF did that and this ?
As of NOv 4, 2020, Who let Eritrean and Somalian soldiers in and empower them to massacre, burn our people and commit all sorts of crimes involving moral turpitude ?
Are you saying Tigray Defense force should fold their hands and stop being self-defensive in the face of deadly aggression that could exterminate their own people, family, friends and innocent civilians? It is clear for everyone why TDF is coming to you ?
When you block roads and prohibit innocent civilians from getting access to fundemental basic needs required for survival, TDF should and obliged to go about and force you to release all the trucks and make sure they reach their destination.
Furthermore, criminal Prosperity party cadres and their cliques like you should be brought to justice.
if you think that TDF did those things, please show us your evidences ? What I have seen so far against TDF was the carcass of donkey, and cattles that are collected from every trash to defame people of Tigray.
YOu are also trying to present war criminals as victims of aggression by Tegaru , those people you mentioned now were caught with their hand in the cookie jar – killed while bombing, or massacring our people- caught in the act or red-handed.
Generously, TDF is feeding your relatives smuggled to kill my family and relatives and all Tegaru-my flesh and blood.
Therefore, you have to blame the wrong day , not TDF or other. ሐዊ ወሊዕኩም ካብ ዘይትወፅሉ ማዕሙቕ(ፀልማት) ምዕታውኩም ሕዚ ተፈሊጥኩም ዶ ከማትወጣው አዘቕት እንደገባቹህ አሁን አሁን ብር ብር አላችሁ መሰለኝ፣ጃል መገን
ምንትሥ ምንድነው ብለሽ ያወራሽው ሰውን ሰው ሲበላው የታባሽ አየሽው ዝብል ፉከራን ደርፍን አሎ ካብዚ ንላዕሊ ጭካነን በላዕያተ ሥጋ ሰብ ካበይ ይርከብ፥፥ከነጥፍኣኩም ኢና ኢሎም ትግራይ ዝአተዉ ወረርቲ፥፥ብፆቶም ስድርኦም ምሰአኑ፥ብህርቓን ንፁሓት ሰባት በሐዊ ከም እንጨይቲ የቃፅሉ፥፥አብ ትግራይ ቤተሰቡ ዝስኣነ ኩሉ ትግሬን እንበቀላለን ይብለልካ፥የትግራይ ሕዝብ ነፃ አውጡኝ ፥እርዱኝ አልወጣውም፥ መጀመሪያ ማን ጠራቸው፧ ብሎስ ቤተሰባችንን ሊጨፈጭፍ ጦርነት ገጥሞ የሞተ ሁላ ግፍ ተፈፀመ ጀኖሳድ ነው ፥ብሎ ማለቃቀስ፥፥የአማራ አለቆች ሕዝባቸውን አሥጨረሱት አንዴ ከቅማንት ጋ ፥ቀጥሎ ጉምዝ፥ አገው፥ኦሮሞ ከሕዝባችን ጋር ፥እንዳማቶም ከይዶም ነገር ወሊዖም ተሐሪመ ኢሎም ዝአውዩ በላዕቲ አማዒት ነፍሳት ፥እዮም ፀላዕትና ፥፥ የአማራ ሕዝብ ብልጥነቱንና አሥተዋይነቱን ማሳየት ካለበት መውቀሥም ካለበት ለእሳት የዳረጉትን ከተጎራባች ሕዝቦች ጋር ሁሉ ያናቆሩትን ፥ገብቶ ከማይወጣበት እሳት ያጎሩትን መሪዎቹን እንጂ ከትግራይ ሕዝብም ሆነ ከመላው ብሔር ብሔረሰቦች ጋር ወዳልተፈለገ ማሕለቅት አልቦ እልቂት መጋበዝና ልጆቹን መላው ቤተሰቡን ከመማገድ ይቆጠብ ፥ለሕዝባችን የሚደርሱ የመሠረታዊ አቅርቦቶችን ጨምሮ ማገዱን ያቁምልን፥፥
You said “The disturbing destruction in Tigray should have been communicated to Ethiopians as a call to support, instead of making enmies with the rest of Ethiopia.” There is no one who can be tricked or deceived by this statement you made , but leaders of Tigray were constantly making a call to neighboring people of Amhara, Eritrea and other ethnic members to stand with their brothers ans sister of Tigray and disobey the divisive, and warmongering call made by Prosperity party . Lastly, I want also remind you the fact that before Eritrea and prosperity party officially waged war on our people, people in Gonder killed Tegaru , robbed their riches , and many fled to Sudan in an attempt to save their lives. And People of Tigray were condemend to suffer from hunger long before the war broke out . Hence, to whom do you tell us to communicate the destructive and genocidal act of your beloved party ? Many were supportive and some were silent and everyone knows the suffering of people of Tigray.Stop wasting your time to brainwash readers and mislead the international community. God willing, We shall win and Tigray Prevails.
Lula
March 18, 2022 at 12:38 am
Where is the world ???
Feyisa
March 15, 2022 at 1:28 pm
This is the worst killings every! These people have been killing lots of other Ethiopian people in every corners and also it’s obvious to tell that they have been eating human flesh !
I stand with Tigrayans!
HAILESELASIE DESTA
March 15, 2022 at 1:26 pm
Save the people of Tigray from massacre!!
Mimi
March 14, 2022 at 1:45 am
Stop Burning The Tigraines stop genocide people of the Tihray
Feven
March 12, 2022 at 9:20 pm
Stop Genocide in Tigray
Feven
March 12, 2022 at 9:16 pm
Stop 🛑 Tigray Genocide
Freweyne
March 12, 2022 at 8:11 pm
This people have no mercy. #Stoptigraygenocide.
Haftom Tedros
March 12, 2022 at 7:28 pm
#ICCACTNOW
#CallitAGenocide
Nati Lilai
March 12, 2022 at 5:54 pm
The ethiopian empire has always been like this. The only way to end the suffuring of Tigrayans is to leave this hell on earth empire!
Stop killing and torturing people of Tigray
March 12, 2022 at 5:40 pm
Please help stop the ongoing genocide on Tigray . People of Tigray are subjected to unspeakble horrors-burnt alive, thrown into a body of water, starved to death,enduring Chilling Account of Crude and Unbearable Torture.
Our gallant fighters(TDF) put their lives on the line every day to defend our people , and free our sacred land from invaders!!
Stop all these incessant mass killings , ugly forms of torture committed by fanos, Eritrean and ethiopian soldiers against our unramed and innocent people of Tigray.
The response given to the ongoing genocide in Tigray is inadequate and total manifestation of irresponsible global leadership and lack of accountability!
Please stop the genocide in Tigray, Oromia , Metekel zone and rest of Ethiopia.
Brhan
March 12, 2022 at 2:06 pm
#stoptigraygenocide
Brkti Geberamlak
March 12, 2022 at 12:13 pm
የትግራይ ህዝብ እንደ ቀጠለ ረገገፍ😢
Brkti Geberamlak
March 12, 2022 at 12:12 pm
stop Tigrya gonoclde