Report
The untold massacre of Semema
By Guanshe Hadgu Asfiha
My visit to my hometown of Semema (located at 14.198673, 38.342127) for Ethiopia’s New Year last September was supposed to be a time for celebration. I knew that Eritrean troops had massacred people in the area in 2020 but, two years down the line, I had thought that massacre was a relatively distant memory. It was only after I arrived there on New Year’s Eve that I learned there was another massacre in Semema by Eritrean troops in 18 October 2022. It was a massacre that claimed the lives of people I closely knew.
This latter massacre has never been reported on sufficiently enough. Tigray television had covered some aspects it, but it under-reported both the number of people killed and the damage wrought to civilian properties. Here I have made an attempt to report it more comprehensively based on information that I was able to gather during my stay. I should note that my report is still not detailed enough, and a more thorough reporting is still needed.
Although I was unable to establish the total number of people killed during the massacre, I have managed to collect the names of 26 people who were killed, 15 of whom I knew, including close relatives of mine. Please see the list below:
Here is a list of civilian’s identified by name who were residents of Tabia Semema killed by Eritrean troops on October 18, 2022.
| SN | Name | Sex | Age |
| 1 | Mekonen Tsegay Tafere | Male | 35 |
| 2 | Tesfu Shifer | Male | 37 |
| 3 | Priest. Negassi Leake Weldegiorgis | Male | 47 |
| 4 | Shishay Mekonen Welay. | Male | 34 |
| 5 | Haile Berhe Kahsay | Male | 63 |
| 6 | Miesho Welekidan Teferi | Male | 70 |
| 7 | Adane kidane Tesema | Male | 68 |
| 8 | Tesfay Dawit | Male | 35 |
| 9 | Gezaei Tekleweyni Fisaha | Male | 32 |
| 10 | Kidane Mebrahtu Tela | Male | 58 |
| 11 | Abrhaley Tadesse Gebremedhin | Male | 52 |
| 12 | Yibrah Gerilase Gezehey | Male | 50 |
| 13 | Priest Yohanns Gebreharyat Beyene | Male | 33 |
| 14 | Kahsay Beyene Welu | Male | 36 |
| 15 | Beyn Brhane Gebremedhn | Male | 36 |
| 16 | Priest Adane Tafere Hailemariam | Male | 45 |
| 17 | Priest Araya Tesfay Gebru | Male | 73 |
| 18 | Haleka Fissaha Welay Berhe | Male | 43 |
| 19 | Andu Berhe Goremse | Male | 71 |
| 20 | Tareke Weleabzgi Gebrezgi | Male | 69 |
| 21 | Goitom Tareke Zewede | Male | 55 |
| 22 | Berhom Negash Tesfay | Male | 32 |
| 23 | Kahsay Fiseha Weledegergs | Male | 38 |
| 24 | Abebesh Werede Ariadom | Female | 48 |
| 25 | Zeray Werede Ariadom (brother of abebesh) | Male | 51 |
| 26 | Aregay Asmelash | Male | 39 |
Houses destroyed
In addition to massaring people, the Eritrea troops destroyed households and schools. In some cases, they looted the properties – clothes, cooking utensils, television sets, beds, refrigerators, medication, etc – inside the houses before they burned the houses.
A private pharmacy owned by a man called Tefera Gebrehiwot was broken into and looted. Some properties like flat-screen Televisions, hundreds of kilograms of Teff, furniture such as couches, school chairs, plasmas were also taken by trucks and lorries. Precious metal jewelries such as silver and gold are also among the goods looted. Some people thought that they would evade the Eritreans by hiding their gold under earth in the backyard of their houses. But Eritreas foiled their tricks because they came with gold detectors.
Some residents fled their homes to avoid execution. Helen Gebremariam, then a 24-year-old and pregnant, was one of them. She gave birth on her way to Axum.
Picture showing a burnt whose floor had collapsed
The following footages are examples of the destruction of houses.
The following is a partial list of houses that the Eritrean troops destroyed (as is typical in Tigray, a house is named by the household leader, typically the man.)
- Haleka Ayele Kasahun
- Alem Hadush Berhe
- Seble Tadesse
- Seyoum Werede Ariadom
- Afewerki Adane?
- Shibeshi Gebremikieal
- Tsiwa Weldemariam
- Gebre Welday
- Gezaei Abrahaley Haile
- Tikue Zeray Weldearegay
- Miesho Tadesse Gebresamuel
- Beyene Gebrehilase
- Mulu Kiros Reda
- Werkinesh Gebru Desta
- Birhin kahsu
- Tsaeday Mebrahtom
- Teklay Tadesse Zemu (teacher)
- Fetahi Kasahun
- Zafu Gebremedhin
- Tekleweyni Nigusse Tadesse
- Mulu Tareke Gebremikael
- Kewani Hadgu Asfiha
- Yirga Tareke
- Hilaf Gidey
- Tesfay Welenchial
- Fisahtsion Birhane (teacher)
- Alem Kidane Tewele
- Hadush Shishay Gebremariam
- Gidey Mehari Birhane
- Abadit Tesfay
- Mulu Beyene Mesfin
- Haleka Mehari Tareke
- Beyenesh Miesho
- Yemane Gebresenbet
- Mulu Goshu Gebretensay
- Hayelom Tafere (teacher)
- Mikieale Weldesilassie (teacher)
- Meselle Teklay Hagos
- Gebrehiwet Tadesse Berhe
- Yalem Abrha
- Tekle Beyene Haile
- Mekonen Tadesse Gebrewahid
- Seare Gebrekidan Tewele
- Goitom Tesfay
- Mulu Abebe Seyoum
- Yehdego Gebrihet
- Kahsay Gomera
- Ambachew Nigus
- Haleka Afewerki Belay
- Tsehaynesh Tekle
- Alem Tsehaye Eyasu
- Amaz Tsehaye Negash
- Abrehet Abrha Berhe
- TesfayTekle Asegehey
- Askale Kahsay Gebremariam
- Lemelem Gebrehiwet Tekie
- Ataklti Kinfe Yohannis
- Tadesse Hafte
- Letebrihan Araya
- Mitslal Nigus
- Abrha Teklu (teacher)
- Rahwa Fisseha Gebriye
- Hadas Yemane Abay
- Tsegabirhan Tesfay (teacher)
- Tirhas Niguse Tadesse
- Yemane seyoum werede
- Priest Leake weldegiorgis (whose son priest Negassi leake was among those killed)
- Shewit berhe Asfiha
- Meaza Birhnae Gebremikael
- Selomon Gebreyesus
- Dirar Welday Gebremedhin
- Firey Alem Seged
- Baraki Gebrezgabiher
- Priest Abrahley Birhane
- Teklit Meresa
- Wele Abrahaley
- Priest Mebrahtom leake (Son of Priest leake )
The pain
I visited three families of the deceased to comfort them. It was very disheartening to see widowed mothers shouldering all the responsibility of raising children. On New Year’s eve, a three-year-old child whose father was among the victims said to his mom: “when will our father come? Will he bring us new clothes?” The mother cried. It was a painful experience to witness for me. The killing has taken the lives of those who have departed but the family members who survived now carry the responsibility and pain. Children are left without fathers who were the backbone of their families and mothers left without husbands.
Let me recount the story of Abebesh Werede Ariadom. Abebesh is the only female the Eritreans killed (please see list). Initially, she fled her house with her husband and children during an artillery shelling on October 17, when an infantry unit arrived at Semema. The day after, she returned to make Injera and take food to her children who were hiding in the mountains nearby. On the morning of October 18, the soldiers were conducting a house-to-house search. While cooking, Abebesh heard the sound of gunfire. She dashed out of her kitchen to see what was happening. She saw her neighbor, a priest named Negassi Leake Weldegiorgis, lying on the ground. He was dead from a gunshot. She ululated and cried so loud that the soldiers heard her. Angered by her cry, a soldier shot her dead. She was a mother of seven children, her first born son had been imprisoned in Jijiga, Ethiopia for two years for being ethnic Tigrayan. Before imprisonment, he was a member of the Ethiopian National Defense fForce. This is the tragic irony of the genocidal war on Tigray: a mother was brutally murdered by the very soldiers that her son had defended Ethiopia against.
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Guanshe is a lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Mekelle Institute of Technology, Mekelle, Tigray. He has a Masters degree in Chemical and Process Engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy.
Hailish T
November 2, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Thank you Guanshe for documenting a part of the impact of the genocidal war waged against us. Many of us know the tragedy, but only few people like you dare to do the painstaking task of documenting it.
Kudos to you.
Aron
October 30, 2023 at 1:13 pm
This is a commendable job. The scourge our people has gone through is insufferable. I hope they will recuperate soon although I do not know how. The least we can do is to chronicle every horrific things those savages have done to our people and make sure we never forgive and forget.
Weldegebriel Kidanu
October 30, 2023 at 8:26 am
Very disheartening. I thank Tghat for the continuous invaluable records of atrocities on Tigray.