Professor Jan Nyssen has been compiling and sharing a newsletter on the Tigray War titled “Tigray Digest” since the start of the war. He says he has “sent out 67 newsletters (“Tigray Digests”), meant to update interested people with the rare information available about the situation within Tigray.” These 67 digests are now bundled as a Chronicle, “giving an insight not only on the Tigray tragedy, but also on how, at least partially, the blackout could be circumvented, and the reality of what was going on could be made public.”
Regarding the context Professor Jan Nyssen says “when we launched a first call for ceasefire in Tigray (north Ethiopia) in late 2020, we did not anticipate the horrific realities that were going to unfold: brutal massacres, a campaign of atrocious weaponised sexual abuses including (gang) rapes, sexual torture and enslavement against especially women and girls of Tigray, widespread looting and destruction including cultural heritage, months-long absence of any communication, years of a mediaeval siege, massive imprisonment of Tigrayans, and deliberate starvation.”
Regarding the added value of this Chronicle, he says “its continuity over time, complementing more time-specific or specialised books, reports and articles. It serves as an incomplete but still quite comprehensive record of sources about the war. Its uniqueness further stems from the fact that the Chronicle is informed by a wide range of direct contacts with individuals on the ground, in various places of Ethiopia, and specifically all over Tigray.”
The chronicle can be freely viewed in or downloaded from Research Gate: A Chronicle of the Tigray Tragedy (2020 -2024) or Zenodo.
This chronicle is a significant work of 360 pages and a great contribution that helps in understanding the War on Tigray and its progression over time.
