US President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned “unacceptable” human rights abuses in Ethiopia’s war-torn province of Tigray and called for an immediate ceasefire.
“I am deeply concerned about the escalation of violence and the deepening of regional and ethnic divisions in many parts of Ethiopia,” the White House spokesman said in a statement issued by his office.
“Large-scale human rights abuses in Tigray – especially incidents of sexual violence – are unacceptable and must stop, ” he said, calling on the warring parties to “immediately declare and implement” a “ceasefire.” .
More than six months after the start of the large-scale federal army operation that Prime Minister Abby Ahmed promised would be completed very soon, fighting and atrocities continue in Tigray, where the risk of famine has been growing in recent months.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday expressed grave concern over the arrests of hundreds of internally displaced people in the province.
The arrests, made Monday night by forces of the Ethiopian federal army and the armed forces of neighboring Eritrea, were made in the complex camps of displaced people that have been set up near the city of Shire, Amnesty International reported yesterday and Tuesday.
Mr Biden said US Horn of Africa expert Jeffrey Feltman would travel to the region next week.
The United States on Sunday announced travel restrictions on Ethiopian and Eritrean officials accusing them of adding fuel to the fire in the armed conflict in Tigray.
