Shimelba massacres

Shimelba massacres
	Part of Tigray War
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Target	Tigrayans
Attack type	Mass killing; Ethnic cleansing;
Deaths	At least 47 civilians
Perpetrators	Eritrean Defence Forces

Coordinates: 14°10′27″N 37°43′26″E / 14.174197°N 37.723801°E / 14.174197; 37.723801

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The Shimelba massacres were mass extrajudicial killings that took place in Shimelba (Tigrinya: ሲመልባ) in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, in November and December 2020.^[1] Shimelba is a refugee camp, located in tabiya May Kuhli, woreda Tahtay Adiyabo, Semien Mi'irabawi Zone of Tigray.

Massacre[edit]

The Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) killed dozens (probably hundreds) of refugees in Shimelba (northwestern Tigray) in november and december 2020.^[1] A large part of the camp’s refugees were Kunama, an ethnic group that straddles the Ethio-Eritrean border in the surroundings of the camp, and they seem to have been targeted in the killings. Many Eritrean refugees who lived in the camp were killed, abducted and forcibly returned to Eritrea by the EDF,^[2]^[3] and some of them forcibly incorporated in the Eritrean army.^[4]

Many refugees fled Eritrea to avoid its notorious system of compulsory national service, which inspires descriptions of the nation as an "open-air prison," and among their greatest fears is to be forced back. — AFP, Eritrean Refugees Caught in Crossfire of Ethiopia's Tigray War, ^[2]

In line with historical studies of massacres, including those committed during the Armenian genocide,^[5]^[6] a massacre can be defined as a conflict incident in which at least five unarmed civilians were killed on the same day at the same location.

When the Norwegian Refugee Council finally regained access to the Shimelba camp, they found the camp’s facilities destroyed, but most of all, no sign of the refugees that lived there; instead they found 3000 internally displaced people from Western Tigray.^[7]

Perpetrators[edit]

Witnesses interpreted the identity of the perpetrators as Eritrean soldiers.^[3]

Victims[edit]

The “Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation” (version 2.1) mentions 47 victims: 12 on 17 November, 12 on 7 December, and 23 on 17 December.^[8] Only four victims have been identified, all of whom belong to the Kunama ethnic group.

Aroda Mantay
Dumam Adanno
Moli Shiri Badumme
Masi Nati Kalifa

Reactions[edit]

The “Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation”,^[1] that documented this massacre received international media attention, particularly regarding its Annex A, that lists the massacres.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

After months of denial by the Ethiopian authorities that massacres occurred in Tigray, a joint investigation by OHCHR and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission was announced in March 2021.^[13]

While the Ethiopian government promised that Eritrean troops will be pulled out from Tigray, the Eritrean government denies any participation in warfare in Tigray, let alone in massacres.^[14]

References[edit]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Annys, S., Vanden Bempt, T., Negash, E., De Sloover, L., Nyssen, J., 2021. Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation Archived 2021-09-13 at the Wayback Machine
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 AFP, 3 February 2021: Eritrean Refugees Caught in Crossfire of Ethiopia's Tigray War Archived 2021-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Aljazeera, 11 December 2020: ‘Overwhelming’ reports of killings of Eritreans in Tigray: UN Archived 2021-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Eritrea Hub, 28 November 2020: [1] Archived 2021-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Levene, Mark; Roberts, Penny (January 1, 1999). The Massacre in History. Berghahn Books. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-57181-934-5. Archived from the original on May 10, 2016. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help) Search this book on
↑ Melson, Robert (July 1982). "Theoretical Inquiry into the Armenian Massacres of 1894–1896". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 24 (3): 482–3. doi:10.1017/s0010417500010100.
↑ Norwegian Refugee Council, 18 March 2021: Ethiopia: Hunger and disease rife among displaced as aid workers gain access to new parts of Tigray Archived 2021-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Annys, S., Vanden Bempt, T., Negash, E., De Sloover, L., Ghekiere, R., Haegeman, K., Temmerman, D., Nyssen, J., 2021. Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation, version 2.1. Ghent (Belgium): Ghent University, Department of Geography Archived 2021-10-13 at Archive.today
↑ The World radio (2 April 2021): Counting the victims in Tigray Archived 2021-04-03 at the Wayback Machine
↑ EuroNews, 2 April 2021 – See film embedded in the news item: G7 'seriously concerned' about human rights violations in Ethiopia's Tigray region Archived 2021-04-10 at the Wayback Machine
↑ CBC, 2 April 2021: As It Happens: The Friday Edition (from 28:00 to 35:30) Tigray, Ethiopia Massacre Archived 2021-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
↑ The Guardian, 2 April 2021: Ethiopia: 1,900 people killed in massacres in Tigray identified Archived 2021-08-14 at the Wayback Machine
↑ France24, 18 March 2021: UN rights chief agrees to joint Tigray probe Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
↑ DW, 19 March 2021: Fact check: Are other nations involved in the war in Tigray? Archived 2021-09-13 at the Wayback Machine

External links[edit]

Twitter: author @tvbempt; hashtags #NeverForget #SayTheirNames #Shimelba
World Peace Foundation: Starving Tigray
Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation

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[atlas-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Annys, S., Vanden Bempt, T., Negash, E., De Sloover, L., Nyssen, J., 2021. Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation Archived 2021-09-13 at the Wayback Machine

[afp20210203-2] 2.0 ^2.1 AFP, 3 February 2021: Eritrean Refugees Caught in Crossfire of Ethiopia's Tigray War Archived 2021-02-04 at the Wayback Machine

[jazeera-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Aljazeera, 11 December 2020: ‘Overwhelming’ reports of killings of Eritreans in Tigray: UN Archived 2021-05-02 at the Wayback Machine

[4] Eritrea Hub, 28 November 2020: [1] Archived 2021-05-02 at the Wayback Machine

[5] Levene, Mark; Roberts, Penny (January 1, 1999). The Massacre in History. Berghahn Books. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-57181-934-5. Archived from the original on May 10, 2016. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help) Search this book on

[6] Melson, Robert (July 1982). "Theoretical Inquiry into the Armenian Massacres of 1894–1896". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 24 (3): 482–3. doi:10.1017/s0010417500010100.

[7] Norwegian Refugee Council, 18 March 2021: Ethiopia: Hunger and disease rife among displaced as aid workers gain access to new parts of Tigray Archived 2021-05-02 at the Wayback Machine

[atlas21-8] Annys, S., Vanden Bempt, T., Negash, E., De Sloover, L., Ghekiere, R., Haegeman, K., Temmerman, D., Nyssen, J., 2021. Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation, version 2.1. Ghent (Belgium): Ghent University, Department of Geography Archived 2021-10-13 at Archive.today

[world-9] The World radio (2 April 2021): Counting the victims in Tigray Archived 2021-04-03 at the Wayback Machine

[10] EuroNews, 2 April 2021 – See film embedded in the news item: G7 'seriously concerned' about human rights violations in Ethiopia's Tigray region Archived 2021-04-10 at the Wayback Machine

[11] CBC, 2 April 2021: As It Happens: The Friday Edition (from 28:00 to 35:30) Tigray, Ethiopia Massacre Archived 2021-07-16 at the Wayback Machine

[12] The Guardian, 2 April 2021: Ethiopia: 1,900 people killed in massacres in Tigray identified Archived 2021-08-14 at the Wayback Machine

[13] France24, 18 March 2021: UN rights chief agrees to joint Tigray probe Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine

[14] DW, 19 March 2021: Fact check: Are other nations involved in the war in Tigray? Archived 2021-09-13 at the Wayback Machine

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