Mahbere Dego Massacres

The Mahbere Dego massacres were mass extrajudicial killings that took place in Mahbere Dego () in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 16–18 January 2021.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
Mahbere Dego is a small town that belongs to ''woreda'' Na’ider, Central zone of Tigray.

Massacre

The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) killed dozens of civilians in Mahbere Dego (Central Tigray). Videos of the massacres are not time stamped; the massacres are believed to have started on 15 January 2021CNN, 2 April 2021
'Two bullets is enough' - Analysis of Tigray massacre video raises questions for Ethiopian Army
/ref> and continued for several days. The massacres occurred in a similar way as many massacres in the Tigray War. The ENDF targeted civilians, especially male, in this case merchants, farmers, often brothers or father and son. They filmed the killings, and, exceptionally, a whistleblower transmitted the videos to Tigrai Media House. Dozens of unarmed civilian men were grouped in the wilderness outside of the town, driven to a cliff edge and executed by the Ethiopian soldiers. Thanks to the particular geomorphology of the surroundings, the imagery could be geolocated.Bellingcat, 1 April 2021
Mahbere Dego: Clues to a Clifftop Massacre in Ethiopia
/ref>Citizen Evidence Lab, 9 April 2021
How to Crack Complex Geolocation Challenges: A Case Study of the Mahibere Dego Massacre
/ref> After factchecking the footage of the massacres was published by CNN and BBC.BBC, 1 April 2021
Evidence suggests Ethiopian military carried out massacre in Tigray
/ref>

Typical massacres committed by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers in the Tigray war are (1) revenge when they lose a battle; (2) to terrorise and extract information about whereabouts of TPLF leaders; (3) murder of suspected family members of TDF fighters; and (4) terrorising the Tigray society as a whole.The World radio (2 April 2021)
Counting the victims in Tigray
/ref>

On 16 June 2021, Tigrai Media House broadcast additional footage of the massacre, showing that a female Amhara soldier was among the killers. Bellingcat confirmed that the video shows the same massacre as the earlier videos.

Perpetrators

Relatives, investigators and international media interpreted the identity of the perpetrators as Ethiopian soldiers.

Victims

The BBC mentions 73 victims, and the “Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation” approximately 50 victims; 54 victims have been identified.TGHAT
A compilation of the verified list of civilian victims from different sources
/ref>

Reactions

The Mahbere Dego massacres became world news, evidencing what is ongoing in Tigray. As a consequence, the Ethiopian embassy in London issued a “Statement on the Alleged Massacre in Mahbere Dego, Tigray”:

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.

The “Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation”, that documented this massacre received international media attention, particularly regarding its Annex A, that lists massacres in the Tigray War.The Guardian, 2 April 2021
Ethiopia: 1,900 people killed in massacres in Tigray identified
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References

External links

World Peace Foundation: Starving Tigray

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January 2021 crimes in Africa
2021 massacres of the Tigray War
Filmed killings
Massacres committed by Ethiopia
Ethiopian war crimes during the Tigray War
January 2021 events in Ethiopia