(Johannesburg) Rebels from the Tigray region and the Ethiopian government began talks on Tuesday in the South African capital Pretoria aimed at “finding a peaceful and lasting solution” to the conflict that has ravaged northern Ethiopia for almost two years.
Posted at 1:01 p.m.
The start of these long-awaited discussions, under the aegis of the African Union (AU), was announced by the South African presidency.
“The peace talks organized to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the devastating conflict in the Tigray region began today October 25 and will end on October 30,” said spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Vincent Magwenya.
The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki, hailed in a statement “the parties’ commitment to peace and the search for a lasting political solution” and assured them of support to “silence the guns towards a united, stable, peaceful and resilient Ethiopia”.
Tigrayan rebels and the federal army – supported by forces from neighboring Ethiopian regions and the army of Eritrea, a country bordering Tigray – have been clashing since November 2020 in a deadly conflict that has plunged northern Ethiopia into a serious humanitarian crisis.
After a five-month truce, fighting resumed on August 24. Ethiopian and Eritrean forces have announced in recent weeks that they have seized several towns including Shire, one of Tigray’s main towns, on October 18.
The international community is alarmed by this recent resurgence of violence.
Pan-African mediation
The talks are the first publicized dialogue between the two sides, although a Western official confirmed that previous secret contacts – organized by the United States – had taken place in the Seychelles and twice in Djibouti.
The mediation team includes AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and former South African Vice President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka .
Representatives of the East African intergovernmental organization Igad, the UN and the United States are also present as observers.
On Thursday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assured that the war would “end and peace prevail”, without however mentioning the negotiations and while the pro-government forces have recently stepped up their offensive in Tigray.
A spokesman for the rebels repeated their demands on Twitter on Sunday evening: “immediate cessation of hostilities, unimpeded humanitarian access and withdrawal of Eritrean forces”.
Tigrayan rebel leader Debretsion Gebremichael adopted a more martial tone on Monday, assuring that “the joint enemy forces that entered Tigray [seront] buried”.
Region cut off from the world
The war began in November 2020 when Mr. Abiy sent the army to Tigray to dislodge regional authorities, from the Tigris People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), who challenged his authority and whom he accused of attacking military bases.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for decades, before Abiy came to power in 2018. He then removed them from power.
The exact toll of this conflict, which is largely taking place behind closed doors, is unknown.
Journalists do not have access to northern Ethiopia and telecommunications work there haphazardly, making independent verification of information impossible.
The American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, estimated on Friday that in two years, “up to half a million people have died”.
The war has also displaced more than two million Ethiopians and plunged hundreds of thousands into near-famine conditions, according to the UN.
This conflict has been punctuated by accusations of abuses and massacres of civilians committed by both sides.
In a statement, the human rights NGO Amnesty International warned of the risk of new “atrocities”.
“Tigrayan civilians fear that widespread abuses, such as unlawful killings, sexual violence and systematic attacks […] can reproduce,” said its director for eastern and southern Africa, Muleya Mwananyanda.
According to Amnesty, airstrikes in Mekele and Adi Daero in August and September killed “hundreds of civilians, including children”. The NGO also accuses the Eritrean army of having “extrajudicially executed at least 40 people […] in the city of Sheraro”, in the northwest of Tigray.