By Michelle Nichols
NEW YORK (Reuters) – More than 500 cases of rape have been reported at five clinics in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the United Nations said on Thursday, warning that due to stigma and a lack of health services, actual numbers are likely to be much larger.
“Women say they were raped by armed actors, they also told stories of gang rape, rape in front of relatives and men being forced to rape their own family members under threat of violence,” said Wafaa Said, UN deputy aid coordinator. in Ethiopia, said in an interview with UN member states in New York.
She said at least 516 cases of rape were reported by five medical centers in Mekelle, Adigrat, Wukro, Shire and Axum.
“Given the fact that most health facilities are not functioning and also the stigma associated with rape, the actual numbers are projected to be much higher,” she added.
A dozen senior UN officials on Monday called for an end to indiscriminate and targeted attacks on civilians in Tigray, calling it particularly reports of rape and “other horrible forms of sexual violence”.
Fighting in Tigray broke out in November between government troops and the region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also said troops from neighboring Eritrea were in the region.
Redwan Hussein, spokesman for the government emergency task force in Tigray, Billene Seyoum, spokesman for Prime Minister Mulu Nega, head of the interim government of Tigray, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed and Minister Eritrean Information Service Yemane Gebremeskel did not respond to calls and messages requesting comments on UN comments on Thursday.
The violence in Tigray killed thousands of people and expelled hundreds of thousands from their homes in the mountainous region of about 5 million.
“The majority of internally displaced people left with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing. They are often traumatized and tell stories of the difficult journey they took in search of safety. Some reported having walked for two weeks and some up to 500 km,” he said. On thursday.
“Of the people who traveled with them, some were killed, mostly young people, people were beaten, women were raped, some were pregnant and gave birth on the way, losing their babies,” she said.
The United Nations raised concerns about atrocities, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the acts as ethnic cleansing. Ethiopia rejected Blinken’s claim.
This week, Abiy acknowledged for the first time that atrocities like rape were committed and said that any soldiers who committed crimes would be punished.
Dozens of witnesses in Tigray told Reuters that Eritrean soldiers routinely killed civilians, raped gangs and tortured women, as well as looted families and crops. Eritrea did not answer questions about reports of atrocities.
(Additional reporting by the Addis Ababa newsroom; Editing by David Gregorio)