Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Hawzen in the Tigray war" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Hawzen in the Tigray War
Part of Tigray War
6 June 2021, house destroyed in a battle in Hawzen
HawzenShow map of EthiopiaHawzenShow map of Tigray RegionLocation of Hawzen in Ethiopia
Location	Hawzen, Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Target	Tigrayans
Attack type	Mass killing Shelling
Deaths	8 civilians
Perpetrators	Ethiopian National Defence Force Eritrean Defence Forces

Events in Hawzen in the Tigray War included five mass extrajudicial killings that took place in Hawzen in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War in November and December 2020 and January and February 2021, looting and destruction Hawzen Primary Hospital by the Eritrean Defence Force (EDF), and the establishment of a rape camp in the hospital by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF).

Military events

Hawzen (also transcribed as Hawzien or Hauzien), the capital of Hawzen Woreda, in the Eastern zone of Tigray, is a small town with a few thousand inhabitants. Six incidents of heavy fighting and bombing took place from November 2020 to August 2021 during the Tigray War.

November 2020

From 25 to 27 November 2020, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) killed 8 civilians in Hawzen (Eastern Tigray). In the wake of the battles, they organised a killing spree that spread towards the nearby small towns of Megab and Koraro.

December 2020

The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) killed five civilians in Hawzen (Eastern Tigray) on 1 December 2020.

The EDF carried out a massacre in Hawzen around 23 December 2020. Estimates are up to seventy people killed.

January 2021

The ENDF and EDF killed thirty civilians in Hawzen on 23 January 2021. The EHRC–OHCHR Tigray investigation reported the massacres in this locality, without going into further detail.

February 2021

The ENDF and EDF killed eleven civilians in Hawzen from 8 to 14 February 2021.

Perpetrators

Witnesses interpreted the identity of the late November perpetrators as Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers.

Local residents identified the perpetrators of the late December massacre as mainly EDF, identified as Eritrean by cheek markings and pronunciation when speaking Tigrinya, and some ENDF and Amhara special forces.

Rape camp

Hawzen Primary Hospital was looted and destroyed by the EDF. The ENDF used the hospital as a military base several times. In one of the periods of ENDF military use of the hospital, the ENDF established the hospital as a rape camp, holding captive girls and women that they had brought with them into Hawzen. The beds normally meant for medical patients were used for the rapes. Methods used to prevent girls and women from escaping included tying them to the beds or locking doors.

See also

• Hawzen massacre (1988)

References

1. ^ Muhumuza, Rodney (2021-05-28). "'Our season': Eritrean troops kill, rape, loot in Tigray". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
2. ^ "Eritreans commit atrocities in Tigray region". Africanews. 2021-05-28. Archived from the original on 2021-08-13. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
3. ^ Mazurana, Dyan; Mekonen, Hayelom K.; Conley, Bridget; de Waal, Alex; Burns, Delia (2021-08-10). "What 'Rape as a Weapon of War' in Tigray Really Means". World Peace Foundation. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
4. ^ Associated Press, 26 January 2021: Witnesses: Eritrean soldiers loot, kill in Ethiopia’s Tigray
5. Tibebu, Israel (2021-11-03). "Report of the EHRC/OHCHR Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by all Parties to the Conflict in the Tigray Region of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" (PDF). EHRC, OHCHR. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-20.

External links

• World Peace Foundation: Starving Tigray

v t e Tigray war
Background	History History of Western Tigray Welkait question 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia Eritrean–Ethiopian War border conflict Elections in Ethiopia 2005 election / violence 2014–16 Oromo protests 2016–18 state of emergency Resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn Prelude Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present) 2018 Eritrea–Ethiopia summit Tripartite Agreement Formation of the Prosperity Party COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia Hachalu Hundessa riots 2020 Tigray regional election
Timeline	Northern Command attacks Battle of Humera Asmara rocket attacks Mekelle offensive Operation Alula TDF–OLA joint offensive 2021–2022 Ethiopian state of emergency ENDF National Unity Offensive Battle of Shire
Impact	Reactions 2021 Ethiopian general election Spillover Sudan 2022 al-Shabaab invasion of Ethiopia
Peace process	Overview Ethiopia–Tigray peace agreement Interim Administration
Groups	Key actors Ethiopian federal government  Eritrea Involvement  Tigray / TPLF  Amhara  Afar Institutions Ethiopian National Defense Force Transitional Government of Tigray Tigray Defense Forces Eritrean Defence Forces Militias Fano UFEFCF Human rights organisations EHRC Inquiry Board Non-state EHRCO ERCS HRCE Seb Hidri Yikono
Human rights	Casualties Casualties of the Tigray war Discrimination Ethnic profiling Internment camps War crimes Massacres 2020 Mai Kadra Humera Adigrat Zalambessa Dengelat 1st Wukro Hitsats 1st Mekelle Axum Goda Hagere Selam Ziban Gedena Gijet 2021 Bora Debano Mahbere Dego 2nd Wukro Kola Tembien Zamr Gira Aras Guh Togoga Galikoma Chenna Kobo 2nd Mekelle Kombolcha 2022 Dedebit Berhale 3rd Mekelle Adi Daero Sexual violence Hawzen Destruction of Heritage Aksum Debre Damo Negash mosque Predictions of a genocide in Ethiopia Refugees/IDPs Hamdayet (Ethiopians) Refoulement of Eritrean refugees Shire Food Famine in northern Ethiopia (2020–present) Investigations ACHPR Tigray investigation EHRC–OHCHR Tigray investigation ICHREE
Category / Commons

13°58′47″N 39°25′46″E / 13.97967°N 39.42942°E / 13.97967; 39.42942

• 2020 in Ethiopia
• 2020 massacres of the Tigray War
• Massacres committed by Eritrea
• Mass murder in 2020
• Hawzen
• Tigray War by location
• Sexual violence in the Tigray War
• Looting in the Tigray War
• Wartime attacks on hospitals in Africa
• Attacks on hospitals in Ethiopia