Ethiopian troops “executed” assistants in the tiger conflict, says MSF employee

Ethiopian government forces have “executed” three Médecins Sans Frontères (MSF) medical staff while they were on a humanitarian mission in the North Tigrai war in Ethiopia, a senior MSF official told BBC.

Raquel Iorah’s comments came when MSF released his discoveries about what he called “deliberately and aimed” murder of the three – Spanish national and two Ethiopians – in the midst of the current conflict in Tigrai.

“They were executed,” said G -Ja Iorah, CEO of MSF Spain. “They were facing their attackers (s) were shot at very close distances … several times.”

The BBC asks the Ethiopian government to respond to the claim.

MSF said it released its findings because the government failed to provide a “reliable account” of death, despite 20 face -to -face meetings in the last four years.

Thirty-five-year-old Spaniard Maria Hernandez Matas, along with 32-year-old Johannes Halefom, and 31-year-old Tedros Gremariam, were killed on June 24, 2021 while traveling to Central Tigrai to evaluate medical needs.

“They were very professional and passionate,” G -Ja Iorah told the BBC.

She added that the three were fully identified in the MSF vests and their vehicle had the charity flag on both sides when they were shot.

“So, they (Ethiopian troops) knew that they were killing humanitarian care workers,” she said, adding that the team travel was also shared in advance with combat groups.

Tigrai’s conflict broke out in 2020 after a mass drop between the regional and the federal government, with neighboring Eritrea entering the war on the Ethiopian national defense forces (Endf).

The conflict ended two years later after a peaceful deal, mediated by the African Union (AU). Her messenger, former Nigerian President Olusigun Obasandju, set the number of people who died in the conflict of about 600,000.

Researchers said death was caused by struggle, hunger and lack of health care.

The killings took place at a time when the conflict was intensifying, and the Ethiopian and Eritrean troops became increasingly aid to assistants to aid in the region, the MSF report said.

Ma Matas worked in Tigrai before the war and was “very loved” by the people in the region, said G -Ja Iorah.

Her death is particularly devastating to her mother as she was her only child, MSF added.

D -Tedros was killed shortly after his wife gave birth to a girl. The widow called him baby Maria after his murderer Spanish colleague of her father, said G -n -Aorah.

The bodies of G -Ja Matas and G -n Johannes were found between 100 m (300 feet) and 400 m of the remains of their vehicle.

The body of G -n Tedros, the driver, is found by the vehicle. “In accordance with the MSF travel policy, the driver remains close to the vehicle,” said Gia Iorah.

The vehicle has been shot repeatedly and has burned down the main road from the city of Abby Adi to Jehila, said G -Ja Iorah.

D -Matas and G -n Johannes went when they were shot, she said, adding, “We don’t know if they were called for questioning or decided to commit to the soldiers.”

MSF said it relied on satellite images, witnesses and publicly available information about the movements of the Ethiopian military during the killings to draw their own conclusions.

The investigation was put by the Ethiopian troops in the “exact place” where the killings occurred, the charity added.

The MSF report cites witnesses, saying that they exceed an employee informing the local commander of an approaching white car and the commander who gives a shooting order.

Moments later, the commander was informed that the soldiers had tried to shoot, but the car turned to Abby Adi and had stopped, at which point the commander gave the order to “go and catch them” and “remove”, the report said.

Mrs. Iorah told the BBC that employees of the Ethiopia Ministry of Justice had verbally informed MSF in mid-2022 that their preliminary investigation shows that government troops were not at the scene of the murder.

However, the officials refused to give this in writing and the charity continued to commit to the government in order to end the “impunity” at a time when an increasing number of aid workers were killed in conflicts around the world, said Iorah.