The process of releasing detainees during the war in Tigray, in northern Ethiopia, begins

The regional interim authority stresses that it is part of the peace agreement between the Government and the TPLF

19 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The interim authority established in the Ethiopian region of Tigray (north) within the framework of the peace process between the Government and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) has initiated the process of people arrested during the two years of conflict between November 2020 and November 2022.

The head of the Justice Office of the interim administration, Hadush Tesfa, has detailed in statements given to the Ethiopian newspaper ‘Addis Standard’ that the releases started on Monday and added that all of them were accused of violating the restrictions imposed within the framework of the Exception status.

It has also specified that among those released are several members of the provisional administration established by the Government after taking control of the capital of Tigray, Mekelle, after the outbreak of hostilities. These people were arrested by the TPLF after their return to the city and accused of collaborating with Addis Ababa.

In this sense, he said that some of those released are still under investigation, while others have already been charged or even convicted. In addition, he has stressed that those accused of murder, sexual violence or “cooperating with the Eritrean government” – which supported Ethiopia in its offensive against the TPLF – will not be released.

Hadush has explained that the decision to release these detainees is in line with the peace agreement reached in November 2022 between the Ethiopian Executive and the TPLF in the South African capital, Pretoria, while extolling that a specific figure will be given soon of beneficiaries, which could amount to more than 10,000, according to Tigrayan opposition groups.

The interim authority in Tigray, dependent on the Ethiopian government but with certain powers of autonomy – and headed by the TPLF spokesman, Getachew Reda -, has as its main objective the consolidation of supply routes to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid to the affected by the fighting, which would have left between 100,000 and 600,000 dead, according to unofficial estimates by Ethiopian officials and the African Union, respectively.

The conflict in Tigray erupted in November 2020 after an attack by the TPLF against the main base of the Ethiopian Army, located in Mekelle, after which the Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, ordered an offensive against the group after months of tensions at the political and administrative, including the TPLF’s refusal to recognize an electoral postponement and its decision to hold regional elections outside of Addis Ababa.

The TPLF accused Abiy of stoking tensions since he came to power in April 2018, when he became the first Oromo to take office. Until then, the TPLF had been the dominant force within the coalition that has ruled Ethiopia since 1991, the ethnically based Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The group opposed Abiy’s reforms, which it viewed as an attempt to undermine his influence.