On 2 March 2021 a Facebook post by the name 𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 (a page with 23,972 followers) shared an image that shows numerous military vehicles and troops with the claim that Sudanese army triumphed over Amhara militias troops [special police force] and are marching to fully control the[ir] territories that border Amhara region. The text which is written in Amharic reads “ Breaking news: well known media outlets are saying that the Sudanese army is triumphing over the Amhara militias and troops. The Sudanese soldiers said that they are marching to fully control territories that border the Amhara [regional state]…” However, HaqCheck has interrogated the claim and confirmed that the image below doesn’t show Sudanese troops triumphing over Amhara regional forces. Therefore, HaqCheck has rendered the post as FALSE due to the usage of inaccurate image to support the claim.
Granted, there have been armed clashes around the Ethio-Sudanese border since recently. The Sudan Armed Forces stated that they reclaimed territory in the Salam Bir and Mahaj areas in El Gedaref from the Ethiopian army and armed militias. On 31 December 2020 Omar Qamareddine, Sudanese foreign minister, declared restoration and full control over all territories along the Ethio-Sudanese border that had been taken over by Ethiopian farmers. The countries have been in talks and negotiations to settle the issue and demarcate the boundary in spite of it being in vain.
It is in this context that the image was shared claiming the Sudanese army is defeating the Amhara regional forces and is marching to fully control the remaining territories. However, a reverse image search of the picture used in the Facebook post doesn’t prove the claim. The image was first posted on Backer News, an Arabic news outlet on 21 December 2020 with a story that the Sudanese Armed Forces had retaken three towns from Ethiopian militias on the Ethio-Sudanese borders. The original post related to the image can be with the following link.
It is true that there have been armed conflicts along the border areas between Ethiopian and Sudanese forces. However, HaqCheck has interrogated the claim and confirmed that the image below doesn’t show the Sudanese army smashing the Amhara regional forces and marching to fully control the claimed territories that borders the Amhara regional state, therefore, rendering the post as FALSE due to the usage of inaccurate image to support the claim.
Fact Checked by: Hagos Gebreamlak
This article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking initiative, which is run by its R&D Department.
A Facebook post by a Facebook user named Dereje AReda Teshome (with more than 20,200 followers) was made showing the picture of Prime minister Abiy Ahmed visiting Jawar Mohamed at a hospital, with a caption written in Amharic that reads “The man is Humble… the one that is being visited.” It also adds a satirical comment about the picture saying, “Why is his arms darker, Was he beaten up?”. HaqCheck has interrogated the post and confirmed that the picture doesn’t show Jawar Mohamed on a hospital bed, therefore rated it as ALTERED.
There are reports that Jawar Mohamed, Bekele Gerba and others are on a hunger strike since 27 January 2021. The purpose of the strike is mainly to ask the government to release all Oromo political prisoners, allow Oromo political party offices to be opened and operate fully, and demand that the mistreatment and imprisonment of the visitors and relatives who attend their hearings and visit them in prison. According to the statement by Oromo Political Prisoners Defense Team on 3 March 2021, the prisoners were on the 35th day of their hunger strike and they are all in critical condition, leading them to be taken to Landmark General Hospital, a private health care center, on 2 March 2021 after the Federal supreme court granted them access to private medical facility on 1 March 2021.
However, a reverse image search of the picture shows that the picture was taken on 06 December 2020, while the Prime minister was visiting members of the Defense Forces who were wounded and hospitalized in the conflict in Tigray. The original picture shows a picture of the Prime minister with an injured Defense force member. It was also published on Fana broadcasting corporate, Afan Oromo website and can be found by the following link
Original Picture
Altered Picture
Despite there being reports that Jawar Mohamed was taken to hospital due to his critical condition, HaqCheck has interrogated the post and confirmed that the picture doesn’t show Jawar Mohamed on a hospital bed and being visited by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, therefore rated it as ALTERED.
Fact Checked by: Rehobot Ayalew
The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)
Isaias Afwerki, president of Eritrea conducted an interview with the state broadcasters Eri-Tv and Dimtsi Hafash Eritrea Radio two weeks ago. He raised domestic, regional and global issues in his two hours interview.
Isaias Afwerki, president of Eritrea, conducting interview with Eri-Tv and Dimtsi Hafash Eritrea Radio, February 17, 2021 (Image source link)
He talked about the ongoing situation in Ethiopia. He elaborated the deep-rooted problems of Ethiopia. Isaias stated that the root cause to the current instability in Ethiopia goes to the times Tigray people Liberation Front(TPLF) came to power and crafted divisive systems, which he calls toxic to the broader region.
He said that Meles Zenawi, the late prime minister and Chairman of TPLF, gave him the 1995 draft constitution and asked him for a comment. “Where I read the first version of the constitution, a danger signal came to my mind again and again and then I told Meles that the constitution wouldn’t benefit the Ethiopian people”, Isaias said. He claimed that using divide and rule policy and methodologies, TPLF had been manipulating the whole country for its narrow group interest. Isaias criticized the article 39 and the overall spirit and intention of the FDRE constitution that could balkanize the state and destabilize the region.
The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, being the boss and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a junior partner dismantled the Derg regime in 1991. Soon after, the then transitional government which mainly comprised TPLF and the Oromo Liberation Front(TPLF) crafted a constitution in 1995.
The constitution established the Ethiopian federation and created nine regional national states based on lingual and ethnic cleavages. It further gives (Article 39 of the FDRE Constitution) the nations, nationalities and peoples of the federation the right of self determination up to secession.
This, according to Isaias, brought tribalism and ethnic division (he always calls it vertical polarization) and followed by instabilities here and there. He added that for the past 30 years toxic ethnic division and extremism, a trend and patterns that also occurred in Somalia, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, and Sudan had been allowed to flourish by TPLF across the country.
The ruling party, EPRDF underwent a reform following recurrent protests across the country and prime minister Abiy Ahmed came to power. The PM then declared its readiness for peace and cooperation between Ethiopia and Eritrea after the two decades of no war, no peace situation. He also made clear that Ethiopia would fully accept and implement the Algiers pact signed after the bloody border war in 1998 to 2000. Isaias said that this initiative of peace and cooperation between Asmara and Addis Ababa frustrated and made TPLF unhappy.
The president explained that after the TPLF lost its power and dominance by popular uprising in 2018 it had been undergoing military preparations so that it would come back to its previous position of power in the capital and regime change in Asmera as its second plan.
Isaias told the journalists that PM Abiy had pleaded with him several times to meet Debretsion, the former president of Tigray but he explained he didn’t have the appetite to do so. At the end of the day, he said, he agreed to meet and talk to Debretsion in Omhajer and asked him why they were preparing the war. Thereafter, Isaias said that they had been closely watching out the situation and political developments in Tigray and Ethiopia including the regional elections conducted by TPLF to declare the federal government unelected and illegitimate.
Asked by the journalists about the ongoing border dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan, he said that it shouldn’t be considered a priority and urgent issue by both of them. He said that his government is following up the developments regarding the discord, which according to him can provoke instability in the region and recommended it should be solved without the involvement of third parties especially global and regional hegemonies. It will be very disruptive to both countries as they are in transition and to the region if other actors are involved in the border discord. He said “they should solve their internal problems first”.
He added, clarifying Eritrea’s principles of foreign policy being realizing power balance in the neighborhood, that instability in the region will directly or indirectly affect Eritrea and his government is working towards creating a common ground and situation for cooperation among the countries in the region. “Instability always emanates from power imbalance”, he said.
He always says that the African states were created by artificial boundaries by European colonial powers to serve their strategic national interest. These artificial states, according to Isaias, have been dominated by outside powers due to they are too heterogenous to be easily divided.
Isaias openly says that the multinational states in the region should undergo a nation-building project to make themselves nation-states so that they would be viable for economic development and democracy after generations. He also recommends cooperation and integration in the region to prevent or reduce dominance and influence from ‘neocolonial’ powers. During his two hours interview, Isaias spent more than two-third of the time talking about the political developments in the region.
On 16 February 2021 a facebook post was shared by the account ሰይፈ ሳሚ (a personal blog with over 3,940 followers) sharing the image below with the claim that a helicopter of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) was shot down by Tigrian forces around Mekelle. The text which is written in Amharic reads “….a battle in Adi Keih, 30km south of Mekelle was finalised with the victory by the Tigray Defense Force. Out of the four helicopters [of the Ethiopian Air Force] that took part in the battle only two skipped shooting (the two were shot down…” The post went viral on facebook and more than 314 accounts have shared it. However, Haqcheck interrogated the case and confirmed that the picture doesn’t show a helicopter of the Ethiopian Air Force shot down by Tigray special police force in Adi Keih, around Mekelle, and rated it FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate image to support the claim.
Since 4 November 2020 there has been armed fighting between the TPLF-led regional forces and Federal government-led forces in Tigray. The federal government has controlled the regional capital city, Mekelle on 28 November 2020. It has also recently announced that it was rapidly capturing senior civil and military officers of the TPLF. Some of the senior civil and military leaders of the TPLF-led force have also been arrested. But instabilities remain in the region during the post-conflict period. But, there have been unproven reports and speculations of fresh armed fighting in the heartland areas of Tigray, Tenben, Eerie, Tekeze and surroundings.
It is in this context that the post was shared by the user making strong allegations that helicopters were shot by TPLF-led forces during the claimed recent conflict in Adi Keih, Tigray. However a reverse image search of the picture used in the post doesn’t prove the claim. The image was first published on 10 January 2021 on the website of Radio Tamazuj, a South Sudan broadcaster. The image shows a military helicopter Mi 17 crashed in Cueibet, a town in South Sudan and 11 people were injured. The original post can be accessed with the following link.
Granted, there are claims of fresh battles between forces in Tigray while the government announced the war is over and is hunting TPLF criminal cliques. However, HaqCheck has interrogated the post and confirmed that the image doesn’t show a military helicopter of the Ethiopian Army shot down by Tigray forces in Adi Keih recently and therefore rated it as FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate image.
Fact Checked by: Hagos Gebreamlak
Edited by: Bruck Negash Teame
The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)
On 12 February 2021 a Facebook user named Wondye Yalew made a Facebook post in a public Facebook group, named ሰበር- ዜና -as in Breaking News-, with more than 157,000 members claiming that Getachew Reda and Debretsion G/michael are found dead also adding a telegram channel link to find the whole video. However, HaqCheck interrogated the post and confirmed that the picture doesn’t show a dead body of Debretsion G/michael and Getachew Reda and rated it FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate image.
Since 4 November 2020, there has been armed fighting between the TPLF-led regional forces and Federal government-led forces in Tigray. The federal government has controlled the regional capital city, Mekelle on 28 November 2020. It has also recently announced that it was rapidly capturing senior civil and military officers of the TPLF. Some of the senior civil and military leaders of the TPLF-led force have also been arrested. Some of them include influential members of the TPLF, Sebhat Nega, former President Abay Woldu, Deputy President of the Tigray Regional State Abrham Tekeste (PHD), and others. On 14 January 2021 ENDF gave a statement saying three TPLF officials, Abay Tsehaye- TPLF political leader, Seyoum Mesfin- former foreign minister, and Asmelash Woldeselassie- a member of the executive committee of the TPLF, and other former military members were killed.
However a reverse image search of the picture shows that the image was first published on 3 March, 2020 by Army times – a source for news and information concerning the military community- on an article written about training casualty, with a caption saying “A flight paramedic receives urgent surgical patients during a training exercise on Jan. 27, 2020.” The picture was taken by Sgt. 1st Class Garrick W. Morgenweck – a U.S. army photographer.
There is also a telegram link attached with a saying “the full video can be found in the link”, But the so called video or any file related to the claim can not be found in the telegram channel.
Despite there are TPLF leaders that had been captured and killed, there is still no information about the whereabouts and the conditions of Getachew Reda and Debretsion G/michael, And HaqCheck confirmed that the pictures don’t show a dead body of Getachew Reda and Debretsion G/michael therefore rendering the post FALSE due to inaccurate usage of the picture to support the claim.
Fact Checked by: Rehobot Ayalew
Edited by: Bruck Negash Teame
The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)
On 12 February 2021 a Facebook post was shared by the account Gonder tube/ጎንደር (a page with over 141,693 followers) sharing the image of the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn with the claim that he warned the Oromia Prosperity Party during an interview with CJTN also asking friends to share it. The text which is written in Amharic reads “…. His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn warned the Oromia Prosperity Party [OPP] during an interview with CJTN. He said ‘OPP should learn from TPLF. The fact that OPP hasn’t understood is that neither Jawar [Mohammed] nor the Qeero movement had any role in my resignation from the premiership. I resigned because of the struggle of the Amhara people against TPLF’…” However, HaqCheck interrogated the case and confirmed that the ex-PM Hailemariam didn’t warn Oromia Prosperity Party nor conducted an interview with CJTN recently. Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post FALSE due to the false reference to support the claim.
Since the end of the Derg regime in 1991 the EPRDF coalition/party ruled Ethiopia for over two decades. TPLF had been the dominant within the coalition and governed the country with an iron fist until 2018. After the death of the former PM Meles Zenawi and economic decline popular uprisings occurred across the country. One of the architects and leaders of the anti-government mass protests Jawar Mohammed organized an Oromo Youth Organization locally called Qeero, successfully forcing the government to adopt reforms in many sectors. Shortly after these movements former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned to be replaced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali (PHD) in April 2018.
In 2019 the EPRDF became one party and changed its name to Prosperity Party. TPLF declined invitations to join the party and pushed back to its constituency; the Tigray national regional state. Since the attacks on the Northern Command on 4 November 2020 there has been armed fighting between the TPLF-led regional forces and Federal government-led forces in Tigray. The federal government-led forces dismantled the core leadership of the TPLf-affiliated force nevertheless of fighting and following instability continuing in Tigray.
It is in this context that the post was shared by the user claiming that the former prime minister warned the Oromia Prosperity Party. The post became viral on Facebook and has been shared by over 147 accounts at the time this article was written. However the former prime minister has not conducted an interview with CJTN recently. An investigation of all platforms of the media outlet also shows that the former prime minister has not given any video or written interview warning the Oromia Prosperity Party. In fact he wrote an opinion article on the Foreign Policy regarding the ongoing armed conflict between the federal government and TPLF forces.
Therefore, HaqCheck has confirmed that the former Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn hasn’t warned the Oromia Prosperity Party and thus rated the post FALSE due to the false reference used to support his claim.
Fact Checked by: Hagos Gebreamlak
Edited by: Bruck Negash Teame
The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)
On 07 February 2021 a facebook post was shared by an account named Solomon Tekaligne (an account with 62,865 followers) with the image below and the claim that the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported that Sudan started education in the territories recently restored from Ethiopian armed forces (Gonder) in Arabic and also added that as well as building mosques and hospitals in the area. The same account on 06 February 2021 also shared images with the claim that the Sudanese army had seized Armachiho and 1,800 people had been displaced from the area as a result. However, HaqCheck interrogated the case and confirmed that the Sudan News Agency had not reported the start of education in Arabic in the claimed territories near Gonder or built mosques and hospitals in the area. It also confirmed that the pictures don’t show Sudan controlled Armachiho. Therefore, HaqCheck rated the posts FALSE due to the usage of inaccurate images and false citation to support the claim.
Claim One: Sudan has started education in Arabic and built mosques and hospitals in the recently occupied area near Gondar (6 February 2021)
Claim Two: Sudanese forces have reached Armachiho as well as displacing over 1,800 Ethiopians in the region. (7 February 2021)
Granted, there have been armed clashes around the Ethio-Sudanese border since the beginning of November. It is also true that the Sudanese Armed Forces announced that they reclaimed territory in the Salam Bir and Mahaj areas in El Gedaref from the Ethiopian army and armed militias following these clashes. On 31 December 2020 Omar Qamareddine, Sudanese foreign minister declared restoration and full control over all territories along the Ethio-Sudanese border that had been taken over by Ethiopian farmers. The countries have been in talks and negotiations to settle the issue and demarcate the boundary in spite of it being in vain with the Ethiopian government’s call for respecting the international borders falling on deaf ears thus far.
It is in this context that the posts were shared by the user claiming that Sudan began education in the claimed territories in Arabic, building mosques and hospitals, and has controlled Armachiho displacing over 1,800 people in the process. However a reverse image search of the pictures used in the post don’t prove the claim. The recent post also appeals to have a false citation. The image in the second post is simply a photoshop with Sudanese flag. The original picture is found here.
In addition to this, neither the first image nor the second image used in the first post show Sudan seizing the area known as Armachiho. The first image was first published by Aljazeera on June 18, 2019 and shows Sudan Rapid Support Forces (RSF) troops guarding Lt. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy head of the military council during a meeting in Khartoum on June 18, 2019. The original post can be accessed with the following link.
The second image was first posted in Getty Images website on 14 January 2020 and shows Sudanese soldiers blocking roads in Khartoum, during a protest. The original image can be accessed with the following link.
It is true that there have been armed conflicts along the border areas between Ethiopian and Sudanese forces. However, HaqCheck has interrogated the claims and confirmed that the images and the false reference to SUNA’s report don’t prove Sudan controlled Armachiho, started school in Arabic in the claimed territories, and built mosques and hospitals. Therefore, HaqCheck rated the posts FALSE due to the usage of inaccurate images and false reference to support the claim.
Fact Checked by: Hagos Gebreamlak
Edited by: Bruck Negash Teame
The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)
On 29 January 2020 a facebook post was shared by the account ለንቂጥ ዳዕሮዒራ ዘብሔረ አክሱም ሀገረ ትግራይ (a personal blog with 3,569 followers) sharing the image below with the claim that the TPLF-led forces are defeating during the ongoing armed conflict. The text which is written in Amharic reads “…. the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies opened an attack which they called a final offensive from the direction of Shire, Wukro Maray, Tenben, and Fiyelwiha and they themselves are being defeated.” However, HaqCheck interrogated the case and confirmed that the picture doesn’t show the TPLF-led forces are defeating the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies, and rated it FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate image to support the claim.
Since 4 November 2020 there has been armed fighting between the TPLF-led regional forces and Federal government-led forces in Tigray. The federal government has controlled the regional capital city, Mekelle on 28 November 2020. It has also recently announced that it was rapidly capturing senior civil and military officers of the TPLF. Some of the senior civil and military leaders of the TPLF-led force have also been arrested. But instabilities remain in the region during the post-conflict period. There have also been allegations of Eritrean army involvement in the war.
It is in this context that the post was shared by the user that the TPLF-led Tigray forces are triumphing over the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies in central Tigray. However a reverse image search of the picture used in the post doesn’t prove the claim. The image was first published on Facebook on March 02, 2020 by a user named Codka Shacabka with information related to armed clashes between the Somali Federal Army and Jubaland Regional Army in Beled Hawo, a town which borders Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. However, it didn’t state to which party does the image belong to. The original post can be accessed with the following link.
Granted, there are unproven reports of battles continuing in remote parts of Tigray and former TPLF leaders are indeed being captured at the time the facebook post was shared. However, HaqCheck has interrogated the post and confirmed that the image doesn’t show the TPLF-led armed forces are defeating Eritrean and Ethiopian armies and therefore rated it as FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate image.
Fact Checked by: Hagos Gebreamlak
Edited by: Bruck Negash Teame
The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)
On 01 February 2021 a facebook post by the name ለንቂጥ ዳዕሮዒራ ዘብሔረ አክሱም ሀገረ ትግራይ (a personal blog with 3,564 followers) shared the image below with the claim that 298 Eritrean soldiers were recently wounded during the ongoing armed conflict in Tigray on 17 january 2021and were sent back to Eritrea, Barentu camp. However, HaqCheck has interrogated the post and confirmed that the picture doesn’t show Eritrean troops wounded in Tigray and rated it as FALSE due to the usage of an inaccurate image.
Since 4 November 2020 there has been armed fighting between TPLF-led regional forces and Federal government-led forces in Tigray. There have also been claims that the Eritrean army has been involved in the ongoing military operation in Tigray supporting the Ethiopian federal government. Many, on various social media platforms have been claiming the TPLF-led forces are defeating Eritrean and Ethiopian armies.
In this context, the facebook post emerged claiming that 298 Eritrean soldiers were wounded in Tigray and sent back to Eritrea. However, a google reverse image search of the picture shows that the image doesn’t support the claim. The image shows Eritrean troops captured during the 1998 Eritrean-Ethiopian border war and were photographed at an undisclosed camp for prisoners of war. It was first published on IOL, a digital media outlet on 9 October 2012 along with a news article that Ethiopia 75 Eritrean prisoners of war captured during the war. The original post related to the image can be accessed with the following link.
Granted, there have been unconfirmed allegations that the TPLF-led forces are triumphing against the Eritrean and Ethiopian forces in the Tigray Regional State. There is also a claim that Eritrean troops partook in the ongoing war, despite there being no concrete evidence . However, HaqCheck has interrogated the post and confirmed that the image doesn’t show Eritrean soldiers wounded during the ongoing armed conflict in Tigray, therefore rating the post as FALSE due to inaccurate usage of the image.
Fact Checked by: Hagos Gebreamlak
Edited by: Bruck Negash Teame
The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking initiative, which is run by its R&D Department.
On 01 February 2020 a facebook post emerged from the account Hadith Mahmood which shared an image of the Ethiopian and Myanmarese prime ministers Abiy Ahmed and Aung San Suu Kyi respectively with the claim that they were awarded Nobel Peace Prizes and later committed war crimes. The post which is written in Amharic reads “These two Nobel Peace prize winners immediately transformed themselves to dictators. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese PM has now been detained due to the war crime she committed and there is no doubt that the Ethiopian Prime Minister will face the fate of his Myanmarese counterpart for the war crimes he committed.”
Aung San Suu Kyi had been serving as the Prime Minister of Myanmar since 2016 till her detention days ago. She also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non violent movement during the reign of the military regime.
The Burmese PM is now under detention by the military since 01 February 2021 and many are referring to it as a coup d’etat attempt on the peace prize winning prime minister. She was criticized for her silence during the persecution and massive displacement of the Rohingya people, a Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar back in 2017. Her critics had called for the revocation of the Prize. She said that she didn’t know whether the Rohingya people are citizens of Myanmar and denied that they were targeted of ethnic cleansing in contrast to the allegations. Aung San Suu Kyi stated that not only the Muslim Rohingyas but also other ethnic groups had also been victims of the inter-communal violence.
Kyi is now arrested and the military declared a state of emergency for a period of one year. The military accused Aung San Suu Kyi of fraud during the recently conducted national election which was held on 08 November 2021. Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won the general election by 80%. However, the military declared that her party’s victory was fraudulent and deposed her and the entire civil government as a result.
Many statesmen are condemning the coup by the military and calling for her immediate release. The US president, Joe Biden stated that his administration will put sanctions against the military for the coup. In a statement he gave on the recent developments, the recently inaugurated president said “The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action.” The Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson condemned military takeover of power and called for the respect of democracy and release of all captured civilians.
There has been an armed conflict between the TPLF-led regional forces and Federal government-led forces and following instabilities in Tigray since 4 November 2020. Many have been fleeting to Sudan and other areas escaping the war in Tigray. There have also been allegations of war crimes amid the war. The UN called inquiry into these unconfirmed reports. However the allegations of war crimes have not been interrogated and confirmed by any independent organization/party.
It is in this context that the facebook post was shared which claims she was arrested because she commited war crimes. However, her arrest and deposition has nothing to do with allegations of war crimes. It’s rather discord between her government and the military force of the country. She has been arrested by the military several times during her early activism and when she was prime minister.
Fact Checked by: Hagos Gebreamlak
Edited by: Bruck Negash Teame
The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)
