Fact Checks

The picture in the post by the facebook profile Felmi Bar – which has 5,000 friends as of 7 December 2020 – does not show the Ethiopian National Defence Force’s operation in Tigray neither does it support the claim in the post written in Affaan Oromo and posted on the above profile on 7 December 2020. The post claims that the Federal government is looting and destroying infrustructures in the Tigray region before proposing that the government should be held accountable for this. HaqCheck has interrogated the pictures in the post to reach the conclusion that the first image was a FALSE image while the second one couldn’t be located anywhere. 

As can be seen from the image above, the page posted two pictures to support the above claim. The first one shows shots from heavy artillery tanks while the second picture depicts an individual wearing a military uniform trying to shoot a heavy artillery weapon. The user uses these pictures to support his claim that the Ethiopian National Defense force is destroying infrastructure using huge heavy artillery in the Tigray national regional state without specifically mentioning the exact place in the Region.

Granted, there is an ongoing conflict in the Tigray National Regional State between the ENDF and it’s the Amhara Special Police and Militia on one side and the Tigray Special Police and Militia on the other. There have also been scattered claims that the ENDF side was looting and destroying infrastructure in the  Tigray region, including from the Communications head of the TPLF Getachew Reda. However, amid the continuing network and internet blackout, there are no confirmed incidents of such looting in the region, including in the capital of the region, Mekelle. 

Image 1: Original Image 

Image 2:     Altered image  

A reverse image search of the image used by  the page Felmi Bar so as to support the claim that says the national defense forces were destroying infrastructure in Tigray region using heavy artillery doesn’t accurately show the reality. To the contrary the image was first posted by  Indian Ocean Newsletter on May 7,2011 showing the conflict between Ethiopia and its northern neighbour Eritrea during the Ethio-Eritrea war. No result appears for the first image in any of HaqCheck’s tools. 

It is true that there has been conflict in the region in which both warring parties have used heavy artilleries but HaqCheck has confirmed that the first photo used by the page in order to support the claim in the post, leading it to rate the above post as FALSE. 

Fact Checked by: Abdulahi Abdulakadir  

Edited by:  Bruck Negash  

The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)

Editor’s Note: 

The following article was published as part of Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking initiative. As the reconstruction of our website continues, Addis Zeybe would like its readers to note that it will be publishing fact checking articles on a permanent basis in five languages (Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English. Addis Zeye will also be publishing monthly pandemic impact assessment and human rights reports in the coming months.

On December 11, 2020 a facebook post was published by a facebook user named Selam Nkulu (an account with 3418 friends and 1337 followers) sharing the picture below of men who handle chopper billhook in their hands with the claim that the people in the image are responsible for the Mai Kadra massacre. The text – which is written in Amharic- translates to read “let the image be archived properly, these men [the six individuals in the picture] are among those who will be held accountable. The image shows who partook in the Mai Kadra massacre.” However, HaqCheck has confirmed that the picture below doesn’t show the realities during the Mai Kadra incident, rendering the verdict FALSE for the claim by the facebook user.

Granted, it is true that at the cusp of the current conflict on November 9 and 10 there were mass killings of civilians based on their ethnic identity with numbers as high as 600. The massacre of civilians was executed amidst armed conflict between the Federal government and the TPLF led Tigray special police and militia. According to the government, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and other international and local outlets, the attacks were jointly carried out by local authorities in Mai Kadra and an extremist group known as Samri which is made up of youth from Tigray. According to the preliminary study conducted by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (ECHR) over 600 civilians were killed during the massacre which was carried out on November 9 and 10, 2020. It is also true that according to the ECHR and Amnesty International, the perpetrators of the mass and gruesome killings in the Mai Kadra town used machetes, axes, sharp objects and ropes to claim lives of ethnic Amhara and Wolkait Ethiopians living in the town. Currently investigations are underway according to the ECHR, even though the Spokesperson of the State of Emergency in Tigray Task Force, Redwan Hussien said that no independent external investigation will be allowed on the Mai Kadra killings. 

Image 1: Altered Image

Image 2: Original Image (ebisa )

However, a reverse image search of the image that was posted by the facebook account indicates that the picture is not of the incident in Mai Kadra in which over 600 people were killed. The picture was published for the first time on twitter by the name ebisa on July 10, 2020. At the time, ebisa posted four images along with the above one with a text that reads “#Justice for Oromo people in [the] Empire of Ethiopia? #AbiyMustGo.” The post can be accessed using the following link. 

HaqCheck has interrogated the post and confirmed that the picture was not captured during the current crises in the northern part of the country and that it does not support the claim of the persons in the picture partook in the killing. Based on this HaqCheck has rated the above post as FALSE for posting the picture 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)

Editor’s Note: 

The following article was published as part of Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking initiative. As the reconstruction of our website continues, Addis Zeybe would like its readers to note that it will be publishing fact checking articles on a permanent basis in five languages (Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English. Addis Zeybe will also be publishing monthly pandemic impact assessment and human rights reports in the coming months.

FALSE:

On December 9, 2020 a facebook post was made by the account Dawit Enticho (with 5000 friends and 541 followers) sharing the picture below of a soldier drinking beverage in a bar with the claim that the person was the Prosperity Party’s (Ethiopian National Defence Force) soldier active in the operation currently. The text – which is written in Amharic- reads “this PP (Prosperity Party) soldier is enforcing law.” However, Haqcheck confirmed that the picture below doesn’t show that the soldier drinking is not in Tigray, rendering the verdict FALSE for the claim by the facebook page.

Granted, there is a conflict currently ongoing in the Tigray region between the Federal government and the TPLF led Tigray special police and militia since 4 November 2020. After nearly three weeks of fighting in the region, it was confirmed that the ENDF led Federal forces had assumed control of major cities in Tigray including Mekele, Shire, Adigrat, Axum and others. The Chairperson of the TPLF Debretsion Gebremichael (PHD) and the Spokesperson of the TPLF Getachew Reda have also admitted that the TPLF leadership and special police had withdrawn from Mekele in order to mitigate the damage to the city. The Federal Police of Ethiopia and the ENDF also entered the city on 2 December 2020 consisting of a Special Commando and Criminal Investigation unit. Therefore, it is true that members of the ENDF and the Federal police are currently on duty in different cities of the Tigray Regional State. 

Image 1: Doctored Image 

Image 2: Original Image (Frank M. Gashumba)

However, a reverse image search of the image that was posted by the facebook account indicates that the picture is not of the ongoing military operation in Tigray. The picture was published for the first time on Facebook by the name Frank M. Gashumba, a Ugandan activist and blogger on November 20, 2020. At the time, Frank M. Gashumba had posted the image with a text that reads “Enforcing Covid-19″ SOP’s [standard operating procedure].” The post can be accessed using the following link. 

HaqCheck has interrogated the post and confirmed that the picture does not show that a soldier drinking in a bar is not in Tigray neither is the soldier embezzling people’s property in Tigray. Therefore, HaqCheck has rated the above post as FALSE for posting inaccurate information 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)

Editor’s Note: 

The following article was published as part of Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking initiative. As the reconstruction of our website continues, Addis Zeybe would like its readers to note that it will be publishing fact checking articles on a permanent basis in five languages (Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English. Addis Zeybe will also be publishing monthly pandemic impact assessment and human rights reports in the coming months.

The facebook post by the page Yenepost – a page with over 230,000 followers – had posted twelve pictures showing the situation of Tigrian refugees in Sudan with claims that the number of refugees had reached 50,000 by November 30 and that all the refugees in the camp weren’t women. Haqcheck has interrogated the post and concluded that while the latter claim was true the first claim about the number of refugees was false. 

Since the onset of the conflict in the Tigray region between the Ethiopian National Defence Forces and Amhara Regional Forces on November 4, 2020, thousands have fled to neighbouring Sudan. Since then, thousands of asylum seekers have crossed the border to neighbouring Sudan via border towns like Hamdayet, Lugdi and Abderafi. 

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed (PhD) while addressing the parliament on November 30, 2020 said that the Ethiopian refugees who fled to Sudan due to the war in Tigray are men and there are no women and children among the migrants. The first claim in the post about refugees in Sudan including women and children is true despite the claims of the Prime minister during the address to the parliament located here at 45:12. However, according to the UNHCR report issued on 2 December 2020, 43% of the refugees in Sudanese camps are women while 45% are under the age of 17. Therefore, HaqCheck has concluded that the claim in the facebook post stating that the assertion by the prime minister regarding that no women and children have sought refuge in Sudan Sudan is true because all of the refugees in Sudan are not male or adults. Only 57% are male and 55% are over the age of 18. 

However, the second claim in the post stating that the number of Ethiopian refugees had reached 50,000 as of 30 November 2020 (the date of the post) is not true. According to the UNHCR, the number of refugees in Sudan was 46,412 as of December 2, 2020 instead of 50,000. Therefore, HaqCheck has concluded that the second claim about the number of refugees reaching the above figure is false. 

After conflict broke out between the federal government and TPLF-led Tigray government thousands of people are migrating from Tigray and north-western parts of the country to Sudan. 

Reverse image searches of the images in the post show that the pictures are Ethiopian migrants who have fled the war in Tigray to Sudan. The eighth image was first published on the Washington Post on November 18, 2020. The tenth, eleventh and twelfth images were respectively  published in UNHCR, Aljazeera, and Darfur24 News Website and they show Ethiopian refugees in Sudan who fled the war in Tigray. The remaining pictures could not be located in any  of our fact checking tools. 

Image 8: Washington Post (After fleeing to Sudan, Ethiopians from Tigray recount brutal killings)

Image 10: UNHCR (Aid urgently needed for Ethiopians streaming into Sudan)

Image 11: Aljazeera  (In Pictures: Ethiopians fleeing war cross river into Sudan)

Image 12: Darfur24 News Website (Over 38 thousand Ethiopian refugees arrive in eastern Sudan)

Granted, there were women and children refugees in Sudan who have crossed the border due to the war in Tigray at the time the facebook post was shared. However, HaqCheck has interrogated the post and rated it as partly true due to the inaccuracy/exaggeration of the number of refugees in Sudan the post claims. 

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 runs in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)

Editor’s Note: 

The following article was published as part of Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking initiative. As the reconstruction of our website continues, Addis Zeybe would like its readers to note that it will be publishing fact checking articles on a permanent basis in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English. Addis Zeye will also be publishing monthly pandemic impact assessment and human rights reports in the coming months. 

The picture in the facebook post by Oromia Press (a page with 69,900 followers) used to support the claim that many citizens in the Tigray region were protesting against the Ethiopian National DefenceForce and the Federal forces do not show Tigrians protesting. Haqcheck has interrogated the post to find out that the picture was not representative of the situation in Tigray. 

The page posted a photo that shows people closing roads and burning a nearby building on December 3, 2020 claiming that people of the region came out to protest against the Federal army that took over the region following the conflict between National Defense Force and Regional Special force and militia.

Granted, due to the communications gap in the Tigray region since the onset of the conflict on 4 November 2020, a lot is not known about the situation in the region apart from information coming out of state owned mass media outlets, different regional media outlets and some international news platforms. The ENDF led federal forces supported by the Amhara special police and militia have announced that the capitol has fallen to the Federal forces on 29 November 2020. The TPLF leadership have told different outlets that the fighting is continuing in places near the capitol. The government has repeatedly said that the Tigray people are supportive of its operation in the region while the TPLF has repeatedly stated that lootings are happening in the region by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces. 

A reverse image search of the image used by Oromia Press shows that the image first appeared on the news outlet Africa Feeds (www.africfeeds.com) on 26 October 2019 which makes the claim false. Therefore, Haqcheck has concluded that the above image does not show the situation in the Tigray region or support the claim by the facebook page that there are protests in the Tigray region on 2 December 2020 giving it the verdict FALSE. 

Fact checked:  Abdulahi Abdulakdir 

Edited :          Bruk Negash 

The following article is part of HaqCheck, Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking running in five languages (Affan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English)

Editor’s Note: 

The following article was published as part of Addis Zeybe’s multilingual fact checking initiative. As the reconstruction of our website continues, Addis Zeybe would like its readers to note that it will be publishing fact checking articles on a permanent basis in five languages (Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Somali, Tigrinya and English. Addis Zeye will also be publishing monthly pandemic impact assessment and human rights reports in the coming months. 

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