MSF urges Ethiopia to clarify whether its army killed three NGO employees

Addis Ababa, 18 Mar Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has asked the Government of Ethiopia to respond to an investigation that holds its army responsible for the murder of three of its workers on 24 June last year in the northern region of Tigre, whose rebels are waging war with the central executive. In a statement sent to Efe late Thursday, MSF referred to information published that day by The New York Times on the death of Spaniard Maria Hernandez (35) and Ethiopians Tedros Gebremariam (31) and Yohannes Halefom (32). The report places responsibility for the killings on the Ethiopian National Defence Force (FDNE) and points to the direct involvement of one of its commanders. “We urge the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (RFDE) to respond to this report, which places responsibility for the murders of our colleagues on members of its military force, the FDNE,” said MSF president in Spain, Paula Gil. Gil stressed that the results of the NGO's internal analysis, “which have been shared with the Ethiopian authorities, could not confirm with certainty who the perpetrators were or their motives.” “We need clarity from all sides about what happened that terrible day and we will continue our bilateral contacts to obtain that information. The safety of humanitarian personnel providing medical care and assistance in Ethiopia urgently requires that appropriate measures be taken to prevent such tragic events from happening again,” the president added. The bodies of Hernández, MSF emergency coordinator in Tigre - in conflict with the central government since November 2020 -, assistant coordinator Yohannes and driver Tedros were found on June 25. The three were traveling on the 24th from the town of Abi Adi to the south of the region, after receiving information about a large number of injured people in the village of Shoate Egum, when the organization lost contact with them. Not only has MSF conducted its own investigations to reconstruct the event, but it has also met with the Ethiopian authorities to demand an investigation and has made the same requests to the insurgent Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigre (FPLT). The war broke out on November 4, 2020, when the Ethiopian government ordered an offensive against the FPLT, the political party that ruled the region, in retaliation for an attack on a federal military base and after an escalation of political tensions. Thousands of people have died and about two million people have had to leave their homes due to violence, according to the UN. CHIEF already-pa/ah