Articles : UMD Media: Historic Legal Action Against Senior Ethiopian and Eritrean Government and Military Officials Initiated in Germany Over Tigray War Atrocities

UMD Media: Historic Legal Action Against Senior Ethiopian and Eritrean Government and Military Officials Initiated in Germany Over Tigray War Atrocities

In a landmark move, eight survivors of the Tigray war in Ethiopia have filed a criminal complaint in Germany against 12 senior Ethiopian and Eritrean government and military officials, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity. This unprecedented legal action seeks to leverage Germany’s principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows for the prosecution of serious international crimes regardless of where they were committed.

The complainants, among them a former humanitarian aid worker and a former interim government official, have endured severe atrocities, including sexual violence, arbitrary detention, torture, and forced starvation. Denied justice in their home country, they now turn to the German Federal Public Prosecutor in hopes of accountability. Some of these survivors currently reside in Germany, underscoring the country’s jurisdictional mandate to pursue this case.

One survivor, Tsega (name changed for protection), shared his personal loss: “I’ve lost two of the most important people in my life in this war: my younger brother and my mom. The suffering and agony continue. We urgently need to bring to justice those who orchestrated and engineered these unimaginable crimes in Tigray.”

Read full article on UMD Media.