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STARVATION OF CIVILIANS BEING USED AS A METHOD OF WARFARE: THE TIGRAYAN CRISIS IN ETHIOPIA

This article has been authored by Anjali Kumari , a third year student of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab.



Background:

Tigray is in the northernmost region of Ethiopia. It consists of the country’s approximate 7 million ethnic Tigarayans, and around 6% of Ethiopia’s population, hence it has a profound impact on the national affairs of the country. Ethiopia’s army is the most effective in the Horn of Africa, and the reason behind the same is that it shares the borders with the Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest sea routes. The roots of the Tigrayan crisis dates back to 1994 when Ethiopia had the federal form of government in which various ethnic groups governed the ten regions. The Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) played a major role in settling up the system. It leadthe four-party coalition that exercised control over Ethiopia from 1991 when the military regime came to an end. During the tenure of the coalition, Ethiopia became more affluent and prosperous but frequently concerns were raised on the form of government and human rights. In the due course, the discontentment led to protest, ultimately causing a government reshuffle that saw Abiy Ahmed as the new Prime Minister of Ethiopia. He formed his political party known as Prosperity Party and ousted the stalwarts of the Tigrayan government onthe charges of corruption, and repression. On the other hand, he ended the long-standing territorial dispute with neighbouring Eritrea, bagging him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. He became popular, but it cause unease among the critics. TPLF was sidelined by Abiy’s government at the national level and was accused of disseminating ethnic violence to cause tensions in Ethiopia.


The Political Tension:

Abiy Ahmed promised to conduct the first democratic elections last summer but quotingthe COVID-19 pandemic, he postponed them. TPLF said that postponement of election is just an unconstitutional means of extending the tenure of a presidential term. As a result, the group conducted its regional elections and assured a decisive win. Abiy’s government declared this election illegal. The rift increased when the government suspended funding for Tigray and cut all the ties in October. Eventually, the conflict reached its pinnacle when Tigrayan forces were accused of stealing weapons from the army bases. On 4th November 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a coordinated military attack on its own state, and in the process, Ethiopian National Defense Forces captured many of Tigray’s main cities and the regional capital, Mekele, whichconstitutes a population of half-a-million. Abiy announced that the main phase of the conflict is over, but TPLF still governs large parts of Ethiopia. Ethiopia has said, “it is waging a final offensive against the group."


Starvation – A Strategic Weapon of War:

Starvation has been remerged as a method of warfare, popularly known as the man-made famine where the essential commodities indispensable for the survival of human beings are deprived intentionally. Moreover, the ‘starvation crime’ is used as an umbrella term that encompasses a range of criminal acts prohibited under various conventions and acts including International Humanitarian Law, Geneva Conventions, and International Criminal Law. It has catastrophic humanitarian consequences on the citizens, therefore the government uses starvation as a tool to punish the opposite non-aligning political communities.Tigray was already home to about 100,000 Eritrean refugees before the conflict began.Many people in Tigray were already worried about hunger and food instability, but the Ethiopian government has made matters worse by canceling aid, shutting down roads, and closing airports. Ethiopia is facing its biggest locust infestation in 25 years and more than 200,000 hectares of agriculture have already been devastated since January. At least 600,000 Tigrayans experienced severe food insecurity before the conflict, necessitating humanitarian aid. The United Nations has warned that the fighting could result in the displacement of as many as 9 million people.

Adding to Ethiopia's humanitarian dilemma, migrants migrating to Sudan risk triggering a regional conflict. Over 40,000 refugees have already entered Sudan, nearly half of whom are children, and UN agencies estimate that another 200,000 could arrive in the next six months. Thousands of refugees continue to arrive everyday in Sudan's refugee camps, causing food shortages. Even though Starvation is criminalized and it terribly costs human life, there has yet to be prosecution of starvation on the international level. IHL is more focused on those direct atrocities crime, but it is high time that after witnessing the horrors in Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and very recently in Tigray that we equally pay attention to making more stringent laws that revolve around starvation so that it cannot be used as a method to aggravate the sufferings of the civilians.


Ethiopian Crisis and International Humanitarian Law:

The rules of war, often known as international humanitarian law, distinguish between international and non-international armed conflicts. Non-international armed conflicts must meet three criteria: I) There must be an excessive amount of violence or a sufficient level of intensity in hostilities between the parties, as measured by the number of weapons involved and other variables. II) Government troops or one or more non-state armed groups, or two or more non-state armed groups, must carry out the violence. III) In order to be designated "party" to the conflict under international law, armed groups must demonstrate sufficient organization and control to sustain combat operations while conforming to international humanitarian law.Although Eritrea is involved in the whole crisis but the fighting does not involve two different states in the armed conflict, hence will not fall into the arena of international armed conflict. The TPLF works under a recognized command structure, and has exhibited the capability of effective governance over the territory, and has access to weaponry that can expand the military operations and sustain hostilities. Reports and statements clearly mentioned the hostilities and violence has reached to a sufficient degree enough to be called the armed conflict, planned military attacks on regions of Tigray, damages to towns and infrastructure, massive issue of food shortage, and numbers of Ethiopia fleeing to neighboring Sudanare now common sights in Tigray. TPLF forces have used the forces to attack at different sites in the neighboring regions of Eritrea and the Amhara region. The Ethiopian government in retaliation has threatened to use a variety of weapons such as tanks and artillery in Tigray.


The Ethiopian government and Amhara regional forces and militia on one side, and TPLF forces and regional militia on the other, are engaged in a non-international military confrontation. The Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention of 1949, which established minimum requirements for all parties to a non-international armed conflict, is one of the most well-known treaties. Ethiopia is also a signatory to Geneva Conventions Protocol II, which protects civilians and combatants during non-violent international wars.Additionally, International Covenant on Social Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights binds the Ethiopian government to make sure that food, clean water, health, housing, and education are met even during times of emergency, and armed conflict. Furthermore, Additional Protocols of 1977, the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is not allowed under International Humanitarian Law and further criminalized under Customary International Law (CIL). Furthermore, Rules 54 and 55 of the IHL states that destroying goods that are significant for the survival of the civilian population, and also denying humanitarian relief to the needy, including the intentionally hindering humanitarian aid constitute war crimes as well.All parties to Ethiopia’s armed conflict ranging from the government to regional forces are responsible for complying with the requirements of International Humanitarian Law. The government must assure that some fundamental rights are non-compromising i.e, the rights of life, rights to a fair trial, no unlawful detention, and the duty to guarantee a fair judicial review, and the fact that emergency was declared on 4th Novembershould not be an excuse to restrict these rights through any means.


Conclusion

The statistics show a gloomy picture of the starvation in the Tigray, people have been suffering for a long time, and not getting relief from their very own government is working as a catalyst. People after considering the volatile situation are left with the option of taking refuge in other neighboring countries inflicting a major demographic issue. The starvation problem is deteriorating day by day in Tigray. Meanwhile many countries have labeled the present scenario as genocide citing the systematic violation of the citizen’s rights and ethnic cleansing in the region. The response of the government is a major concernespecially of the Prime Minister, who has failed miserably in preserving peace and took the path of violence as a means to consolidate his power in Ethiopia.

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