Eritrea Rejects Amnesty International’s War Crimes Allegations, says report “suffers from its flawed methodology”

Eritrea’s government has vehemently denied allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity leveled against its soldiers in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region by human rights organization Amnesty International. The accusations come in the wake of a peace deal signed in November of the previous year, and Eritrea’s Ministry of Information released an official statement on September 5, 2023, refuting the claims.

Eritrean soldiers had been involved in supporting federal forces during the two-year-long civil conflict in Ethiopia. However, the allegations of war crimes have cast a shadow on their role in the conflict.

In the official statement, Eritrea’s Ministry of Information dismissed Amnesty International’s allegations, asserting that they “have no substance or merit.” The ministry went further to criticize the methodology employed by Amnesty International in compiling the report, stating that it was “flawed” and accused the organization of perpetuating “disgusting lies and distortions” aimed at disparaging the Eritrean people.

The statement from Eritrea’s Ministry of Information also contended that Amnesty International had failed to conduct proper research and had instead relied on “unsubstantiated allegations against Eritrea’s military personnel,” obtained from anonymous third-party sources. It characterized these sources as “faceless” and “nameless,” undermining the credibility of the allegations.

Furthermore, the Eritrean government accused Amnesty International of conducting a “libellous decade-long campaign against the State of Eritrea” and claimed that the organization was actively seeking to promote discord and animosity between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

During the conflict, Eritrean troops had backed the Ethiopian federal forces in their fight against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) from November 2020 until the previous year. These allegations have triggered renewed international scrutiny of the Eritrean government’s actions in the region.