UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged quick restoration of the rule of law and respect for human rights in Ethiopia’s defiant Tigray region on Monday as well as reconciliation efforts and unfettered humanitarian access.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general has engaged in “an active dialogue” with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, including a phone conversation on Monday, and “is very concerned about the current situation.”
Ahmed declared victory on Nov. 28 in a nearly monthlong military power struggle that exploded between his government and the heavily armed regional government in Tigray that once dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition. Fighting continues in some areas, and with the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front on the run in rugged territory, fears remain of a drawn-out conflict.
All humanitarian aid to the Tigray region, from medical supplies to food, has been blocked since the fighting began, to the growing distress of the humanitarian community and health experts alike. Last Wednesday, the U.N. said it had signed a deal with Ethiopia’s government to allow aid access in Tigray — but only to those areas of it under the federal government’s control.
Dujarric said Secretary-General Guterres’ call for unfettered access “implies that the agreement still needs to be fully operationalized — and we very much hope that that will happen.”
Communications and transport links remain largely severed to the region of 6 million people, so it’s difficult to know the situation on the…
