The Ethiopia & Tigray meetings in South Africa:

Talks to end the conflict between the Ethiopian army and forces from the country's northern province of Tigray began on Tuesday and will end on Sunday, 

The two sides have been engaged in a two-year devastating conflict. 

It's a conflict that has killed thousands, mobilized millions, and put hundreds of thousands on the verge of starvation in the second-most populated country in Africa. 

The negotiations, which are being mediated by the African Union, begin as the Ethiopian army gains ground militarily and takes control of a number of sizable towns in Tigray.

Pope Francis, leaders of Africa, the United States and Europe have all called for a ceasefire and urgent discussions in response to the onslaught in Tigray, which was carried out in conjunction with allied troops from the neighboring Eritrea. 

Ethiopia has always rejected the claims. 

People wait for food donations at the Tsehaye primary school, in Shire, Tigray Credit: Reuters

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a former rebel group turned political party, ruled Ethiopia's government coalition until 2018. This led to grievances that go back nearly three decades.

The TPLF, which remained influential in its northern base after they lost the national election, split from the federal administration headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ethiopia's leader, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, when he received the Nobel Peace Prize, before going to war. 

 the government of oppressing Tigrayans and over-centralizing power, which the government disputes, while the government has accused the TPLF of wanting to reestablish its national dominance.

According to the Tigrayan delegation, its main objective at the negotiations in South Africa would be a quick end to hostilities, unrestricted access to the Tigray region for humanitarian relief, and the withdrawal of the Eritrean military.

The worst drought in four decades and other significant issues have been brought by the war in Ethiopia, including a food crisis and economic distress.

The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a Tigrayan who formerly served as a minister in the Ethiopian government, made on Tuesday a string of public accusations in regards to the conduct of the present administration.

Tedros posted on Twitter: "Due to the siege in #Tigray, Ethiopia, many people have died of starvation, man-made famine & lack of access to essential health care in past 2 years".  

The Ethiopian government has refuted claims made by NGO's that it was preventing their entry to Tigray. 

It has even charged Tedros with attempting to get weapons and diplomatic support for the Tigrayan forces, which he has denied.

General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus even went so far as to 

 that his native Tigray region in northern Ethiopia currently has a “very narrow window now to prevent genocide".

In his strongest remarks about the conflict to date, Tedros 

 reporters in Geneva on Wednesday that in Tigray, which is mostly sealed off from the outside world, food and medical care are being used as weapons of war.

Six million people have been kept under siege for almost two years in no other situation in the world, according to Tedros. "The window of opportunity to stop genocide is quite small right now."

He said as Human Rights Watch, a US-based organization, urged for sanctions against Addis Abeba in order to stop the killing of civilians.

The rights organization urged the US, EU, and UN to impose sanctions and an arms embargo against Ethiopia in order to assist safeguard civilian lives.

This week, Amnesty International also released a 

They took note of how the Ethiopian government announced on Tuesday that its troops had taken control of Alamata and Korem in the south of the province, as well as Shire, a significant town in northwest Tigray that is home to thousands of Tigrayans who have been forcibly relocated. 

The government said that it is attempting to reduce civilian losses by abstaining from urban combat and ordering its troops to adhere to stringent rules of engagement. However, reports Amnesty International has received refute this assertion.

According to Muleya Mwananyanda, director of Amnesty International's East and Southern Africa division, "Tigrayan civilians are afraid that the widespread abuses, such as unlawful killings, sexual violence, and systematic attacks, that were 

 when the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) and its allied forces were in control of these areas from November 2020 to June 2021.

They remembered how numerous airstrikes in Mekelle and Adi Daero in August and September resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, including 

At least 40 individuals, including Eritrean refugees, were extrajudicially killed by the ENDF-allied Eritrean army between September 6 and September 12, 2022, in Sheraro town.

“Military and civilian officials must recognize their duty to prevent and prosecute war crimes committed by their forces. Failure to do so implicates them in these crimes. We have already seen in this conflict that impunity for previous atrocities will only embolden security forces to commit more heinous crimes, the war crimes and crimes against humanity Amnesty International has documented should never be allowed to happen again."

The timing of this conflict has come at a bad time. Since it started in 2020, it hasn't much received much attention due to the pandemic and the the Ukraine - Russia war. 

Amnesty International's researcher for Ethiopia and Eritrea, Fisseha Tekle, 

"Since the start of the conflict we have seen serious human rights violations that might amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. Some of the human rights violations which we have documented include rape, and sexual violence which is brutal and shocking." 

"All parties to the conflict engaged in the rape and sexual assault that Amnesty International has recorded. In this fight, no innocent party hasn't violated someone else's rights. they are all".

 for crimes, but even the idea that any concrete or real accountability will come out of the talks is far fetched. 

It hasn't been transparent so far, and sadly, the pressure isn't all too real.  

Ethiopia & Tigray: Can talks end the possible genocide?

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