Demeke Zewdu was taking care of his appearance on the day before Easter in Ethiopia. For the occasion, the 51-year-old "colonel" had traded in military fatigues and boots for a suit and dress shoes. In the lobby of the hotel in Gondar (Amhara region, north) where he was to address the press, a few journalists and local bloggers were waiting under the gaze of a dozen soldiers.
The man they were protecting has been under scrutiny since the release of a joint investigation by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) on April 6 into "crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing" committed in western Tigray, also known as Welkait. In their report, the two human rights organizations accuse three men of having organized a "widespread and systematic" campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Tigrayan population.
Their number one suspect in the investigation is none other than Mr. Demeke, a former federal army officer who has been in charge of Welkait since the start of the civil war. This is between forces loyal to Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels and has been going since November 2020.
Welkait, located on the border of Sudan and Eritrea, became part of Tigray in 1991. After the fall of the communist Derg regime, the TPLF leadership in Addis Ababa encouraged the settlement of thousands of Tigrayans on the fertile land and carried out a forced land reform that benefited party members. Thousands of Amhara were forced to flee, either because of political dissent or their land being taken away.
"I am ready to die for this land. All my life I have fought for my rights and to regain my Amhara identity. Welkait is not Tigrayan, it is only Amhara," Mr. Demeke said. Amnesty International is accusing him of having overseen the deportation of some 720,000 Tigrayans last year.
A defender of Amhara identity for some, a nationalist warlord for others, Mr. Demeke grew up in a farming family in Telelo, in southern Welkait. Although he disputes it, the "colonel," according to his father, has Tigrayan roots. He worked in the fields until he was 16, before joining the TPLF guerrilla movement, which recruited young fighters to overthrow the Derg military dictatorship. This was followed by a long career in the federal army, during which he was deployed to the UN mission in Darfur, the UNAMID (The United Nations – African Union Hybrid Operation). He shares his background in foreign operations with Prime Minister Abiy, who was a peacekeeper in Rwanda.
You have 66.97% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.