A year ago, I gave up my post in government in protest over the conflict and failure to hold perpetrators accountable. What has changed?
In 2020, at the age of 28, Filsan Abdi became the youngest minister and the first Somali Ethiopian to be appointed to the Ethiopian government. She resigned as minister for women, children and youth at the height of the war in Tigray last year because of the government’s failure to hold perpetrators of war crimes – including mass rape – to account. She remains the only senior official to resign in protest over the conflict. She says there has still been no accountability or justice for the women and children damaged by the fighting.
As a former minister in Ethiopia, it is heartbreaking to see the people of my country enduring incredible hardship. That they do so with immense resilience gives me the courage to plead for the protection of women and children. Extrajudicial killings, rape and starvation of civilians continue as methods of warfare. The lack of accountability and justice by the government and international entities intensifies the risk of disintegration that will exacerbate civilian hardship and heighten regional instability.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/7bW0uFO
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