Call for Input to inform the High Commissioner’s report to the Human Rights Council on the impact of casualty recording

Submission by the Tigray War Project (Ghent University) and Every Casualty Counts

20 February 2023

Researchers from the Department of Geography at Ghent University have been working in the Tigray region of Ethiopia since 1994. Following the outbreak of armed violence in the region in November 2020 the research team reached out to their existing contacts and information networks in the area to document casualties and the humanitarian situation. This information, and full details of the methodology used, is published and updated monthly at www.ethiopiatigraywar.com.

Context

Since the beginning of the armed violence in November 2020, the Ethiopian government has imposed severe access and communication restrictions on the Tigray region. These include travel bans, media blackouts, and internet and telephone shutdowns. These restrictions have impeded the ability of independent news media and investigators, both national and international, from accessing the area to report on events. Humanitarian workers have also been expelled or threatened with expulsion for reporting on the situation. As a result, international awareness and understanding of the situation has been severely limited.
The Tigray War Project has been uniquely successful in circumventing these obstacles in order to gather and corroborate details of casualties. In addition to compiling the limited information from media or humanitarian agencies whenever it is available, Tigray War Project researchers have been able to use existing personal contacts in the region and diaspora to directly interview survivors and victims’ relatives. This level of access is not open to any official investigating or monitoring body. As a result, data from the Tigray War Project has been exceptionally valuable in informing the world, and policymakers in particular, about the situation in Tigray.
As of February 2023, researchers for the Tigray War Project had managed to gather and corroborate details of 445 violent incidents, resulting in between 8,576 and 18,451 fatalities. Of these fatalities, the project has managed to identify by name 4,453 individuals. This information was gathered and cross-checked through more than 2,000 telephone interviews, email correspondence, social media contacts, news media reports, NGOs and humanitarian alerts. Full details of the methodology can be found at https://ethiopiatigraywar.com/methodology.php.

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