Addis Abeba — Judges at the Southern Command First Instance Military Court presided over the sentencing of Tigrayan former army members
The Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) said some 178 Tigrayan-origin former army members who were convicted by military courts and were facing lengthy sentences up to death are pardoned.
ENDF said the "Board of Pardons" reviewed their case after they submitted letters. Per Article 3 of Proclamation No. 840/2006, "the Board considered not only the purpose of granting pardons but also the fact that these individuals had shown genuine remorse for their crimes."
Some of the army members were charged with treason in August 2021 and were sentenced to death and life imprisonment by the army's Western Command First Instance Military Court. Similarly, the army's Southern Command Military Court sentenced several army members of Tigrayan origin from eight to 18 years in prison after accusing them of "direct links" with the TPLF.
They were among thousands of Tigrayan members of the army who were arrested shortly after the Tigray war broke out.
In December 2022, The Washington Post reported that at least 83 Tigrayan ex-soldiers were killed at the Mirab Abaya prison camp near Arba Minch, in the Gamo zone of the formerly Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' region. The report revealed that imprisoned ex-soldiers were killed in at least seven other locations.
Their arrest constituted part of a wider war-time government crackdown against Tigrayans who were arbitrarily rounded up and detained in the capital Addis Abeba and elsewhere in the country as documented by rights groups.
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According to today's statement by the army, its former members "expressed remorse for their crimes and submitted requests for forgiveness to the government and the Ministry of Defense."
However, the release from prison of the Tigrayan army members and the release of thousands of army members who were captured as Prisoners of War (PoWs) during the two-year war in the Tigray region was part of the November 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) signed in Pretoria between the federal government and the TPLF to end the two-year devastating war in Tigray.
Despite the mention of "requests for forgiveness," ENDF also said that "in line with the government's commitment to strengthening the peace agreement signed in Pretoria..., and based on the decision of the Ministry of Defense's Pardon Board, we are announcing the release of 178 members of Tigrayan native former army members."
A letter sent to the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense in late January 2024 and signed by Lt. Gen. Tadese Werede, Vice President of the Tigray Interim Administration, stated that 220 Tigrayan ex-soldiers remained incarcerated after being convicted in a military court. Seven of the officers were sentenced to life imprisonment, 14 faced sentences ranging from 15 to 25 years, and others received shorter prison terms.
Earlier this month, the rights group, Human Rights First, appealed to the Ministry of Justice, requesting the release of former army members of Tigrayan origin under an amnesty. This includes those who were serving as UN peacekeepers. The group provided a list of 155 officers currently imprisoned in 16 different locations across the country.
According to the ENDF, the officers will be released from prison effective as of today.
