Change.org - Ethnic cleansing

Warning: The following contains references to sexual assault. The Ethiopian government is using rape as a weapon of genocide against women in Tigray, the northernmost state in Ethiopia. Their goal is to end the bloodline of the Tigray people. Maebel is a refugee who came to the U.S. from Ethiopia as a child and she’s terrified for her Tigray relatives. The U.S. government could put an end to these rapes by sanctioning Ethiopia for their actions. Support Maebel’s campaign to protect the women of Tigray. Sanction Ethiopia for using rape as a weapon 6,215 have signed Maebel Gebremedhin’s petition. Let’s get to 7,500!

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The Ethiopian Government is using rape as a weapon of genocide. For the last 5 months, women in Tigray (the northernmost state of Ethiopia) have been subjected to obscene sexual violence by Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers operating at the word of the un-elected Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, and local militia men from the Amhara region who are supporting the genocide. Everyday, Tigrayan women are coming forward with stories of gang rape, though many stay silent out of fear of retribution, with one woman stating that 23 soldiers took turns raping her for 10 days. Prime Minister Abiy, defenseless to these claims of horrendous sexual violence, has attempted to maneuver his way around them by classifying rape as the norm during what he calls a “law and order operation”. He even attempted to pull focus from the harrowing tales of these brave women, stating that  “yes, the women were raped, but at least they were raped by men - our army was attacked by bayonet!! No one talks about that’’ when referring to humanitarian crimes in Tigray. On top of starvation, internal displacement, and the kidnapping of their children, women in Tigray are facing the daily use of rape as a weapon of war in their communities. This includes Eritrean soldiers intentionally infecting Tigrayan women and girls with HIV, the deliberate attempt to “cleanse” the Tigrayan bloodline by local Amhara militias supportive of the genocide, as well as men being forced to rape their family members under the threat of violence and death.  A doctor working with women seeking treatment stated that "I am a gynecologist, I have never seen or read about this kind of rape. Rape can happen, yes, (but I have) not seen this, I have never heard about this rape... are these soldiers human beings? How can a human being do such a thing?".  We are calling on the United States government, which has substantial leverage over Abiy’s government, to sanction Ethiopia, which will in turn stop the Ethiopian government’s genocidal campaign against the women, as well as all citizens, of Tigray.  Please sign this petition and use your voice to stand against genocide. Use your voice to stand up for women’s right to live peacefully.

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