Ethiopia Insight published on 7 July 2025 a commentary titled "Ethiopia's Vanishing Heritage: The Crisis in Archaeology and Cultural Preservation" by Negasi Awetehey, former head of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management at Aksum University.
Ethiopia's extensive archaeological heritage crumbles daily while the experts trained in Ethiopian universities who could save it are jobless or stuck in roles that ignore their training.
Aljazeera English TV ran a three minute segment with me on 5 August 2021 on the capture of Lalibela, a World Heritage Site in Amhara Region, by the Tigray Defense Forces.
I argued that Lalibela holds little military value for the Tigray Defense Forces. Its capture was probably an effort to put pressure on Amhara militia and Ethiopian National Defense Forces to return to the Tigrayans the World Heritage Site of Aksum in western Tigray in exchange for withdrawing from Lalibela in Amhara Region.
Reuters published on 5 August 2021 an article titled "Tigrayan Forces Take Control of Ethiopia's Lalibela, a UN World Heritage Site."
The Washington Post published on 5 August 2021 an article titled "Tigrayan Forces Take Control of Lalibela UNESCO Heritage Site" by Sammy Westfall.
The Tigray Defense Force reportedly entered the town of Lalibela and World Heritage Site on 5 August without facing any opposition, although numerous Amhara residents fled the area. The US called on the Tigrayan forces to respect the cultural heritage of the town and earlier had urged Tigrayan forces to withdraw from Amhara Region. At the beginning of the conflict, Amhara militia and central government forces took control of historically significant Aksum in western Tigray Region.
Foreign Policy posted on 22 July 2021 an analysis titled "Ethiopia's Problems Stem from Internal Colonialism" by Teferi Mergo, University of Waterloo in Canada.
The author takes issue with a recent commentary by Robert Kaplan (see 10 July below) and argues that the Yugoslavia analogy is much closer to the unfolding reality in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia Insight posted on 12 April 2021 a commentary titled "Justice Will Not Be Served By a Joint Ethiopia-UN Inquiry into Tigray Atrocities" by Getachew Gebrekiros Temare, human rights activist.
The author argues that the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission should be excluded from any investigation in Tigray Region because it lacks political independence, capacity, and experience. He adds the office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights should launch an independent investigation.
Comment: It goes without saying that whatever the composition of the investigation it include the killing of Amhara at Mai Kadra as well as the atrocities committed against Tigrayans.
Ethiopia Insight posted on 26 March 2021 a commentary titled "Unholy Deeds in Tigray's Holy City" by Getu Mak, Adigrat University.
This is a personal account by a Tigrayan in Aksum of the attack by Eritrean soldiers on the local population.
The Associated Press published on 23 March 2021 an article titled "Ethiopia's Leader Says Atrocities Reported in Tigray War" by Rodney Muhumuza.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed acknowledged that atrocities committed by all sides have occurred in Tigray Region. He added that Eritrean troops are in Tigray without his blessing.
The government-affiliated Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has just issued a report titled "Investigation into Grave Human Rights Violations in Aksum City: Report on Preliminary Findings." The EHRC report is similar to ones issued earlier by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
In a chilling report, the EHRC concluded that "more than 100" civilians were killed in Aksum between 18 and 24 November, 2020 by Eritrean soldiers and possibly ENDF soldiers. Eritrean soldiers fired randomly at civilians, targeted others, and looted the hospital. They also did significant damage to private property and churches.
The EHRC said "these widespread human rights violations are not ordinary crimes but grave contraventions of applicable international and human rights laws and principles, marked by intentionally directed attacks against civilians who were not directly taking part in the hostilities and including intentional looting, destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity."
Ethiopia Insight posted on 19 February 2021 a commentary titled "Catastrophe Stalks Tigray, Again" by Jan Nyssen, Ghent University.
The government of Ethiopia says the situation in Tigray Region is under control; others say it is out of control except for Mekelle. There is an easy solution to resolving this conflicting information. Let the international and domestic press into the region.
