HAMDAYET, Sudan: The young coffee seller said she was split from family and friends by an Ethiopian soldier at the Tekeze river, taken down a path, and given a harrowing choice. “He said: ‘Choose, either I kill you or rape you’,” the 25-year-old told British wire service at the Hamdayet refugee camp in Sudan where she had fled from conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. “The soldier forced a gun on her and raped her,” Limeuh, who was volunteering with the Sudanese Red Crescent, said the woman told him. On Saturday, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Taye Atske Selassie, told Patten that Ethiopia has a zero tolerance policy on sexual violence, according to state-affiliated braodcaster Fana TV. Media have been largely banned from Tigray, aid agencies have struggled for access, and communications were down for weeks.

Source: Ethiopian News January 23, 2021 23:48 UTC