Hawzen massacre (1988)

Hawzen massacre
Part of the Ethiopian Civil War
The marketplace at Hawzen, the area targeted
Location	Hawzen, Ethiopia
Date	22 June 1988
Target	Tigrayans
Deaths	1,800 to 2,500
Perpetrators	People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The Hawzen massacre (also transcribed as Hawzien or Hauzien massacre) was a massacre committed by Derg forces in Ethiopia on 22 June 1988 during the Ethiopian Civil War. On that day, Mig and helicopter gunships adhering to the Third Revolutionary Army (TRA) bombed the marketplace in Hawzen, Tigray, killing 1,800[1][2] to 2,500 civilians[3][4] and wounding about a thousand.[1]

The military justified the attack by claiming thousands of TPLF fighters had congregated in Hawzen. In addition to the human victims, camels were reportedly targeted because the rebels used them to transport weapons and supplies.[1] Four ancient stelae were also toppled in the bombardment.[5]

According to former TPLF leader Aregawi Berhe, the attack was made at the direction, or at least tacit permission, of Legesse Asfaw, commander of the armed forces in Tigray.[2]

In 2008, five top military officials from the Derg regime were sentenced to death by an Ethiopian court for their role in the Hawzen massacre;[6] however, in 2011, these sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.[7]

See also

• List of massacres in Ethiopia
• Hawzen in the Tigray War

References

1. Tareke, Gebru (2009). The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa. New Haven and London: Yale. p. 267-268. ISBN 9780300141634.
2. Berhe, Aregawi (2008). "A political history of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (1975-1991)" (PDF). Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. p. 184. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
3. "Ethiopia: Reckoning under the Law" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. p. 8.
4. Human Rights Watch, 24 July 1991: ETHIOPIA - "Mengistu has Decided to Burn Us like Wood" - Bombing of Civilians and Civilian Targets by the Air Force
5. Philip Briggs, Ethiopia (Bradt Travel Guide 8th Edition) (Bradt Travel Guide, 2018), p. 350. ISBN 978-1841629223
6. "Ethiopia sentences five Mengistu officers to death". Reuters Africa. 5 April 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008.
7. "Ethiopia Commutes Death Sentences for Former Officials Accused of Genocide". Voice of America. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2024.