The Story of Aboy Tesfu
Because of the genocidal forces, there is virtually no atrocity that was not committed in Tigray. The invading forces have carried out crimes across every corner of Tigray—acts so horrific that one would never have imagined they could occur in the 21st century.
Aboy Tesfu Zewde, a resident of Gerewu village in Fredashum kebele, Gulomekeda District, recounts that when the army of Eritrean dictator Isaias Afwerki invaded the area by force in 2020/21 (Ethiopian Calendar 2013), his three sons—Alem, Hadush, and Fitsum—were brutally murdered.
He explains that even after killing them, the soldiers were not satisfied. To make sure they were truly dead, they repeatedly stabbed their chests with knives to check whether any life remained.
For days, I was forced to leave my children’s bodies exposed. Those cruel enemies prevented me from burying them in the church cemetery. Instead, I buried them at the entrance of my house. Every time I went out or came back home, I would weep and speak to their graves, saying, ‘How did you spend the day? How was your night?’ I lived for a long time talking to the bodies of my children.
As he recalls those moments, he breaks down in tears.
Aboy Tesfu says his children were his support and his source of strength. When the soldiers of Isaias Afwerki’s regime were preparing to execute them, he pleaded with them:
“Leave one of them alive. Kill me instead.”
One of the soldiers replied:
“What benefit is there in killing an old man like you?”
The soldiers then opened fire with multiple rounds, killing his sons before his very eyes.
In Gerewu village, eight civilians—including Aboy Tesfay Zewde’s three sons—were brutally killed. Two victims each were buried in four separate graves in front of the parents’ homes because the families were prevented from conducting proper burials. As the surviving relatives continued to suffer severe psychological trauma from seeing the graves every day, the relevant authorities later granted permission for the remains to be exhumed and reburied elsewhere.
Aboy Tesfu and the families of the other victims continue to call for justice. They demand that those responsible for killing innocent civilians, causing injuries, looting property, and destroying livelihoods be held accountable under the law.
They also urge all Tigrayans and friends of Tigray to work together to ensure that justice is served.
May it never be forgotten. May it never happen again.
