I think it's important to note here that the war from the outset, in my view, has been waged directly at the civilian population of Tigray. If you look at the atrocities that are happening, they have very little, in my view, political or military origin. What is the military purpose of mass graves? What is the military purpose of the hate speech that we hear on a daily basis, which talks about exterminating civilians? What is the political purpose of the use of mass starvation as a weapon of war if not to harm the civilian population? Attacking civilians has been at the core, in my view, of the government's strategy. It is the core political purpose. It's very difficult to disentangle these.
I would also draw attention to the fact that sexual and gender-based violence is not something you see in every war. These things are not natural phenomena. How many governments today are using mass starvation as a weapon of war against their own citizens? How often does ethnic cleansing happen?
There are multiple conflicts around the world. Ethnic cleansing of one million people and these things are quite rare. I really want to draw attention to the dangers of normalizing them as simply part of conflict or simply part of war. These are extraordinary human rights abuses today. I would dare anyone to name two or three conflicts today in which we see attacks on civilians on this scale. I think a big problem in the way we've been approaching the war is that we have normalized and minimized the acts of the Ethiopian government.
Thank you.