On the visit of the president of MSF Spain to Ethiopia
Attributable to Ms Paula Gil, President of MSF Spain
26 July 2022 — It is with great disappointment that I concluded a six-day visit to Addis Ababa this weekend. Over one year on since the killing of our three colleagues in Tigray Region on 24 June 2021, I had hoped to meet the grieving families and continue our discussions with the Federal Government of Ethiopia about the case.
Instead, I was not granted permission from the authorities to visit Tigray, which meant that I could not pay tribute to the families of Tedros and Yohannes, our two Ethiopian colleagues who were brutally murdered, or inform the families on the progress of MSF’s internal review of the incident. I was also unable to meet any representatives from the Federal Government to continue the discussion about their investigation into the killing of our three staff, despite requests sent to the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Defence.
We are distraught that, after more than one year of engagement with the Ethiopian authorities, we still do not have any credible answers on what happened to our colleagues that day. My visit was intended to be a decisive step in our engagement with the Federal Government of Ethiopia, and it is now time to reflect on our next steps. We will keep pursuing accountability for the killing of our colleagues using all possible means and avenues.
After 20 months of conflict, now coupled with rising food insecurity and malnutrition, I am extremely concerned by the dire situation faced by populations without access to life-saving medical services.
