# Federal government cut essential services and restricted supplies to Tigray

Date: 2021

From 28 June 2021, after Tigrayan forces retook Mekelle and the federal government declared a unilateral ceasefire, Tigray entered a prolonged period in which essential services and supplies were sharply restricted. The UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia found that the federal government disconnected Tigray from the national electricity grid, reimposed region-wide internet and telecommunications shutdowns, shut banking services, froze accounts opened in Tigray and stopped paying Tigrayan civil servants. It also found that the federal government and regional allies obstructed imports of cash, fuel and commercial goods through roadblocks and checkpoints. In its 2022 report, the Commission said there were reasonable grounds to believe the Federal Government and allied regional State governments had implemented a widespread range of measures designed to systematically deprive Tigray’s population of material and services indispensable for survival, including food, healthcare, shelter, water, sanitation and education. It also found reasonable grounds to believe that the denial and obstruction of [humanitarian access](/drivers/humanitarian-access) by the Federal Government and allied regional governments was meant to deprive the population of objects indispensable to survival, violating the prohibition on starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. The Commission recorded that Abiy denied there was hunger in Tigray and accused regional authorities of exploiting aid. Abiy Ahmed was prime minister throughout this period, and the Commission attributed the measures to the Federal Government he led and allied regional governments.

## People

- Abiy Ahmed: https://factrail.ai/people/sec-abiy-ahmed

## Drivers

- State Repression: https://factrail.ai/drivers/state-repression
- Rule of Law: https://factrail.ai/drivers/rule-of-law

## Sources

- https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/51/46
- https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/chreetiopia/a-hrc-54-crp-3.pdf

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/et-tigray-siege-essential-services-2021