The untold massacre of Semema

By Guanshe Hadgu Asfiha

My visit to my hometown of Semema (located at 14.198673,  38.342127) for Ethiopia’s New Year last September was supposed to be a time for celebration. I knew that Eritrean troops had massacred people in the area in 2020 but, two years down the line, I had thought that massacre was a relatively distant memory. It was only after I arrived there on New Year’s Eve that I learned there was another massacre in Semema by Eritrean troops in 18 October 2022. It was a massacre that claimed the lives of people I closely knew.

This latter massacre has never been reported on sufficiently enough. Tigray television had covered some aspects it, but it under-reported both the number of people killed and the damage wrought to civilian properties. Here I have made an attempt to report it more comprehensively based on information that I was able to gather during my stay. I should note that my report is still not detailed enough, and a more thorough reporting is still needed.

Although I was unable to establish the total number of people killed during the massacre, I have managed to collect the names of 26 people who were killed, 15 of whom I knew, including close relatives of mine. Please see the list below: 

Here is a list of civilian’s identified by name who were residents of Tabia Semema killed by Eritrean troops on October 18, 2022.

Houses destroyed

In addition to massaring people, the Eritrea troops destroyed households and schools. In some cases, they looted the properties – clothes, cooking utensils, television sets, beds, refrigerators, medication, etc – inside the houses before they burned the houses. 

A private pharmacy owned by a man called Tefera Gebrehiwot was broken into and looted. Some properties like flat-screen Televisions, hundreds of kilograms of Teff, furniture such as couches, school chairs, plasmas were also taken by trucks and lorries. Precious metal jewelries such as silver and gold are also among the goods looted. Some people thought that they would evade the Eritreans by hiding their gold under earth in the backyard of their houses. But Eritreas foiled their tricks because they came with gold detectors. 

Some residents fled their homes to avoid execution. Helen Gebremariam, then a 24-year-old and pregnant, was one of them. She gave birth on her way to Axum. 

Picture showing a burnt whose floor had collapsed

The following footages are examples of the destruction of houses.

The following is a partial list of houses that the Eritrean troops destroyed (as is typical in Tigray, a house is named by the household leader, typically the man.)

1. Haleka Ayele Kasahun
2. Alem Hadush Berhe
3. Seble Tadesse
4. Seyoum Werede Ariadom
5. Afewerki Adane?
6. Shibeshi Gebremikieal
7. Tsiwa Weldemariam
8. Gebre Welday
9. Gezaei  Abrahaley Haile
10. Tikue Zeray Weldearegay
11.  Miesho Tadesse Gebresamuel
12.  Beyene Gebrehilase
13.  Mulu Kiros Reda
14.  Werkinesh Gebru Desta
15.  Birhin kahsu
16.  Tsaeday Mebrahtom 
17.  Teklay Tadesse Zemu (teacher)
18.  Fetahi  Kasahun
19.  Zafu Gebremedhin 
20.  Tekleweyni Nigusse Tadesse
21.  Mulu Tareke Gebremikael
22.  Kewani Hadgu Asfiha 
23.  Yirga Tareke
24.  Hilaf Gidey
25.  Tesfay Welenchial
26.  Fisahtsion  Birhane (teacher)
27.  Alem Kidane Tewele
28.  Hadush Shishay Gebremariam 
29.  Gidey Mehari Birhane 
30.  Abadit Tesfay
31.  Mulu Beyene Mesfin
32.  Haleka Mehari Tareke
33.  Beyenesh Miesho
34.  Yemane Gebresenbet
35.  Mulu Goshu Gebretensay
36.  Hayelom Tafere (teacher)
37.  Mikieale Weldesilassie (teacher)
38.  Meselle Teklay Hagos
39.  Gebrehiwet Tadesse Berhe
40.  Yalem Abrha
41.  Tekle Beyene Haile
42.  Mekonen Tadesse Gebrewahid
43.  Seare Gebrekidan Tewele
44.  Goitom Tesfay
45.  Mulu Abebe Seyoum
46.  Yehdego Gebrihet
47.  Kahsay Gomera
48.  Ambachew Nigus
49.  Haleka Afewerki Belay
50.  Tsehaynesh Tekle
51.  Alem Tsehaye Eyasu
52.  Amaz Tsehaye Negash
53.  Abrehet Abrha Berhe
54.  TesfayTekle Asegehey
55.  Askale Kahsay Gebremariam 
56.  Lemelem Gebrehiwet Tekie
57.  Ataklti Kinfe Yohannis
58.  Tadesse Hafte
59.  Letebrihan Araya
60.  Mitslal Nigus
61.  Abrha Teklu  (teacher)
62.  Rahwa Fisseha Gebriye
63.  Hadas Yemane Abay
64. Tsegabirhan Tesfay (teacher)
65.  Tirhas Niguse Tadesse
66.  Yemane seyoum werede
67.  Priest Leake weldegiorgis (whose son priest Negassi leake was among those killed)
68.  Shewit berhe Asfiha
69.  Meaza Birhnae Gebremikael
70.  Selomon Gebreyesus
71.  Dirar Welday Gebremedhin
72.  Firey Alem Seged
73.  Baraki Gebrezgabiher
74.  Priest Abrahley Birhane
75. Teklit Meresa
76. Wele Abrahaley
77. Priest Mebrahtom leake (Son of Priest leake )

The pain

I visited three families of the deceased to comfort them. It was very disheartening to see widowed mothers shouldering all the responsibility of raising children. On New Year’s eve, a three-year-old child whose father was among the victims said to his mom: “when will our father come?  Will he bring us new clothes?” The mother cried. It was a painful experience to witness for me. The killing has taken the lives of those who have departed but the family members who survived now carry the responsibility and pain. Children are left without fathers who were the backbone of their families and mothers left without husbands. 

Let me recount the story of Abebesh Werede Ariadom. Abebesh is the only female the Eritreans killed (please see list). Initially, she fled her house with her husband and children during an artillery shelling on October 17, when an infantry unit arrived at Semema. The day after, she returned to make Injera and take food to her children who were hiding in the mountains nearby. On the morning of October 18, the soldiers were conducting a house-to-house search. While cooking, Abebesh heard the sound of gunfire. She dashed out of her kitchen to see what was happening. She saw her neighbor, a priest named Negassi Leake Weldegiorgis, lying on the ground. He was dead from a gunshot. She ululated and cried so loud that the soldiers heard her. Angered by her cry, a soldier shot her dead. She was a mother of seven children, her first born son had been imprisoned in Jijiga, Ethiopia for two years for being ethnic Tigrayan. Before imprisonment, he was a member of the Ethiopian National Defense fForce. This is the tragic irony of the genocidal war on Tigray: a mother was brutally murdered by the very soldiers that her son had defended Ethiopia against.

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Guanshe is a lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Mekelle Institute of Technology, Mekelle, Tigray. He has a Masters degree in Chemical and Process Engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy.