Hawzen
Hawzen
ሓውዜን | |
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Town | |
UTC+3 (EAT ) |
Hawzen (
History
Origins
Tradition states that Hawzen was founded by the
19th Century
On 8 March 1892,
20th Century
In 1938, there was a shop, a post, telephone and telegraph office, a fountain, a health post and a technical school. The important market was also mentioned.[4]
Air raids during the civil war of the 1980s
During the
- March-June 1988: 9 attacks, casualties not known
- 22 June 1988: Hawzen massacre
On 22 June 1988 Hawzen was the target of one of the more brutal acts of the Derg against their opponents during the Ethiopian Civil War: upwards of 2,500 people were killed when the Ethiopian Air Force bombed the town marketplace.[6] Four ancient stele were toppled in the same bombardment.[7] The parties and factors involved in the culmination of this air raid is yet to be revealed. The Tigray People's Liberation Front's cameras were positioned to capture the air raid from different angles, as is evidenced by the video released soon after the event. TPLF cameras captured the attack as it happened, and afterwards, went onto the ground recording, in graphic detail, the results of the air raid. Ethiopia's public opinion differs as to the role played by TPLF in the creation of this event.[8] Former TPLF leader Aregawi Berhe claims the attack was made at the direction, or at least tacit permission, of Legesse Asfaw, who had been appointed Chief Martial Law Administrator for Tigray the previous month.[9] A memorial currently stands to commemorate the dead.
Demographics
In 1938, the town counted 2471 inhabitants.[4]
Based on figures from the
Notes
- ^ Philip Briggs, Ethiopia: The Bradt Travel Guide, 3rd edition (Chalfont St Peters: Bradt, 2002), p. 251
- ^ Briggs, Ethiopia, p. 252
- ^ "Local history of Ethiopia : Harsa - Hazo" (PDF). Nordic Africa Institute. p. 4.
- ^ a b Consociazione turistica Italiana. Guida dell'Africa orientale Italiana. Milano. p. 283.
- ^ Human Rights Watch, 24 July 1991: ETHIOPIA - "Mengistu has Decided to Burn Us like Wood" - Bombing of Civilians and Civilian Targets by the Air Force
- ^ "Ethiopia: Reckoning under the Law", p. 8. (Human Rights Watch)
- ISBN 978-1841629223
- ^ "Ethiopia sentences five Mengistu officers to death". Reuters Africa. 5 April 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008.
- ^ Aregawi Berhe, A Political history of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (1975-1991) (Los Angeles: Tsehai, 2009), p. 150
- ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics Archived July 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Table B.4