In Ethiopia war, new abuse charges turn the spotlight on Tigrayan former rulers

Betsiha Derresse, a deacon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who says his friend and fellow deacon Mulat Aynekulu Mekonnen was killed during an attack by Tigrayan fighters, speaks to Reuters in the graveyard of his church in the town of Nifas Mewcha, Amhara region, Ethiopia, December 8, 2021. Picture taken December 8, 2021. [Reuters]

In the dappled shadows of a glade of cypress and eucalyptus, a deacon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church adjusted his roughly-spun cotton shawl and knelt by a white-washed grave. "He was my best friend," Betsiha Derresse said. "We did everything together - sleep, work."

In August, civil war reached the thin air of this town in the Amhara region, 3,000 metres up in a mountainous landscape once home to Ethiopia's ancient rulers. Forces from neighbouring Tigray province had arrived. The delicate-framed Betsiha, 28, said he and many others hid in the forest, but his friend and fellow deacon, Mulat Aynekulu Mekonnen, turned back to collect a book.