head of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) organizational office, Fetlework Gebre-egzabhier, held a local media press conference to address regional developments and recent United States visa restrictions placed on party officials. During the briefing, Fetlework completely denied the existence of any forced conscription within the region, characterizing the mandatory military service framework solely as an organized system of national defense.
She also rejected the “hardliner” designation applied by the U.S. State Department, describing a hardliner as someone who maintains an uncompromising stance on their core beliefs, and asserted that the TPLF remains committed to defending the fundamental interests and survival of the Tigrayan population.
The statements follow a decision by the U.S. government to impose visa penalties on specific TPLF members and their families, citing actions that could destabilize northern Ethiopia and undermine the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement. U.S. officials pointed to a newly enacted regional decree, the Decree for Resistance and National Security Mobilization, as part of an escalating effort toward mandatory military mobilization.
The press conference and the regional security decree have sparked significant pushback from local residents, opposition actors, and civil society groups within Tigray. Critics allege that the regional administration is using the formal decree to provide a legal veneer for forced conscription, locally referred to as giffa. Reports emerging from the ground suggest that security forces have carried out mass roundups of youth and detained parents whose children resisted or fled the conscription orders.
This official denial stands in stark contrast to mounting domestic opposition, which now includes traditional religious authorities. Priests and bishops from the Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church have begun issuing formal warnings and public condemnations regarding the conduct of TPLF militias. Local reports indicate that the conscription campaign has directly targeted religious institutions, with security forces entering the St. Gabriel Tsirha Aryam Church School in Mekelle to forcibly remove students for military service.
Local activists and human rights observers have begun transmitting video and audio testimonies to the international community documenting these practices. Detractors state that attempting to frame these enforcement measures through bureaucratic policy adjustments fails to obscure the ongoing human rights violations.
They emphasize that after years of destructive conflict, the local population is seeking stability rather than a return to active mobilization, warning that the regional government risks further political isolation if it continues to deny the coercive nature of its security policies.
