Priest Abreha Abay (65) was known as “The library of the village”. He was the keeper of every bit of information about the village of Maryam Dengelat. He knew every genealogical line around, every kinship, every event, the history & specific dates of events very, very well. /2

Many people used to travel to the village to acquire information from him. He was also a well educated religious scholar and a teacher of many deacons at Maryam Dengelat. /3 @acousticedge1 @CMHR_News @RightsGac @melaniejoly @SvenTrueNorth @beynate @Migsinstitute @HonAhmedHussen

Priest Abreha was inside the church when the Eritrean troops arrived. They asked him to come out to them & he responded,“What are you doing in the place of God, which is not allowed to you?" The Eritrean troops were very angry at the question and shot him down to the ground. /4

Priest Abreha's brother Semer Abay (in his 50s) was also shot, but fortunately he did not die. Priest Abreha was known to be direct, open, helpful and a man full of theological thinking and religious understanding. /5 @canadaun @KarimKhanQC @flafontaine @HedyFry @kettynivyabandi

Some of you may know that above the Maryam Dengelat church & monastery sits an ancient rock hewn church. It’s about 10 stories up (30 meters), the pathway to the church was swept away in the 17th c. A sheer surface & sandstone composition made ascents & access very difficult. /6

In 2019 Italian mountaineers helped create a path to be used by priests to enter the church on a more regular basis: They discovered many interesting artefacts inside exemplifying how connected Maryam Dengelat was to the wider world 400 years ago. /7

Some 2 months before the massacre Priest Abreha told my relative Hagos, "My nephew, I am always begging God not to take me before entering the reopened church". But alas, these soldiers did not give him the chance to fulfil his dream. He was killed for being a Tigrayan priest./8

In this conflict, I was initially struck by the complete lack of reverence for priests, churches and places of worship. Holy sites in Tigray have historically provided sanctuary for citizens during times of conflict./9 @BobRae48 @candafp @CanadaEthiopia @stejobin @rpatricktravers

Some generals, for example, advised my own ancestor Ras Sebhat that there was a strategic advantage to have a certain battle near Maryam Dengelat and Sebhat refused it b/c he did not believe Maryam Dengelat should be disturbed. That’s consistent with a lot of local history. /10

But I have come to understand that targeting revered figures like priests, sites of cultural & community significance like churches, mosques & museums has been a deliberate, intentional component of an organized attempt to destroy the Tigrayan people. Resistance is justified./11

Even from afar we can chose to esteem the memory of those lost, uplift survivors, tell our historical stories, celebrate Tigrayan culture, hold perpetrators accountable, stay active in ensuring better, smarter governance going forward. A powerful resistance to #TigrayGenocide /12

Grateful to my relative Hagos Gebremariam for sharing these 5 priests’ stories & encouraging their circulation. Maryam Dengelat is hosting a memorial combined with the festival this year. No trauma services have yet reached the community. @cnn report: /end