you have every right now to get vaccinated, we're not gonna force you to get vaccinated, but you may have to find another place to work. that's exactly what happened to workers at our w. j. barnabas health in new jersey, which recently fired half a dozen senior employees for refusing to get vaccinated with more companies in and out of health care, requiring the vaccine to enter the office doors each day. that leaves anti vaccines with increasingly few options. john henry and al jazeera chicago. ah, again, the headlines on al jazeera, the taliban is edging closer to the capital capital and it's sweeping advance. the arm group is captured, gafney, which lies on an important highway. 10 provincial capitals have now fallen in the past week alone. charlotte bellis is in capital for more on the african governments response. they spending

a lot of money and prioritizing these new local uprising movements where they're working with local leaders, essentially delegating some of the security responsibilities and different in different government strongholds to them. and then equipping these people with arms and money to try to bolster the security forces in these areas. they're also relying on the, the special forces and they're relying on us and ask and it strikes. and in prioritizing particular places like large cities, they really want to keep the corridor between cobble and talking, crossing to pakistan open. they want to try get some of these border crossings that so they're prioritizing very specific places to hold. hold have opened, and zombies, presidential and parliamentary elections, president at gar, logos expected to face a strong challenge from its opposition rival was facing him for the 3rd time. soaring unemployment and corruption are among voters biggest concerns. the delta, very interest surging across the asia pacific region. south korea,

malaysia have reported a record number of cases. australia capital camera has gone into luck. john. greece's government has pled billions of dollars in aid for communities hit by the devastating wildfires those who have lost homes. we'll get cash payouts on tax exemption. brain overnight help to improve the situation in some areas. but flareups continue on in the arcadia region. far as have been ongoing for 2 weeks, fueled by the worst drought and over 30 years. international criminal course chief prosecutor is in sudan. he's hell talks and discuss handley handing over those ones at for a legit atrocities committed. and our for the former presidential martin bashir is among those salt by the i. c. c. he rolled a country for 30 years until he was ousted in 2019. those are the latest headlines on al jazeera inside story is coming up next. thanks for watching. ah,

ah ah, the vehicles on a citizen to join the fight against rebels in the region, all sides are being accused of war crimes. and the conflicts has figured a refugee crisis. so how far were the prime minister go to when the back this is inside? who's hello, welcome to the program. i'm hasn't see if the o p as nobel peace prize winning prime minister is raising the space in the battle

for t grey. i b med is urging in his words or capable ethiopians to join the army and stop the regions rebels once and for all i be launched and offensive last year against the t guy. people's liberation front or t p. ls that the government troops have struggled to hold back the rebels despite help from neighboring eritrea. thousands of government supporters rallied earlier this week to denounce the left and reject foreign criticism of the conflict. most of the other hundreds of millions of people have the right to be hon. you cannot install a puppet government on as the leader is the leader chosen by european and not a government that's forced on on our soil. no public governments will be stablished. he c o, p, and have chosen a leader who prioritize is what it means to be e c o here, and ensures easier to use developments,

a governments that will elevate africa and make e c o p. a model will be formed in early september. of a t p, a left dominated national ethiopian politics for 30 years until the aftermath became prime minister in 2018. the violence is partly a result of a power struggle. at the end of november, the government announced its forces had taken control of t guys. regional capital mckelly, but the conflict took a stunning turn in june, went to grind, forces took back mckelly and government soldiers withdrew. since then, the rebels have pressed into the regions of a far in the east and hotter in the south. 2000000 people have been forced from their homes with more than 50000 escaping to neighboring sudan. amnesty international says war crimes and crimes against humanity may have been committed. it's accused ethiopian, and eric trained soldiers of raping hundreds of women and girls.

the. well, let's bring in our guest now to talk more about this from london. we have done a tele rivera, senior crisis adviser in the crisis response program at amnesty international in addis ababa, samuel gets chewed independent journalist and also from london. martin cloud senior research fellow at the institute of commonwealth studies at the university of london. thank you all for joining us. just to let you know the, the, the open government and the t great people's front didn't respond to our requests to join the panel. but let me start with you, donna tell rivera we mentioned there that the humanitarian crisis, and this report from your organization about the possible crimes that are taking place there. just talk to us a little bit more about that and the, the extent of it. yes,

this report presents the finding of the investigation that we carried out over several months without being able to visit t grade because the european government not until now allowed international or any other international human rights organization to go to t gray. so we travel to east down to refugee camps and interviewed women and girls had been victims of sexual violence in te gray as well as a humanitarian personnel, medical personnel who assisted these women. and we spoke to dozens of other women and girls in t gray by phone really only during the window of opportunity when it was possible to connect to people in t gray by the phone. because since the beginning of the conflict last november, there has been on and off for long periods of blackout when,

when it's been impossible to, to reach any wanting to grade by phone or by internet that remains the case. now, be level of factual violence that has been inflicted on to grey and women and girls is shocking it. many of the survivors told us that they had been gone great by multiple perpetrators times while being held for days and weeks in, in conditions of sexual slavery. several were raised in front of their children or their family members. and very off the rates where accompanied by other forms of torture and ethnic slurs, death, threat, beatings, mutilations, sort of attacks assault that seem to be really aimed adding fleeting, maximum physical and cycle g called damage on the survivors. and because

of the nature of the, of the grid to, to some sadistic physical power, t and, and threats and the grading and humiliating treatment that we're going with with does, with, does atrocities this came of the, of the violation is. it's very significant. such conduct by all forces. if the o p, an armed forces, i'm hire a special police forces and them higher off the bond, no malicious, as well as the retrained soldiers who, being operating alongside at the opium government for safe, they have all be in committing such atrocities. so it's not a quest you and all the few isolated cases and those atrocities have been committed

all over t gray and right from the beginning from day one. when those forces entered the different parts of the gravy indicating dot, the perpetrators clearly did not worry about accountability a new did, they were acting with, with impunity. or you mentioned there that the lack of accountability. so what are you calling on now? from the international community to address this. well, obviously the 1st, the dress is the appropriate government is the responsibility of the government to ensure that these obligations are independently and partially investigated. and prom plead because we are 9 months into the conflict. and that does responsible are brought to justice and that the survivors are able to

receive the medical care and psycho social support that they need after di or deals that their lead group were also calling on the african union as a very important regional player to use it's good to offices would be at the opium government to ensure it does the right things, including allowing the commission of inquiry that has been set up by the african commission and rejected by the by the european governments to carry out its investigation in t gray. and last but not least, we are calling on the un secretary general to dispatch and the specific mechanism that he has. i did disposal a team of experts and the special representative on sexual violence in conflict to

dispatch those mechanisms to t gray. and. and similarly, the un human rights council to dispatch the special wrapper ter, on violence against women. because so far the international community, different level as statements of concern and of condemnation about sexual violence in, in the t great conflict. but really 9 months on the time for statement is in a way long older. and the time for action is, is, you know, this, this is time to, to actually take concrete action to, to, to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice, which is an important deterrent because the conflict is showing no signs of the, of ending. if anything, the development of the last couple of days and you know,

indicate that the conflict is escalating and expanding to either 2 other areas and, and for a reason it is very important that all those who are involved in the conflict both on the government side and on the left side, they should know that impunity is if it's not an option that they you know that if they've committed war crimes and crimes against humanity and human rights violation that they will be held accountable. regrettably, the lack of action until now for 9 months, he's giving combat different message because nobody has been held accountable so far. and that is, that is a very dangerous state of affairs. that certainly is want to talk more about that in a moment. but 1st, i want to turn to samuel, gets it you and come back to the,

the prime minister's declaration the day before in which he called on all the opens or k e o, p. and to, to join in the fight against and fighting against the t p l. s. what was behind that? do you think has this, has this taken matters to another level when he, when he said this, well, there has been all kinds of pressure coming to the prime minister to act. this conflict begun in november should up and within a few weeks long now it's we're approaching that. busy first year in november, so there was so much pressure for him to ox. you have to know i a call, what's being said. by the previous guess, there are many, many victims, all kinds of occupations. she talked about the window of opportunity. i was able to target, that's a great region. there are lots of pickups, accusations, and they job and government has said they endorsed the idea of the un investigating

this. and this accusations of the help of the people who went rights. and i think that's the best approach, but i also wonder if the or the world will commit enough resources to investigate this out. standing complaints that's been coming since day one, sexual wireless killing, looting, and all kinds of stuff. by all sites. i hope there will be an investigation done for the sake of the victims, but i also wonder if you'll be out of the world will commit enough resources to do a proper investigation. and that's the unfortunate part of this conflict, or any conflict in the world. marketing plan was this call by the prime minister. an active desperation is, is that he sees the conflict coming out of t gray as, as an existential threat to ethiopia as a whole. well, i think it is because,

you know, he had, let's be honest about this. this is not justin ethiopian conflict. when the war began, the era trans invaded from the nor together with them were some, $3.00 to $5000.00 somali troops who being brought in for precisely that there was an attack from the east and from the south by the european army. and by am hara malicious lives a massive attack on the 2 grid. they held up, they went into the hill and then they fought back and took back mechanic. but i think that there is one thing that is missing in what we've said so far. the, the, the, the appalling suffering that has been outlined by thee, by amnesty report today, is not just the act of individual commanders or road unit. and let me just re 2 sentences from that report. it says the packing of sexual violence emerging from

survive is account, indicate the violations, have been part of the strategy to terrorize the grades and humiliate, but the victims and their new group, the ethnic group in the to grant. the fact that such practices have been widespread and continues indicates that this strategy has been tolerated at the highest level of government in both ethiopia and era chair. so what we have in effect is a strategy of sexual violence perpetrated on the 2 grand people by prime minister abbey and pressed into saw this didn't just happen. it's not just something that is done by bad troops or bad commanders. this is a strategy, that is why it is so dangerous. samuel get to choose. what does, what does the government actually want? here and what, what do the rebels want? and is there any, any overlap there any where, where that,

where the 2 sides can find common ground. there was hope that there will be some kind of compromise. the fuel been us. you know, the government has declared the t p and that's a terrorist group. earlier this year the t p is. busy assisting or presenting all kinds of conditions, including the recognition of their government and mac ali, the transfer of funds and the release of all the political prisoners. but, you know, with this kind of. busy requests from both sides, i don't think there will be an end in sight and, but the victims, you know, unlike your guest, i. busy was able to travel to the gray region. i was able to interview some of the victims in person. and this just means that this conflict will go on and it will produce more victims, more sexual violence. go on you know this,

i've read the reports from amnesty international that came out last night to us and it's, it's. busy a shock, but it's something that needs to be investigated because this kind of investigation is going, it's a coin between both sites. and i hope, you know, organizations like the united nations, i wonder if they have enough resources or commitments from the nation to investigate what's being said by old. busy sites while the international focus is on the job and in their chan side, there are also accommodations from old sites. and i hope there will be a fair and just study or investigation to be done because again, the victims are overwhelming and it's even more overwhelming when you speak to them i have in person let's, let's come back to just come back to, don't tell her there on that,

it comes down to this whole idea of commitment that has to be real commitment from all sides to tackle this. doesn't it not, not, not just, not just within ethiopia. well, i mean, yes. first of all, let said the record straight and with the greatest respect for the time, you know, some of what samuel said he is not accurate on the international have been looking at human rights violation, including war crimes by old side. indeed, the very 1st press release that i missed international, if huge on the gray and conflict was about the massacre of civilians in my car draw where to big tims where overwhelmingly higher on. and so it's just not right to insinuate that amnesty international only look. so one side or the out there we don't and,

and our track record is extremely well through been. b all over the world. secondly, i've also spoken to, to big timber personally and those who are in the camps in sudan. and i also, and my colleagues would have liked to have gone to te grey samuel did. the problem is not one of resources. the reason why there haven't been more on the ground investigations or. busy any on the ground investigation, the t gray is simply because the opium government has not allowed human rights organizations such as international and those to go to t great journalist that had a very hard time and documented. a the difficulties them hard operating and te gray and they have only had access to parts of t great humanitarian agencies, un and n g o z our complaining day and day out about their operation. being restricted,

humanitarian work has been killed after some very responsible statements by governmental authorities and human nor ganawe's ations as operation. i've also been suspended, so give me an absolute need to investigate obligations about war crimes and human rights violations by all side. the greatest impediment doing dot are the restrictions to access that are imposed by d. c o, p. and government as well as the communication block out that are already posed. and that is, that is supremely. a a important because you know axis is absolutely key to, to being able to, to investigate mot implant. if i could just take a little step back

a little bit and talk about the, the regional implications of all this. and what it means for to see the stabilized ethiopia in this region, the longer this conflict goes on. well, it is extremely wiring. i mean, one of the most important statements came up with the us institute of peace. i think it was the day after the conflict began in november last year where they said that it threatened the collapse of the state. so that was a statement made 9 months ago, and i'm afraid it is now looking as if that is indeed a possibility. it's not certain, i mean nobody can be sure what's going to happen. but i mean, something is really important is happened today, which is that the aroma liberation army, which is the aroma being the largest ethnic group in ethiopia, have declared that they have now struck. and aligned with the 2 grands. so this trump forms the situation because you now don't just have an immobilization by the

central government who are trying to mobilize ethnic militia against the 2 grand, you know, have some of the ethnic groups themselves beginning to form an alternative, alon against the government in addis ababa so you have a fragmentation, andy, again, a unification on different lines, which is happening right now. and as i said right at the beginning, this is already regional conflict because the error trans troops are directly in bowl. there are also have been sudanese forces who have been brought in because they've been crashes along the border and almost anything is possible. i think that it is really terribly serious situation where the collapse of ethiopia is a possibility. i mean, it's the last thing anybody wants. it was unleashed forces that would be sustainable in the region. and, but it is a possibility. and one that we have to face, given the tensions,

and the ethnic rivalries and risks that are rippling across and making the whole situation much more dangerous. samuel get to chose, should the government be focus more on dealing with the countries route problems in order to to, to, to tackle this rather than this call to arms from the prime minister. let me just go back in the address your guess the comment about my criticism. i don't know how she saw it when it comes to a port. so if i'm this international, i grew up. i mining the work of i'm the international. i know the work from this international. i wasn't trying to create site, i'm the just myself. i was focused on this report. i wasn't referring to report that came back in november, december. and but going back to your question, i think the root cause has to be study. it's your best and important country. i don't think it will become like people's lobby. i don't think you feel that will

break up. it has a strong foundation. my father's generation grew up in europe, where they said where everybody was saying that will break up because of endless conflicts that was going on the, the time and, and all kinds of stuff. but if you'll survive in the field, i hope will survive. but there has to begin to have a conversation, a needed conversation between different actors. there are so many differences. yeah . there are many organizations that are taking arms to address what they received to be and justice is done to them or to their people. but i hope maybe it perhaps might be my background that i believe that conversation is more important than seeking arms. but i think it's your best should begin to look at those options. because we eat your best in a country. that is perhaps the most one of the most stable nations and in the,

within the east africa. but it doesn't have the resources to keep on fighting and spending and miss spending money. while the majority of the people are still living under the poverty line. the focus should be on perhaps on helping address the issue all over the country. but i think conversation is really important. some of the nissan countries we look up to, you know, they sold their issues through conversations. and i don't think it's your best to your best best interest to keep on fighting and addressing all kinds of issues, you know, via arms. all right, we're going to leave it there. thank you to all 3 of you. don't. a tele rivera, samuel get to choose and martin cloud, thanks so much for being on inside story. and thank you to for watching. remember, you can see this and all of our previous programs. again, anytime by visiting our website 0 dot com. and for further discussion, go to our facebook page, that's facebook dot com, forward slash

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go inspiring documentaries, from impassioned filmmakers. i am the voice out of the witness on al jazeera, me. how many nukes there's too many new america has in many ways driven the arms race parties are much more like the british parties. now, there are fewer regulation to own a tiger than their, our own a dog. how can this be happening? you know, we take on us politics and, and that's the bottom line, investigative journalist and government panic, get in, have the infrastructure they needed. they promised results in 5 days. but it's been a year examining. the headline. is this another potential flashpoint for conflicts? voice is from different corner. every house here has someone who has made it to the top of ever. it's not just one,

but several time program that has been your i to not punitive you today on algebra . play an important role protecting human face in the hello. i'm emily. angling jo hobbies of the top stories on al jazeera and taliban has captured another provincial capital in afghanistan. the light is to fall in the city of guns. ne, strategically located on the main road between canada and the capital. cobble and taliban has now taken 10 provincial capitals in just the past week. charlotte bellas is.