Postcolonial perspectives on the international response and the concealment of atrocities in Tigray massacre

Abstract

This thesis examines how global attention influences the behavior of African states by analyzing the level of international responses from international organizations and the actions of the Ethiopian government in the Tigray massacre case, with particular focus on the effectiveness of mass atrocity information concealing strategies during the period between 4th November 2020 and 2nd November 2022. The study draws on data from reports, meeting records, and press statements issued by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the European Union (EU) on the topic of Tigray massacre. It further investigates the extent to which the Ethiopian government employed concealment strategies to restrict the flow of information regarding mass atrocities through many situation reports from conflict monitoring organizations. To analyze the data, direct content analysis and congruence analysis methods were applied. The findings indicate that the Ethiopian government’s use of information concealment strategies is consistent with realist theory, which posits that state behavior in an anarchic international system is primarily driven by survival rather than cooperation, particularly when coordination among states is not prioritized. However, a postcolonial theoretical analysis reveals additional causal mechanisms underlying the government’s behavior. First, limited international attention to African conflicts shaped by hierarchical structures in global politics. It creates conditions in which states perceive reduced external scrutiny as strategically advantageous. In this context, the Ethiopian government may adopt adaptive strategies that combine the suppression of marginalized voices through the concealment of mass atrocity information with the selective adoption of international norms through mimicry, in order to manage and mitigate external pressure. Second, these conditions contribute to the prolongation of conflict, as partial compliance and managed visibility reduce external incentives for resolution. Finally, this dynamic may lead to the normalization of conflict, both within domestic governance practices and international perception. Overall, this research highlights the critical role of international organizations in African conflicts. From a postcolonial perspective, it suggests that conflict-resolution frameworks developed for Western contexts may not be fully effective in African cases and require adaptation, since that African conflicts are shaped by hierarchical dynamics in international politics.