To: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Regional Office,

Nairobi, Kenya

Subject: Regarding false Reporting and defamation carried out by the BBC

It is well known that the University of Gondar is a higher education institution located in Northwestern Ethiopia and
has invested decades, over 65 years to be exact, to solve some of society’s pressing issues through problem-solving
research and community engagement. As one of the few research institutions in the country, we have a grave
responsibility to uncover and bring to light those things which are of importance to the general population.

Recently a team of expert researchers made it its mission to travel to the Amhara territories of Welkiet, Tsegede,
and Tselemnt to look into allegations of mass atrocities that had been committed by the Tigray Peoples Liberation
Front against the local Amhara population. What the research group found was a systematic consortium of mass
graves that were led and executed by the previous administration of the TPLF. Thousands of Amhara were killed and
buried in a manner that showed signs of genocide. During that time the research group had been engaged in its
overall research which is a lot more comprehensive and covers large swaths of the Amhara state but felt it was
necessary to give a press conference to share the breaking findings of mass graves.

Notwithstanding, recently it has come to our attention that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has written
a new report on allegations that the University of Gondar experts have been engaged in acts unbefitting of our
Educational Institution. The report that was written by a BBC journalist Lucy Kassa dated May 7, 2022, under the
title, Ethiopia war: “Evidence of mass killing being burned” illustrates a scenario where a group of University of
Gondar experts, aided by Amhara militias, engaged in acts of burning so-called victims of Tigrayan mass graves. In
so doing the report shares in gruesome and unsubstantiated detail that the team of experts orchestrated a plan of
disposal for the remains by trucking in an “unknown chemical” which helped with the eradication of evidence.
Moreover, the report also claimed that the BBC had contacted the University of Gondar for comments on the
allegations and that the University “did not respond”.

With that being said the University of Gondar would like to firmly and unequivocally denounce the claims and
allegations in the reporting because of its motives which seem to be political in nature. The researchers and experts
who were tasked with the responsibility of seeking the truth about mass atrocities and human rights violations
committed against the Amhara people in the areas of Welkait, Tsegede, and Tselemnt were professionals in their
dealings and had no other motives than seeking justice and focusing on acts of genocide committed against the local
inhabitants. No such evidence of “Tigrayan mass graves” was ever discovered and if it had been the University of
Gondar would have been the first to acknowledge it. We have concluded that the reporting looks to tarnish the great
work of our experts and seems unethical and unscientific in nature: which goes against the core values and mission
of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Hence our institution would like to propose the following:

• The University of Gondar would pledge to work with the BBC to undergo a proper and scientific
investigation into the allegations and is willing to jointly go to the sites in question.
• In addition, we call upon the BBC to properly investigate its own staff and their journalistic integrity as it
pertains to the above-mentioned allegations. The seriousness of the accusations and the ill intent that the
report intended to inflict on our institution is a clear censure of freedom of scientific exploration. Loose and
unsubstantiated claims with such evidence as reported by the journalist, which are signs of partisan politics,
can be detrimental to the mission and vision of Education everywhere and must be looked into by the BBC
with the utmost attention. We believe the BBC, in its current capacity as an international news outlet, has
a weighty responsibility to safeguard the scientific flow and dissemination of Educational Institutions’
information irrespective of where it is.
Therefore, we would like to get to the bottom of these claims in the most urgent and scientific manner. We do
hope to receive your esteemed reply.

With the utmost regard,