America trapped between its national interest and its core values in the Tigray war, By Kalayu Abrha

The key to the conduct of international relations is national interest. America puts this diplomatic formula as bluntly as: "There is no permanent friendship but national interest". All world states have their own national interests that they solicit from others, impose on others, and/or protect from others. World states also have core national values that may or may not be antagonistic or impediments to national interest. America and Britain for sure have shared values such as: democracy, peace, human rights, and constitutional order. They may join hands to realize these treasured values in their dealings or relations with other world states. However, America and Britain may clash head on in matters of international trade, each protecting its own markets from encroachment by the other. Zooming in into the internal affairs of particular states it is quite common for America's national interest to come into conflict with its core values. American allies and/or trading partners often may have undemocratic or democidal regimes in which constitutional order is wrecked. The situation puts America in a difficult position with that state of paradox which is a friend in terms of national interest but at the same time an enemy in terms of the core values. There have been three possible options to resolve the diplomatic dilemma: 1/ to take sides with the state, support and defend it against its domestic opposition, or 2/ to take sides with the internal opponents of the state, or 3/ try to reconcile the two. Unfortunately, taking one of the options is something which is more easily said than done.

America has on several occasions taken option 1, which gives primacy to national interest, and risked its cherished values of freedom and democratic governance. A case in point is the US-friendly junta in Burma where USA did not exceed the unhelpful rhetoric in favour of the Rohingia genocide victims. General Pinochet was installed and supported by the CIA against the fans of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. The junta in chile was meant to protect the copper mining US companies not the democratic rights of the people of Chile. In fact, which of the three options to choose largely depends on who sits in the Oval Office; but there is also an established way of doing things any US-President cannot bypass. This takes us to the American diplomatic dilemma that it is experiencing in Ethiopia over the Tigray genocidal war. It was the way it all began that put the USA in such a difficult position of inaction the consequence of which has extended the death and suffering of the people of Tigray in a biblical scale. The EPRDF-led government was successful in running an economic and social development experiment in Ethiopia which was based on a delicate balance between capitalism and socialism. Since the USA has never approved such a "brew" of socialism and capitalism it eyed the EPRF with mistrust as it also more often than not inclined towards China. Ethiopia and USA were allies on terrorism, though. It is not unusual for the USA to seek convenient substitutes for such governments that cannot be manipulated to bow to the economic dictates of the IMF and the World Bank. Although the USA had its tacit appreciations for the success of the experiment which rocketed Ethiopia onto being one of the fastest growing economies, the fact that the commanding-heights of the Ethiopian economy is (was?) state controlled failed to turn Ethiopia into "capitalist-enough" state to the satisfaction of the USA. It was a blessing in a bad guise for the US-officials during the Trump presidency that bad governance had tarnished the good image of the EPRDF. America took this golden opportunity and used the civil unrest in Ethiopia to support the removal of the leading member of the EPRDF-coalition leaving the rest of it intact to lead the "transformation to genuine democratic rule". The loud noise of capitalism was in the air; but that did not serve the enhancement of social and economic realities on the ground. It was only a smoke screen to attack Tigray by giving it a bad name and inciting the wrath of Ethiopians against it.

I have no evidence that Trump's USA backed the invasion of Tigray; but I take its silence as consent! The callous Trump was busy with the election issues although he may have been informed by his aides about the unjustifiable aggression, the civilian atrocities, the destruction of social and economic infrastructure, the massive robbery, and the involvement of foreign forces in this should-have-been a domestic conflict. When the more humanitarian and peace-loving president and his foreign relations team swore into office it was too late for Tigray. The whole Tigray was brutally violated in pitch darkness and deafening silence. The whole world roared against what happened in Tigray with USA taking the lead. USA was already talking about genocide in and the withdrawal of foreign troops from Tigray. The reference to the invasion as genocidal implied that friends of the USA at Arat-kilo will most likely face justice in the Hague. On the one hand, the long endured national interest of the USA in Ethiopia can be protected only if this Country remains in one piece. America can never accept the second largest country in Africa as a fragmented failed state. On the other hand, the invasion of Tigray and the widespread war crimes committed by what America wrongly believed to be reformist leadership was not compatible with the moral values USA holds dearly. The trend towards the disintegration of Ethiopia is unmistakable because the war crimes in Tigray have disillusioned Tegaru with regards to their continuity as Ethiopians. Most analysts believe that a domino-effect may most likely be triggered with the separation of the de-facto political and historical core of Ethiopia in the north. The genocidal war of invasion has been made more potent by the blockade of Tigray with the evil intention of starving its millions to death. The world has ample experience how gruesome the use of famine as a weapon of war is. Millions died in Biafra, during the Nigerian civil war, due to the blockade of food supplies to the Igbo people under General Yakubu Gowan. There is a great deal of similarity between what happened in Biafra and what is unfolding in Tigray.

America is performing a dangerous tight-rope balance to save Ethiopia and its current leaders if possible, for the USA, if not for the world, and at the same time to address the humanitarian crisis in Tigray and the unconstitutional violation of the territorial integrity of Tigray by the neighbouring Amhara expansionists and their Eritrean backers. The sticking point for America is that it is dealing with stubborn politicians who are decided to destroy Tigray at all diplomatic costs of international isolation and incrimination. America is accused by the Ethiopian leaders for backing the "terrorists" in Tigray. Since the latter are also accusing the entire people of Tigray as collaborators of "terrorists" they are want the world to believe that the siege of Tigray is an extension of the military campaign to starve "millions of terrorists". That is why they are accusing the USA for being "terrorist-friendly" when it insists on lifting the blockade and opening up for humanitarian access. Art-kilo and Bahir Dar have branded six million Tegraru as "terrorists" and thus America's request for access is rendered as interference in the internal affairs of Ethiopia. Ethiopian leaders have had their strange way of foul-mousing the integrity of the USA, embarrassing it visiting top officials, and threatening the cutting of diplomatic ties. Unbelievably the tactic seems to be working. Anger and frustration with the misbehavior of Ethiopian top officials, and the general public too, did not induce taking more drastic punitive measures on Ethiopia by USA.


Unable to jump out of the trap America seems to be standing on its lowest point of resolve and trying to appease Ethiopian leaders by putting pressure on Tigray favourable for the Amhara war-effort. USA believes that the preconditions given by Tigray Government for ceasefire and national dialogue are the most realistic. They can help America to keep Ethiopia intact and at the same time open humanitarian access via the most convenient route: Western Tigray. The precondition includes a new and inclusive transitional government. USA has to be clear about its desire. If it is keen about the safety of Ethiopia not about Abiy's leadership then it has to go for a more inclusive one. Constitutional order must be restored by the withdrawal of Amhara forces from Tigray. It is unfair to expect Tigray to withdraw from the Amhara Region when its own territory is still annexed by the Amhara forces. No other region's territory is taken by a neighbouring region. Why is the violation of the constitution in Tigray acceptable, but not elsewhere? War is not a hobby or something to have fun with. Tegaru youngsters are shedding their blood not because it gives them pleasure. It is because they wouldn't opt for a smaller Tigray than it was before the war just for the sake of peace. Human life and honour are inseparable. Mel Gibson took the role of Wallace of Scotland in 'Brave Heart' and was axed while crying "freedom!!". This is an enduring value that drives humanity and is compiled as chapters of history. Otherwise, we just belong to the Animal Kingdom. America must snap out of its dilemma and live up to its revered values. It must call the spade a spade not only with words but also with deeds. National interest does not nourish values; it is the other way round.

Source: Aigaforum

Inviting Foreign Countries to Commit Mass Atrocities in Tigray: How Ethiopia is abusing its Sovereignty By Desta, Asayehgn - Sarlo Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Economic Development

As stated in the international humanitarian and human rights law, the United States applying “sovereignty as responsibility” is attempting to apply economic and political sanction against Ethiopian Government because the Ethiopian National Federal Forces in collaborators with other foreign governments has committed crimes of mass atrocities related to genocide, starvation, looting and the raping of underage girls and women in Tigray, Ethiopia.Though the Abiy regime of Ethiopia has voluntarily forfeited its sovereignty by inviting foreign countries to invade its citizens, now it has not only started denouncing the United States for meddling in the internal affairs of Ethiopia but it also anchoring on his power to galvanize his supporters and stage massive demonstration against the United States of America. The central question of this paper is: Can the sanctions imposed by the United States of America on Ethiopia for waging war of annihilation against the people of Tigray amount to the violation of Ethiopia’s sovereignty?

A brief review of studie# Established in thef Westphalia in 1648, state sovereignty was specifically established to give every state an exclusive rights within its domestic jurisdiction. Being equal to one another and having the sole authority, the Westphalia state sovereignty was codified to prohibit the intervention of one state on the domestic affairs of another state (Tan, Oct 9, 2017).Over the thirty and half years, the Westphalia sovereignty remained relevant from the principle of non-interference.

 Nonetheless, as it gave unlimited authority to dictators, it faced challenge from human rights advocates. Thus, without infringing a country’s sovereignty, the 1648 Westphalia state sovereignty was amended in 1948 to make humanistic by incorporate statements that states be given the responsibilities with obligation to hold their citizens’ rights to be free from mass atrocity crimes and human rights abusesFurthermore, under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) of 2005, states were made to know that they could relinquish their sovereignty provided they are found to commit or allow mass atrocities related to genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against their citizens (Etzioni, March 10, 2016, and Glanville, 2011)Over the thirty and half years, the Westphalia sovereignty remained relevant from the principle of non-interference. Nonetheless, as it gave unlimited authority to dictators, it faced challenge from human rights advocates.

 Thus, without infringing a country’s sovereignty, the 1648 Westphalia state sovereignty was amended in 1948 to make humanistic by incorporate statements that states be given the responsibilities with obligation to hold their citizens’ rights to be free from mass atrocity crimes and human rights abuses.Furthermore, under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) of 2005, states were made to know that they could relinquish their sovereignty provided they are found to commit or allow mass atrocities related to genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against their citizens (Etzioni, March 10, 2016, and Glanville, 2011).

To summarize, according to the 1648 Westphalian accord, states were given the exclusive rights within their domestic jurisdiction to calm down various religious types of conflicts. Stated differently, states were made to be exclusively prohibited from intervening into the domestic affairs of other states. However, following World War II, states were further accorded additional responsibility to protect (R2P) the welfare of their citizens from mass atrocity crimes.Provided states fail to uphold their responsibility to protect the human rights of its citizens, the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2005 further endorsed that other states have the obligation to intervene and protect human rights of the then aggressed citizens. Clarifying the dilution of that might exist in the concept of sovereignty as a control, it was ascertained to incorporate responsibility in both internal functions and external duties (Evans and Sahnoun et al (2001).Analysis and ConclusionEthiopia being a member of the League of Nations and the United Nations, it needs to be appreciated for being one of signatory nations that it agreed to protect the welfare of its citizens from internal mass atrocity and see that it agreed to practice sovereignty as responsibility.

Nonetheless, after signing voluntarily that sovereignty cannot be used as carte blanche for states to committee all forms of atrocities (Tan, Oct 9, 2017), it is a disgrace for Ethiopia to see that the Abiy’s regime invited and collaborated with other nations such as, the well-known dictator, Isaias Afework of Eritrea, Somalia’s armed forces, and United Arab Emirates’ drones to wag a full-scale war to annihilate the citizens of Tigray.

Given the various horrible atrocities committed in Tigray, the Abiy regime doesn’t either have the moral nor the legal grounds to act as the guardian of Ethiopia’s sovereignty (Ashenafi (May, 21, 2021). In addition, the Abiy regime should be ashamed to accuse the United States for imposing economic and political sanctions against Ethiopia. After all, the sanctions that United States is intending to impose on Ethiopia is nothing but is in line with the international obligation of the 2005 that each member nation signed to fulfill case of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

In a violation of the territorial boundaries of regional states established in the

1995 Ethiopian constitution, it was very awful that the Abiy regime organized the Amhara militia forces and the genocidal fano forces to cross their boundaries, enter Tigray and expropriate the Tigrayans from their respective territories and made about 71,000 flee as refugees to the Sudan. Therefore, it is a high time that the international community collaborate together to disparage Ethiopia from abusing sovereignty and attempting to use it as a dreadful formula for the extermination of Tigreans (Security and Justice for Tigreans (SJTE) in Ethiopia, June 7, 2021).

The conclusion that could be reached from the above analysis that the Abiy regime has voluntarily forfeited sovereignty when it invited foreign countries to invade its own citizens. Moreover, now, the Abiy regime is abusing sovereignty against the United States for its decision to impose economic and political sanctions against Ethiopia in order to partially protect the Tigrayan victims. Therefore, given the war crimes being committed in Tigray are unparalleled in human history, the international community has the duty and responsibility to prosecute Abiy as the perpetrator of “heinous international crimes” (See also, SJTE, June 7, 2021).


References:

Ashenafi , F. (March 21, 2021). “Hiding behind the Sovereignty skirt: Ethiopia’s

Foreign Ministry Statement.” aigaforum.com/articles2021/Hiding-under-the- Sovereignty-skirt.htm

Deng, F. etal (1996). Sovereignty as Responsibility: Conflict Management in Africa. Brookings Institution Press, M. (2011).

Desta, A. (Feb. 13, 2021). “Reversing History: Eritrea’s form of colonialism progressing in Tigray (Ethiopia) in the 21st Century. Tigrai online.

Evans, G, Sahnoun et al (2011). “The Responsibility to Protect: Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty.” Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.

Etzioni.A (March 10, 2016). “Defining Down Sovereignty: The Rights and Responsibilities of Nations.” Ethics & International Affairs.

Glanville, L. (2011). “The Antecedents of “Sovereignty as Responsibility.” European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 17, No. 2.

Krasner, S. (1999). Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy. Princeton: Princeton University

Press.

Securities and Justice for Tigreans in Ethiopia (June 7, 2021). “His Excellency Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations.”

Tan, S. (Oct 9, 2017). “The Uses and Abuses of Sovereignty.” Foreign Policy.

World Summit Outcome (September 15, 2005). “Draft resolution refereed to High –level Plenary Meeting on the General Assembly, 59th Session.


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ህጹጽ ጻዊዒት ንመንግስታት ዓለምና ንሂወት ሰላማዊ ህዝቢ ትግራይ ንምድሓም!!! ሰማእታትና፣ ወርሒ ሰኔ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ሙሉእ ዓመት ይዘከሩ!!! ዲሞክራስያዊ ዉድብ ብሄረ ብሌን ኤርትራ

 እዚ ወርሒ እዚ ሰማእታትና ንዝክረሉ ወርሒ’ዩ። ኣብ’ዚ ናይ ሎሚ ዘመን ዝኽርና ግን ንህዝቢ ትግራይ ቐዳምነት ክንህቦ ወሲና። ሰማእታትና ኣዕኑድ ታሪኽና፣ ባና ጽባሕ ናጽነትና፣ ክብርናን ኩርዓትናን ኣብ ዓመት ሓንሳብ ዘይኮነ መዓልታዊ ሕድሪ ናቶም እናፈጸምና’ና ክንዝክሮም’ዩ ዝግባኣና። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣዋርቕ ደቑ ‘’ዓወት ንሓፋሽ’’ እናበሉ ዝወደቑሉ ሎሚ ኣብ ሲኦል ክነብር ምርኣይና ዝያዳ የሕርነና ኣሎ። ኣብ ዓዲ ሓቒ መቐለ ቆይማ ዘላ ሃዉልቲ ሰማእታት ህዝቢ ትግራይ ከኣ ካብ ቐደም ንላዕሊ ክደምቕ ሙዃና ንኣምን። ነቶም ምእንቲ ፍትሒ ኣብ ሞቑሕ ዘለዉ’ውን ብጥዕና ሓርነት ሃገሮም ክርእዩ ተዓጢቅና ክንቓለስ 20 ሰኔ ዳግም ቓልና ንሓድሰላ ዕለት ሙዃና ንኹሉ ደላይ ፍትሒ ነዘኻኽር። ክቡርትን ክቡራንን ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፣ እዛ ሎሚ ነበልብላ ዘሎና ምልክት ናጽነትና ባንዴራ ንግደ ሓቒ ንሕና በይንና ኣይወደቅናላን። መንግስቲ ደርጊ፣ ሓዲስ መሳርያታት ካብ ደገፍቱ ተዓጢቑ ፈላጣት ኮምንደርስ ወሲኹ ካብ ገጽ ምድሪ ከጥፋኣና ከምጽእ እንከሎ እንኮ ምሳና ደዉ ዝበሉ ሂወቶምን ግዜኦምን ሞራልን ዝኾኑና ኣሕዋትና ተጋሩ ተጋድልቲ ህወሓት’ዮም። ድሕሪ ደርጊ ምዕናዉ’ውን ዲሞክራስያዊ ሩፑፕሊክ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ኣብ ግዜ ረፈረንዱም ብናዉትን ብሞራልን ብሕጋዊ መንገዱን ዝደገፉና ንሶም ህወሓት’ዮም። ህወሓት ብሰንኪ እዚ ቅኑዕ መስመሮም ግዳይ ከም ዝኾኑ’ውን ኩሉ ብዓል ህልና ኤርትራዊ ዘይክሕዶ’ዩ።

 እዚ ቅድሚ ሾብዓተ ወርሒ ዝተወልዔ ኲናት ንመንግስትን ህዝብን ትግራይ እንተዘይንበርኪኽና መስመር ትምክሕቲ ኣብ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ክዕወት ኣይ ክእልን’ዩ ዝብል ኣጅነዳ ናይ ብዙሓት ሽርሒ’ዩ። ብሰማይን ብምድርን ዝጎስዕ ኣጽዋር ዓጢቖሞም ብገንዘብን መዳልያን ድማ መሪቖሞም። እዚ ኲናት ጸረ ህዝብን ጸረ ሰላምን ጸረ ዲሞክራስን’ዩ። ዲዉብብኤ ነዚ ናይ ፋሺሽቲ ኲናት ይኹንኖ። ንሕና ኤርትራዉያን ኣብ ግዜ ጣልያን ብሓይሊ ባንዳታት ጥልያን ኮና ንኢትዮጵያ ንሶማል ንሊብያ ወጊእና’ና። ሃገርና ዶባታ ብመሬት ምስ ስለስተ ብባሕሪ ድማ ካብ ባብ ኤልመንደብ ክሳብ ሱወዝ ካናል ምስ ሓምሽተ ሃገራት ትዳውብ። ምስ እዘን ኩለን ሃገራት ሰላምን ርጉእ ናይ ቑጠባ ዝምድናን የብልናን። ንየምን ክትዓኑ ካብ ዓሰብ ነፈርትን ድሮናትን ክበራ መሬትና ተዋሂቡ። ሰቕ ኢልና። ሎሚ ብኢድና ብእግርና ንጎርቤት ሃገር ወሪርና። እሞ ንህዝቢ ትግራይ። ካብ እዘን ኩልን ሃገራት ዓለማት እታ ብሂወት ደቓ ኣብ ግዜ ቓልስና ዝደገፈትና ትግራይ ከም ዝነበረት መን ይርስዖ። ሎሚ ዝኾነ ፍጡር ወዲ ሰብ ክግብሮ ዘይግባእ ወንጄል ብባንዳታት ኢሰብ ኢሳያስ ኣብ ትግራይ ይፍጸም ከም ዘሎ ናይ ዓለም ዜናን ናይ መራሕቲ ዓለም ሃብታማት መንግስታትን ዛዕባ ኮይኑ ኣሎ። ንትምክሕቲ ስርዓት ኢትይጵያ መንግስቲ ፋሺስቲ ኢሳያስ ዓንዲ ሕቆ ኮይኑ ከም ዘሎ ዓለም ብኹሉ ይዛረብ ኣሎ። ኣብ ጎቦታት ሳሕል ፋሕ ኢሉ ዘሎ ኣዕጽምቲ ናይ ተጋደልቲ ትግራይ ሰማእታት ከይወግኣናን ንታሪኽና ጸሊም ከይንገድፍን ብህጹጽ ኣብ ልብናን ቀልብናን ንመለስ። ዲሞክራስያዊ ዉድብ ብሄረ ብሌን ኤርትራ/ሆደ ናይ ዓለም ሕቡራት መንግስታትን ትካል ጸጥታ ቤት ምኽሪ፣ ብጥሜትን ብጥይትን ብሕሱም ጭቆናን ንዝጸንት ዘሎ ህዝቢ ትግራይ ሽዓ ክርድኦ ንጹዉዕ። በቲ ዝሓሸ ዝብልዎ መንገዲ ንህዝቢ 2 ትግራይ ምስ ወኪላቱ ተሳንዮም ሂወት ሰብ ከድሕኑ ብዕሊ ጻዊዒትና ነቅርብ ኣሎና። ነዚ ጽሑፍና እትድግፉ ኣሓትን ኣሕዋትን ግዲታኹም ክትገብሩ’ውን ንጽዉዕ። ካልእ ክንግብሮ ዝግባእና እንተሎ’ውን ቅሩቡነትና ንገልጽ። ዲሞክራስያዊ ዉድብ ብሄረ ብሌን ኤርትራ/ሆደ እዚ ኲናት ቅድሚ ምጅማሩ ናይ ኢሳያስን ኣብን ምሕዝነት ክሳክሳብ ክንደይ መዘዝ ኣብ ቐርኒ ኣፍሪቓ ከምጽእ ከም ዝኾነ ጺሕፍና’ና።

 ሎሚ ዘሎ ኲናት’ውን ‘’ዶብ ምሕንጻጽን ንሕጊ ምኽባር’’ ዝብልዎ ሸፍጥ’ዩ። አብ ኢትዮጵያ ብናይ ህዝብታት ቃልሲ ንዝተተኽለ ፈደራላዊ ስርዓት አፍሪስካ፡ አብ ክንድኡ ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ዝመስል ብዉልቐ መላኺ እትማሓደር ኢትዮጵያ ክምስርቱ ነዚ መሰለይ ዝብል ህዝቢ ትግራይ ምምብርካኽ ናይ ቐዳምነት ቐዳማይ መደቦም’ዩ። እዚ ግን ሕልሚ’ዩ። ፍሽስታውያን ዕምሮም ሓጺር’ዩ። ንሕና ደጊፍና ኣይደግፍና ህዝቢ ትግራይ ክዕወት’ዩ። ኣብ ድሮ ኣዉድኣመት ዓወት ህዝቢ ትግራይ እንተኾነ ቅድሚኡ ጸሓይና ክትበርቕ ንሕና’ውን ኣብ ጎኒ ህዝቢ ትግራይ ኮና ብመትከል ንቓለስ። መሬት ንርእሳ ኢላ ምስ ወግሔት ጣዕሳ አይጠቅምን`ዩ። ጭዋ ባህልና ብህግደፍ ተብሪዙ ኣሎ። ንድለዮ ንሓድሶ ንተዓጠቆ፣ ንሱ’ዩ ዘሰማማዓናን ዘዕዉተናን ዘኽብረናንን። ባህሊ ዘይብሉ ህዝቢ ኩሉ’ዩ ዝጻወተሉ። መጻወቲ ከይንኸዉን ኣብ ክቡር ባህልና ንመለስ። ካብ ዝፈላልዩና ዘራኽቡና ይበዝሑ፣ ዘባእስ ባህሊ ፋሺስቲ’ዩ ንቐሓሉ ወጊድ ንበሎ። ዲሞክራስያዊ ዉድብ ብሄረ ብሌን ኤርትራ/ሆደ ከም ስሙ ንመሰል ዉጹዓት ይቓልስ። መረበቱ ድማ ምድሪ ብሌን’ዩ። ኣብ ምድሪ ብሌን ብሓፈሻ ድማ ኣብ ምዕራባዊ ወገን ሃገርና ‘’ዓሳ ንምሓዝ ባሕሪ ክንጽፍ ኣለዎ’’ ዝብል ጭርሖ ተከቲሎም ሰራዊት ኢትዮጵያ ሓደ ሺሕ ዝኸዉን ኣብ ሓንቲ መዓልቲ ንሰላማዊ ህዝቢ ናይ ዓድታት ዖናን በስክዲራን ቐቲሎም ገዝኡን ማሉን ግራቱን ድማ ኣንዲዶም። እዚ ቑስሊ ኣሎና። ከም’ዚ ጥፍኣት ግደፉ ናብ ንፈትዎም ንጸልኦም እኳ ክወርድ ኣይንምኔን። ጸሊም ታሪኽ ንደቅና ክንገድፍ ኣይንደልን። ኣብ’ዚ ግዜ ኩሉ ፋታዉ ፍትሒ ምስ ህዝቢ ትግራይ ደዉ ክብል ግዴታ ኣለዎ። ሞት ደቅና ኣብ መንገዲ ስደትን ኣብ ዘይፍትሓዊ ኲናት ደዉ ክብል ቅኑዕ መትከል ህዝቢ ንትዓጠቕ። 

ናይ ውጽዓት አህዛብ ምሕዝነት ንዘለአለም ይንበር!! 

ህዝቢ ትግርይን ህዝቢ ኤርትራን ክዕወት`ዩ!! 

ዉድቐት ንፋሺስታዊ ጥምረት!!! 

ዲሞክራስያዊ ዉድብ ብሄረ ብሌን/ሆደ

Hidden horrors in the Tigray War: The allies` ethos of cruelty By Berhane G

 Since the war begun on November 4, 2020, in Tigray region, the allied forces (Ethiopia soldiers, Amhara Militia and Eritrean soldiers) murdered thousands of civilians, violently raped women and girls aging from 4 to 70s, and destructed all infrastructures of the region. Why?

In November, 2020, religious festival in Mariam Dengelat was turned into a massacre by Eritrean soldiers. The soldiers murdered the priests, old men and women, entire families and a group of more than 20 Sunday school children, some as young as 14 in the church.  Similarly, Eritrean soldiers massacred hundreds of civilians in the city of Axum on 28-29 November 2020, opening fire in the streets and conducting house-to-house raids.

Ethiopian soldiers killed dozens of youths in Mahbere Dego (near Axum). The corpses were thrown to the hill. Videos of the massacres are not time stamped but the massacres are believed to have started on 15 January 2021 and continued for several days. The massacres occurred in a similar way as so many massacres in Tigray. Most massacres in Tigray are not yet reported because of the communication blockage. But to mention few: The massacres of Bora, in southern Tigray, The massacres of Waldba and Maikadra in western Tigray, the massacres in Erop, and Mariam church around Zalambesa, Multiple massacres in central Tigray and many others ….

Wherever the allied soldiers were deployed, they perpetrated barbaric crimes against humanity. Villages of Tigray have been burning for more than half a year, innocent civilians have been burnt/wounded by artilleries and white phosphorus bombs. Civilians have been murdered in every village and town indiscriminately. Besides, the soldiers impeded the distribution of humanitarian aid access to the people who are in need of food assistance. 

Such grim statistics beg questions: Why were the allied forces especially Eritrean soldiers and Amhara militia so deliberately brutal towards the people of Tigray? What were the causes of such behavior? Can we ever understand why they committed crimes that go so far beyond generally accepted military conduct? Let’s see them one by one:

Eritrea’s barbarism had its roots in the nation’s dictatorship history. Since 1991, a hereditary military dictatorship known as Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) has been ruling Eritrea, isolating it from the rest of the world. For more than three decades, the dictatorship Isaias Afeworki has trained, and brainwashed massive military forces whose code demanded rigid loyalty to their liege lord and suicidal bravery when ever ordered, demanding and receiving their subjects’ unquestioning obedience.

There is a way that Farmers in a village train dogs to be tough. At early age of the puppy, they put it in a dark room. They isolate it from contacts even with the family members. They beat it and make it angered. They even cut its ears and tail. A dog trained and treated in such way become the most cruel/tough. In a similar way, Isaias Afework has been training his soldiers in an endless military service in SAWA. The brainwashed soldiers have no mercy for all humans including their comrades if ordered. They only know how to kill people but nothing else.

After the independence of Eritrea, Eritreans had hope and ambition that their country would be one of the democratic and developed countries in Africa. Eritrea has ample natural resource specially the sea and ports it has are the potentials for its development. But unfortunately, the government has no clear development strategy. Leaving all domestic potentials behind, the government has been engaged in exploiting resource from neighbour countries. The government invaded Yemen, Djibouti and Ethiopia. It also engaged in multiple conflicts with Sudan.

In 1998, Eritrean government invaded Ethiopia that resulted in a brutal defeat for itself. The war ended in 2000. Since then, Isaias Afework has been blaming the Tigray Liberation Front (TPLF) for all problems in Eritrea. The only agenda allowed to raise in Eritrea was about how to retaliate TPLF. Asking about economic development or democracy was banned. Because of this blind strategy, most Eritrean youths became desperate and fled to Ethiopia, Europe, middle east and to other countries. But like a lion hiding to hunt a deer, Isaias Afework has been waiting to take retaliation against TPLF.

On the other hand, the current top leaders of the government of Ethiopia including PM Abiy Ahmed have extreme enmity against TPLF that emanates from inferiority complex. Most of the generals including General Birhanu Jula who were soldiers of the Derg regime have also the same problem. Those generals were surrendered by TPLF in war fronts and gave a chance to join Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) a coalition party that includes TPLF and fought the Derg regime. They were trained and grown up under the TPLF generals. As the civilian officials, those generals also have inferiority complex. All were preparing to retaliate TPLF once they get chance

When Abiy Ahmed came to power in April 2018 following the political unrest mainly orchestrated by members of the party EPRDF who had been working clandestinely with the Government of Eritrea and other governments who wanted to overthrow EPRDF, he planned to consolidate the power and form Unitary government. As soon as he seized the power, he sacked TPLF leaders from the Federal level Institutions, removed many of the regional leaders and replaced them by his pupates illegally. He forcefully removed the Somali regional government. But it was not easy to remove the Tigray regional government that has strong support by Tigrayans. He was preparing for more than two years.

Advisors of the PM and some Amhara politicians who are instrumental in hatching the war in Tigray, termed their blind obedience insisting, “It is necessary to have political, economical, cultural, national defense, and everything else all focused on in one being, the united Ethiopia.” Abiy, for his part, believed it to rule the country in one command. He published a book called MEDEMER as a road map. The medias that are propaganda machines of the government reinforced the concepts of MEDEMER. These ideas found especially willing disciples in the Amhara political elites. Amhara Elites are the sole enemy of TPLF and Tigray people. They believed that the project of Unitary Ethiopia which had been bult by mainly Amhara political elites was collapsed and changed to Federal system of governance by TPLF. The new federal system gives the right to self- administration, equality to all Ethiopian cultures, languages and religions. Amhara political elites don`t accept such administration. Due to this, they have been working day and night for the last 27 years to dismantle the federal system and to take revenge against TPLF. 

The governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia, and Amhara regional government allied mainly to target their common Enemy-TPLF. Some innocent Ethiopians and other countries may believe that Abiy Ahmed brought peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the potential war between the countries was closed. But in reality, there is nothing done but Isaias, Abiy Ahmed and Amhara region agreed clandestinely to wage war on the regional government of Tigray to over throw TPLF and subdue the people of Tigray.

Led by Abiy Ahmed, the unitary system of governance sought to return Ethiopia to a prosperous country in which the Prosperity party would rule unchallenged and the PM would wield absolute power. The main objective of Abiy Ahmed is consolidating power that helps him to be the king of Ethiopia. He planned to crush all opponents that he believes to be obstacles for his destine. He was sure that TPLF would be the main obstacle and strategized to produce documentaries to label as socially outcast. The state medias produced fabricated documentaries and televised repeatedly. 

Amhara region and Isaias Afework have similar objectives: retake land that they claim and retaliate against their common enemy TPLF. Both have done the same strategy as Abiy Ahmed has done.

From day 1 of basic training, Eritrean military officers taught that the Tigrayans are blood enemies and an inferior race, and that Eritrea would one day retake the land under Tigray. Instructors molded recruits into obedient tools of the officer corps through brutal training regimens that punished even the slightest transgressions with physical violence. Recruits were taught that their officers were infallible and that any order issued by a superior must be treated as an order given by himself.

It was those at the core of Eritrea’s military power, the generals who decided to brutalize civilians, and who made conditions so despicable in the region. Junior officers and soldiers go along with these crimes because they too believe the orders infallible, and that Isaias wishes them to commit such outrages. The generals know that the culturally ingrained respect for authority, coupled with the fear of exclusion and loss of face, meant scant resistance when they ordered Eritrean troops to carry out morally repugnant orders.

As Tigrayans had dominated Ethiopian top military and political positions before 2018, it was they, according to the political elites of Amhara thinking, who had tried to subordinate Amharas and who had degraded the unity of Ethiopia. Amhara political elites blame TPLF for all problems of Amhara where they live. Those political elites preach hatred and enmity among Amhara and Tigrayans endlessly. As Isaias Afework has been doing, they trained special forces, Militias and group of youth called FANO to retaliate against TPLF and Tigrayans. The widespread barbarity and cruelty practiced by Amhara forces were clearly indicative of that hatred and loathing, and perhaps a deep-seated inferiority complex—many Amhara`s soldiers harbored toward their Tigrayan foes.

After well prepared, the allied forces encircled Tigray. Eritrean soldiers crossed boarder towards Tigray. The Northern command post of Ethiopia based in Tigray was clandestinely instructed and was waiting final instruction. Cognizant of the preparations, the Tigray Regional government was also preparing to defend the aggression. Meanwhile,  government of Tigray had conducted discussions with commanders of the Northern command and agreed with majority of the commanders to cooperate with TPLF. When the imminent danger became closer to happen, Tigray Defence Force overhauled the enemies and controlled the Northern command in hours. Few soldiers escaped to Eritrea. The rest were kept in the camps while some of them taken to other safe areas.

When Abiy Ahmed heard this, he ordered his soldiers and the allied forces encircled Tigray started the war in all fronts. The partners in crime waged war on the people and government of Tigray officially on November 4, 2020. Abiy Ahmed immediately cut all communications, power and Transport in Tigray. He called retired generals who have enmity with TPLF. Abiy Ahmed ordered his soldiers to brutally retaliate against TPLF by provoking as such the northern command soldiers were murdered brutally. He said, our soldiers are betrayed. They were murdered while sleeping. They are not yet buried. They are being eaten by hyena. Female soldiers were hut their breast and so on…. While the reality is, all soldiers at the hand of TPLF were safe. The former generals called by Abiy Ahmed joined the operation and continue motivating the soldiers by fabricated propagandas to indiscriminately punish civilians.

The angered soldiers massacred civilians, raped girls as aged as 4 years and women aged 70s, looted private and government properties and destroyed the rest, destructed all infrastructure of the region. The allied forces impeded humanitarian access in order to starve the people. They make fun by killing youth and throwing their corpses in to hills.

The allied forces burn villages and massacre civilians specially when their comrades are killed in the war by Tigray defence Forces (TDF). They take revenge on civilians. They slaughter their cattle, burn their cereals and burn their houses as retaliation. They are as cruel as wild animal. During the massacres of Mahbere dego, as one soldier who witnessed a comrade’s execution of the youths: he says, shoot him, may I come to kill him? It was good if we were Indians to burn their corpses. A senior corporal laugh. Their cruelty is to this extent.

The culture of cruelty of Eritrean soldiers has been nurtured for decades while the cruelty of Amhara forces is inherited from their forefathers. They are doing what their forefathers had done before on the people of Tigray. But the cruelty of the Ethiopian soldiers is unusual. It is because, Abiy and his generals ordered the soldiers not only to kill TPLF leaders but also to humiliate the people.

Though African soldiers are not blameless when it came to the mistreatment and, yes, occasional murder of captured enemy combatants and civilians, such infrequent events pale in comparison to the sheer magnitude and intentional brutality of the allied forces` crimes against humanity. Since the outset of the war, estimates of the number of civilians killed by the allied forces (Eritrean soldiers, Ethiopian soldiers and Amhara) range as high as 50,000 thousand. But the inevitable defeat of the allies will allow Tigrayans to bring many, though by no means all, of the perpetrators of war crimes to justice.

(Source: www.aigaforum.com)

The African Union and the Tigray War: A reprehensible failure to uphold Union principles and protect civilians (II). Afrem M. (from Mekelle)

Tigray crimes offend human conscious and universal norms.

The Tigray international and non-international armed conflict and the flagrant violations of international humanitarian, refugee, African Union and UN laws, in particular the atrocities committed by the Eritrean, Ethiopian and Amhara forces such as the Axum, Mariam Denglat and Debre Abay monastery, Mahbere-Dego, Hadush Adi, Temben, Hawzen, etc. massacres and the widespread and systemic gang rape and malicious looting, vandalism and destruction of property in Tigray, have shocked global public conscious. There is no doubt that Africans have also been shocked by such two or more states-sponsored international crimes.

Clearly, the Tigray armed conflict and resultant humanitarian crisis poses several questions of breaches of AU and UN laws, and engages the Union’s foundational principles, as enshrined under Article 4 of the Constitutive Act, including:

‘the right of the Union to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity’;

‘the non-interference by any Member State in the internal affairs of another’; and

‘respect for democratic principles, human rights, the rule of law and good governance’;

Furthermore, the forced eviction of hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans from western and southern Tigray, contrary to the Ethiopian constitution, is a flagrant breach of the African (Kampala Convention) of 2009.

An abuse of the motto: ‘African solutions to African problems’

However, some officials of the Union and member States appear to have sided with the Eritrean and Ethiopian regimes, instead of upholding Union norms and international law, by abusing the slogan of ‘African solution to African problems’.

Watching idle and hindering international action while two-state sponsored crimes are being committed against an ethnic and national group in the continent can only send a wrong message to other human rights abusers and the international community about the integrity of the AU, its institutions and officials.

Furthermore, although the power struggle between the Abiy Ahmed-led Prosperity Party and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) had contributed to the escalation of political tensions in the country, the African Union and its member States must understand that the Tigray armed conflict is now between the Tigray people on the one hand, and the three aggressor and repressor forces and their allies on the other.

This is why tens of thousands of Tigrayans are joining the struggle against foreign subjugation and extreme internal repression.

The crackdown and designation of some political actors as terrorist groups by the Ahmed regime would also exacerbate the dire humanitarian and conflict situation in Ethiopia.

The Union must act now to uphold its norms.

Pursuant to the objectives and principles of the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union, in the light of UN Charter obligations and the primary responsibility of the United Nations Security Council, the Union must undertake its responsibility by taking action to:

a. Peacefully settle the armed conflict between the Ethiopian Federal Government and the Amhara forces on the one hand, and the Tigray regional state forces on the other hand;

b. Uphold fundamental human rights and international human rights law as clearly stipulated in Article 4 (c) of the Protocol that established the PSC;

c. Compel Eritrea to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from Tigray in accordance with Art 4 (f) of the Protocol;

d. Invoke ‘the right of the Union to intervene’ to the Ethiopia/Tigray complex conflict in response to the gross war crimes, crimes against humanity and potential genocide that are continued to be committed, in consultation with the Assembly of the Union;

e. Fully collaborate with the United Nations Security Council that has the primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security, and other like-minded states, in particular the United States and European countries, to: i) establish and dispatch an impartial inquiry commission; ii) protect Tigrayan civilians, victims, survivors and witnesses; iii) ensure unfettered aid delivery across Tigray; and vi) force the Eritrean and Amhara forces, as the main obstacles to peace and stability in the region and alleged perpetrators of the atrocious crimes there, immediately and unconditionally withdraw form Tigray; and


f. Not recognise the crimes perpetrated by the Abiy and Isaias regimes by refusing to endorse the Ethiopian bogus election that is designed to provide legitimacy of an illegal and criminal regime that has been implicated in committing gross violations of African and international laws.

Short message:

In short, the African Union, its Member States and institutions must therefore stand with the people of Tigray, and not with those who are blatantly engaged in mass crimes at best. They must not give deaf ears to victims of atrocities, rape, eviction and starvation and hinder international action at worst.




Source:www.aigaforum.com

The African Union and the Tigray War: A reprehensible failure to uphold Union principles and protect civilians (I). Afrem M. (from Mekelle)

The over six months-old Tigray armed conflict waged by the Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara merciless leaders and their hundreds of thousands of forces against the people of Tigray (and not against the TPLF) resulted in the death and rape of tens of thousands of unarmed civilians and the displacement and starvation of millions.

As rightly stated by Amnesty International, the African Union (AU) and its institutions have almost done nothing in response to such dreadful crimes against the Tigray people. In fact, some African countries have disgracefully opposed a global action by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Of course, some few members of the Union have sided with the people of Tigray and demanded action in line with the AU’s norms and principles.

Today, irrespective of such a failure of the AU, the whole world knows, as widely reported by global bodies, human rights groups and credible media outlets, such as the UNSC, Horn of Africa Human Rights Forum, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and CNN, that the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies and the Amhara forces are committing gross crimes against the people of Tigray by murdering, raping and torturing them en masse; looting and evicting them from their homes; wantonly vandalising and destroying their private and public property, services, infrastructure and their cultural and religious heritages; and ethnic profiling, arresting, searching and intimidating them in the whole of Ethiopia.

Deliberate and indiscriminate shelling of cities, towns, villages, churches and historic sites such as the Axum Obelisk and the Al-Nejashi Mosque are rampant, as fully reported by reputed rights groups.

Mass crimes and their effects

A U.S. government leaked report published by the New York Times, confirms that the Amhara forces in the Tigray conflict, are “deliberately and efficiently rendering Western Tigray ethnically homogeneous through the organized use of force and intimidation …. Whole villages were severely damaged or completely destroyed”.


This is corroborated by several credible reports. For example, the Ethiopian Federal Government installed Interim Administration of Tigray confirmed on 4 March, 2021 that one million Tigrayans from Western Tigray are missing. Such crimes are largely, but not fully, recognised by the Ethiopia’s Human Rights Commission Report of atrocities, sexual violence, looting and vandalism committed by the Amhara forces that are effectively controlling western (and southern) Tigray.


These grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws have caused the displacement of 2.2. million Tigrayans inside the region and over 60,000 fled to Sudan. Most shockingly, 4.5. million Tigrayans are facing the risk of man-made famine; despite some of the efforts made to deliver aid under international pressure and the uncheked claim of the Ethiopian government that it has delivered aid to millions of people, 80% of Tigray territory remained inaccessible to humanitarian relief and aid agencies. This dire situation, has already led to famine, and continued to alarm the United Nations.


Save the Children reported that 5000 Tigray children are either left without parents or are separated from loved ones, due to the conflict and the crimes committed by the Eritrean, federal and Amhara forces.


Terrorising, torturing, abusing and assaulting Tigrayan civilians in cities, towns and villages of Tigray is commonplace—by the Eritrean, federal and Amhara forces in violation of human rights and humanitarian norms.


he ethnic cleansing continue to be perpetrated against Tigrayans was extended, inter alia, to African Union and UN peacekeeping personnel of Tigray origin—they were assaulted in South Sudan, detained and allegedly tortured upon their forced turned from Somalia and South Sudan and the Sudan. There is also an alleged kidnapping of a serving Tigray peacekeeper from the Sudan.


Ethnic profiling, harassment, illegal arrests, searches and abuses against Tigray civilians is rampant in other parts of Ethiopia. Tens of thousands of civilians, military and police officers have been detained in several concentration camps across the country.

In addition to the misery of millions of Tigrayans inside and outside the war zone, over 100,000 Eritrean refugees have also been impacted by this senseless war; the UN condemned the abduction, murder and arrests of thousands of Eritrean refugees by the Eritrean government in violation of established international Refugee norms.


Deceit, cover up and obstruction of justice.


The Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara regional authorities are engaged in a concerted effort to obstruct global justice by intimidating victims, survivors and witnesses across Tigray; their high-ranking political leaders, ministers and diplomats are also engaged in global campaigns to quell voices of justices in the name of sovereignty and non-interference to Ethiopia’s affairs. This is clearly an abuse and using the principles as a shield–Ethiopia is killing, raping, displacing and destroying the livelihoods of its own people in partnership with Eritrea, a foreign state that should not have been involved in the conflict.


The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments were acting in bad faith by making a total denial of the full military intervention of Eritrea to the conflict in violation of the AU Constitutive Act and the UN Charter.


Despite their overdue admission of mass atrocities and Eritrea’s intervention in the last few months, they are working hard to deceive the international community by making false promises to jointly investigate the atrocious crimes they have perpetrated and the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from Ethiopia’s territory.

(Source: www.aigaforum.com)

ምሰረታ "ሀገረ ትግራይ"' ጉዳይ ክድዓትን ባንዳታትን እዩ !

ኣብ ትግራይ ዝካይድ ዘሎ ኩናት በሓደ ወገ ፍታሓዊ ኤንትኸዉን: ብኻልእ ገትሱ ድማ ስምዒታዉን ሓደገኛ ኮይኑ ቅርቡ ኣሎ :: ሐደ ህደ መራሕቲ ህወሓት "'ሐግረ ትግራይ ንምምስራት ይጎየዩ ከምዘለዉ ይስማዕ ኣሎ :: ሐደ ሐደ ተግድስቲ ትግራይ እና ባህልትውን ከምትቀዳምይ ጉዳይ ገይሮም የቕርብዎ አለው :;

አዙይ ሐደገኛ መስመር ንህዝቢ ትግራይ ክብ ህዝብ ኢትዮጵያ ሓገዝን ሞራልን (solidarity) ከየግን ገይርዎ ኣሎ;;ክብ ዝሓለፍ 5 ዓመታት ጅምሩ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ፀረ ህወሓትን እሓደግ ምንቅስቓስ ክምትጀመረ ግ ልጺ አዩ :: ኣብ ጎንደር ተግሩ ተቀትሎምን ንብረቶም ተቓትስሉ :; ገሊኦም ንብ ትግራይ ተመልሶም :; ኣውራ ጎዳንታት ምትሳውን ንብ ትግራይ ተሳፈርቲ ምግልታእን ትራአዩ :: ንብ ትግርይ በወሎ ዝህልፋ ኣቕሑት ዝትሳና መካይን ዓቕሑተን ተወስዱ :: ኣብ ወደያ ዝነብሩ ትግራዎት ንበረቶ ዓንዩ :አዝይ ኩነታት ግን ቤርጥር ዝተቀንብረን ከምኡውን ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝጸልትኑ ዘንበረኡ ተቃዋሚ ሃይልታት ዘትገበረ እዩ ነይሩ:

መሪሕነት ህወሓት ግን እዙይ ችግር ባምሃሩ  ከምዝገብር ዘሎ ገይሩ ንህዝቢ ኣቕሪብውኡ :; መሪሕነት ህወሓት ፍታሕ ካብ ምድላይ ድሕሪ አቱይ ዘተፈጥረ ችግር ምህዳም ጀሚሩ :: ንቱይ ችግር ፍትሕ ንምንግስቲ ኤርትራ ምድምስሳን ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዲሞክራስዊ መንግስቲ ንኽምስርት ምግብባር እዩ ነይሩ:: ኢሳያስ ዝኸተሎ መንግድ ንህዝቢ ትግራይን ኢትዮጵያን ዝጎድ ምኻኑ መርሕንት ህወሓት ከርዮን ክድህስሶ ኣይክኣለን :: ኢሳይሳ ናብይ ኣሕመድ አልን  ብምጥቃም እንጅነኤር 

ከፊል ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ኣብ ቁፅፅር ትግራይን ኢትዮጵያን ከኸዉን ኣለዎ

 

መለሰ ዜናዊ ን በረከት ሰሞን ከምኡዉን ካልኦት ኤርትራውያን ንህዉሓት ድሕሪ ምቁፅፃር  ቀይሕ ባህሪ  ሙልእ  ብሙል እ ንኤርትራ ክዉሃብ ገሮም :; እዙይ ታ ርካዊ ስሕተት ክረም ኣገዳስ አዩ:; አትሰ ምንልክ ብ 1890 ዓም  ኣብ ከተማ ዉጫለ ምስ ጥልያን ዘገብርዎ ስምምነት መሰረት ገይርና ቀይሕ ባህር ንኢትዮፕኣን ንትግራይ ብኸ ፍል ክኸዉን  ኣገዳሲ አዩ ::በዙይ ውል ዉጫለ መሰረት ምረብ ምላሽ ቅይሕ ባህር ንትግራይን ኢትዮፕኣ ክኸውን ኣለዎ :: ዉእ ል ዉጫለ ብቕንቃ አንግሊዝ ክምዝስብ ይቀረብ :"Treaty of Wichale, Wichale also spelled Ucciali, (May 2, 1889), pact signed at Wichale, Ethiopia, by the Italians and Menilek II of Ethiopia, whereby Italy was granted the northern Ethiopian territories of Bogos, Hamasen, and Akale-Guzai (modern Eritrea and northern Tigray) in exchange for a sum of money and the provision of 30,000 muskets and "

መሪሕነት ህወሓት ካብቶም ዝፈፀሞም ክሕደታት ህደ ቀይሕ ባህሪ  መሉእ ብሙልእ ኣብ እድ  ኤርትራ ንኽከውን ብምግባሩ ሕዝቢ ትግራይን ኢትዮጵያን ዓብይ ኢኮኖሚያዊን ፀጥታዊ ችግራት  ከምዝገጠሞም  ይፍለጥ ;; ነዙይ እፍታሓዊ ወሳኔ ህወሓት ከነማራርዮን ኢትዮፕኣ ይኹን ትግራይ ደባባዊ ቀይሕ ባህር ንኸግንዩ ክንገበር ታሪካዊ ግደታና እዩ ::

ትግራይ ናይ ኢትዮጵያ መሰረት አያ:: ካብ ኢትዮጵያ ከትግንትጸል የብላን :; ሀገርና ኢትዮጵያ መረባትና ትግራይ !

 ትግራይ ናይ ኢትዮጵያ መሰረት አያ:: ካብ ኢትዮጵያ ከትግንትጸል የብላን :; ሀገርና ኢትዮጵያ መረባትና ትግራይ !

ባንዳኣታትን ዑሱባትን  ጥ ራይ አዮም ትግራይ ካብ ኢትዮጵዮኣ  ከትግንትጸል መደብ ገሮም ዘለው ::

ኣብዙይ  ጉዳይ እዙይ ሰምእታውያን  ክንኸውን የብልናን:; ብመጀመ ሪያ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ደሞክራስያዊ ሰርዓት  ስለዘይለ ህዝብናን ክልኦት ህዝብታትን  ይጭቆኑ ኣለዉ :: ቀዳማይ ቃልስና ደመክራሳዊ መንግስት ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ክትከል ምግባር ይኸውን:; ፋሽስታዊ መንግስት ዓብይ ብዲሞክራሳዉያን ሓይልታት ኢትዮጵያ  ክንትኮ  ናይ ግድን አዩ:;ኢትዮጵያ ንተጋሩ ኣይጨቆነትን :; ኣይሓረ ደትን:; ክሰደዱ ኣይገበረትን:; ነዙይ ሰደትን ዉርደትን ህዝብ ትግራይን ካልኦትን ተጠያቂ  ኣበይ ኣሕመድ አሊ; ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂን  ደገፍቶምን አዮም :: ቃልስና ንፋሽስት ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቅን አብይ ሕመድን ካብ ስልጣን ምዉጋድን ንዝህብን ሀገርን ዝሓልይን ዝዋደቅን  መንግስት ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ምምስራት አምበር "ሀገረ ትግራይ" ወይንም "ሀገረ ኦሮሞ" ወዘተ ምፍጣር ኣይኮነን ::

ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ንእሽተይ  ናይ ደሞክራሲ  ብርሃን ኣብ ዘመን ህወሓት  ተራእዩ ነይሩ:; ይኹን እምበር በመሪሕነት ህወሓት ቡዙሕ ገጋታት  ስለተፈትጸመ  ህዝብ ኢትዮፕኣ ኣይተቐበሎን:; ህወሓት ኣብ "ዓሌትን ሽንጥሮን" መሰረት ዝገበረ ፌደራል ስርዓት ተኽእላ ነይራ:; ይኹን ደኣ እምበር ተቀባልነት ኣብ ህዝብ ኢትዮፕኣ ኣይገነየን :;  ስለዝኸነ ድማ መርሕነት ህወሓት ከም ፀላኢ  ህዝቢ  ተራእዩ ገሊኦም ተቐቲሎም ገሊኦም ድማ ብረታዊ ቃልሲ ጀምሮም ኣብ ጎቦታት ኢትዮጵያ ይዋገኡን ይፋለሙ አለው :;

An urgent message to his excellence Mr Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., 46th President of the United States of America, from Tigray, North Ethiopia. From Governance Forum Mekelle, Tigrai Jan 22, 2021

 

This is Mebrat, a 3-year-old child from Humera, western Tigray, Ethiopia, Africa. She is admitted to a hospital in the Regional capital city Mekelle, with severe acute edematous malnutrition. She also has accompanying severe anemia which could be observed from the pale foot (plantar side). Her two brothers and a sister too have similar signs of acute malnutrition.

So do hundreds of thousands (if not millions) more in Tigray!

An entire Ethiopian Federal army; more than three-fourth of Eritrean army(estimated at 16-20 Divisions- numbered at more than 150,000); Amhara Regional special Forces; Amhara militia ; Fano-an informal youth killing squad; Somalia(Formajo's) Federal forces; Ethio-Somali Regional Special forces; Afar Regional Special forces, etc.- generally 500,000-600,000 soldiers and armed squads, with Ethiopia's and Eritrea's mechanized divisions, and with UAE's lethal drones, invaded Tigray, and burnt towns and villages in Tigray down, massacred innocent children, women and elderly men in their tens of thousands. They burnt down hundreds of thousands of houses in rural areas (in most of the villages 100 % of the houses there), turning everything in the houses in to ashes. They burnt down their cereal crops in the fields too, and intentionally (it may be for this purpose that they started the war at the beginning of November- a high time for any farmer in Tigray to harvest and collect his/her annual food.


They left nothing at home- Nothing!


Tigray today, is nothing but rubbles, dust, and ashes. Majority of its towns and villages are deserted. Everything from the smallest spoon in private household to the largest Almeda textile, Addis Pharmaceutical Factory, Goda Glass Factory, Semayata Marbles e.t.c are looted by Eritrean government and Amhara Forces, and taken to either Asmara or Gonder. What could not be disassembled and taken to Asmara or Gonder was completely burnt down to ashes by Eritrea's and Amhara's forces.


Millions in Tigray are now starved to death; 4.5 million people in Tigray are now in acute need of humanitarian aid. People have already started to die of starvation, in some instances and entire family!The government of Ethiopia did not do anything to save the people in hunger.


Even more, Ethiopian government and Eritrean forces are doing everything possible to prevent a help from reaching to the people in urgent need. While the international community goes long way to save the people in starvation and send large bulk of humanitarian aid, Ethiopian government does everything to make sure that the help doesn't reach the people in need, and that these millions in starvation die of it!


Ethiopian government is intentionally buying time because Ethiopia's government knows starvation doesn't give time. Yes, Ethiopia is using starvation as a weapon of war, and committing war crimes and crimes against humanity including genocide.

And this is done in the dark- with no access to the media, to international observers- with no internet entirely; and no electricity and telephone services in more than 90 % the places.

More than 60 % of Tigray land is now controlled by Eritrean Forces and Amhara mercenaries. They continue to daily massacre hundreds to thousands innocent people, raping women, looting every household in Tigray to Make sure that no house is left with a thing to eat.

Ethiopia's and Eritrea's governments with the help of UAE government and Ethiopia's regional forces, continue to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide- in all their varieties and colors.


Mr Biden,

Tigray deserves a serious attention; Tigray deserves your swift and comprehensive action.

- Ethiopia's unelected government and its allies (including foreign allies) shall stop the war on Tigray, now!

- Ethiopia's government should allow humanitarian aid to reach the millions in need!

- An independent free and fair investigation into the mass killings in Maikadra, Axum, Edaga-Hamus and many other places in Tigray needed!

- An independent investigation shall be conducted in to all the acts of war and crimes against humanity (including genocide), and the UN and the USA shall be at the heart of it;

- Eritrea shall withdraw its forces from Tigray, now!


Mr President, help stop the active genocide on millions of ethnic Tigray inside Ethiopia.

Mr President, Save the millions starved (some of them already died of it)! dying of it)!


[Mekelle University Community- Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia]

The Deafening Silence of Ethiopians is Silently Slaying Ethiopia, By Aynalem Sebhatu

Ethiopia is today in the throes of a profound internal crisis. For the last two and half years, the Ethiopian body politic has undergone what might be described as an acute political crisis. People have been repeatedly demanding to improve governance at local, regional and federal levels. They have raised for government resources to be used to create and provide jobs for the young people. Rather than listening to the public concerns and introducing badly needed reforms, Abiy Ahmed chose confrontations with the federalist forces as well as with his political opponents. In order to maintain his political power, he aligned himself with Amhara extremists, Isaias Afewerki and peered over the amassing of the forces of darkness. 

Ethnic conflicts and political violence ensued mainly from the refusal of the federal regions to Abiy Ahmed’s intention of eroding the federal regional states’ rights of self-governance. Curiously enough, it should be noted that no serious legal action was instigated against those who exacted violence on innocent citizens. By now Abiy’s actions and his intentions are clearly signaling the centralization of power under his control. The concentration of power under one man accelerated and in effect the constitution of the country started dying in the cradle. While the constitutional rights of the ten federal regions have been undermined one after the other, ethnic groups who stood up for their constitutional rights end up in prisons. A significant number Ethiopians chose to keep quiet and tacitly supported Abiy Ahmed.


Ethiopia under Abiy is increasingly becoming a nation of high walls and barbed wires for the mass incarceration of ethnic groups. The incarceration of the Oromos in thousands is heartbreaking and it is ironic considering the fact that Abiy’s power started with the broad shoulders of the movements of the youth of the Oromos. Yet, the deafening silences of the political elites who are living in urban areas, most notably in Addis Ababa, is very disconcerting.

To Abiy Ahmed, to Amhara elites and to Isaias Afewerki, the TPLF stood in its pristine form as a guardian of the federal arrangements of the country and as a vanguard to the rights of self-determination of nations and nationalities of Ethiopia. True, that is a principled political stand of the TPLF for a long time and it should not lead to the “elimination” or “liquidation” of the TPLF.

Instead of finding political solutions via dialogue, increasingly the TPLF and the OLF became the political punching bags for all the political ills and blamed for any violence that took place in the country. The demonization of political opponents are short sighted political tactics to put the TPLF and the OLF out of the political space and thereby pushing parties into difficult violent confrontations. Painting political parties or groups as “enemy agents” in the sphere of public imaginations creates a sense of “treason” that must be punished by prison time or face “liquidation.” These political tactics are deployed to give an immoral and illegal sense of justification for killing, bombing, raping, looting, and imprisoning of Ethiopians.

Political liquidation or elimination might take different forms. The savagery of the violence against the Oromo people and the Tigrayans that are subject to the onslaught of the Ethiopian army has the obvious implication that they should be exterminated without mercy. In essence, the Abiy Ahmed regime was preparing the public to the normalization of violence and the savage wars unleashed in Tigray and Oromia. Even in Addis Ababa, it should be noted that the lack of law and order during Abiy Ahmed’s years of leadership is staggering.

The ethnic killings have reached a sickening level of inhuman conditions and immorality. These are prime examples of the prevalence of violence throughout the country. In turn this norm is creating an atmosphere of fear, numbness and thereby public silence. Thus, whether founded on religious or humanistic values, it leads to the degeneration of spiritual values as well as the erosion of duties and responsibilities of citizens. Thus, these conditions created a fertile mind set and provided just the right vehicle for genocide and mass killings.

The involvement of Eritrea in Tigray gets the critical observer deep into the greatest mystery of all, one for sure it raises the question of the violation of sovereignty of the country. Given an overwhelming evidence, why are the Amhara elites trying their best to deny Eritrean involvement? I could only imagine that the Amhara elites do not want to give any credit to the Eritreans in capturing Mekelle. The fact of the matter is the Isaias army and the UAE drones played decisive roles and the Isaias army is playing a decisive role in the occupation of Tigray today.

It is also curious how the Amhara chauvinists who are actively raising the question of sovereignty vis a vis the border conflict with Sudan have avoided honest confrontation with the Eritrean involvement. Their profound lack of pronouncements and their conspiracy of silence on Eritrean army’s deployment in Tigray make it clear that their stand on “sovereignty” is wholly unprincipled. Furthermore, their world outlook became a victim of their own ultra-nationalist beliefs and it is clouded with an active fascination of hatred and chauvinism. These are the people who would go to almost any length to avoid confronting the horrible facts of the war taking place in Tigray. They are equally unwilling to face up to the genocide and barbarism that is marching in Tigray. They are unwilling to raise their voices to the realities of Isaias Afewerki’s vindictive policy. To do so will be to admit and accuse themselves with the war crimes committed in Tigray. So they preferred to show no remorse and they continued silently to swim in the sea of tears and blood of Tigrayans.

Viewed in the context of the involvement of Eritrea, Abiy Ahmed become a traitor to the principles upon which he and the EPRDF generation wrote the constitution of the country—as a petty, vindictive man who is prepared to bleed Tigray to death for the greater glorification of his ego. Considering the recent news of the Sudanese troops’ deployment with the prior knowledge and agreement of Abiy Ahmed, no doubt that Abiy is without peer in the chronicles of Ethiopian history.

I do not know what to make of the Isaias army. However, I tried my best to express my feeling in reaction to what the army is doing to innocent civilians. But to no avail and words failed me to describe it. The only thing I could manage to sprinkled with my pen is the following. The Isaias regime had once for all destroyed the Eritreans’ human integrity and Isaias is marching into Tigray with tyrannical efficiency. Looking from the behavior of the Isaias army, Isaias has found the formula for turning human beings into animated robots. Even though there is a mountain of evidence that the fate and the sovereignty of the country is presented by Abiy Ahmed to Isaias Afewerki on a silver platter, the deafening silence of Ethiopians is unnerving and dangerously leading the country to genocide.

Let me leave you with Aristotle’s formula for proficient dictatorship: “Breed mutual distrust among the people, make them incapable of action, and break their spirit.” This sounds the right recipe for Isaias Afewerki’s Eritrea and for Abiy Ahmed’s Ethiopia.


Tigray will prevail!

Eternal glory for our martyrs!

The Eritrean Democratic movements should campaign vigorously to bring Isaias to the International Criminal court, By Petros Tesfagiorgis

On 4 November 2020 the Federal Government of Ethiopia led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched the war against the regional government of Tigray.

Dictator Isaias of Eritrea gave Abiy not only logistical support such as transporting huge number of Ethiopian troops to Eritrea from which they would encircle Tigray but sent Eritrean army to participate in the war.

The intensity of the war, the violations against the civilian population, the destruction of industries, hospitals and the looting of civilian properties are of a scope and scale seldom seen anywhere else in today’s world. The Eritrean army have participated in all these atrocities. It is a shame to all Eritreans. In the war thousands are believed to have been killed and nearly a million fled their homes. 61,000 people migrated to Sudan. Starvation is looming all over Tigray and more than 2 million people mostly Children are in Need of Aid.

Today there is alarming news of starvation in Eritrea. The regime has politicized the issue of the virus and opted to use it as a weapon to starve and weaken the people by enforcing lockdown without the means to feed them. It is in such dark days that Isaias sent Eritrean solders to join the war in Ethiopia and make them killers and looters? What is left of them they are liable to be sued for a war crime?


Ethiopia with 110 million population has enough manpower to run its wars. Sending huge number of Eritrean armies to war in Ethiopia if not an extermination of the Eritrean youth what is it then?

Isaias has an ulterior motive it is not only a revenge to settle old scores with TPLF (Tigray), but he is also seizing the momentum to have the Eritrean army perish in the deadly Ethiopian civil war. News started to come out of the deaths and wounded of Eritrean soldiers. Also, there is news coming out that many Eritreans troops are duped to join in the war and flee whenever they get the chance.

Why is Isaias sending Eritrean troops in Ethiopia’s Deadly civil war? On 8 September 2001 Isaias arrested the top government officials and leaders of the armed struggle (the G-15) in order to frustrate their demand to implement the constitution and call for a general election. The demands were being covered by the private newspapers and drew the attention of many people particularly Students. The arrest was a coup d’état that killed any chance to establish a democratic government elected by the people. Since then, he became an unchallenged despot and ruled Eritrea with an iron fist without constitution, and rule of law. Isaias plunged Eritrea into darkness.


However, Isaias has never felt safe. His nightmare is that one day the people of Eritrea, particularly the youth, will rise up and get rid of him. To secure his power he chose a policy of repression and ruled the people by fear. Isaias closed the only university in the country. The school leaving year 12th grade was made to take place in isolated area called Sawa Military training camp where academic freedom is denied. The students are subjected to indoctrination to internalize the value of blind obedience to Isaias. Anyone who showed independent thinking or dissention faces severe punishment like torture and solitary confinement. For years ERI-TV the only one in Eritrea was engaged is sawing the seed of hate demonizing TPLF and Tigray – bombarding the people of a threat of Weyane (TPLF) invasion. The propaganda built the personality cult of Isaias asserting that it is only Isaias that can save Eritrea. Thus, the regime turned the youth into programmed robot to hate Tigreans and we see their abhorrent behaviour in killing civilians and looting in Tigray.

The behaviour of the Eritrean army is also reflected in the way they treated the Eritrean refugees, their brothers and sisters, in Tigray. There are 96,000 Eritrean refugees located in 4 camps in Tigray. The Eritrean army entered the refugee camps, started killings, looting and kidnapped more than 8000 refugees and took them to Eritrea. Their where about is not known. It is with the same mind-set that the army carried out with impunity Isaias’s shoot to kill policy of any Eritrean found crossing the border to Ethiopia or Sudan.

After the end of the war in 1991 we Eritreans dreamt to build a prosperous society and live-in peace with ourselves, with Ethiopia and the rest of our neighbours. Instead over the last 30 years we are experiencing the mysterious evaporation of the dreams.

Nowadays other than Eritreans there are voices who want to see Isaias go. In America, Michael Rubin wrote “The time is now for U.S. officials to reach out to Eritreans, both inside the country and out, and put plans in place to help build the institutions Isaias has left weakened or destroyed.

On 25 June 2020 there was virtual expert discussion on Eritrea in the German Parliament, Bundestag. Among the 60 participants from 10 countries there were MPs from 3 German political parties. The expert speakers reached a consensus that the regime has no wish to end the human rights violations in Eritrea. They gave up on him. In conclusion Cooperation with the wider Eritrean democratic movements was recommended.

However, it is the Eritrean democratic movements that should play a leading role in campaigning to end the brutal and destructive rule of Isaias.

The International community who wishes the removal of Isaias need to hear the strong voice and sense of mission of the democratic moments. We have to come up with concrete initiatives and plan of action. The priority is to revive the UN Inquiry commission plea to refer Isaias to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for committing crime against humanity. This is the right thing to do. And it will make a difference in many ways.


Once we take the initiative those Governments who are taking up the issue of Eritrea’s involvement in the Ethiopian civil war and Eritrean army entering the refugees’ camps would support the move to get rid of Isaias.


In answer to Lord Alton’s question concerning the Eritrean refugees in Tigray. James Duddridge MP of the foreign office and Minister for Africa replied. “We are very concerned at reports that Eritrean troops have entered Ethiopian refugee camps in Tigray and forced a number of refugees to return to Eritrea. If proven, this would be a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Alleged violations of IHL must be investigated to secure respect for IHL and prevent future violations, including as necessary through international criminal tribunals. “Let me highlight “through international criminal tribunals”.

On the other hand, the involvement of Eritrea in the war is taken as a breach of the African Union’s - non-interference in the internal affairs of member countries. It is also taken as an invasion of Ethiopia by Eritrea. The argument is just started.

The action plan can be strategized to address the following.

1. To plan advocacy campaign to persuade the UN and the international community to honour the referral to ICC.

2. To put pressure on UNHCR to find out the where about of the 8000 refugees kidnapped from Tigray. And see the refugees in Tigray are protected and get access to food supplies, water and health care. There is a terrible news that Shimelba Camp is no safe area, food supplies is not coming, people are collecting grasses boil them and eat to survive.

3. Asses the famine in Eritrea because of the lockdown Also the border with Ethiopia areas where the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia are trapped. The UNHCR and the Red Cross could find out about this.


4. Assess the famine in Eritrea because of the lockdown. Also, the border with Ethiopia areas where the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia are trapped. The UNHCR and the Red Cross could find out about this.


5. There is shortage of water in Asmara because the drivers of the water delivery trucks are denied working. Today even private cars are not on the street. Drivers are prevented to use their cars. It is Armageddon back to the Stone Age.

6. The Afar people in the Red Sea are forbidden to fish and lost their means of living. Thousands left to exile.

Every day that passes Isaias continue repression unabated that is why it is urgent to seek his removal. To do so is the obligation of the international community and government. In 2016 the then UN Special Rapporteur Keetharuth told the UN General Assembly, “My plea to you, Excellences, on behalf of the members of Inquiry, is for you to pay head to voices of victims of crimes against humanity in Eritrea. The UN has ignored the call and let down the people of Eritrea. It is time to pay back for letting Isaias get away with a crime against humanity. The people of Eritrea deserves justice and peace.


It is encouraging that Eritreans in Diaspora are demonstrating with Tigran’s to stop the war and for justice. That is the beginning of building peace with the people of Tigray.

Focus-Eritrea and USA based Security and Justice for Tigrean in Ethiopia are campaigning to urge all passengers to boycott flying with Ethiopian Airlines for profiling and dismissing Tigrean employees of the airline. Profiling is a dangerous move that may lead to ethnic cleansing.

In conclusion I say give peace a chance and in solidarity with the people of Tigray in their darkest days.


La Luta continua

UAE: Investment or military Interference in the Horn? yBy Firew

Until about two or three years ago, the AU, UN, EU, UK and countries in the Horn, notably Ethiopia before Abiy, had done a great deal to ensure peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. Some of the achievements of the efforts were functioning governments in Somalia and South Sudan, containment of belligerent Eritrea through UN sanctions and focus on socioeconomic development.

All the leaders of the Horn countries, except Esaiss Afewerki of Eritrea, had made great contributions in this regard. But it would be unjust if we don't pay tribute here to the crucial role played by Meles Zenawi, a leader of great vision, skill, dedication and trustworthiness.

With the sudden coming to power of Abiy Ahmed Ali in Ethiopia, all the gains mentioned above have been thrown into the air. Ali's first move was to make Afewerki his ally and together to create havoc in nearly all the Horn countries.

The UAE, just out of the blue, warmly received this alliance of dictators and has been financing their mission of destabilizing the region. They have been working hard in promoting intra- and inter-state conflicts in the Horn with the aim of imposing their satanic wills over the whole region.

In Ethiopia, Abiy Ali in collaboration with Esaias Afewerki has totally violated the Federal Constitution that had been ratified by all the nationalities of Ethiopia. He has dismantled the federal arrangement that had brought peace, unity, and development.

In Tigray Abiy Ali and Esaias Afewerki have been committing crimes against humanity in which thousands of civilians - women, children and elderly people have been massacred.

In this crime Abiy and Esaias have employed hundreds of thousands of their ground troops and war planes, thousands of Amara militias, and Emirati drones. Summary killings, rape and looting by Ali's and Afeworki's troops is rampant. The destruction to property and loss of lives in towns and settlements along highways controlled by Ali's and Esaias's forces is unimaginable. The objective of this act of aggression is to impoverish and subdue the people. What is so devastating in the war on Tigrai is the indiscriminate and continuous bombings by Emirati drones operated by Emirati military personnel. This is however mission impossible as the people of Tigray are putting up stiff resistance against the unjustified war declared on them. There is no doubt this will soon grow to an all-out attack on the dictator’s forces.

Many in Africa, including the Horn, had hoped economic ties would grow with the Gulf countries, considering, particularly, the Horn's proximity to these countries. What all the Horn countries may need is not drones but drains that can be used in the fight against malaria in swampy areas. Modernising agriculture of all types in the Horn countries, for example, could have fostered trade and economic ties with the UAE and other Gulf countries. UAE investment in this and other sectors would have been the most rational course of action to take. This is what one would expect from a country that has over the last 40 or 50 years overcome backwardness and achieved appreciable progress although the main factor for this has been oil money.

The UAE has dashed all these hopes by working closely with Africa's most despotic butcher, Esaias, and Ethiopia's dictator, Abi Ali.

The Horn, as feared, is now in turmoil. Abiy and Esaias are the main culprits in this criminal act. Esaias Afewerki must pull out his troops from Tigray as USA and other countries have warned him. The whole world is now aware of what is happening in Tigray. All this amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

UAE should stop supporting dictators and financing the war on Tigray. It is in its best current and future interest to rather focus on investment and support socio-economic development of Horn countries and become a good partner of Africa's.

THE URGEN CY OF STOPPING ABIY AHMED’S AND ISAIAS AFEWERKI’S CRIMES By G/Medhin Blhatu

 The dictionary defines gullibility as “a tendency to be easily persuaded that something is real or true.” As individuals, we often fall prey to commercial ads because of our gullibility coupled with our desire to solve, for instance, a health problem, with a miracle drug that is skillfully advertised. In the end, we lose money in the process without getting the benefit we expected.

In politics and media reporting, particularly on an international scale, gullibility can have tragic consequences resulting in the loss of human lives as we are witnessing today in Ethiopia’s war against Tigray. The illegitimate Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean dictator Isaias Afewerki know how to manipulate international opinion. Otherwise, how could they utter false statements like these:

·         The blackout of communication over Tigray is due to cyber hacks, then quickly amended to another absurd lie, that it was infrastructural damage done by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF). What about the earlier blackouts in Oromia?There are no women and children, refugees, in Sudan. The refugees are mostly criminals and Ethiopia wants them back.

·         After the TPLF tactically withdrew from Mekelle, and the army took over, Abiy Ahmed declared that the war was over and he has won, while fighting still goes on.

·         “Eritrea is not involved in the war.” But the US, and recently Abiy’s commander has confirmed that it is.

Tigray was at peace when there were ethnic conflicts in various parts of the country. Tigray was abiding by Ethiopia’s constitution when it held free and fair regional elections. It was upholding the constitution which recognizes that nations and nationalities have the right to self-determination under the federal system. Abiy Ahmed’s goal is to abolish the Federal system altogether and re-establish the old centralized power structure under his rule as “king”. Early on, there was no visible preparation for national elections before the pandemic came, which Abiy then used as an excuse to postpone the elections indefinitely. Tigray kept asking for a national dialogue to resolve political differences but without success. Abiy’s mandate as a caretaker government expired on October 5, 2020.

Let us now consider the claims made by the illegitimate Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in declaring war against the people of Tigray, that test the gullibility of the readers and listeners. Abiy Ahmed claims that Ethiopia’s sovereignty must be respected, or that his quarrel with the TPLF is a domestic issue that does not need external mediation, and that his declaration of war against Tigray is to enforce law and order.

·         How is the claim of “national sovereignty” to be respected when Abiy Ahmed has committed high treason against his own country by fully surrendering to the machinations of Ethiopia’s number one foreign enemy, the dictator Esaias Afewerki of Eritrea? Isaias’s army has invaded Tigray from the north at the request of Abiy Ahmed and has allowed Eritrea’s security agents to have a free hand in the internal affairs of Ethiopia.

·         What is a domestic issue when Abiy Ahmed has invited the foreign Eritrean forces of Isaias Afewerki consisting of over 200,000 infantry, mechanized brigade, and commando to invade Tigray from the north; Isaias Afewerki’s army is engaged in killing, raping women and girls, destroying development projects, looting private and public properties and national treasures, and creating mayhem in Tigray?

·         By what measure does Abiy Ahmed equate ”enforcing law and order” to a declaration of civil war against the relatively tiny state of Tigray using the nearly 150,000 federal armed forces including foreign Somali soldiers, supported by bomber aircraft, helicopter gunships, artillery; special forces from the neighboring Amhara State, the Amhara militia, and the Amhara armed Fano who have invaded Tigray from the south and west; and drone bombers, sold by the US to the UAE and Saudi coalition from their base in Eritrea’s port of Asab? Contrary to the false claim of Abiy Ahmed that “no single civilian was killed during the bombing” of the cities of Tigray, doctors reported 27 dead and many more wounded in Mekelle alone. It can be expected that future independent investigations will show the full tally to be much higher.

·         Is the world to be fooled that destroying a pharmaceutical industry, a textile factory, developmental projects in agriculture, sources of water, and energy, and dismantling and transporting industrial machinery, and educational equipment and supplies to Eritrea, are justifiable acts of “enforcement of law-and-order”?

·         How is “enforcing law and order” justified by the ransacking of Eritrean refugee camps by Isaias Afewerki’s military, killing some of the refugees, forcibly abducting others, and taking them back to Eritrea to face unknown suffering and eventual death, looting the refugee’s meager food supplies, and burning their crops, and destroying their water supply?

There was real law and order and peace in Tigray before Abiy Ahmed chose war over dialogue to resolve political differences. Now, there is no “law and order” in Tigray. Instead, there is anarchy and mayhem. Coupled with the ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans that is going on in the rest of Ethiopia, it is a genocidal war at its highest stage, according to Genocide Watch. Under the cover of a blackout of communication, Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afewerki planned and are executing a scorched earth level of damage on Tigrayan lives and economy. Death through starvation, the pandemic, locust infestations, and perhaps even draught, would be their long term weapons of mass destruction. We can be assured that Abiy Ahmed will prevent any COVID-19 vaccines from reaching Tigray, the same way that he withheld donated chemicals and a drone to fight the locust before.

 

From the atrocious crimes that Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afeworki have already committed against the people of Tigray, it would not be unimaginable that their end-game is to wipe out Tigray from the map as a geographic entity if they can.  To achieve this, one possible scenario may be that the Amharas will claim Wolkite of western Tigray and Raya and Azebo of southern Tigray.  The rest of the Tigray territory may be added to Eritrea. Isaias Afewerki may be willing to throw in Eritrea as part of Ethiopia under some arrangement, to provide access to the sea if he is allowed to be president of the new Ethiopia. Abiy Ahmed, being a minor partner, has to be satisfied to remain as PM and give up his dream of being ‘king’. Under this scenario, no national elections will be held or may be postponed indefinitely again.

Without immediate and forceful action from the UN Security Council (UNSC), the US, and the EU, Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afewerki will not be deterred from pushing the genocidal war to its end. In the case of Yugoslavia, it was the forceful intervention by the US and the EU that saved the Muslim Bosniaks from complete genocide by the Bosnian Serbs. Unfortunately, the AU has recently indicated its support of Abiy at the IGAD conference in Djibouti, because many African governments disregard the rights of minority ethnic groups in their society. The US, EU, and UNSC have to forcibly open Tigray to humanitarian aid, expel the Eritrean forces out of Tigray, sanction Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afewerki and their closest supporters, and call a national conference of all parties to discuss the way forward for Ethiopia.  No matter how many war crimes and crimes against humanity can be heaped upon Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afewerki, the evil damage they have done cannot be undone.

The people of Tigray have survived many adversities (but unlike the present one) throughout their history, defending the sovereignty of Ethiopia, a country that has not only disavowed them but has now turned against them. As always, they will keep fighting for their existence and in the end, be victorious!