Sunday 24 April 2022

Part of The Red Sea Should be under Tigray-Ethiopia

 Ethiopia, with a population of 120 million,  has been landlocked since 1993 in a sham referendum leading to the secession of Eritrea, a former district of Tigray Regional State, North Ethiopia. Ethiopians do not want Eritreans back to Ethiopia. They rather live with the population which has similar history. Ethiopia was not colonized whereas Eritrea was a colony of Italy which is negative to most Ethiopians. Eritreans are seen as ascari or banda because many of their parents were serving the Italian colonial army.

Land-locking Ethiopia was wrong and has no justification what soever. In fact the Red Sea was developed by Aksumite Ethiopia about 4000 years ago. Aksumite Ethiopia maintained a fleet of ships  that affected the balance of trade of The Roman Empire and other powers of the time. The ships leaving Adulis were destined to Europe, Asia including China and India. This means Aksumite Ethiopia had its own ports which were in Western and Eastern parts of The Red sea.

As the following map shows Aksumite Ethiopia controlled Yemen and Southern Arabia, which lasted until 700 CE.


Aksumite Ethiopia had a large fleet of vessels and was an important trade partner with Roman Empire, Perssia, China and India. With the exchange of trade, new technologies were imported to Aksumite Ethiopia. The Army was modernized getting quite advanced weaponry used by The Roman Army.

Aksumite Ethiopia was in decline in 9th Century CE and a new capital was established in Lalibella, Agaw Medir or Wello. After 1 th Century new kings ruled the country with priority of pacifying and uniting the country. Ethiopia still used The Red sea for trade, but not as much as during The Aksumite Era. The Western Red Sea remained under Ethiopian control. There were some troops sporadically  landing in Massawa and Asseb. But the local Tigrayan Feudal Lords acting in the name of the Sovereign evicted the troops. Practically The Western Red Sea has been under Ethiopia until 1889, where Menelik, king of Ethiopia signed a treaty with Italy giving Tigray's districts (Bogos, Hammassen and Akule Guzay) to Italy. This is the darkest day in Ethiopia's history, a king without any royal blood giving away sovereign land to Italy. This is known in history as the Wichale Treaty. We post the treaty below:

"Treaty of Wuchale (or, Treaty of Ucciale; in Italian, Trattato di Uccialli) was a treaty signed by King Menelik II of Shewa, later the Emperor of Ethiopia with Count Pietro Antonelli of Italy in the town of Wuchale, Ethiopia, on 2 May 1889. The treaty stated that the regions of Bogos, Hamasien, Akkele Guzay, and Serae were part of the Italian colony of Eritrea and is the origin of the Italian colony and modern state of Eritrea. Per the Treaty, Italy promised financial assistance and military supplies.

The contents of Article 3 of the treaty state the following:[1

Art. 3. To remove any ambiguity about the limits of the territories over which the two Contracting Parties shall exercise the rights of sovereignty, a special committee composed of two Italian delegates and two Ethiopians will trace on the ground with appropriate signs a permanent boundary line whose benchmarks are established as follows:

a) The line of the plateau will mark the Italian-Ethiopian border;

b) Starting from the region Arafali, Halai, Saganeiti and Asmara are villages in the Italian border;

c) Adi Adi Nefas and Joannes will be on the side of Bogos in the Italian border;

d) From Adi Joannes a straight line extended from east to west will mark the border between Italy and Ethiopia.

Disputes over Article 17 regarding the conduct of foreign affairs led to the First Italo–Ethiopian War. The Italian version stated that Ethiopia was obliged to conduct all foreign affairs through Italian authorities, in effect making Ethiopia an Italian protectorate, while the Amharic version gave Ethiopia considerable autonomy, with the option of communicating with third powers through the Italians.[2] The misunderstanding, according to the Italians, was due to the mistranslation of a verb, which formed a permissive clause in Amharic and a mandatory one in Italian.[3]

According the illegal treaty between Menelik, a war lord in Shoa and Italy, The Mereb and Muna Rivers and their extension to The Red Sea is the boundary between Ethiopia and The Italian colony of Eritrea. Up to now the boundary between Ethiopia and Eritrea has not been delineated. We think it is time for the government of Ethiopia to delineate the boundary between Ethiopia and Eritrea. We believe the new boundary will give Ethiopia and Tigray (Ethiopia's northern province access to Red Sea) which means Ethiopia can exploit it for tourism, military and commerce.



Ethiopians in general and Tigray-Ethiopians should not accept such injustice on our people. The Red Sea belongs to Ethiopia and should be given back to Ethiopia. Some Eritreans who have joined Ethiopia's political party's have been ignoring such issues. Bereket Simon and Meles Zenawi, who are Tigrayans from Eritrea have been instrumental in landlocking Ethiopia or if you like Tigray-Ethiopia. This cannot go on and we need to finally give The Red Sea Coast to whom it belongs - to Tigray Ethiopians or Ethiopians.

We would like to add the following map of Northeast Africa in 1849, where The Red Sea is shown to be part of Tigray. Besides Wolqait is put as part of Tigray.


With such historical evidences, we do not accept Tigray-Ethiopia to be landlocked. TPLF leaders and cadres are serving Eritrea instead of Tigray-Ethiopia. We need to condemn such betrayal of Tigray Ethiopia. We are happy for Ethiopia to have The Red Sea . However, there is little interest shown by the various ethnic groups to have their own Red Sea back because they have easy access from Somalia and Kenya.


Administrative map of Tigray in 1849. Tigray borders The Red Sea and Afar has been part of Tigray.

Esteemed Reader,
What happened in Tigray is really injustice by ethnofascist groups from Eritrea led by Issayas Afeworki and Muslim fundamentalist, Romadan, the ex-chairman of EPLF (Eritrea's People Liberation Front). We believe behind all this is Egypt and The Arab League. They want to simply landlock Ethiopia or Tigray-Ethiopia. We need to fight this injustice so that Tigray-Ethiopia gets it's own Red Sea Coast back. The Red Sea Coast is vitally important for tourism, commerce, military and national security. It is a free access to any part of the world and Tigray-Ethiopia needs to get back it's own Red Sea Coast. The other mind boggling question is, why did TPLF leaders, specially Meles Zenawi ( half cast Eritrean) , Sebhat Nega ( half-cast Eritrean who bite the finger it fed him -Tigray), Bereket Simon ( an Eritrean leading Amara group in Gonder, now in prison) support the landlocking of Ethiopia or Tigray-Ethiopia? Why so much treason and betrayal by TPLF leaders? Why are Tigray people not allowed to know about their history? TPLF leaders are Eritrean agents. We should stop them from destroying our heritage.

Sunday 17 April 2022

Is the humanitarian truce working or is it a military pretext to attack Tigray again?

 On 01/04/2022 Ethiopia and Tigray agreed on a humanitarian truce after week long negotiations under the supervision of  USA, EU and UN. Ethiopia has been not observing the humanitarian truce. It has been refusing to send  humanitarian aid to Tigray giving reason of war in Afar region or in other parts of Ethiopia. The World Food Programme  package usually is dispatched to the port of Djibouti and from there it has to be sent to Tigray.

 Ethiopia has no legal government and Colonel Abiy Ahmed Ali is the self-appointed prime minister. PM Abiy ahmed Ali and his government have been an obstacle, using delaying tactics to deliver  the food, medicine and other needed material provided by  World Food  Programme. Ethiopia thus purposely uses starvation as a weapon of war. The government in  Fin Finne (Addis Ababa) has no political will to deliver food aid to Tigray. Thus other means of delivering food and other needed material to Tigray should be looked in to.

Further negotiations showed Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) were asked as precondition to deliver food to Tigray to leave some Afari villagesand towns which are under control of TDF. Such demands are entirely illegal and wrong as TDF (Tigray Defense Forces) is an Ethiopian organisation and can use any territory in Ethiopia to guarantee safety to Tigray people. Besides TDF are not hostile to Afar  people. They protect their interests and can administer the area until proper government is in place. TDF withdrew tactically from one of the Afar sub-districts to get the food aid delivered  to the people of Tigray. Militarily this does not bring any disadvantage to TDF as they can occupy the area again. However, the humanitarian truce should NOT allow Ethiopia and Eritrea to make troop movements close to Tigray. Otherwise the humanitarian truce is a cover-up for Ethiopia and Eritrea to attack Tigray. UN, USA and EU should have condemned the movements of troops from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Afar to occupy the area left by TDF.

Humanitarian assistance to the people of Tigray should go unhindered. TDF should not be forced to leave any areas it is  controlling. The Government of Tigray and World Food Programme workers  can distribute the food and other material to the people that need the assistance. 

The UN, USA and EU should not allow Ethiopia to take lands or areas that has been under Tigray administration before the current war started. The Raya Region in South Tigray has been part of Tigray. Under EPRDF the boundary between Wello and Tigray has been Ofla. Qobo town has been decided to be under Wello even though it is part of Tigray. Historically the boundary of Tigray  with Wollo is Ale Wuha River. Towns such Woldia, Hayk should be under Tigray. This could be decided in future negotiations with Wollo or  federal government of Ethiopia..

It is imperative that UN, USA and EU should not be party to Amara expansionists and Ethiopia's ethnic cleaning agenda against Tigray. UN, USA and EU should strictly follow  the administrative map of Ethiopia which has been in place since 1991. Ethiopian PM and his team of  Amara advisors are asking TDF to leave Alamata for more aid to be sent to Tigray. This is not humanitarian truce. It is a cover up to take away fertile areas of Tigray. This should be resisted by TDF and UN.



Building on Ethiopia’s Fragile Truce

A truce in Ethiopia has generated cautious optimism. As the belligerents take tentative steps toward peace, the first order of business is to surge humanitarian aid into Tigray and restore vital services. The country’s external partners should find ways to nudge all parties toward compromise.

"Donors should NOT ease up on Addis before genuine change is afoot. Abiy is adept at tactical manoeuvring" Crisis Group

After seventeen months of bitter fighting, the main belligerents in Ethiopia’s civil war, the federal and Tigray region governments, recently took a small step toward peace. On 24 March, following direct contact between the two sides’ military leaders, the federal government announced an “indefinite humanitarian truce”. Four days later, Tigray’s authorities said they would adhere to the cessation of hostilities, with officials in the regional capital, Mekelle, suggesting they were cautiously optimistic about prospects for peace. The truce comes not a moment too soon. With federal and allied forces blockading the embattled Tigray region on and off since the war began in November 2020, humanitarian organisations have been unable to consistently deliver aid overland at anything like the scale needed, leaving an estimated five million people in Tigray in urgent need of food and medicine. Since the truce announcements, four aid convoys have reached Tigray.

In order to ensure that the truce holds, Addis Ababa should immediately lift all obstacles to give agencies the unrestricted access they need to alleviate Tigray’s desperate humanitarian situation. Federal authorities should also fully reconnect Tigray to trade networks, the electricity grid, and telecommunications and banking services. As part of subsequent ceasefire talks, Tigray’s forces should withdraw from the parts of neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions they hold. The federal government should attempt to push Amhara forces and Eritrean troops to exit Western Tigray and, in Eritrea’s case, Tigray’s north east. But, if Amhara forces refuse to vacate Western Tigray, Tigray’s leaders, in order to focus now on famine relief across all of the region, should accept federal and international guarantees that Amhara’s annexation of the area will be addressed later. Outside powers cognisant of Ethiopia’s economic woes should condition renewed financial support for the federal government on the concrete measures above as well as on commitments to a more inclusive dialogue about the country’s future.

A Tentative Step

The latest tentative step to end a war that has probably directly killed at least tens of thousands of people (some researchers estimate hundreds of thousands may have died in Tigray in total during the war) comes four months after federal resistance compelled Tigray’s forces to return to their home region, reversing their march toward the capital, Addis Ababa. Hostilities first broke out on 3 November 2020, when the armed forces split after a constitutional dispute over Tigray’s right to autonomously run an election and Tigray forces captured the federal military command in the region. In addition to imposing a blockade, federal troops backed by Eritrean and Amhara forces, overran the region’s defences and installed an interim administration. Tigray’s leaders then regrouped in rural areas and mounted an insurgency that forced federal authorities to flee in June 2021. As Addis Ababa again cut off Tigray’s supplies, Tigrayan units broke out and pushed south over the next five months, taking positions around 100km from the capital.

The federal coalition, however, hit back with newly acquired drones targeting Tigray supply lines, and mass federal and Amhara mobilisation replenishing the forces on the government’s side. Those primary factors, combined perhaps with a lack of international backing for Tigray leaders’ goal of overthrowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the apparent weakness of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an insurgency in Ethiopia’s populous Oromia region allied with the Tigrayans, seemingly contributed to Mekelle’s December decision to retreat.

Next, the federal government showed welcome restraint. On 22 December, it said it would refrain from pursuing Tigray’s fighters inside their home region. Weeks later, it dropped charges against high-profile opposition prisoners, including veteran leaders of Tigray’s banned ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which for decades dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition. The federal government also appointed a commission to oversee a National Dialogue, which opposition parties had long demanded to heal the country’s chronic ethno-political divides. The dialogue faces steep hurdles. Opposition parties, even those close to the government, note that the process of appointing the commission lacked transparency. Nor is there any indication that the authorities will allow representatives of the main armed groups, the TPLF and the OLA, to join the talks. Still, given the federal government’s previous efforts to crush Tigray’s leadership and rejection of dialogue with other opponents, these small conciliatory steps were significant.

Although aid by air to Tigray has increased, federal and allied regional authorities continue to put up administrative and security barriers to overland deliveries.

Meanwhile, although aid by air to Tigray has increased, federal and allied regional authorities continue to put up administrative and security barriers to overland deliveries, consistent with the siege strategy that Addis Ababa has pursued since the conflict began. While claiming that it is trying its utmost to help Tigrayans in need, the federal government cut off Tigray’s fuel supplies eight months ago, presumably concerned that deliveries would benefit Tigray’s resistance. Following the late March truce, the UN managed to send a convoy of twenty trucks to Tigray – the first since December – with most carrying food, but also one, a tanker, bearing 47,000l of fuel. A second convoy of 50 trucks, including three fuel tankers, arrived in Tigray on 15 April, as did vehicles dispatched by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Though badly needed, these shipments are far from sufficient. As many as 700,000 people in Tigray face famine-like conditions. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that at least 100 trucks a day are required, while approximately 200,000l of fuel per week are needed to adequately distribute food aid.

A former federal official told Crisis Group that Addis Ababa wants the TPLF to reciprocate with troop withdrawals before additional relief reaches Tigray. The official also indicated that Addis Ababa restoring services would be “part of the give-and-take with the TPLF”. The government rebuts claims that it is inappropriately turning humanitarian aid into a bargaining chip by arguing that such support has previously been diverted to the war effort. In 2021, federal officials claimed that nutritional biscuits ended up feeding Tigray’s fighters and that the TPLF commandeered WFP contractors’ trucks for military operations, but offered little compelling evidence. The federal government also alleged (again without providing corroboration) that Tigray’s rulers were manufacturing a famine to win international sympathy, claiming it was a rerun of a strategy used by the TPLF during its 1980s insurgency.

Addis Ababa must put aside such conjecture and instead assist an emergency humanitarian operation to save countless lives. If the federal government continues its blockade, the consequences will be even more devastating and there could be other destabilising effects besides. Tigray’s leaders might well launch a new offensive aimed either at reclaiming Western Tigray, which would allow them to bring in relief via Sudan, or once more try to seize territory elsewhere to enhance their bargaining power. To fend off this possibility, the federal government’s next steps should encompass not only massively scaled-up aid delivery – including opening more direct routes via neighbouring Amhara – but also unconditional renewal of services to Tigray, whose cutoff since the war’s onset has exacerbated the disaster. A Western diplomat told Crisis Group on 30 March that Addis Ababa promised to reconnect telephone lines as part of initial measures. But the federal government will need to do much more than that – it will also need to restore electricity, banking services and trade routes to Tigray.

Despite only piecemeal implementation, there is still some reason for optimism about the truce. Prime Minister Abiy seemingly realises that a military approach will not resolve what is essentially a political dispute. Officials in Mekelle also appear to have adopted a more pragmatic mindset. One top leader there told Crisis Group on 24 March that the truce would last for around a month, during which time Tigray expects continuous aid delivery by land, progress toward service restoration, and movement on ending the Amhara and Eritrean presence in Western Tigray. But the official also suggested that the deal may hold even if these processes are incomplete after 30 days. Should the parties meet each other’s expectations and build confidence in the peace process, the next step could be a permanent ceasefire involving the repositioning of forces. That, in turn, could lead to broader talks.

Moreover, Ethiopia’s flailing economy may provide some incentive for compromise. The country’s economic woes appear to have helped nudge the federal authorities to take the steps they have toward peace. Almost one fifth of around 115 million Ethiopians – including many outside Tigray – need aid, partly due to a serious drought in the south and east. Even before the Ukraine war drove up global food, fuel and fertiliser prices, annual inflation had accelerated to 33 per cent in February while foreign exchange reserves plummeted. Mounting interest payments and a debt renegotiation process have meanwhile left the government unable to borrow from abroad. The U.S., EU and other partners have also made deep aid cuts – including suspending generous International Monetary Fund and World Bank budget support – due mainly to the federal government and allies’ brutal conduct of the war. It is hard to see how Abiy rights the economy without Western support, which means at the very least getting aid into Tigray if not reaching some form of settlement with the region’s leaders.

The federal government should start moving the pieces into place for political reconciliation.
Both sides should work to make this prospect a reality. Beyond aid delivery and service restoration, the federal government should start moving the pieces into place for political reconciliation. Ethiopia’s parliament should begin by delisting the TPLF as a terrorist organisation, among other things, so that its representatives can participate in the National Dialogue (it may well have to take the same step with the OLA in order to reduce Oromia’s instability). For its part, Tigray’s government should recognise the authority of Abiy’s administration, reversing Mekelle’s fateful pre-war decision to brand it as illegitimate.

Possible Obstacles

While the truce suggests that there could be a path out of conflict, obstacles abound. Concerns about the federal government’s intentions persist among outside actors and in Mekelle. Addis Ababa’s manipulation of humanitarian access to pressure Tigray’s leaders has already put hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation. It has signalled that it may now use the promise of relief to press for Tigrayan withdrawals from positions in Afar and Amhara. In its 24 March statement, the federal government called upon Tigray “to desist from all acts of further aggression and withdraw from areas they have occupied in neighbouring regions” in order to “optimise” the truce’s success. Mekelle countered that political and humanitarian issues must be decoupled. Tigray leaders have, however, told Crisis Group that they would consider a “staggered withdrawal” from the two regions as part of a ceasefire if the federal government demonstrates good faith. One Mekelle representative suggested withdrawal from adjacent regions would be possible when Amhara forces leaves Western Tigray.

Another related worry is anger in Afar at both the TPLF, for the incursion into the region’s north west in mid-January, and at the federal government, for its alleged neglect of Afaris in the face of the mass displacement that the occupation triggered. Tigray’s government said its forces moved into Afar districts on 24 January because of persistent attacks from Eritrea-backed Afar militias and Afar regional forces around the border town of Abala, which is only 40km from Mekelle.

Afar authorities want Tigray’s forces out, with regional president Awal Arba previously threatening to block Tigray-bound convoys if they fail to do so. Recently, Afar officials cited security concerns to explain why convoys could not move. Locals even looted trucks delivering aid to Afar towns in March. The twenty-truck aid convoy that reached Tigray at the end of March travelled unhindered through Afar, but there is no guarantee that future shipments will get the same treatment. A Tigray official told Crisis Group on 11 April that a further call the day before between federal and Tigrayan military leaders should mean more convoys would travel soon, as did in fact occur three days later, after Tigray’s forces had pulled back on 12 April. Addis Abmea and aid agencies could go some way toward assuaging Afari and Amhara concerns – and stimulating greater cooperation by those authorities in allowing safe passage for aid to Tigray – by providing humanitarian support to Afari and Amhara civilians displaced during Tigray forces’ southward march in the second half of 2021.

The future of Amhara-occupied Western Tigray is the thorniest issue to resolve.
The future of Amhara-occupied Western Tigray is the thorniest issue to resolve. The area, which borders Sudan, was included in Tigray when the TPLF led the design of Ethiopia’s federation in the early 1990s, redrawing all national boundaries on the basis of ethno-linguistic demographics. A 1994 census recorded more Tigrinya than Amharic speakers in what became Western Tigray, though its accuracy is contested. Amhara leaders say the TPLF depopulated Amhara prior to the constitution’s 1995 enactment. Tensions had thus been building for decades and, when war broke out in 2020, Amhara militiamen poured in, displacing some 700,000 Tigrayans, a move that rights groups labelled “ethnic cleansing”. Eritrea’s military has since trained Amhara forces in the area and Amhara officials are set on holding what they consider their historical land. Tigray dismisses Amhara’s irredentism as unconstitutional and demands that the area return to its administration. When Tigray’s leader wrote to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on 19 December proposing a truce, he urged the UN to verify Amhara and Eritrean withdrawals.

These demands present Abiy with two bad options: turning his Amhara and Eritrean allies into enemies, on one hand, or returning to war with Tigray’s government, on the other. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki opposes any concessions to the TPLF; he blames it for orchestrating Eritrea’s decades-long international isolation when it was in power. Though Isaias’ government has been typically quiet about its intentions, Eritrean forces are likely to maintain positions around the border town of Humera, a key land bridge to Sudan in the north of Western Tigray. Given the deep enmity between Tigrayan and Eritrean leaders, Isaias would likely perceive the return of Tigray forces to Western Tigray and the creation of supply lines from Sudan as a near existential threat. While he may be willing to give Abiy manoeuvring room to unfreeze donor support and ease Ethiopia’s economic woes, he is far less likely to allow Tigray to recover. Yet, if Abiy’s actions on Western Tigray fall short of Mekelle’s demands, its leaders may use military means to try to reclaim the area as well as to break the blockade.

Because of these seemingly irreconcilable stances, perhaps the best that can be hoped for at this juncture is that Tigray’s leaders accept federal pledges – which outside powers would need to back up with guarantees to monitor future withdrawals – that Amhara’s 2020 takeover of the territory will be addressed later, with displaced Tigrayans having the opportunity to return. Exactly how the dispute would be resolved in the long term remains to be seen. Addis Ababa may favour joint administration or local autonomy, but neither regional government – Tigray’s or Amhara’s – is likely to accept such a proposal, as both claim the territory as rightfully theirs. Abiy has suggested a referendum to settle the issue, but again, neither region is likely to agree, especially on who would be eligible to vote. For now, in order to save lives in Tigray, the emphasis should for the most part be on other matters that can be more readily dealt with.

The Way Ahead

Bringing Ethiopia’s civil war to a close will require a steep uphill climb. Stimulating talks on an eventual settlement between Addis Ababa and Tigray’s leaders into reach would require several steps:

the federal authorities must allow the region to receive sufficient famine relief before the situation deteriorates further;
the government should restore vital services to Tigray;
outside actors and the federal government would need to offer, and Tigray leaders accept, guarantees of the sort discussed above for Western Tigray, with both sides agreeing on additional confidence-building measures, such as access for human rights monitors to detention centres in Western Tigray where an unknown number (perhaps thousands) are languishing in perilous conditions;
the government and Tigray authorities would exchange prisoners of war; and
they would have to make progress on other political issues, including the federal and Tigray governments recognising each other as legitimate and parliament removing the TPLF’s terrorist designation.


Whether or not these goals are realistic is not yet clear, but Ethiopia’s dire economic straits do give donors an opening to urge federal authorities to commit to make progress on the items noted above and move toward a peace process. The U.S. and allies should impress upon UN agencies in Ethiopia that they must insist on unfettered access to Tigray and other crisis spots. Donors should also make clear they will withhold financial support for the government unless it demonstrates an unequivocal commitment to peace processes in Tigray and Oromia, and to a truly inclusive national dialogue aimed at forging broad consensus – which will require that the TPLF and OLA participate. In so doing, they should keep two challenges in sight.

First, the country’s economic predicament could bring new destabilising challenges. There are already indications of stresses, such as a fuel and medicine shortages. A prominent opposition leader told Crisis Group that greater socio-economic hardship could exacerbate intercommunal tensions. That may be a particular challenge in Oromia, where increased OLA activity has met with repressive state counter-insurgency tactics and Amhara militia counter-attacks. To try to mitigate this hardship, donors should work to keep development assistance flowing into the country through civil society organisations rather than the government.

Secondly, donors should not ease up on Addis before genuine change is afoot. Abiy is adept at tactical manoeuvring to consolidate power and buy time. He may be doing so now out of concern about U.S. legislation that would hand Congress control over aid to Ethiopia. His softening appears partly aimed at discouraging that bill and unfreezing U.S. support. How tough Washington intends to be is unclear, with some U.S. officials suggesting a keenness to reward Abiy for steps toward peace and others saying the U.S. will wait for real progress. Regardless, mediators – U.S. and African Union envoys have shuttled between Addis and Mekelle – should be wary of Abiy improving aid access only enough to create space to plan his next move. One way to manage this risk could be for donors to set benchmarks for the required amount of aid to be delivered to Tigray and other needy places, while tying any relaxation of pressure to these targets. Good donor policy coordination is critical; European officials’ concerns about the World Bank’s recent approval of a $300 million grant suggest some incoherence.

The truce is cause for a measure of cautious optimism, given the absence to date of conciliatory gestures in a civil war that has seen countless atrocities against civilians. But it is hard to imagine the parties reaching a political settlement if they do not put very significant effort toward overcoming the myriad and sometimes overlapping challenges the conflict has created. To advance further toward peace, the federal and Tigray governments need to translate their small recent positive steps into a painful compromise, while Ethiopia’s external partners must give the belligerents incentives to choose the path of peace.


Source https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn ... gile-truce

Saturday 16 April 2022

Ukraine-and-Tigray-a-hierarchy-in-the-value-of-human-life

The starkly different responses of the international community towards the crises in Tigray and Ukraine show us that the world must strive towards an international order that works for all.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24 February 2022, created reverberations that were felt around the world. This egregious breach of the most sacrosanct principles of the post-World War II international order was rightly met with shock and widespread condemnation. The international mood was captured by Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Amb. Martin Kimani, in his well-received address to the United Nations Security Council. His speech particularly stressed the importance of the existing rules and rejected imperialist and “irredentist” aspirations.

While appropriate, such affirmations of the significance of multilateralism nonetheless place the spotlight on other instances where the international community has failed to muster a fraction of the mobilization witnessed in the case of Ukraine. Many have protested the failure of the international community, including members of the UNSC, to apply the same humanitarian and human rights principles in the face of the gruesome atrocities committed against civilians in African countries. One glaring example in this regard is the action – or lack thereof – of the international community in the face of the ongoing genocidal war and humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray, northern Ethiopia.

On 4 November 2020, the federal government of Ethiopian, Eritrean armed forces, Amhara, and other regional militias launched a war on the Tigray region. This attack, which may originally have seemed like an attempt to violently resolve the political and constitutional differences between the Tigray regional government and the federal government, revealed itself from the outset to be a brutal scorched-earth campaign targeting the Tigrayan people. This campaign included indiscriminate shelling, hundreds of massacres, weaponized rape and famine on an industrial scale as a tool of war, violent ethnic cleansing, deliberate destruction of livelihoods and vital infrastructures including healthcare, education, and agriculture. Coordinating its efforts with regional states and Eritrean armed forces, the Ethiopian federal government also imposed a total siege and humanitarian blockade denying millions of people access to basic needs – including food and medicine – and services such as electricity, banking, and communication.

Despite this dire situation – described as hell for millions of innocent children, women, and men as a result of the gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws – the international community has been unable to take any meaningful action beyond the moral outrage expressed early in the conflict. One such example was delivered by Amb. Linda Thomas Greenfield, United States Representative to the UN Security Council, exactly a year ago in April 2021:

Do African lives not matter? It’s time for the Security Council to have a public meeting on this issue. It’s time for the Council to take meaningful action to address the crisis. And it’s time for the Ethiopian government to respond responsibly to requests for humanitarian access….


Similarly, in June of 2021, Joseph Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called the situation in Tigray unacceptable and went on to add:

To the people of Tigray, we say: You are not alone. To the parties involved in the conflict, we say: The world is watching. You will be held accountable.


This clarity, however, gradually disappeared over the months and was replaced by false equivalence, bothesidesism, and generalization. This was accompanied by a shift from addressing grave atrocities deserving of international mechanisms of response and accountability to a reductive and deliberately vague narrative formulating the ongoing conflict as ethnic clashes and political contestations between political entities.

This shift was most apparently displayed in the decision by the US government to halt the release of the report on the determination as to whether genocide has been committed against Tigrayans. The Biden administration has also replaced unequivocal calls for the withdrawal of both Eritrean and Amhara forces from the constitutionally recognized borders of Tigray with more recent calls for the withdrawal of only the Eritrean armed forces. Similarly, the EU, which had vocally demanded the complete withdrawal of Eritrean and Ethiopian forces from Tigray, failed to issue any meaningful sanctions.

The international community has been unable to take any meaningful action beyond the moral outrage expressed early in the conflict.

The ensuing attempts to reframe the ongoing crisis solely in terms of a political conflict among political parties make a mockery of the extensive and deep suffering of millions of Tigrayans and impede the possibility of pursuing accountability and remedies. It also denies the massive asymmetry of the forces at play, where one side is comprised of two sovereign states with all the attendant military and diplomatic power, and support through the supply of advanced armaments from several nations (including UAE, Turkey, Iran, China, and Russia), against the people of a tiny and besieged region fighting for its survival.

The extent to which the international community has opted to move away from a principles-based approach in relation to Tigray is brought into sharp relief when we consider not just the rightful outrage but the immediate action that has been taken in the case of Ukraine. When Josep Borrell declared “Ukraine, you are not alone!”, this promise was almost immediately backed by meaningful and sustained action from the European Union. Nor would the international media and commentators, who readily assign equivalence when covering Tigray, consider doing the same for the Ukraine-Russia war which also involves an invasion by an immeasurably stronger force, in violation of international law.

Meanwhile, although the situation in Tigray has only worsened and gruesome atrocities continue unabated, Tigrayans have been demonstrably shown to be alone. Besieged and deliberately silenced by the communications and media blackout imposed on the region, Tigrayans have also been ignored by the international community, including the diplomatic community in Ethiopia which seems to have opted to normalise relations with the Ethiopian regime.


Continue reading at: https://www.theelephant.info/features/2 ... uman-life/
The Elephant - Speaking truth to power.

Delivery of Humanitarian Assistance in Tigray PRESS STATEMENT ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 15, 2022

The United States welcomes the arrival today of a truck convoy carrying over 1,700 metric tons of life-saving humanitarian assistance in Tigray. We appreciate the efforts of the government of Ethiopia, Tigrayan regional authorities, and Afar regional authorities in facilitating that delivery. We also commend the United Nations agencies, international organizations, U.S. government partners, and the ongoing efforts of humanitarian organizations across Ethiopia to provide aid to all those in need. We reiterate the importance of significant, sustained, unconditional, and unhindered humanitarian access to Tigray—as well as to all communities that are suffering, including the people in Afar —and the urgency of the resumption of basic services, including electricity, telecommunications, and banking.


The continued commitment of the government of Ethiopia and Tigrayan authorities to a cessation of hostilities remains a critical step toward reconciliation and peace. In that regard, we welcome the withdrawal of Tigrayan forces from Erebti and underscore the importance of further withdrawals from Afar regional state. The parties must continue to build on this progress to advance a negotiated and sustainable end of conflict. Progress toward this goal is an essential foundation for restoration of essential services in Tigray and an inclusive political process to provide security and prosperity for all Ethiopians.

Friday 15 April 2022

Is TPLF following the right strategy and tactic in the current civil war?

 Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) has been fighting the mercenary army of Ethiopia, Amara militia and Eritrea. Tigray Defense  Forces (TDF) have been able to drive Ethiopia's mercenary army from most of Tigray. Western Tigray is still in the hands of Amara local army, Eritrean mercenary army and Fano ( Amara Youth Group).

Tigray has withdrawn it's army from Afar region (Berhale and other subdistrics) to facilitate the humanitarian truce, which was signed between Tigrayan Forces and Ethiopia a week ago. However up to now only 20 tracks of goods from FAO and Red Cross have reached Mekelle. Another 50 tracks with humanitarian assistance are  expected to arrive Mekelle today, which meets only 2% of aid needed in Tigray.

TDF is actively involved in driving Eritrean army from Western Tigray. It has also routed out the Amara militia. However, there are still hostile armed groups supported by Ethiopia and Eritrea. TDF would need to carry out extensive military campaigns to make Western Tigray safe for access to Sudan and South Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia itself, TDF military activities are limited or non-existent except in Tigray. TDF has no political involvement in Ethiopia beyond the borders of Tigray. This should be reviewed and a coalition of political partys should be formed. TDF's military victories should be followed by political victories in Ethiopia to form a transition government that will lead to free elections.

TDF should call Ethiopians to unite and overthrow Abiy Ahmed Ali's government, which is illegitimate. Non-Amara Ethiopian's have been organizing them selves. TDF should show political support and form united front.

Eritrea's invasion of Tigray should be condemned and |TDF should  prepare to defend Tigray from the Eritrean invaders, which means  TDF should march to Eritrea and liberate it from Issayas Afeworki fascist regime.

In conclusion, we need a clear political involvement in Ethiopia. There should be a coalition between TDF, OLF and other forces.Without controlling the central government, there will be no peace. TDF has the military power to control Ethiopia. It should form coalition with democratic forces in Ethiopia to take control of the central power. TDF needs first to address Eritrea's invasion with counter-invasion.

Friday 8 April 2022

Ethiopia: Tigray civilians targeted in 'crimes against humanity,' says report (Source: Deutsche Welle -DW)

Tigrayans are being targeted with ethnic cleansing in the contested Western Tigray zone, according to a new report by human rights groups. The onslaught of rape and killings amounts to "war crimes," they added.


Rape has been used as a weapon of war, according to the report

Tigrayans in Ethiopia are facing a relentless campaign of ethnic cleansing being carried out by security forces from the neighboring Amhara region, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

The two rights groups in a joint report released Wednesday detailed how Tigrayan civilians in the disputed Western Tigray Zone of the country are allegedly being killed and subjected to various forms of sexual violence and abuses, including rape.

Some of these Tigrayans also faced mass detentions and forcible movements, a campaign that — along with the other reported abuses mentioned — "amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity," said the rights groups in a statement.

The report also alleged that newly-appointed officials in Western Tigray and the security forces from the neighboring Amhara region had some support and possible collaborations from the Ethiopian federal forces to carry out the alleged atrocities.

A Tigrayan refugee rape victim, who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray, sits for a portrait in eastern Sudan in March 2021

Laetitia Bader from Human Rights Watch told DW in a phone interview, "This report looks at the last 17 months of abuses in the Western Tigray Zone, which is along contested area at the border with Tigray with Sudan and with Eritrea and the Amhara region."

More than 400 people, including Tigrayan refugees in Sudan, were interviewed by researchers from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Tigrayan and Amhara residents who suffered or witnessed abuses were also interviewed.

According to the new report, researchers consulted medical and forensic reports with court documents, satellite imagery, and photographic and video evidence corroborating accounts of grave abuses.

Bader explained that the researchers "looked at the first waves where there were war crimes committed including by the Ethiopian federal government."

They then "looked at a whole range of abuses including widespread of sexual violence, massive incarceration and horrific life-threatening detention conditions, deprivation of people's means of survival," she added.

A government spokesperson told DW she was not aware of the publication, and requested time to consult the details.



How 'ethnic cleansing' was carried out

According to the rights groups in several towns across Western Tigray, signs were displayed ordering Tigrayans to leave, and locally appointed administrators discussed at open meetings how to remove Tigrayans.

The report quoted a Tigrayan woman from Baeker town describing how members of Fanos, an irregular Amhara militia "kept saying every night, 'We will kill you… Go out of the area'."

Another Tigrayan woman told researchers that while she was being gang-raped by men, a militia member told her: "You Tigrayans should disappear from the land west of [the Tekeze River]. You are evil and we are purifying your blood."

The report alleged that there were also pamphlets giving Tigrayans 24-hour or 72-hour ultimatums to leave or be killed.

A 63-year-old farmer from Division village told the rights groups that he watched as a group of men destroyed his home. One of the men told him: "This is not your land. You have nothing to claim here."

Tigrayans who failed to leave the region were then arrested to face long-term detention and abuse in overcrowded facilities, the report said.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said they believe thousands of Tigrayans are still held in life-threatening conditions today.

According to the report, Amhara militia have also been arresting local residents of the town of Adi Goshu for detention.

Members of the Amhara Special Forces are detailed in the report as having rounded up and summarily executed about 60 Tigrayan men by the Tekeze River.

According to witnesses who spoke to the rights groups the few men who survived believed the killings were a revenge attack after the Amhara forces suffered heavy losses during fighting with Tigrayan forces the previous night.

"When they shot at us, I fell first and then I saw also when the others in front of me were shot and fell," said a 74-year-old survivor was quoted in the report to have said. "And the people behind me fell on me and covered me… After that, they said, ‘The Tigrayans don't die easily, shoot again'."
Who is behind the 'ethnic cleansing' campaign?

The report specifically mentioned the local authorities in Amhara region as the main force driving the alleged ethnic cleansing campaign in the Western Tigray region.

"Our report finds that the ethnic cleansing campaign was led by the Amhara regional government forces administration with the complicity and often in the presence of federal government forces," Bader said.

She also explained that their findings implicate some Eritrean forces involved in some of the targeted arrests of the Tigrayan civilians.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are calling for high-level officials who led this campaign to be brought to book and punished for violating international humanitarian laws.

The conflict in the Tigray region broke out in November 2020 when the federal government army in Addis Ababa started fighting forces from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

For the last 17 months, there has been no signal of the war ending with the resultant humanitarian crisis worsening.

Ten semi-autonomous federal states make up Ethiopia but they are organized along ethnic lines. Ethnic violence has been on the rise in recent years and the current conflict has heightened tensions.

Last November, a report by Amnesty International alleged that TPLF fighters carried out killings and gang-rapes targeting women.

That same month, a joint investigation by the UN and Ethiopia said all sides fighting in the conflict committed a range of human rights violations thatmay amount to war crimes.
Ethiopian officials deny claims

The report said both Ethiopian federal forces and Amhara authorities have denied allegations of ethnic cleansing in Western Tigray.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are calling on the Ethiopian federal government and its international and regional partners to take concrete steps to protect all communities in Western Tigray.

They are calling for the immediate release of Tigrayans arbitrarily detained there, and also allow for protection monitoring.

"The response of Ethiopia's international and regional partners has failed to reflect the gravity of the crimes that continue to unfold in Western Tigray," said Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, in a statement.

"Concerned governments need to help bring an end to the ethnic cleansing campaign, ensure that Tigrayans are able to safely and voluntarily return home, and make a concerted effort to obtain justice for these heinous crimes.”

The Deputy Chief of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Rakeb Messele, said in a statement on Wednesday that the findings of the report certainly point to actions that amount to war crimes.

Messele said the findings by the rights groups “are consistent with what has been documented and reported by EHRC, as well as the Joint Investigation with the UN on Tigray (JIT). These acts of killings and large scale forced displacement by the parties may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

She has called “for parties to refrain from taking any measures that could cause further displacement; create an enabling environment for the safe, secure and voluntary return of all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs); and find a sustainable solution to the Welkait-Tsegede protracted land dispute.”

Deputy Chief is calling for “a sustainable political solution and peace, restoration of basic services, rehabilitation of victims and affected areas in Afar, Amhara and Tigray as well as accountability measures for justice.”

She assured her outfit will continue to monitor and investigate happenings in all the conflict affected areas.”

On March 24, the government announced a humanitarian cease-fire. The rights groups said regardless of any truce or ceasefire, Ethiopia's federal and regional authorities should allow unhindered, independent, and sustained humanitarian assistance.

Isaac Mugabi contributed to this article.

Edited by: Stephanie Burnett



Thursday 7 April 2022

War drums on Tigray Regional State by mercenary Bantu army of Ethiopia and Eritrea

 



Editor's pick: Samarawit Gebreegzabher's "You Defeated Them" Dedicated to Tigray Defense Forces

There is war drums going in Tigray , a region bordered by The Red Sea and Sudan. Tigray has been resisting this war of annihilation against Bantu African Tribal Army Amara, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Eritrea was a district of Tigray prior to 1890. Tigray Defense Forces will have to declare Eritrea as a district of Tigray and The Red Sea as the boundary to Tigray  to the North. Eritreans are Tigrayans will live in Tigray.

Tigray under siege by Bantu Amara army of Ethiopia, mercenary army of  Ethiopia and ascari troops from Eritrea. Tigray Defense Forces wanted to have a truce to deliver medical and food assistance to the civilian population in Tigray. However Abiy Ahmed Ali, a terrorist and a genocider sabotaged the efforts of the international community to deliver aid to Tigray people.

Since Novemeber 2020, bank service, telecommunication service, financial services have been cut from the Bantu self-appointed government of FinFinne. Tigray Defense Forces Yukuno Amlak, a Bantu self-made king by falsifying Agew history and assassinating King Lalibella, from The  Agew Tribe.


Tigrayans were aware of their history but no one cared about until TPLF was formed in 1974 by patriotic students and a member of parliament. TPLF overthrew the military and marched to Addis Abeba or Fin Fiine after overthrowing Mengistu Haile Mariam a village idiot who wanted to be president though he lacked the education and social background such as Orthodox Church teaching, modern schooling. He was a brute dictator.

TPLF formed a coalition of forces called Ethiopian People's Democratic Front (EPRDF) and transformed Ethiopia into economic wonderland to catch up the advanced countries of Europe in about 10 years.

A group of Guraghe elites like Berhanu Nega, Andergatchew Tsige and others formed United Patriotic Front and started armed intrusion from Eritrea in 2015. However, The Guraghe elites in their drive to come to power infiltrated The Ethiopian Intellegence and Abiy Ahmed Ali, a Guraghe and a Muslim was made a prime minster in 2018 a day after which Engineer Semegnew  was assassinated in broad day light in Addis Abeba (Fin Finne). in 2019 relation between Addis Abebe and Mekelle cooled. Tigray and TPLF understood that Eritrea has infiltrated Ethiopian intellegence and Tigray prepared training it's own national army. In Nover 2020, Abiy Ahmed declared war on Tigray. Tigrayan abled men and women went to the forests to train war. Tigray had one of the best generals in East Africa and these generals were very helpful in driving The Bantu African mercenary army and Eritrea. Now Tigray is under the complete control of it's own Tigrayan leaders and it's own national parliment which approves laws and makes new laws if necessary.


Bantu savage migrants from other parts have killed tens of thousands of Tigrayans, raped women at gunpoint, destroyed properties, crops and farm animals to starve the population of Tigray to break the people's resitance to fascist Abiy ahmed Ali rule and to the killings of fascist Issayas Afeworki.


We hear that a third round large scale preparation has been going on. We need to support the Tigrayan people and stand with them either through donation or through direct involvement in the war. Relief Society of Tigray is doing an excellent job and should support them in our communities by raising funds. Further to form a national fund for Tigray where every one contributes to the fund. It should be transparent and accountable so that we know how much we have to collect. From Tigray National Emergency Fund, Tigrayans in dire need could be supported with help they need. As the war comes Tigray is ready for the war to defend it's people and history . Some groups suggest each diaspora Tigrayan supports a family. This is not practical and not transparent. Tigrayans in diaspora need only to cdontribute money or other material medical equipment, tractors, or other necessary material.


Tigray should organise as a modern state such as in Europe. The experiences of Vietnam, Russia against Nazi Germany should be taken into consideration. We need to build underground hospitals, schools, factories, tunnels from Mekelle to Aksum or to Port Assab, which by the way Aksumite kings used to do. We shall face the war, but we do not need to expose our population  in harm's way as we need them to build our country. By building underground tunnels, we protect our children from drone attacks. For exampl, i n Vietnam "The Cu Chi (pronounced Ku Chi) tunnels are an extensive 250-mile (around 400km) network of underground trenches dug manually by the Vietnamese people and Viet Cong guerillas to protect themselves from the merciless bombing unleashed by American forces who fought a war in Vietnam in 1964-73"