Ethiopia, ethnic cleansing persists despite the truce in Tigray
Avviso contenuto: In Tigray, Ethiopia, abuses and violence continue after 2 years of genocidal war that began on 4 November 2020 and was formally stopped by the cessation of hostilities by signing an agreement in Pretoria between the central government and members of the T
In Tigray, Ethiopia, abuses and violence continue after 2 years of genocidal war that began on 4 November 2020 and was formally stopped by the cessation of hostilities by signing an agreement in Pretoria between the central government and members of the TPLF on 3 November 2022
- Local authorities and Amhara forces in Western Tigray Zone in northern Ethiopia have continued an ethnic cleansing campaign against Tigrayans since the November 2, 2022, truce agreement.
- The Ethiopian government should suspend, investigate, and appropriately prosecute security forces and officials implicated in serious rights abuses in Western Tigray.
- International law provides that people forcibly removed from their homes have the right to return. However, the current context in Western Tigray is not conducive for voluntary, safe, and dignified returns.
These 3 points are the incipit highlighted by the recent report by HRW – Human Rights Watch
“The November truce in northern Ethiopia has not brought about an end to the ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans in Western Tigray Zone,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy African director at Human Rights Watch. “If the Ethiopian government is really serious about ensuring justice for abuses, then it should stop opposing independent investigations into the atrocities in Western Tigray and hold abusive officials and commanders to account.”
Interviews and testimonies collected by HRW reveal that internally displaced Tigrayans in western Tigray occupied by Amhara forces and former Tigrayan prisoners illegally arrested and detained in inhumane conditions and in abuse of international humanitarian law are still seeking justice for the posthumous violence.
Displacements during the war today have turned into a policy of ethnic replacement by the Amhara, trying to erase the identity of the Tigrinya people in the occupied areas by inducing them to exchange new identity documents with Amahara instead of Tigrinya.
On 6 May 2023 the testimony of Sister Laura, during the dinner of the Amici di Adwa ONLUS, spoke of the constant work of the Salesian mission in Adwa and of the medical and health support for adults and children thanks to the Kidane Mehret hospital, one of the few who have been miraculously active, even if with almost no sanitary materials and medicines for more than 2 years.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/JO6xd05vqQU?feature=oembed
On 11 May 2023, the AU – African Union Verification and Compliance Monitoring Mission (MVCM) was denied entry into Irob District by Eritrean forces at a checkpoint in Sobeya, Eastern Tigrai.
The AU did not comment to TigraiTV which released the news, but a source who wished to remain anonymous but briefed on the facts and part of the monitoring team testified that according to him the AU has the information from the publication.
“We have also reported that we are not safe traveling, there is practically nobody protecting us, I am thankful the Eritrean troops left us with no harm”
According to the source, the AU monitoring team has planned to launch a patrol in Humera, West Tigrai on June 6, 2023. However, he noted that unsafe movements will negatively impact the monitoring process.
“We are not safe. besides we are not allowed to appear on the media”
On May 19, 2023, Roland Kobia, Ambassador for Europe to Ethiopia, paid the first formal visit of a Western representative, 7 months after the Pretoria Agreement, to an IDP camp in Shire, Tigray, reporting it via Twitter and thanking UNHCR Ethiopia and its partners for their work towards internally displaced persons.
Even today, on the date of publication of this study on June 2, 2023, transparency on objective and updated data on the IDP camps by the international humanitarian agencies in charge is slow.
On May 23, 2023, the IDPs, internally displaced in Tigray, demonstrate to claim their rights, today too many still abandoned and at the mercy of events. Peaceful demonstrations in several cities of Tigray: Abyi Adi, Adigrat, Adwa, Axum, Mekelle, Shire…
A sign in Mekelle read:
“We want to farm and live; we don’t want to continue waiting for aid”
The real activity of ethnic replacement is not the one denounced by the Italian Minister Lollobrigida who causes alarmism by intimidating the invasion of Italy by African migrants, but should learn what “ethnic replacement” really means by updating with the real and current facts that are taking place by political will in Ethiopia today.
Another protester warned against “the illegal act of demographic change in western Tigray” by Amhara state. (report reported by TGHAT)
On 25 May 2023 Eritrean troops in Tigray blocked a mission led by UNOCHA Deputy Chief of Ethiopia consisting of UNOCHA, UNDSS, WHO and other NGOs which were barred from entering Gemhalo village in Tahtay woreda [district] Adiyabo.
The mission was stalled after it traveled 16km from Sheraro around Waela-Nihbi. Eritrean forces are located in Tigray a short distance from Sheraro, occupying five kebeles [neighborhoods] in Tahtay-Adiyabo woreda [district] (source CNN)
On May 26, 2023 Goyteom Gebreegziabher shares map of inaccessible schools in Tigray:
“Inaccessible schools of #Tigrai. 548 (23%) schools of #Tigrai is still #inaccessible, due to invaded by (318) and Amhara (230) forces. The # of schools in Central (13), Eastern (46), North West (97), Southern (151) and Western (219) Tigrai.”
On May 26, 2023 Woldegiorgis G.Hiwot denounces and shares a photo of an ID:
“AmharaState is settling people in areas ethnic Tigrayans have been cleansed by its barbaric militants. It has been forcing the remaining Tigrayans to change their identities to Amharas. It’s distributing ID_Cards in Amharic in the Raya_Tigray, as it did in the Western_Tigray.”
On the other hand, with regard to the pursuit of justice for all the victims of the genocidal war in Tigray, the USA and Europe have swept the mission of pursuing this goal like dust under the carpet: justice which is the cornerstone towards peace.
In fact, the Pretoria agreement is a very important cessation of hostilities agreement to silence the weapons, but to be considered a stop-gap solution as a truce to recover time in seeking real ways to rebuild Tigray and the society in Ethiopia which is now so flawed that it is not known how many more generations must pass to be able to recover perhaps a minimum of stability.
Several observers have accused this agreement as agreed and instilled at the table by senior US officials who have been passed off as mere observers of the negotiations mediated by the African Union: for some, however, it seems and hypothesizes instead they were the architects of the first drafts of the truce plan and cessation of hostilities.
A not so improbable hypothesis given the world war between the super powers, the cold war between the USA and Russia and all their allies, whose balance is increasingly evident is Africa for its resources.
In fact, the HRW report underlines how:
While the European Union, the United States, and other international partners have said that justice is a priority in Tigray, they are falling short of identifying explicit or concrete benchmarks for accountability for the atrocities against Tigrayans in Western Tigray, despite the near absence of independent investigations there to date, Human Rights Watch said. Instead, since the signing of the truce, many governments have sought a rapprochement with Ethiopian federal authorities rather than seeking tangible progress on accountability. In April, the EU Foreign Affairs Council adopted formal conclusions on its future engagement with Ethiopia but did not address the lack of progress on justice, including in Western Tigray.
If during the genocidal war the Italy of former foreign minister Luigi Di Maio was slow to wait, that of the current Meloni government wasted no time in donating 182 million euros as three-year loans to support stability and economic development in the agro chain Ethiopian food by signing agreements with the Ethiopian government implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Economic agreements for international cooperation projects are the mask of neo-colonialism which is a transversal dynamic to the political color of the left or right, but a neo-colonial system which uses hard currency to grab the resources of rich Africa subjugated and enslaved by the capitalist system.
The truce agreement is nothing against silent death (by starvation), injustice and the political will to maintain the status quo and power
The 3 fundamental requests shared by the international community at the beginning of the war since the end of 2020, which appealed to frontline forces, even 7 months after the signing of the Pretoria agreement in November 2022, are still disregarded.
- Withdrawal of the external forces occupying Tigray
- Widespread humanitarian aid and support for all people in serious medical, health, food and psychological need;
- justice for all victims;
I posted this photo exactly 2 years ago, May 2021!!!
Africa to Africans, but it’s known that capitalism is stronger and it’s the new colonialism that produces slavery
Joe Biden’s USA organized the Africa Leaders Summit in Washington between December 13 and 15, 2022 to pamper the various African governors, including Ethiopia which had previously excluded from the AGOA for obvious reasons given the criminal war actions which did not formally align with the statute of economic agreements.
Ukraine and Russia have not stood idly by and have ceaselessly cultivated relations and new agreements in Africa during and after the war.
A fact that confirms the thirst to procure new resources from a rich continent such as Africa, but still subject to the economic yoke, a new tool of soft-colonialism, neo-colonialism that produces new slaves.
On 24 May 2023, the declarations of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Italy Antonio Tajani declaring that “The priority of Italian foreign policy is Africa” (full article)
On May 27, 2023 The Reporter reports that Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine visited Morocco, Ethiopia and Rwanda with the aim of building Ukraine’s economic partnerships in Africa, with Ethiopia as one of its most significant trading partners on the continent.
According to the State Statistics Agency of Ukraine, Ukraine and Ethiopia traded $285 million worth of goods and services as of December 31, 2021, with Ukraine importing $7 million and exporting $278 million in the 2021.
On May 29, 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov flies to Kenya and shakes hands with President Ruto.
On the same day Salsay Weyane Tigrai (SaWeT), political opposition in Tigray, denounces that in the last 10 days alone the Amhara forces have killed 20 people of the Tigray ethnic group in the area of western Tigray they are occupying.
On 30 May 2023, the Russian Min. Lavrov will meet his counterpart from Burundi, Albert Shingiro.
On the same day Moscow instead welcomes the visit of the dictator of Eritrea Isaias Afwerki welcomed at the invitation of the last tsar, Vladimir Putin: both share the same thirst for power. The two despots united by being invaders and instigators of war crimes and crimes against humanity through their armies that have occupied and invaded other countries, the first Ukraine and the second the regional state of Tigray in Ethiopia. The previous days, Isaias Afwerki had visited President Xi Jinping in China.
At the same time, the USA issues the communiqué through the Department of State:
“US Ambassador Mike Hammer, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa (#SEHOA), will travel May 31-June 6 to #Djibouti and #Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, Ambassador Hammer will meet with African Union officials on the implementation of the November 2, 2022 #Tigray Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (#COHA).
He will discuss progress and priorities, including transitional justice efforts and accountability, as well as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration planning, with Ethiopian government officials in #AddisAbaba and the Interim Regional Administration of the Tigray to #Mekele”
People don’t eat money
Economic stability is important for a country’s development, but it is only part of the solution.
In fact, despite the fact that the West led by the USA, and Europe to follow, is trying to get back on the path of economic agreements, putting justice for the hundreds of thousands of war victims into the background, people are still dying of hunger.
On May 26, 2023 on the Youtube channel of Barbascura X, a character known as a chemist and scientific popularizer, had started a fundraising live for UNHCR Italy linked to the activities to combat climate change, drought and developing countries.
Noteworthy are the words as testimony of the guest and employee of UNHCR Italy present in Addis Ababa who declared:
“Last year [2022] for example, as UNHCR we did not provide even half of the basic needs [for people] because we did not receive enough funds and now with the outbreak of the Sudan crisis more refugees are arriving [in Ethiopia]”
On May 29, 2023, the complaint of Ayder Hospital in Mekelle, capital of the regional state of Tigray which declared:
“New admissions due to malnutrition is increasing in #AyderHospital. A 28% increament from March to April alone is observed. We call upon humanitarian organizations to resume their services to save life.”
In a recent move that has sparked controversy, the World Food Program (WFP) and the State Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended aid delivery to Tigray due to reports of looting and theft. (full article)
With regard to the funds destined for the humanitarian sector towards developing countries such as those in Africa, the analysis and complaint by Sara Harcourt, Senior Policy Director of ONE is peculiar (full article):
“Billions of dollars for developing countries have never left donor countries.”
On May 30, 2023, Spanish journalist Ximena Borrazas shares a photo with an equally alarming report:
Il 30 maggio 2023 la giornalista spagnola Ximena Borrazas condivide una foto con una segnalazione altrettanto allarmante:
“Hunger queues.
At the Don Bosco school and humanitarian aid centre, hundreds of women with children and babies crowded the street waiting to receive soup to treat child malnutrition.
These children depend on this institution for food.
#TigrayWar #TigrayGenocide #Aid4Tigray #HumanRights #Etiopia”Copyright of Ximena Borrazas
On May 31, analyst Duke Burbridge points out:
“Day 62 of the suspension of food aid to #Tigray by @WFP
and @USAID
Appeals to good practices and do no harm are ignored.
No transparency. No updates.
Just two agencies frozen in failure while innocent families starve to death. #Aid4Tigray”
On the same day, news came out that Ethiopian Airlines, the first Ethiopian airline, faces a lawsuit for blocking the travel of Tigrayans. The passengers, reports The Guardian, accuse the airline of refusing to sell tickets to people of the ethnic minority to fly from the regional state of Tigray to Addis Ababa.
While a few days earlier, precisely on May 27, 2023, The Reporter reported that the same Ethiopian airline denounced for acts of ethnic repression was making agreements with the e-commerce giants, the Chinese Alibaba and Amazon:
“Ethiopian Airlines Group is set to launch a cutting-edge global e-commerce enterprise, in partnership with e-commerce giants Alibaba and Amazon, among other collaborators.Located adjacent to the cargo terminal at Bole International Airport, ET’s e-commerce hub is nearing completion, with a staggering construction cost of USD 50 million.”
On June 1, 2023, the Spanish photographer Ximena Borrazas brings her direct testimony from Tigray regarding the IDPs and the survival conditions of the internally displaced persons she was able to visit, a cry of denunciation towards the rich West:
“During the two weeks I spent documenting the humanitarian crisis in Tigray, I visited Mekele, Abi Adi, Adwa, Axum and Samre. I interviewed dozens of IDPs in IDP centres and also in hospitals.One thing that really struck me: the big international NGOs drive around the city in 4×4 vehicles costing more than €40,000, but I don’t know what they are doing there because the reality is that they cut off humanitarian aid supplies four months ago!
The refugee camps are SHAME. They have thousands of people living in subhuman conditions; no electricity, no water, no gas, no toilets, no food, no medicine.
The lucky ones have a miserable old dirty mattress to sleep on, otherwise they have to improvise and build a bed out of stones. I mean, pregnant women, children, babies and old people sleep in these beds!
We have NO FUCKING idea in Europe what it is like to be in need, what it is like to wish for the day to die so as not to suffer any more for not having enough to eat and not having the strength to go out and look for food.
It is very sad to see how for one part of the world there is everything but for the other part of the world, the part that is always in the shadow of the international press, there is nothing.”
Not only mainstream information in Italy, but also the information that stands as a champion of the last and to give a voice to those who have no voice dictated by “right-thinking” and “respectable people” has forgotten Tigray after the watershed dated November 2022 (Pretoria agreement). In fact among the many “forgotten crises” they are also forgotten by those journalists who have proclaimed themselves champions of justice through articles, updates and analyzes and who in doing so lose even that minimum of credibility.
The Tigrinya diaspora in Italy and its multiple appeals had been snubbed and ignored during the period of the genocidal war by the government. The appeal signed by the diaspora and by civil society and formally sent to the Farnesina, to the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still awaiting a response from the Italian government offices.
The diaspora, given the recent violence, criminal choices due to the political will of the food support block, blocks for the occupation of the Eritrean and Amhara forces in Tigray, has decided to organize a demonstration on June 7, 2023 in front of the FAO headquarters in Rome to to reaffirm the call for justice for war victims and to enforce the cessation of hostilities agreement and its points.
Below are the links to the services of Tigray TV which denounces the humanitarian crisis in Tigray for millions of people that seems to have no end, but forgotten by the world, out of convenience or ignorance.
- Absence of Medication —- 118 have died since October, Maykinetal district administrator
- Pensioners’ plight —- Pensioners in Mekelle plea for urgent solution
- Elders in Hunger —- Suspension of food aid lays 65 years old woman out in streets in Mekelle.
- Destruction of Hagereselam Primary School —– Hagereselam Primary School faced destruction due to bombardment of heavy artilleries, School Director
- Rape by Eritrean Forces in Tigrai — A 26 year old woman from Fatsi, Eastern Tigrai, says she was raped by Eritrean Forces in front of her little children as rape stories continue to uncover
- Interruptions in electric power — “We are unable to restore electric utilities due to lack of supplies” regional communication manager of EEU
- Residents of Irop [Irob], Eastern Tigray are suffering from hunger in the hands of Eritrean forces
- Malaria outbreak in Zana —- Malaria patients in northwestern Tigray suffering due to absence of medication.
- Shortage of School Equipment —- Students in Tigrai struggle to compensate missed classes
http://tommasin.org/blog/2023-06-02/ethiopia-ethnic-cleansing-persists-despite-the-truce-in-tigray/