Ethiopia. Agegnehu Teshager and Temesgen Tiruneh play the genocidal card against Tigray.

Faced with the defeat suffered in Tigray and TPLF territorial reconquers of the in the south of the northern region of Ethiopia, the far-right Amhara leadership tries to play the genocide card by making the Amhara population believe that there is a risk of suffering genocide by the TPLF. The Amhara leadership also forced Premier Abiy to launch a media campaign against Western powers and even against international NGOs. The Ethiopian conflict is moving from its regional phases (Tigray and Oromia) to its national phase

Two weeks later, it is now clear that the unilateral ceasefire declaration was not simply dictate by reality on the ground: the military defeat suffered by foreign Eritrean and federal troops in Tigray. The ceasefire is actually the continuation of November 2020 conflict with a different strategy.

Instead of continuing men, material and financial hemorrhage in an impossible-to-win war, Tigray is now isolated after having retained large areas of its territory incorporated into Eritrea and the neighboring Amhara region. In fact, the Addis Ababa government has created a military cordon to what remains of Tigray, preventing humanitarian aid. According to the World Food Program, aid benefiting from federal permission to enter Tigray represents 1% of the assistance needed to save 7 million Ethiopian citizens.

Tigray encirclement, in this situation, is nothing more than the modern re-edition of the sieges of medieval castles with the aim of bringing down the enemies by depriving them of supplies and food. The systematic destruction of infrastructure, farms and agricultural activities during the first 8 months of the conflict set Tigray back 30 years. Without immediate aid and a subsequent reconstruction plan, the northern region would remain a wasteland with no future.

To invalidate the plans of the far-right Amhara leadership, the TPLF launched a series of offensives aimed at recapturing the southern regional territories illegally annexed to the Amhara region in November 2020. The speed of the territorial reconquers (in less than 10 days Tigray Defense Forces — TDF have regained control of 70% of the territories annexed to Amhara), confirms the claims previously made by the Tigrinya leadership that they had disintegrated the Ethiopian federal army. The reconquers of the southern territories is of vital importance for the TPLF as it allows to open the humanitarian corridor from Sudan, which would put an end to the encirclement plan devised by Addis Ababa.

The Eritrean troops have withdrawn from most of Ethiopia, Oromia and the border with Sudan included, therefore only a decimated federal army and regional militias remain to face the “terrorists” of Tigray. Aware of the military fragility, the Amhara leaders: Agegnehu Teshager and Temesgen Tiruneh are attempting the ethnic charter, which contains clear signs of their intention to continue the attempted genocide of the Tigrinya population not only in Tigray but throughout the national territory.

The wave of arrests of civilians of Tigrinya origin led by Temesgen Tiruneh (head of the NISS political police) has taken on the connotations of ethnic cleansing. In Addis Ababa alone, more than 1000 Tigrayans have been arrested while roundups continue to this day. These are all arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions that increase the gap of misunderstanding and hostility created between the main Western donors and the Addis government due to the crimes against humanity committed in Tigray since last November.

Instead of trying to mitigate this conflict with donors who contribute 32% of the national GDP per year, the far-right leadership Amhara convinced their spokesperson: Abiy Ahmed Ali to lash out at the European Union, the United States, the United Nations and foreign NGOs. . “The international community soon forgets his statements on the impending famine in the Tigray region. They said nothing about the council recruiting children. They even tend to point the finger at the Ethiopian government even when the junta transforms humanitarian corridors into centers of conflict. The Ethiopian people must understand that internal and external enemies are working to sow dissension and mistrust among us ”, Abiy declared on July 14 in a press release posted on Facebook:“ Message from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the current situation in Tigray ”.

A message aimed at creating a unity of the Ethiopian people against internal (TPLF) and external enemies (EU, United States, NGOs, journalists) trying to make people believe that the whole nation is under the danger of a Machiavellian international plan aimed at denying national sovereignty and subject Ethiopia to the will of the “colonial” powers. A very outdated anti-imperialist rhetoric to hide the need for political survival of the Amhara leadership and the achievement of the goal that triggered the two civil wars in Tigray and Oromia: the realization of the Amhara ethnic domination over the country.

While Temesgen Tiruneh is accelerating the round-ups of thousands of citizens of Tigrinya origin whose fate, unfortunately, remains unknown; his comrade Agegnehu Teshager (president of the region Amhara) is trying to convince the Amhara ethnic group that they are in danger of extinction due to the Tigrinya “revenge”. To avoid this danger, Teshager calls for a “holy war” against TPLF “terrorists”. He is trying to persuade the Amhara to enlist “en masse” in the local militias to “save” the nation which, translated into reality, means saving the “Two T” (Teshager — Tiruneh) ethnic domination plan.

President Amhara has also opened bank accounts to collect donations from citizens in order to finance the further war effort to stop the Tigrinya barbarian horde. An appeal that confirms the national economic collapse caused by the military adventure in Tigray and the civil war in Oromia. Experts estimate this financial effort at around $ 2 billion that would have drained the (already meager) reserves of the Central Bank.

The call to arms is mainly addressed to the Amhara as the leadership is prisoner of an ethnic mentality and aimed to restoring the old imperial glories that ended with the deposition of the last emperor of the Solomon dynasty: Haillè Selaissè. To offer a “national” image of the impending crusade against Tigrayans, the federal government forced the regions of Sindama, SourthernNation and Oromia to send their “special forces” to counter TDF, assuming that the TPLF intends to wage war on the Amhara region and Addis Ababa. In reality, the three regions have sent men conscripted by force into the local militias, with little combat experience and not convinced to fight to defend the nationalist Amhara leadership, which, at the first opportunity, will try to desert.

At the moment, TPLF is limited to recovering the territories illegally annexed to Amhara region with the aim of opening the humanitarian corridor from Sudan. It is unclear whether TDF will simply reclaim the conquered territories to focus on humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of the conflict-ravaged region or whether TDF will aim to settle scores with the Amhara leadership by focusing on Addis Ababa and attempting regime change.

This uncertainty has triggered the Amhara leadership the need to go all out to defeat the dangerous political and military adversary: ​​the TPLF. A necessity originated from incorrect calculations when it was decide to transform the political clash with the Tigrinya leadership into a military clash convinced that they could defeat the enemy in a few weeks.

Now the Amhara leadership is fighting for its political survival using the weapon of defense of its own ethnic group theoretically threatened by TPLF. This is not just about losing power but ending up in the dock in a national or international court to be tried for war crimes, crimes against humanity and attempted genocide…

Apart from the fact that until now there has been no significant violence inflicted by the TPLF on Amhara civilians, the result of fakenews and false accusations produced by the now worn and unbelievable Amhara ethnic propaganda, diligently externalized by the spokesman Abiy; the risk for the “Two T’s” remains. To counter this, Teshager and Tiruneh are promoting an ideological campaign that aims to persuade Amhara civilians and other ethnic groups to commit a generalized genocide against ethnic Tigrinya.

An elusive National Amhara Movement on social media publishes clear genocidal instructions in a document written in the Amharic language entitled: “Call for public struggle for all Amhara!”. Starting from the theorem that TPLF wants annihilate Amhara ethnic group, civilians are required to participate in the struggle for the physical survival of their ethnicity, making it appear that in case of passivity they will be slaughtered like beasts by Tigrinya “terrorists”.

In the call to fight (mainly aimed at the Amhara youth), they are invited to remain vigilant and ready to arm themselves and participate in the great war. It is also invited to be vigilant and attentive to all those who “plot to attack us”, warning that the enemy (TPLF) could receive valuable information from Tigrinya men or women married with Amhara. The calls for ethnic warfare and the surveillance of civilians belonging to different ethnic groups, emphasizing the danger of mixed marriages are characteristics of the genocidal plan already found in Darfur, Central African Republic, Rwanda, South Sudan.

An online campaign on the main social networks was promote to incite ethnic hatred and the genocide of Tigers. “The Tegaru deserve genocide” is the recurring phrase that is published on social media. Tegaru is a term for Ethiopian citizens from Tigray. These sentences are accompanied by photos of the future victims.

National media, close to the nationalist Amhara leadership, also participate in the campaign to promote ethnic hatred and incitement to genocide by publishing fakenews with the aim of making the Amhara ethnic group believe that their physical survival is seriously threatened. The objective is to push young people to fight against the TPLF without military training, therefore destined to become easy cannon fodder for the experienced and highly trained soldiers of the Tigray Defense Forces. Particularly active is the far-right media: Fana Boradcasting Cooporation.

BBC confirms the expulsion of 700,000 citizens of Tigrinya origin from their homes in the Tigray territories still under Amhara control and in the Amhara region itself. The expulsions, (which sometimes end with the murder of the victims) are carried out by the FANO fascist militia. “The Amhara militia goes door to door. If they know you are a Tigrinya they will kill or arrest you. We feel bad because it is our country. Anyone who can escape is fleeing.” This is the direct testimony of a teenager that the BBC reports.

The expulsions have had a particular and dramatic escalation in the isolated city of Hamdayet, on the Sudanese border. BBC experts fear that the escalating and now ethnic-oriented conflict could further inflame ethnic tensions in Ethiopia and fuel instability in Sudan and Eritrea.

Italian human rights activist Davide Tommasin reports a chilling testimony from an Ethiopian citizen. “In Addis and throughout Ethiopia, Tigers are insecure, targeted by hate groups, activists, public intellectuals, government officials, pro-government media. They are rounded up and collected in various prisons. Many large and small businesses with Tigrinya origins that are part of it are already closed “.

Eritrean refugees already victims of pogroms and mass executions carried out by Eritrean soldiers in the previous 8 months of conflict by order of the dictator Isiaias Afwerki, are not spared. Filippo Grandi, UNHCR director, reports that he has received credible reports of reprisals, kidnappings, arrests and violence against Eritrean refugees for their alleged affiliation with one side or the other during this bloody conflict.

“The violence and intimidation of Eritrean refugees must stop. Refugees are civilians in need and with the right to international protection. UNHCR calls on all parties and actors not only to comply with their international legal obligations, including the protection of civilians, but also to stop using and manipulating refugees to gain political points ”,said Filippo Grandi. Our local sources indicate that the current violence against Eritrean refugees are perpetuated by Amhara militias and federal soldiers and then blame the TPLF without a shred of evidence.

The ethnic and genocidal drift undertaken by the Addis Ababa government is worrying the European Union and the United States, forcing them to take more drastic measures against Ethiopia, in order to impose peace, and avoid a generalized genocide, unfortunately already underway. The EU resolution on the human rights situation in Tigray is the latest example.

Far-right leadership Amhara reacts by having their spokesperson (Abiy) deliver warlike communiques against Western powers. “The government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia expresses its disappointment at the resolution of the European Union a on the human rights situation in Tigray adopted during the 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. “ He declared the spokesman last July 13, even going so far as to ask a sovereign entity such as EU to withdraw the resolution, stating that it “undermines the integrity of the joint investigations underway”. To our knowledge, no independent investigation is currently underway in Ethiopia or Tigray.

The attacks on the West do not spare even NGOs, accused of “arming the Tigray fighters”. This is the latest fanciful accusation unsupported by evidence that spokesman Abiy has made. To make it more credible, the spokesman for the Tigray emergency task force, Redwan Hussein, has been activated. “Some foreign NGOs are playing a destructive role. Instead of coordinating aid, they are widely engaged in coordinating remote propaganda campaigns to harass and defame the Ethiopian government” accused Redwan Hussein, stating that he has a list of the NGOs involved that could be subject to expulsion from the country.

Redwan Hussein is a key figure in the blockade of humanitarian assistance in Tigray. A former ambassador to Eritrea, Hussein has a long career serving the TPLF-led ruling coalition holding various government positions during the Hailemariam Desalegn administration. A past common to many current Amhara leaders who promote the crusade against their former political ally, the source of their political and economic fortunes. Premier Abiy also faithfully served TPLF through an intense citizen spying operation through the agency he founded in 2008 and directed until 2010: Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (INSA).

The unrealistic allegations reflect the latest friction between the Ethiopian government, NGOs and UN humanitarian agencies that for months have sought unlimited access to the largely isolated region of Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people face famine conditions and dozens of people. they are already starving.

Yesterday, Dr. Debretsion Cebremicheal, president of the legitimate government of Tigray, which recently resumed his duties, published a press release on the situation, which underlines the intentions of the TPLF to defend its own population but clarifies that there is no sentiment of revenge or revenge against the Amhara population by inviting them to revolt against their leaders.

“The Tigray people has been experiencing severe crimes and injustice at the hands of the Ethiopian national defense forces, Eritrean army, Special Forces and militia of the Amhara Region, and other foreign forces.

The people of Tigray has never categorically classified any people as enemy. The people of Tigray has not been the enemy of Amhara yesterday; nor is it the enemy of Amhara today; nor will it be the enemy of Amhara tomorrow. However, those in power and who desperately hold on to power, [and] not seeking to relinquish it, are getting Amhara people into severe danger and destruction. The people has to protest and struggle [against them] saying “there shouldn’t be any life which should be sacrificed for the sake of the power hungry and the opportunists.

Other Ethiopians too, should play your part by requesting those who inflicted injustices and crimes in the course of the war in Tigray. Apart from that, you shouldn’t participate in the second round of preparations for destruction and exterminations in order to defeat the Tigray people’s struggle, which couldn’t get defeated even with invited involvement of foreign invading force. Our message is that you should refuse being part of [this attack]; you should say ‘it is enough’ and engage in a struggle that would be beneficial to you and your history”.