Ethiopia. Federal Government strategy. Deny the evidence.
The Ethiopian federal government and its Premier, Abiy Ahmed Ali react to the evidence of war crimes and ethnic cleansing and to the report of the EU envoy, Pekka Haavista, Finnish foreign minister, with denial. Denying the evidence has become the government’s obsession with hiding crimes and responsibility.
The conclusions drawn by the special envoy of the European Union after his visit to Ethiopia, associated with the reports of ethnic cleansing (which could turn into genocide) of various international associations in defense of human rights are seriously putting the Ethiopian government and its Premier, Abiy Ahmed Ali in a week position.
Pekka Haavisto, Finland Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the European Parliament that the Ethiopian government has adopted a denial strategy on the conflict in Tigray, calling on the EU to commit to resolving the horrendous civil war through a series of pressures to persuade all parties involved in the conflict to declare a ceasefire, start peace talks and a national dialogue. A necessary dialogue as Haavisto understood that national problems and the risks of implosion are not relegated to Tigray. Tensions with the federal government can be seen in other regions, for example in Oromia. The majority of Oromo political leaders are in prison, making the elections scheduled for next July not credible well in advance.
As the Ethiopian government chooses to ignore various reports of the grave humanitarian situation and ongoing war crimes in Tigray, it has been forced to respond to Haavisto’s remarks that may adversely affect relations between Brussels and Addis Ababa. The response task was entrusted to the Ethiopian Ambassador of Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU: Hirut Zemene. The Ambassador sent a letter to the editor of the EUobserver, the EU information platform, which recently published the points of view of the Finnish envoy.
The clarifications that the Ethiopian Ambassador wanted to expose seem to turn into another communication boomerang, as was the case with the intervention of Premier Abiy on the information platform Project Syndicate of the tycoon George Soros. In Zemene’s letter, which we offer readers a complete test, Haavisto’s impressions that the federal government promote a denial tactic associated with veiled accusations against the European special envoy.
The Ethiopian diplomat says the statements and facts provided by Pekka Haavisto about the situation in Ethiopia do not reflect reality on the ground, containing unfounded claims. The European envoy is accused of sympathy towards Sudan and of a paternalistic attitude towards the Ethiopian government. Haavisto would have shown no interest in traveling to Tigray to see for himself if his concerns were well founded, despite the willingness shown by the federal government. On the contrary, he would have favored “extracting grossly inadequate information from the refugee camp in Sudan, to provide claims that have exerted unnecessary pressure on the government of Ethiopia”.
BRUSSELS, 1st March 2021
Letter to the editor of EUobserver,
We came across an article published by your media under the title The war in Ethiopia creating a new ‘refugee crisis’, warns the EU envoy, dated 24 February 2021, which was based on a briefing provided by the Finnish foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, on the current situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia following his visit to Ethiopia on behalf of the European Commission’s HRVP.
It is regrettable that the statement and facts provided by Mr Pekka Haavisto on the situation in Ethiopia do not reflect reality on the ground and contain unfounded claims.
Therefore, the Ethiopian Embassy would like to set the record straight to their esteemed readers by stating the following facts about the situation in Ethiopia, specifically in Tigray.
During his visit to Ethiopia in mid-February, the Finnish foreign minister was given the opportunity to be briefed on the situation in Tigray by Ethiopian senior government officials, including the prime minister.
The government of Ethiopia was also more than willing to facilitate travel to the region for the foreign minister to get a first-hand account of the situation in the Tigray region.
However, Minister Haavisto showed no interest in traveling to the region, but instead resorted to visiting the refugee camp in neighboring Sudan and extracting grossly inadequate information to provide unfounded claims that put unnecessary pressure on the government of Ethiopia.
The minister’s statement that “you have arrived at a situation that is very out of control from a military and human rights point of view, from a humanitarian point of view”, in no way reflects the tangible progress made so far.
As has been verified by many, including humanitarian aid providers on the ground, the fact is that 3.1 million people have so far benefited from humanitarian aid distributed in 34 out of 36 woredas / districts in the region.
The minister’s decision also does not go hand in hand with the testimonies provided by officials of various international humanitarian organizations operating in the region.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, who also traveled to Ethiopia this month to assess the situation in Tigray, said that “we have also established a coordination system between civil organizations such as ours [and] the military (the Ethiopian army in the Tigray region)… all these bases will now allow this humanitarian operation to accelerate and reach the people in need, which number in the millions “.
Similarly, recent reports from United Nations agencies such as WFP and UNOCHA have indicated that there is better access for humanitarian and personal supplies, and the process of assessing, distributing and delivering food has continued.
The Finnish foreign minister’s claim that “the government itself does not have a clear image, particularly [in] Eritrean-controlled areas …” is what one would not expect from a person in high office and who represents the European Union, as there was no such confusion and information gap with respect to this critical issue of government control of its territory.
Such a claim is by far a misstatement and at best a condescending view towards Ethiopia.
Ethiopia with a long history of statehood and as a sovereign country is capable of managing its affairs.
It would have been easier for the distinguished minister to take note of the facts based on the fact that Operation Tigray ended on November 28, while as with any conflict some remnants of the TPLF leadership and militias out of the loop are out there and are coming. dealt with.
It seems that he has not quite understood his facts about him. If there is any concern from any angle what Ethiopia appreciates is not a paternalistic attitude, but a constructive commitment.
Hirut Zemene
Ambassador for Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union
TPLF in response to the position taken by the Ethiopian government expressed to the European Union, accuse Addis Ababa of genocide through an information site: TGHAD. The main charge is carrying out a genocide through the ravages of war and induced famine. Accusation against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Amhara nationalists.
Their armies and militias would have the purpose of carrying out genocide through an all-out war “which aims at the elimination of the party in power in Tigray, its army, the degradation of its superior institutions and its elite, the destruction and theft of its public and private assets, the looting of its historical and private assets, the destruction of religious sites, the dismemberment of its territory and mass killing of the Tigryna population through war and famine ”.
The TPLF, through its press, accuses the federal government of identifying the entire population of Tigray as enemies and of deporting them to free fertile lands for Eritrea and the neighboring Amhara region. The article focuses on providing information on the ethnic cleansing taking place in southern Tigray by the Amhara militias killing civilians, expropriating their homes, agricultural land, agricultural equipment, crops and livestock in favor of the Amhara peasants who are occupying the territories.
“The scale of the ethnic cleansing carried out in western Tigray must have been immense; at a minimum, involving hundreds of thousands of Tigris. There are 25,000 internally displaced people in Mai-Tsebri, 40,000 in Shire and another 68,000 in Mekelle, almost all from western Tigray. Many others are found scattered throughout Tigray. There is no doubt that the Amhara forces must have terrorized the farmers of Tigray with torture and killing and systematically burned or emptied their villages in entire districts for the above numbers to make sense. “
The Tigray region is totally isolated. The borders with Eritrea and the neighboring Ethiopian regions, Amhara and Afar, are sealed. The only way still open has actually been blocked. Any financial transactions blocked. Yet the Tigray Defense Forces continue to engage the two armies and paramilitary militias in furious fighting, causing the first desertions of Eritrean and federal soldiers and forcing Addis Ababa and Asmara to commit more men and financial resources to the conflict.
According to sources confirmed by the main international media, Eritrea has sent fresh troops to the areas of Adi Berak, Adwa and Rama to contain the TPLF offensives. Eritrean troops stationed near Axum (where the horrific massacre reported by Amnesty International took place) are bombing Mount Gelila where TPLF soldiers are entrenched. Fight me nts have been going on for days in the highlands of Adigrat, eastern Tigray and between Shire and Endabagun, northwestern Tigray.
The Eritrean army recaptured Samre and the inhabitants of Tigray retreated deeper into the countryside. According to sources, Eritrean soldiers threatened to cut off “a hand and a leg” of local inhabitants if Tigrinya forces returned and received support. It is a reference to the punishment that former Ethiopian kings would have carried out on traitors.
Heavy fighting is also underway in Adishuhu, 60km south of Mekelle. The Tigray forces are facing the forces of Eritrea, the ENDF and Amhara militias. Fights in which there are indiscriminate air and artillery bombardments against the civilian population. There is a joint offensive by Eritrean and federal troops in East Tigray with the aim of carrying out ethnic cleansing and a population exodus.
Russia and China with the support of India have blocked the initiative promoted by the United Nations Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of Eritrean troops and the start of peace talks in Tigray. The reasons put forward by Moscow, Beijing and New Delhi concern the “defense” of national sovereignty from external interference. Sacrosanct and inviolable concept which, however, decays in the face of irrefutable evidence of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
On Thursday 4 March the Ethiopian Premier went urgently to Asmara to meet the dictator Afewerki. The first official meeting since the start of the war in Tigray. The two leaders later met with President Salva Kiir in Juba, South Sudan. According to diplomatic sources, the liefmotiv of these sudden meetings would be like responding to the growing requests for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray, made by the new American Administration and securing a military alliance of South Sudan in the event of a regional war against Egypt and Sudan.
