The Current State of Affairs
Ethiopia is prevailing amid the doom-mongering rhetoric being advanced by the mainstream media and some western countries. The perseverance of Ethiopia despite such an orchestrated campaign explains the will of its people for their dignity and independence which they gallantly preserved for centuries. The progress made by the ENDF in recent weeks with the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) has disproved many who have been predicting the fate of Ethiopia to be one akin to the former Yugoslavia. TPLF's last-ditch plot to break Ethiopia up, which has been in operation since June, has crumbled like a house of cards. It is now militarily crushed and pushed back from its hold in Amhara and Afar Regions, despite its misleading claim of having "withdrawn its forces for peace".
Having liberated all areas in those two regions, the government ordered its forces not to advance further. The major reason for this was TPLF's intent to orchestrate a theatre of genocide against the federal government by collecting the bodies of thousands of its dead troops and burying them in mass graves inside Tigray to accuse the federal government of committing genocide against the Tigray People. Indications have also emerged that some within the global community were preparing to echo TPLF's claims of "genocide" in a coordinated manner. As a result, the government dropped the idea of pursuing the terrorist group in all villages and towns of Tigray with an all-out military operation. Nevertheless, this should not be construed to mean that it will neglect its commitment to bringing the TPLF criminal gangs to justice. Neither should this be interpreted to mean Federal forces will not cross into Tigray. The Federal government has a constitutional prerogative to determine when and where to deploy its troops in all expanses of the country, the Tigray region included.
The "Addis Ababa Encircled" Disinformation Chorus The coordinated crusade, which the mainstream media are part of, to misrepresent Ethiopia as a turbulent pariah that no one should travel to has proved futile. It has been almost two months since the "Addis Ababa encircled" disinformation campaign started. It all began when some Western Media outlets led by CNN ostentatiously expressed their concern over the imminent fall of Addis Ababa to the rebels. In what seems a coordinated campaign, some western embassies and their governments joined this chorus, calling on their nationals to immediately leave the city. Some went the extra mile and bluffed their citizens that no one would be responsible for any danger they might face staying in Ethiopia. Months on, nothing happened, and Addis Ababa has continued to be tranquil as it has ever been.
Nevertheless, the concerted diplomatic pressure on Ethiopia has continued unabated. The decision of the United Nations Secretary-General to relocate the venue of the upcoming Conference of International Telecommunication and Development scheduled for June 2022 in Addis Ababa to another city is part of this unjustified pressure. That is why Ethiopia rejects the decision and urges all well-meaning partners to stop basing their decisions on unwarranted information.
The State of Emergency In the context of the grave and imminent danger posed by the terrorist Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) and its affiliates in Ethiopia, it is to be recalled, the government declared a state of emergency to safeguard the existence and sovereignty of the country. In ensuring public safety, the proclamation grants law enforcement bodies the right to put suspects in custody, but only if there are reasonable grounds to do so. While this is the truth, the TPLF and its western allies (the media and some politicians) are peddling lies, accusing the government of targeting ethnic-Tigreans. Reuters in one of its reports in November misrepresented that the state of emergency "requires citizens to carry ID cards that can indicate ethnic origin", wilfully hinting that Tigreans are being profiled based on their ethnicity. However, nowhere has the state of emergency proclamation required such a thing. This is an absolute fabrication aimed at tarnishing the image of the government. This is also a ploy the terrorist group uses to avoid the full might of the law.
It is the TPLF instead – an ethnically intoxicated entity, which throughout its existence perpetuated its grip on power by sowing ethnic divisions among 80 plus Ethiopian ethnic groups – that should be accused of ethnic profiling. The group, for much of its history, see the unity of Ethiopians as a threat to its political dominance. Conversely, the new administration led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) took bold steps to unite Ethiopians. It, for instance, reformed all legal and structural loopholes that legitimised ethnic profiling; it abolished the mention of ethnicity on ID cards. Under the TPLF this was a sacrosanct requirement that could never be omitted in any way. This speaks louder as to who should be accused of ethnic profiling, and the government firmly believes this to be the reality.
However, if there still are concerns as to the enforcement of the state of emergency proclamation, the National Security Council (supervising body of the proclamation) has given clear directions to assess the situation and take corrective measures.
Humanitarian Blockade
Ever since conflict broke out in northern Ethiopia with the aggression of the TPLF, there have been repeated false allegations of a blockade on the Tigray region by the Federal Government of Ethiopia. First and foremost, except for interruptions caused by active belligerence by the TPLF, the humanitarian corridor via ground transportation is open for delivering critical aid to the people of Tigray. Convoys from ports in Djibouti continue to make their trek through Afar and into Tigray. The government reduced the number of checkpoints from seven to two; extended visas to three months; allowed communication equipment; approved the transfer of cash as per need; and issued 14 humanitarian aid flight permissions to aid organisations, namely to WFP and UN Humanitarian Air Service. The humanitarian air bridge to Mekelle via air transport was also up and running except for interruptions due to safety risks posed by the TPLF.
Yet, the TPLF has on multiple occasions tried to interrupt this flow of humanitarian assistance by expanding the conflict to the Afar and Amhara regions, a point willfully ignored by the mainstream agenda-based media reports. Furthermore, the terrorist group robbed fuel deposits from depots in the towns of Dessie and Kombolcha and sold them on the black market in the towns of Shire and Mekelle; it seized over 1,000 aid trucks (including the 203 that carried humanitarian supply to Tigray end of November) and directed them towards transporting its combatants. While being aware of this crime, the international media and concerned partners condoned it. In fact, they opted to promote TPLF's false narrative of humanitarian aid blockade. The Government of Ethiopia stresses that the international community should condemn the TPLF for these actions and compel it to return the trucks so that they will be available for the delivery of much needed humanitarian assistance to our people.
International Disregard to Humanitarian Needs in Afar and Amhara Regions
Ever since the active military confrontation moved to the Afar and Amhara regions in June 2021, there emerged countless details of atrocities committed by the TPLF. The TPLF massacred several hundreds of Amhara and Afar civilians who have no role in the military engagement; looted their properties and set fire to the rest. They also destroyed public properties (schools, roads, and banks) beyond any means of repair. The destruction of the airport of the historic town of Lalibela, which local media outlets recently revealed, is just a drop in the ocean as far as the wreckages TPLF caused is concerned. Moreover, the criminal group destroyed several medical centres, clinics, hospitals, and lifesaving medicines. World Health Organisation (WHO) and its Director-General have completely ignored – which could only be due to the DG's affiliation with the TPLF – the damages of those medical infrastructures including those financed by the organisation itself.
While this is the evolving reality, our partners do not seem concerned about such destructions as they selectively advance the Tigray blockade and genocide narrative. We have always believed that humanity does not have a boundary. But what we are witnessing is just the opposite. We, therefore, call upon every well-intentioned partner to treat all Ethiopians equally both in expressing concern and providing humanitarian support.
Accusations over Genocide and Human Rights Violations
The mainstream media and some politicians of western countries in cahoots with the TPLF have been peddling lies, claiming that genocide is taking place in Ethiopia. The cries of genocide from these camps started to appear on social media way before the beginning of the conflict on November 4, 2020, the exact date of TPLF's attack on Ethiopia's northern command. It shows that the TPLF has from the get-go been pursuing a two-pronged strategy in realising its effort of toppling a democratically elected government. On one hand, it claims to have waged what it dubbed a "lightning strike" to decapitate Ethiopia's national army. On the other, it accuses the federal government of committing genocide on the people of Tigray. This means genocide was attributed to the government of Ethiopia even before the start of the conflict.
Yet, the said genocide was first and foremost debunked by the UNOHCHR and EHRC joint investigation. While the sad state of war implies civilian casualties, Ethiopia has taken steps to minimize this, even at the cost of losing territory to the TPLF. Furthermore, there has not been any active combat or Federal Government presence in the Tigray region since June 2021. Rather, the TPLF has sent fighters in human waves into the Afar and Amhara regions to undertake grave crimes against civilian populations, which begs the question, where is the said genocide against the people of Tigray taking place? The conflict took place for the last six months outside of Tigray. Here lies the deception of some international media that portrays the aggressor as a victim. It is painful also to hear the likes of Hon Jeremy Hunt endorsing TPLF's talking point in the UK parliament, calling for the end of a non-existent genocide in Tigray.
UN Human Rights Council Resolution
It is no secret that the government has agreed to make amends to the wrongs the UN-EHRC joint investigation result attributed to its forces and has established an inter-ministerial committee to ensure this commitment is lived up to. Nonetheless, the TPLF had rejected this investigation result and continued its atrocious crimes in Amhara and Afar regions. The United Nations human rights bodies and the international media this time went incognito and did not care to say a word, despite repeated calls by the government to investigate.
Yet, it took them no time to impose on Ethiopia a resolution perfectly designed to absolve the TPLF. The recent UN Human Rights Council resolution to establish an independent mechanism to investigate human rights issues, overriding the result of the UN-EHRC investigation, will do just that. No one should expect any draft resolution coming out of such discussion, which is a politically motivated one, to bring a solution to the crisis. Ethiopia does not believe this resolution to be justified and thus treats it as such.
To renew the mandate of the UN-EHRC joint investigation team and enable it to resume its investigation from where it stopped last June is one thing, but to attempt to form another mechanism to redo an already conducted investigation is an utter disregard of logic and a glaring contradiction to the credibility of the organisation (UN) itself.
All-Inclusive National Dialogue
It is to be recalled that one of the fundamental commitments of the government following the June 2021 election was to hold a nationwide national dialogue and ensure a lasting solution to political differences. As part of this commitment, the government has now taken a bold step to establish the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission. Having been approved by the House of People's Representatives (Ethiopian Parliament), the Commission will start practical tasks as per its mandate.
One of the tasks of the commission will be to assist discussions of fundamental national issues among political elites and the public. All controversial issues including constitutional matters are expected to be discussed under this framework.
---ENDS---
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