Washington Update
Nov. 29, 2020
The crisis in Ethiopia is being falsely described in the international press. The war was started by the TPLF. The central government had to respond to the massacre committed by the TPLF in Mai-Kadra. The International community must condemn the November 12 massacre in Mai-Kadra where over 600 innocent people were killed by TPLF soldiers and militia as they retreated from the town, according to Amnesty International and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. The TPLF leadership must surrender to face justice for these crimes.
Although the central government has taken control of Mekele, the capital of Tigray province, the conflict continues and could draw in neighboring countries.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy has condemned the TPLF’s escalation of the conflict, releasing the following statement: “As of today, the fighting in Tigray continues, and events last weekend suggest that the TPLF seeks to internationalize the conflict. The TPLF leadership has admitted responsibility for the November 3 missile launches at airports in Bahir Dar and Gondar, in the Amhara region, and the November 14 attack in Eritrea. These unacceptable attacks make the situation more dangerous, and the Secretary condemned them in his most recent statement.”
It is important to understand the causes of the conflict.
The current tragic fighting, including ethnic cleansing and horrific massacres of innocent civilians, is the most recent manifestation of deeper problems against non-Oromo peoples in Ethiopia was triggered by the murder of Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, an Ethiopian artist widely revered among Oromo ethnic group. At least 239 people were killed in Shashmane, Wolega, Nekemet, Awasa and Addis Ababa This have to be ivistigated and must face justice for this crimeThe TPLF and the Oromo Liberation Front/Shenne have committed crimes against humanity in the North and South of Ethiopia The recent violence, including Reuters reports about the abduction of Amhara university students in the Oromia region. The report notes that 18 university students, 14 of them female, were abducted. The killing, beating, burning Orthodox Christian churches and the destruction of property of innocent civilians in the Shashmenne and Addis Ababa region by the extremists Querro group must be condemned by all peace-loving people. The government must investigate the root cause of this violence and bring to justice to the criminals who participated in these crimes.
There is enough evidence to file complaints in the International Criminal Court on the TPLF for their massacre at Mia-Kadra in the western part of Tigray and against the and terrorist group called Shenne/ Oromo Liberation Front which massacred Orthodox Christians among the Amharas, Agaws and Gurages. It is essential to document the crimes of the TPLF and Shenne/OLF and file a complaine with the International Criminal Court as part of an effort to hold the leadership of the TPLF and OLF responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide in Ethiopia.
After the immediate conflict has been calmed, Ethiopians must take steps to avoid future conflicts.
Peace and stability depend on abandoning the ideology of ethnic division and launching a project to revise the Ethiopian constitution. The present constitution was created to exacerbate ethnic divisions. It will lead to the destruction of Ethiopia.
Some government officials have ignored genocide and crimes against humanity committed by OLF/Shenne, jailed and persecuted peaceful political opponents, and censored the press. The roots of the conflict are buried in the constitution enacted in 1994 by then-Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front governing coalition. In a divide-and-rule policy, the Tigray-dominated government wrote a constitution that recast the country from a centrally unified republic to a federation of nine regional ethnic states and two federally administered city states. The system of ethnic federalism was troubled with internal inconsistencies because ethnic groups do not live only in a discrete “homeland” territory but are dispersed across the country.
After the Ethiopian central government achieves victory over the TPLF, it will be impossible to create a stable political or social environment until the constitution is reformed. Ethnic divisions are artificial and do not have deep roots in Ethiopian history. Native ethnic minorities live within every ethnic homeland. It is impossible to have free and fair elections until the constitution is reformed.
Ethiopian-Americans must stand together to seek a new path forward for their homeland, one based on democracy, human rights and justice.
Mesfin Mekonen
