Ethiopia: State of Tigray – Statement of the Government of Tigray (06.03.2021)

Ethiopia: The UNDP shows how partisan they are in a internal memo

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) wrote a Memorandum on the Tigray Region in Ethiopia on the 16th February 2021. The “Note to the Secretary General” meaning the UNDP wrote this to Antonio Guterres and for his eyes only.

The UNDP’s mission is this: “On the ground in about 170 countries and territories, UNDP works to eradicate poverty while protecting the planet. We help countries develop strong policies, skills, partnerships and institutions so they can sustain their progress” (UNDP – About Us).

The UNDP mission is clear, still one of the first piece of the memo says this: “A 3 month running conflict has morphed from outright war to protracted low intensity conflict with evident regional dimensions” (UNDP. 2021). With this sort of narrative, it could have been straight lip-service from Addis Ababa. They are trading in the belief of a “low scale” conflict now. As the war is still ravaging on its fourth month and counting. It is really bizarre to read this from the UNDP.

What is also very concerning is when the UNDP memo says this: “Everything within the UN rule book tells us it is a moment to engage with the government and people of Ethiopia. It is an opportunity to put the humanitarian, development and peace, nexus to action. To succeed with require a reassessment of the international community’s current hard talk and posture. What is needed now is to fast track construction of a national peace architecture, something Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has demonstrated willingness to pursue – in Tigray and entire Ethiopia” (UNDP, 2021).

It is really striking that the UNDP wants the world be softer and more cordial, as the own government is killing civilians, raping citizens and creating human rights violations on the daily. The UNDP is accepting the ills of the warfare in Ethiopia, as long as the Prime Minister “promises” to play ball. They are letting a warlord issue war and doesn’t want the aftermath of it. They see it as an opportunity, but don’t want the international community to react to the ramification of conflict. They are just supposed to believe that his still a man of peace and not who wages war. Which is apparently who he is, but not the “posture” that the world was made to “believe”.

The UNDP continues with this: “The posture of Ambassadors in Addis confirmed that the shift towards solutions – oriented engagement with government is yet to be made, as the focus remains on as reprimand, investigations of human rights violations with international participation (to be done before elections) and as a condition precedent to support for recovery. In a context like Ethiopia, this approach is likely to be counter-productive and will yield no results” (UNDP, 2021).

Everyone is just supposed to kiss the hand of the Prime Minister and not challenge his actions. They are just saying that people are not supposed to question the government. Not question the usage of war in Tigray, the political prisoners across the republic and use of force towards civilians. Therefore, being so mediocre towards the government who are causing atrocities. That is really shocking. This is not their mission and will only allow the Prime Minister continue with his warfare and assault on human rights without any punitive actions. That is if he will later care about this when they are trying to yield “results”. Are the UNDP so naive in 2021?

It is hard for me to believe that the UNDP would be like this. The UNDP lacking a spine and be a follower of the Prosperity Party and Prime Minister Abiy. That they are believing the whole narrative of the state and not even checking it. Not even checking the lies of the Prime Minister or his fellow peers. It is strange and the UNDP is clearly not following its own mission here. They are just serving the Government of Ethiopia without any concern with the truth.

The UNDP is clearly partisan and it’s tragic. They should be better, but we can apparently not expect that. They rather be soft and mediocre, then people with a spine and who has character who dares to question, keep them accountable and being transparent about the conflict. Instead, we are just supposed sing along to the bullets in Tigray. That is if you are following the advice of the UNDP Memo.

The UNDP rather be a buddy, then a development partner and a acting sincere. They are cosying up and being sweet with someone who orders murders. How that is “protecting the planet” and “sustaining their progress” is beyond me. Peace.

Ethiopia: Ministry of Peace – Press Release (10.03.2021)

Ethiopia: Coalition of Eritrean Canadian Communities and Organizations (CECCO) and National Council of Eritrean Americans (NCEA) – Press Release – Sensantionalized Reporting Costing Lives in Ethiopia (08.03.2021)

Oromo Liberation Front (OLF): OLF Press Release Regarding Election Issues In Ethiopia (08.03.2021)

It is to be recalled that the leadership of the OLF returned to Ethiopia’s capital, Finfinne, in September 2018 after the party ended decades-long hostilities with the Ethiopian state in August 2018 with the main goal of addressing the next chapter of the quest of the Oromo people for democracy and self-determination through peaceful political struggle. At that point in time, our people hoped that the culmination of the two years transitional process that the country had entered since April 2018 will be the conduct of a free and fair election for the first time in the country’s history.

However, it did not take too long for these hopes to begin to wane, and ultimately dashed. After a cheap political victory is reaped by the ruling group under the banner of ‘allowing opposition political parties to enter the country’, the regime wasted no time. Propaganda campaigns on both social and conventional media against the OLF began within a few days of its arrival in Finifinne on 15 September 2018.

At the peak of these propaganda attack and disinformation campaign, and despite concerted efforts by the OLF to give precedence for dialogue, the regime entered into an open military campaign in the western and southern parts of Oromia. In hindsight, it is now clear that the regime never wanted the end of hostilities and reintegration of freedom fighters into the police and security apparatus of the state as had been agreed upon in the ‘Asmara Covenant’ in August 2018.  In lieu of integrating freedom fighters into the society and effectively ending armed aggressions, the regime chose to conveniently use the continued presence of hostilities as a pretext to push the OLF out of the peaceful political struggle by citing a nonexistent link with armed insurgents.

The Covid-19 pandemic came in the midst of a continued crackdown in Oromia to weaken the opposition before the anticipated August 2020 election. While the pandemic has given rise to various objective conditions that render holding meaningful nation-wide elections difficult, the process that led to the postponement of the elections, however, was mired by questionable legal and political processes. Legally speaking, since the constitution left no room for extension of parliamentary term limits, postponement of the election required a new political settlement with the exiting political forces which the regime rejected with little to no doubts.

As the opposition and disapproval to this illegal extension of power intensified from all directions, the regime used the assassination of one of our brightest sons—artist Hacaaluu Hundeessaa—to further continue its crackdown including, now, at the higher echelons of every formidable political opposition—left, right and center. To this day, the assassination of Hacaaluu and many other high profile political killings remains uninvestigated by an independent third party.

Having done such a heavy-handed crackdown against all forces that espouse regional autonomy and self-determination in the country’s southern half, the ruling party is now prosecuting the same war, a war waged on political differences instead of political negotiations and dialogue, in Tigray as an extension to its crackdown in Oromia and the wider south. It is a matter of public record that the OLF is no friend of the TPLF. Together with our allies, we are the leading political organization in the fight against the TPLF-led, now defunct EPRDF government. However, on principle, we recognize that the current war in Tigray is an war extended from the suppression in Oromia.

After a major diplomatic blunder by the ruling party in which it agreed to a US mediated settlement on the GERD, Ethiopia has lost Sudan as an ally, and we are now on the verge of a full-blown military confrontation with another neighboring state.

We live in a country in which members of genuine opposition including high-ranking political leadership are arrested on the whim of the ruling party arbitrarily; kept in appalling conditions including when they were fully acquitted by courts, or even by the state prosecution in some cases. We live in a country where offices of the opposition—beginning from their headquarters—are raided and controlled by the ruling party at will.

It is within this general context that the country is now ‘preparing’ for a nation-wide general election. We would like to remind the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) and every concerned stakeholder that elections are not merely about the day of casting ballots. The most important aspect of an election is the process that leads to Election Day. The credibility of elections, the cornerstone in democratization process, is much more dependent on all the pre-election processes and activities, in which the presence of even playing field for the contesting political parties. It is well known that Elections are judged by the totality of the processes that lead to the casting of secret ballots. It is largely based on the process that elections are arbitrated to have been free, fair, and impartial. This process needs to be one that allows space for all political parties with impartiality to operate freely, independent media that serves all without bias to flourish, an election board and judiciary that is capable of functioning independently.

Much less to be fair, free, and credible, this is an election the result of which is already predetermined. For a rational observer, this is a non-election that should not be conducted in such conditions. The only reason the ruling group is hellbent on going through with the election is to create the impression that it is an elected government. Otherwise, there is no reason to conduct such an expensive election to be financed from donors and the coffers of a poor country in which millions of its people are starving today.

Consequently, the OLF believes that:

  1. Let alone fulfilling the bare minimum prerequisites to hold free and fair elections in an aspiring democracy, the current state of the country falls short of the lowest standards of even illiberal democracies elsewhere.
  2. Having gone through the processes partially described above in the past two years, the outcome of such an election will be the farthest from free, fair, representative, and acceptable to all stakeholders.
  3. If held, the election will not bring about any significant difference in terms of addressing the country’s major political problems and contradictions.

Therefore, the OLF regrettably pronounces that its participation in the upcoming general election is completely prevented because the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) intentionally ignored and has given deaf ear with an intent of securing undue advantages for itself and its allies in the election, and hindered the satisfaction of the bellow mentioned conditions; addressing the following legitimate demands of not only of opposition political parties, but also of the society at large that, if heeded and responded to positively, help the democratization process of the country.

  1. Free all political prisoners without any precondition;
  2. Restore offices of opposition parties currently closed and/or controlled by the ruling party and the security apparatus it controls;
  3. End active hostilities in all parts of the country in favor of an all-inclusive negotiation;
  4. Ensure the independence and impartiality of key institutions including the Ethiopian National Electoral Board (NEBE), the judiciary, and the law enforcement arm of the executive.
  5. Start a decisive process of political dialogue in which all stakeholders participate with ultimate objective of political settlement.

Victory to the Masses!

Oromo Liberation Front

March 8, 2021

Ethiopia: Office of the Prime Minister – Statement delivered under AOB to the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) on the Current Situation in Northern Ethiopia (09.03.2021)

International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS): ICOMOS Statement on the situation in Tigray (Ethiopia) – (05.03.2021)

Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – Addis Ababa: Prison Conditions of Suspects detained in Connection with the Situation in Tigray (09.03.2021)

Ethiopia-Sudan Tensions: Ethiopia arming the SPLM-N in the Blue Nile State

Sudanese military sources said that the Ethiopian government provided logistical support to Joseph Touka’s forces in Blue Nile, including weapons, ammunition and combat equipment. The sources indicated that the support arrived in the Yabous region on February 27, 2021 AD, and the support was received by Commander Joseph Touka and some of his forces’ commanders” (…) “The sources emphasized that the Ethiopian government aims to use Commander Joseph Touka to occupy the city of Kurmuk with the support of Ethiopian artillery, with the aim of dispersing the efforts of the Sudanese army on the eastern front” (Sudan Plus, 07.03.2021)

Who is Commander Touka? Well, his Commander Joseph Touka Ali, First Deputy Chairman of the SPLM and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army – North. So, his not a nobody and a high ranking commander in the SPLM-N. 

The SPLM-N killed Sudanese soldiers in early January 2021 in Malkan, Blue Nile State. So, these rebels are still active and it is suspicious that the Ethiopian government is supporting and supplying them with arms. That is a deliberate act to destabilize and strengthening one rebel outfit or militia. I am sure the Ethiopian government would be happy, if the Sudanese suddenly begun to give Samri or the TPLF abundantly arms as well. They would be crying out loud and call it interference in their “internal affairs”.

This is a devious act of Addis Ababa to weaken Khartoum leadership in one of their states. Not only have the skirmishes and battles in the Al-Fashaqa region. They want to intervene and use other proxies in the Blue Nile State.

Since December 2020 … the Ethiopian army have entered into Sudan. They have gone together with the Amhara Para-Military Group “Fano” and tried to take control of border posts there. They have later been beaten back and the Sudanese have taken control of the region again. Therefore, they would maybe prefer having battles on various of fronts. This to weaken the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). However, they were able to intercept the ploy, but this is worrying.

The worry is that the Ethiopian counterparts are willing to do this. As the Sudanese was doing the opposite when the conflict in Tigray started in November 2020. At that point, the Sudanese intercepted weapons going for the TPLF. They stopped it and confiscated it. While the Ethiopians are doing the opposite. That says it all of their objectives.

This isn’t a sign of brotherhood, but using optional proxy to weaken an enemy. As the Ethiopian army and Fano has already been attacking the Sudanese … so now they are trying to find other ways too.

The Ethiopian government supporting SPLM-N just says it all. They are not coming in peace, but seeking for more bloodshed. Their motivation is maybe revenge of the humiliation at the border in Al-Fashaqa region. They want to annex more land and the Prime Minister Abiy wants to be biggest warlord on the Horn of Africa, apparently. Peace.

Ethiopia: Oromo Political Prisoners Defence Team – The leaders of Oromo who are on the diet to listen to elders and elders who have ears will decide to stop tomorrow on the 40th day (07.03.2021)

One of the way of peace food is the way of struggle. Especially the people who are arrested by dictatorships are one of the biggest influences of their protest and imprisonment of their government. Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Gerba, Hamza Borana and other leaders have been doing in the history of Empire and in the peace struggle like Africa. This is the one that proved how much Oromo can deal with peace and its purpose again.
In short, the warning of the food is being made for the struggle is below:
1. The long food that doesn’t have competition in Ethiopia is the way of struggle that made the citizens of this country learn well before. This is a lesson to all government officials and people who have been providing horrible criticism.
The struggle of peace in this world is known as long as it is explained:
1. Irom Chanu – 10 years old, Indian strong woman
2. Bhagat Singh – Day 116, Indian citizen
3. Bobby Sands – 66 days, Irish citizen
4. Solange Fernex – 40 days, French born
5. Jawar Mohammed – 40 days, Oromia / Ethiopia
. Bekele Gerba – 40 days, Oromia / Ethiopia
Hamza Borana (Adane) – 40 days, Oromia / Ethiopia
6. Cesar Chaves – 36 days, Mexican citizen
2. In the situation of politics and war in northern Ethiopia, this world has made it difficult for me to get media clothing, when the cloth is only one side, the world is focused on Oromo’s politics.
3) The international and national human rights organizations and government of the world have impacted many people’s rights due to this war. Political prisoners should be released and they are also presenting a strong message to the government.
4) by attracting international medias, the issue of Oromo has made a decision to get political superiority. Even if Oromo leaders don’t answer their question, they have won by politics.
5) How much human rights criticism is being ruled by Ethiopian government, especially the order of the court to be banned from trial, is exposed what is on the body.
In general, the question of Oromo leaders should be answered when the time has passed because it is time to look at the strategy of struggle. The question of political prisoners should be released and the office of political parties should not be answered because of this reason our parties have decided to be pushed out of this election. The aim of eating food is not to lead the way of peace, but to kill oneself in this way, so the elders and elders have decided to go again and again and give great respect and respect after following the 40th day of food. Oromo will continue making history, the day the rule of law will come to be respected.