UTNA UTNA
November 05, 2020
UTNA Press Release
To: The African union
United States Department of States
The European Union
International Crisis Group
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
Ethiopia has continued the dangerous descent and perhaps an irreversible and internecine war conflict that has serious implications to the survival and furthermore regional instability. This situation has further escalated by the declaration of war against the people and the State of Tigray
As it has become increasingly clear, Abiy Ahmed, in addition to being a recipient of Nobel Prize and who had also hoodwinked the international community as a reformer now has shown his true character and dictatorial proclivities. Abiy’s policy for the past two and half years has brought the county to the brink of political, economic, and social crises to advance his own personal ambitions of becoming an Emperor so to speak. And yet:
1. Has detained prominent political figures and tens of thousands of opponents whose only crime is to demand security, that he considers a political threat.
2. Has postponed scheduled and constitutionally mandated election without credible health risk assessment of the treat of Covid19 or consultation of political parties and other stakeholders.
3. His government has abrogated its responsibility to maintain peace, law, and order as a result of which thousands have become victims of fratricidal violence, death, and destruction of property across the country and in particular against the people of Oromia, and Amhara, Over 1.8 million people are reported to be internally displaced
4. Has ignored the demand of the people to have a national consultative process to address and mitigate the looming national crisis.
5. Had for months threatened the people and government of Tigray for exercising their constitutional right to self-administration, the right to elect its legitimate regional government. In response to these honorable and lofty ideals, the regime, for months has undertaken an illegal and arbitrary cutoff of budget allocation, life-saving internationally donated safety-net assistance, facemask for school children, prohibition international investments, travel restriction by residents of the region, in addition to the two years of other heinous crimes for the past two and half years to name the few.
6. Putting the icing on the cake, Abiy and his government have now declared an all-out war against the people and the region by mobilizing the entire defense forces, discontinued telephone, electric, and other vital services in contravention of international covenants and against the call of many international bodies to de-escalate the situation and refrain from taking actions that endanger the life and normal activities of the ordinary people.
7. In an egregious violation of people’s right to work the government of Abiy Ahmed has suspended Tigreans from the defense forces, federal and local police for the crime of being a Tigrean
The people of Tigray have endured unimaginable suffering and have paid enormous sacrifice to achieve a modicum peace, development, and security not only in Tigray but across Ethiopia. It is the ultimate betrayal by Abiy’s government to once again relegate the people of Tigray to yet another cycle of suffering.
We Tigreans who reside outside the country are alarmed by the development in our country. All political problems can only be solved through dialogue and constructive engagement. War is no answer and no victor will come out of this. Hence we appeal to you to use your good office to avert the death and destruction that sure is to ensue. We call upon you to exert all possible pressure to bring all political actors to a negotiated outcome to the crisis in Ethiopia. No doing you share is tantamount to looking the other way while a genocidal war may result in enormous destruction of historic proportion that has a far-reaching implication beyond the borders of Ethiopia and the region.