The late Professor Donal Levine was an American sociologist, educator, social theorist and writer. He was a professor at the University of Chicago. He was one of the top researchers on Ethiopian studies. This email is what Professor Levine sent out on July 10, 2006. The email mentions about the atrocities committed by TPLF and millions of aid dollars siphoned off by TPLF. It particularly states what Sebhat Nega said in this connection. Verbatim this is from the email:
“They went from house to house, plucking out individuals at random, and shooting them cold. There are eye-witness and survivor accounts of widespread torture and burials alive by 06 (“bado sidishte”) cadres, under the control of 04 (Meles, Seyoum, Sebhat, Abay). I spoke with one former TPLF cadre who told me about this and I said, “So you must have done some of that yourself.” He bowed his head and murmured, “I guess I cannot deny it.”
A former cadre now in Columbus told Sebhat Nege, “By now we must have killed 10,000 persons.” Sebhat replied “So what? In China they killed more than a million.” He said this in a semi-public venue where others overheard him.
Now Sebhat Nega is released from prison as an innocent person. The Ethiopian government should have thoroughly investigated and brought him to justice for all crimes he committed. The Abiy Ahmed’s leadership made a mockery of Ethiopia’s justice system by releasing the mastermind of TPLF.
Those of you who have the email from Professor Levine which he stated in the email as “Assir Getz”, please share it to the public. History should record it.
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And may I request that you read carefully all of my Assir Getz postings.
And please tell Ethiopians to wise up and not take a few words out of context and turn against the best friend they have in the world.
DL
At 5:37 PM -0500 7/10/06, Donald Levine wrote:
One must be especially careful in treating this material. For one thing, families of the victims still live in Tigray and remain in potential danger. For another, some victims in the US remain potentially in danger of TPLF hit men who have immigrated legally into this country. Finally, certain items if prematurely publicized can lead to destruction of evidence back home. This pertains, e.g., to identifying the locations of the numerous mass graves which, if the matter were made public, would lead the government to destroy those grave sites.
Without giving a full list of sources and evidence, I can say that my initial skepticism at those rather implausible claims has been overcome by listening to a fair amount of evidence from several independent sources, all of which evidence converges on the following scenario. TPLF got going with a group that was airing mainly resurgent Woyane grievances against a central government perceived as “Amhara”. They were full of idealism and loyal to a strengthened, equitable Ethiopia. There was a turning point around 1976 when a group consisting of Meles, Seyoum, Sebhat, and Abay gained control and shifted the emphasis to a pro-Eritrean independence ideology conjoined with a radical Marxist-Leninist orientation (MLL T). I have talked at length with a man who shred a room with Meles for most of a year, hammering out MLL T propaganda and directives. Their actions included taking 100 million dollars donated by the EU, the US, etc for famine relief in 1984-5 and siphoning of 45 million of that for MLL T organization-building purposes. They also included a campaign of terror against Tigrean civilians who did not want to support their pro-Eritrean policy They went from house to house, plucking out individuals at random, and shooting them cold. There are eye-witness and survivor accounts of widespread torture and burials alive by 06 (“bado sidishte”) cadres, under the control of 04 (Meles, Seyoum, Sebhat, Abay). spoke with one former TPLF cadre who told me about this and I said, “So you must have done some of that yourself.” He bowed his head and murmured, “I guess I cannot deny it.”
A former cadre now in Columbus told Sebhat Nege, “By now we must have killed 10,000 persons.” Sebhat replied “So what? In China they killed more than a million.” He said this in a semi-public venue where others overheard him.
One of my informants, a reputable scientist, has been compiling a list of names of those killed in the massacres. He just started doing this, and has quickly identified 480 names There was a large group from Aksum, many of whom he knew personally. He is reluctant to put those names down yet, since he and other survivors are working on a lawsuit on behalf of survivors and relatives of those killed-but could arrange to show them to you if you are interested.
As for the disavowal of MLL T, there were reportedly two meetings-one in 1991, one in 1995-when the leadership decided to hide their continuing allegiance to MLL T party and principles. This is all i have time for now, but I trust it may give you some inkling of what was behind my allegations in Getz #7.
That said, I must report to you that the current situation in Tigray is not much better. The following information comes from a reliable source. What is more, former TPLF defectors are networking with increasing intensity. Do not be surprised if there is an effort to overthrow this regime violently within the next year or so.
* At this hour Meles is selling 2 million quintals of donated wheat at $110
Birr/quintal in the following towns of Tigray: Hawzien, Sinkata, Adi Grat,
and Wukro
* This week TPLF is conducting its Congress in Mekelle. The Congress is
people of conscience are secretly informing my sources that there
are over 26,000 prisoners in Humera, Adigrat, Mekelle, Mathew, and Tembien state prisons;
* There are about 4,000 others prisoners in the Woreda prisons throughout Tigray;
* About 5400 prisoners from Raya, prisoners rounded up as “dangerous hooligans,” have been working in a hard labor farms in Raya. They were fed rotted wheat and made to work day and night to produce 40, 000 Quintals of Teff .
All of the above are political prisoners in Tigray. There is mass arrest going on in Tigray. Meles is extremely afraid of being overthrown by the people of Tigray, and seems to be arresting every able body that he sees.
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Related : Donald Levine – American sociologist with expertise on Ethiopia passed away
Stop Olf doing the same in Ethiopia, like Tplf, Olf is being groomed to kill in Ethiopia.
Is Aby now organized and weakened Tplf that he is now focusing on Olf or is he true to lead? Does he not care if the govt continue not targeting criminals, let alone releasing them, if people no longer supporting him?
May GOD place the soul of Professor Donald Levine in haven. As mach as it is terrorist TPLF who slaughtherd hundreds of thousends of innocent Ethiopians and looted the country to the bone, it must also be recognized that, terrorist TPLF had helping hands from inside U.S. government actors, such as Susan Rice and other US government officials from within successive U.S administrations, in the killing of innocent Ethiopians and for looting the country in a broad daylight.