May 25, 2022
Ethio-American Development Council (EADC)
Ethio-Canadian Network for Advocacy and Support (ECNAS)
We are compelled to write this letter in light of the recent developments in Ethiopia where, based on published reports, over 4,000 citizens, journalists, and patriots in the Amhara region alone, are being kidnapped and detained by the Ethiopian security forces. This comes at a critical time when the citizenry should be united and strengthened to face the impending offensive from the TPLF terror group.
It is no secret that the TPLF is engaging in yet another massive military mobilization, including by way of forced conscription in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. A Reuters report seems to confirm that the TPLF is indeed engaged in forced conscription, which includes child soldiers, in what appears to be a preparation for a potential new military offensive.
Inside TPLF’s rhetoric of terror are open threats of attacking the sovereign nation of Eritrea and invading the Amhara region of Ethiopia (again) to take control of the greater Welkait corridor; with the aim of gaining an international border with Sudan, by forcing their spurious claim for “Western Tigray”.
The residents of the Amhara and Afar regions of Ethiopia, in particular women and children, have yet to heal from the trauma of rape, torture, mass displacement, mass killing, mass graves, and destruction of infrastructure caused by the TPLF terror group’s five-month brutal occupation of the area.
And as we stand, the people of Amhara, particularly the residents of Raya, Welkait, Tsegede, Tselemt, and Humera, are once again faced with the credible and terrifying threat of yet another invasion by the TPLF. The Federal government of Ethiopia and the Amhara regional government have both issued statements in which they confirmed reports that the TPLF is planning to invade the region again and ordered the security forces to be on standby.
Yet, to our dismay, instead of reassuring the public by strengthening our unity in the effort to defend the war-traumatized Amhara people from the impending TPLF terrorist invasion; the government appears to have shifted focus to mass arrests and persecution of citizens, journalists, critics, Amhara public figures, cultural icons, Fano members, opposition parties and activists; all under the pretext of “law and order.”
Even more perplexing is the government’s use of unconstitutional and illegal tactics of kidnapping and dramatic abductions of citizens, with no regard to the rule of law or the need to maintain public trust. Maintaining public trust and securing peace is the hallmark of a responsible government. The current actions of the Ethiopian government are counterproductive and are effectively making a bad situation even worse.
We understand there are genuine concerns about known troublemakers in certain towns committing crimes masquerading as “Fano” and the government’s effort to root out these hooligans is legitimate. However, the government’s current “law and order” politicizes a legitimate concern and overreaches far beyond its scope to crackdown on opposition parties, government critics, activists and journalists at an alarming massive scale.
The mass abduction of military vetrans, journalists, opposition parties, activists, etc. is not only unconstitutional and illegal but also creates uncertainty and division, with consequences to national security and the stability of the greater Horn of Africa. This is a poor practice often seen in dictatorships, rather than the responsible and accountable behavior of an elected government.
It must be clearly understood that it is widely accepted by the Ethiopian public that ‘Fano’ is made up of ordinary citizens from different sectors of society who come together in times of crisis to defend the nation from invaders and return to their ordinary life during times of peace. Historical facts support this; as this was the traditional method Ethiopian patriots and martyrs of all cultural backgrounds defended the nation from European Colonialism.
Current history also supports this, as not too long ago, the federal government thanked and honored the Fano patriots for their fight and sacrifice to defeat the TPLF’s march towards Addis Ababa, in what appeared to have been a western-backed regime-change operation to re-install a puppet regime in Ethiopia.
The war-traumatized Amhara people, who are facing yet another round of atrocities, look up to the Fano as heroes and defenders of the people who will protect them from a repeat of the 2021 atrocities by the TPLF. Fanos are ordinary citizens who lined up with the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) to liberate the people from the brutal TPLF occupation.
As a result, the current witch-hunt against prominent Fano members and leaders is being perceived by the masses as a betrayal of the people by the Amhara Region administrators and the Federal Government of Ethiopia. This is a critical time in history when the government must earn the people’s trust and unify the country. Therefore, we demand the immediate release of all detained patriots and due process for all citizens in custody.
It must also be clearly understood that the Amhara people and the Fano patriots are at the forefront of the fight to save Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa from the TPLF and their neocolonial sponsors who wish to disintegrate the region into chaos to create a new order for the Horn of Africa.
We hope that no negotiations or backroom deals have been made with the TPLF to appease the west or their biased institutions against the interest of the people of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the greater Horn. It must also be clearly understood that any arrangements made that would adversely affect the state of the Welkait corridor, home to the indigenous Amhara people for millennia, is rightfully considered as an issue of national security not only for Ethiopia but for Eritrea and the greater Horn of Africa.
As civic organizations dedicated to advocating for Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people globally, we firmly believe that these arbitrary mass arrests are grave violations of human rights and undermine the progress toward a free, fair, and democratic society.
Further, these actions of the government are creating distrust, disunity, and weakness in our communities at home and globally.
Therefore, we kindly request that the government reverses its course.
Sincerely,
Ethio-American Development Council (EADC) – United States
Ethio-Canadian Network for Advocacy and Support (ECNAS) – Canada
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This is a very lukewarm and accommodating letter, in my opinion, in face of the criminal and unconstitutional acts of the Abiy regime. All prominent journalists arrested were critics of the Abiy regime and his criminal PP. Abiy does not have a credible voice in Ethiopia. The mania, adulation and hope centered around his first appearance in the political arena are now all gone and dissipated. He is no longer perceived, by a far majority of Ethiopians, as a figure capable of leading Ethiopia. His downfall has been the Oromumma fanaticism and the sycophantic clique that parade around this despot. Abiy and his PP are walking contradiction. Abiy preaches African unity yet has not managed to bring any peace and stability in any parts of Ethiopia. His 4 years of misery have resulted in death and destruction never seen in Ethiopia’s long history. The sheer staggering millions of people displaced, the hundreds of thousands killed, and the defenseless elderly, women, children, the marginalized and ostracized all far exceed the total number of casualties and atrocities starting from the Italo Ethiopian war of the 1930s, the civil war of the 1970s-1980s, the derg massacre years of the 1970s, the Ethio Somalia war of the 1970s and the Ethio Eritrea war of the 2000s.
It is completely impossible to defend the position of this crazy man at the helm today. In his 4 years of misery, he has shown not one iota of humanity, compunction and grief at the occurrence of these levels of chaos and displacement, mayhem and murder, marginalization and ostracism of the very same people he claims to lead.
Anachronistic and always in horrible optics, he yaps around day in day out talking about African unity while failing to unite even one tiny district, let alone the entire Ethiopia. How can this clown be considered seriously? On what merits? On what achievement? He is fickle, unprincipled and lacks the core foundations of morality and quest for truth. He is horribly biased, nepotistic and ethnocentric, thus betraying his hidden Oromumma fantasy and obsession. He talks 24 hours, often, loquaciously, with an aura of appearing knowledgeable and well read. Yet he cannot even differentiate between Karl Marx and Mark, often referring to Marx as Mark in one of his boringly empty speeches. How can this type of shallowness be considered seriously?
Abiy is often mendacious, self contradictory and untrustworthy. He has squandered his enormous political capital and the goodwill of millions and millions of Ethiopians on Oromummua. Abiy has now become what some call “Yekesere poletikgna” i e “the bankrupt politician”. He is simply put, not a credible figure. His PP is also not a credible party,viable to transform Ethiopia. Neither Abiy nor his PP are committed to the rule of law and justice. Abiy, in fact, is afraid of confronting the term justice.
It is advisable for the diaspora community to get disabused of the pipe dream of expecting miracles out of the Abiy regime. The initial flowery language, talk after talk by this con man must now be acknowledged as nothing but political demagoguery and nothin but empty political demagoguery.
It is high time for the diaspora community to think of the next step and to abandon wasting precious time and resources on what is not salvageable. The attempt to reform EPRDF from within without bloodshed has now been a massive failure, as evidenced by the outcomes of the last four years. EPRDF has now spawned PP which is basically EPRDF2. The reform movement has been hijacked by Abiy and his ignoramus PP cadres. Moreover, the reform has unfortunately turned 1000 times bloodier than the Derg era. The legislative, judiciary and executive branches of government of the Abiy regime have all become stagnant and reactionary to the safety, security and peace of Ethiopians. This indicate and point to an already failed or failing state. However, bitter and disappointing, these realities must now be admitted.
Will Abiy beg money from the diaspora community to construct his new palace to be named : The Chambers of Horror of Abiy The Terrible?
And what on earth can Les Catacombes de Borena hold inside? What is there to display, skeletons after skeletons of innocent and helpless victims mowed down by the new butchers of Ethiopia i.e. Abiy The Terrible and PP The Grim Rippers. Yucks, who will set foot in such a cursed place??????? The vile pastor and wanna be premier has one and one legacy: death and destruction.
The term ‘journalist’ is grossly misused/has been misused in Ethiopia. There are standards of training and qualification for journalists, like any other professionals. Not every one can rise up and proclaim the self as ‘journalist’ without fulfilling/having the necessary qualifications/credentials One can claim to be activist, but journalism can not and should not be used as cover for that. But unfortunately that seems to how all sorts of political activists, terrorists, thieves, and similar operate in Ethiopia (and perhaps elsewhere too). Journalist should report the news based on facts (not exclusively their version). There should be clear demarcation between the news and opinion. Most so called ‘journalists’ in Ethiopia mix the two freely, and that is where the trouble arises. The closest media that fits standard of journalism in Ethiopia, in my view, is The Reporter. But still the medium needs to be monitored closely and carefully to ensure it would not resort to being advocate/front for the TPLF explicitly or in other ways.
Who is your problem, Tigray? The Tigray that has been invaded by Amara, Federal Defense force, Eritrea, & Drone attacks from UAE, IRAN, and Turkey? The Tigray that is in total blackout for 18 months now and counting? The Tigray that has has no phone, food, water and more? What a tragedy this whole letter is….
Hi!
I have lived in North America for decades but never heard of these two organizations. How many members do they have to write in the name of the Ethiopians in North America? I Googled them & found almost nothing. Are they government registered organizations? Where are their head offices? Who are their leaders? Why write so now?
Journalism is compiling & reporting facts in a neutral & intelligible manner! Journalism is neither propaganda nor concocting stories! A Journalist is neither a politician nor a propagandist! Do most Journalists & Media Outlets in Ethiopia even respect the basic tenets of Journalism? Aren’t most of them Ethnic Activists & Self-appointed Journalists?
Fannos are the back-ups of the Ethiopian Defence Forces [EDF]. The REAL ‘Fannos’ signed up with the EDF. However, the ‘Fannos’ affiliated with General Asamnew Tsigé, Negadras Eskinder Nega, etc. opened another war front on the already over-stretched EDF. What better time is there to help the enemy from within than opening anther war front on the EDF at a time Ethiopia is under sustained domestic & international assault?
When the TPLF murdered the EDF’s Northern Command soldiers in their sleep, the EDF : TPLF soldier ratio was 44, 000 : 250, 000. The 44k Ethiopian soldiers were stationed all over Ethiopia but the 250k TPLF soldiers were in Tigray. If the General Asamnew-Negadras Eskinder ‘Fannos’ were real patriots why didn’t they stop the TPLF from walking in to Shewa?
Look, Abiy deserves credit where it is due. When Abiy took over, the TPLF didn’t even leave a one-month salary for government employees [let alone for other purposes]. Abiy kept Ethiopia afloat with $1 billion US in Ethiopia’s account from Prince MBZ.
Moreover, Abiy could have said “እኔ(ም) ከደሙ ንጹህ ነኝ!” and walked away from Ethiopia’s troubles just as HMD did! You see, Abiy is a millionaire with Nobel Prize and could have quit but he chose to stay in the hot sit! So, for a change, let’s be part of the solution! Lastly: ኢትዮጵያ የእንጀራ ልጅ የላትም! ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያውያን እኩል ናቸው!
i_Mognu / don_Q