
AEPAC Statement
In response to recent reports that the Ethiopian Government will begin negotiations with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), also referred to as OLA-Shene, an organization labelled a terrorist by the Ethiopian Parliament, the American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC) has issued the following statement:
Negotiations that have a chance to bring about peace and stability in Ethiopia are always welcome; even with groups like OLA-Shene that have committed abhorrent acts and atrocities on innocent people in the country.
However, negotiations cannot meaningfully take place, while the population and many communities in Ethiopia still face the risk of attack by such forces. Primarily, there must be a guaranteed cessation of all hostile acts by OLA-Shene, which has constantly committed crimes against humanity and engaged in the massacre of innocent unarmed civilians.
Genocidal acts of ethnic cleansing in Western Oromia, most notably against ethnic Amhara minorities, are well documented and reported by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and several international organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
It is essential to make sure remedial and preventive measures are in place to protect civilians, before the group’s representatives are welcomed for talks. It is hard to expect they will change their inhuman and criminal behaviours overnight, without sustainable and verifiable measures for accountability.
Ethiopians who have suffered under the violent aggression of this terrorist group must see justice done. Proper investigations by independent and neutral international, as well as local human rights organizations must be conducted; and criminal prosecutions be brought against the violators, especially those who committed gross crimes and atrocities against civilians.
In addition, a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ needs to be established. Peace is long overdue and vital for the country, but there must also be a moment of reckoning for victims; those killed, displaced and who had their homes destroyed by the terrorist group.
Genuine peace and stability in Ethiopia can only be achieved by facing the truth and passing through a moment of truth and reconciliation with proper justice for victims.
Ethiopians are a diverse people with a rich history, language, and culture, where over eighty ethnic groups lived in harmony for ages. They had always managed their issues and social conflicts effectively by traditional means and lived in peaceful coexistence until their social fabric was broken apart by narrow ethnic politics in the last three decades.
It is important to heal the wounds so that this ancient nation recovers with peace and unity. The conflict resolution process must take this into consideration.”
P.O Box 636 Kennett Square PA 19348 • info@aepact.org • www.aepact.org
About AEPAC
The American-Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee is dedicated to promoting a positive, synergetic relationship between the United States and Ethiopia. AEPAC’s core mission is to strengthen and enhance the century-old relationship between the United States and Ethiopia. AEPAC strives to build a strong partnership based on the common interests and mutual benefits of the two countries.
More information on our work can be found here: https://aepact.org/
__
To share information or for submission, send e-mail to info@borkena.com
Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena
Join the conversation. Follow us on twitter @zborkenato get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly. Like borkena on Facebook as well. Subscribe to YouTube channel
Subject: “Ethiopian Government Negotiations with the “Oromo Liberation Army” (AEPAC), April 26, 2023”
Honest Opinion from Humble Reader
Negotiation with SELF – ANOINTED “liberation Army” will NEVER come to fruition. NEVER !!!
The simple reason for that harsh statement is that the establishment of “liberation Army” was NEVER based on the notion REPRESENTING THE ETHIOPIAN PEOPLE in TOTALITY. On the contrary, the foundation of the so-named “LIBERATION” army was created by ambitious “individuals” for their own singular benefit and NEVER for the intention to help the Ethiopian TOTAL PEOPLE. NEVER!!!!
And as long as that ‘foundation’ exists, ETHIOPIA WILL NEVER HAVE PEACE >>>>> NOR — for that matter –ANY OTHER COUNTRY WITH SIMILAR SITUATION !!!! TAKE THE GLARING SITUATION OF OUR OWN BELOVED RICH CONTINENT, THE BLACK AFRICA..
PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION: WHY ARE WE, BLACK AFRICANS, BACKWARD — REGARDLESS OF SUPREMELY and COUNTLESS EDUCATED PERSONALITIES of the HIGHEST ORDER ?!?!?!?!?!? WHY? WHY? WHY. I DARE SAY, THE ANSWER IS VIVID AND SIMPLE —- IF WE ARE BOLD ENOUGH TO FACE, ADMIT AND ACCEPT THE ANSWER TO THE SIMPLE ONE SINGLE WORD “WHY”.!!!.
THE END, UNTIL WE WAKE – UP.
This negotiation is between the same two parties. It is between the political wing of Abiy’s OLF branch in PP and its militant OLF wing. It is kind of hard to imagine how Abiy can shake his own right hand with his left hand. He should just continue clapping with both his hands and spare the entire world the pretense, all the rigmarole and hooplas. Everybody is tired of his drama and acting. Abiy’s movies and theaters of the absurd suck, the script is boring, morally corrupting, intellectually dulling, and the audience hate and despise it.
በነገራችን ላይ አቢቾ እኮ ከኦነግ ጋር ለመደራደር ታንዛኒያ እኮ ድረስ ሄዶ መድከም ድግስ መደገስ ኬክ መቁረስ ሻምፔኝን መክፈት የለበትም:: ሽሜ እኮ እዛው አጠገቡ ነው ያለው:: ዝም ብሎ ቁርስ ጨጨብሳ ምናምን ቀርቦ እያለ አቢቾ ስማ ኦሮሞ አቃፊ ህዝብ ነው:: አምስት አመት ሙሉ ጨፈጨፍን ገደልን አፍናቀልን ሽሜ እባክህን በኦሮሙማ ስም እለምንሃለው እባክህ የኦነግ ጦራችንን እረፉ በሉ ብለህ ንገራቸው: እኔንም መልካም የፖስተርነት እና የሃይማኖት ግብረገብነት የተላበሰ የ ትራጄዲና ኮሜዲ ትውነቴንና : የአስመሳይ ኢትዮጵያዊነትን ካባዬን በኢትዮጵያዊያን ፊት አታስወልቁብኝ አሁን ከውስጥ የለበስኩትን የኦነግ ካኒተራና ካልሲዬን እያዪበኝ ነው ማለት ያለበት:::
ከአቢቹ ጋር ወደፊት!!! No I mean ከአቢቾ ጋር ወደህዋላ I mean ወደግራ no I mean ወደ ቀኝ!!! ቆይ አንድግዜ እቢቾ የሞራል ኮምፓስም የአመራራ GPS ስለሌለው አርፋችሁ የመርከቧን ምሰሶ የሙጥኝ ያዙ capsize አድርጋ ልትገለበጥ ብቅ ጥልቅ እያለች ነው!!!!!! Rerouting”………………………
Dont hold your breath! I tell you what , I suspect that all these so -called peace negotiations between the Abiy regime and different armed groups are only band-aid for the tinen being at best and joke or phony ones at worest. They are both buying their time as their no way to fulfill all conditions for lasting peace settlement such as ownership of leadership, resources and other sociopolitical incentives. Abiy and his sycophant caders could care as long as they safely remain in power position and manipulated othervpeople and opposition groups won’t be honest enough to settle for less and will be liaying in wait untill an opportunty moments of political and military arise.
Dont hold your breath! I tell you what , I suspect that all these so -called peace negotiations between the Abiy regime and different armed groups are only band-aid for the tinen being at best and joke or phony ones at worest. They are both buying their time as their no way to fulfill all conditions for lasting peace settlement such as ownership of leadership, resources and other sociopolitical incentives. Abiy and his sycophant caders could care as long as they safely remain in power position and manipulated othervpeople and opposition groups won’t be honest enough to settle for less and will be liaying in wait untill an opportunty moments of political and military arise. Remember past negotions of former regimes of the Derg vs EPLF, et al. or the ones between EPRDF regime and its opposition groups.?. They never come to fruition. They always have been deceptive
politico and military strategy from both sides.
The meeting, the talk or whatever experts would prefer to call it, just started. Nothing said by both sides so far about the progress, if any, yet. If this face to face meeting results in permanent peace and stability then there should not be anything wrong to be said about it. What happened in that part of the country for the last 5 years is repugnant and nothing short of savagery. People there are still living in fear and constant danger of being shot or hacked to death days in and days out regardless of their ethnicity. Poor Amhara peasants were massacred and driven out of their domiciles. Oromos were hacked to death in the most gruesome ways just because they were protecting their decades long neighbors. If this pow wow eradicates such acts of Attila The Huns then it should be encouraged. I wish them success!!!
The meeting with savage Terrorist group responsible for committing War Crime and Genocide is the most absurd and disguising situation. How about bring them to justice and treat them as savage criminals for committed Amhara Genocide in Wellaga, Oromia Zone.
The Hundred thousands of innocent Amharas that the OLF/OLA slaughtered will never be forgotten. The savage Oromo Shene/OLA or whatever is called will be held responsible for war Crime and Amhara Genocide. Any one actually sitting, killsing, shaking hands and hugging with those savage group should be identified as the same.
Now they are known they will be challenged and exposed to the international world. Livening in civilized world while running and supporting war criminals, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing will not go unchecked.