To: Members of the Global Civic Society Organizations, Research and Academic Institutions, Media Outlets, Human Rights Organizations, Government Agencies, and Regional and International Organizations
Subject: The Ethiopian Government’s Law Enforcement Operation Is a Just Cause
The Ethiopian Public Diplomacy Task Force (EPDTC) is a coalition of civic society organizations and concerned individuals from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds of Ethiopians in the diaspora.
The impetus for EPDTC was the unprovoked attack on the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) on November 3rd, 2020. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which orchestrated that attack--and its supporters--have waged a relentless misinformation and disinformation campaign to deflect blame for their crimes. Well-funded and adept propagandists, they have flooded the media with inaccurate news, projecting their crimes on the victims of the brutal acts! EPDTC aims to lay these tactics bare, clear up misperceptions, and show why Ethiopia’s response is measured and just. We hope you’ll agree.
Major Political Events Leading Up to the Recent Law Enforcement Operations in Tigray region of Ethiopia are the following:
#1 Root Cause of the Current Crisis in Ethiopia – The Constitution, TPLF-led Tribal Politics, Gross Human Rights Violation and Ethnic-based Governance
The root of the current crisis can be traced to the constitution TPLF imposed on Ethiopia in 1991. Largely concocted by a tight clique of university dropouts, and based on ethnic bigotry, this divisive document enshrined ethnic discrimination. It pigeonholes the tens of millions of
ethnic Amharas as ‘naftagnas’ (armed marauders), who deserve to be oppressed with impunity. Taking such irrational hostility to its logical conclusion, the TPLF saw to it that no Amhara representative would play any role in reviewing and commenting on the document, which has been the law of the land for nearly three decades.
This constitution converted provinces into ethnic enclaves, with far-reaching ramifications. At the heart of this document was the TPLF’s ambition to create, by employing a brazen land-grab agenda, a Greater Tigray, annexing huge slices of territory from the former provinces of Begemidir and Wello to the former province of Tigre. This sinister land-grab has had tragic aftermaths, most notably the deaths and displacement of hundreds of thousands of former inhabitants of Welqayit, Tsegede, and Raya in the former provinces of Gondar and Wello, and their illegal replacement by a similar number from Tigray.
The new law saddled Ethiopia with a federal structure which is nothing short of ethnic-apartheid! This law summarily abolished every Ethiopian’s basic right to work, travel and live freely in any part of the country, confining him/her to what amounts to an ethnic/linguistic Bantustan! Just as during apartheid-era South Africa, everyone has to carry an identification card which prominently identifies his/her ethnic group, making him/her vulnerable to identity-based attacks. Moreover, under this law, a non-ethnic resident of a given region is subject to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, and sometimes even worse, as shown by the summary execution of Amharas in Shashemene, Gurra Ferda, East Wellega, and so on.
The constitution gave the TPLF leadership unparalleled sway over all Ethiopian affairs for 27 years! Much to the detriment of all other regions, this document anointed Region One, Tigray, as first among equals, with the unique privilege to do as it pleased. Using this exclusive right, the TPLF-controlled leadership established shining industrial parks, high-tech agri-businesses, wind-mill farms, and state-of-the-art airports, etc.—all at national expense! The TPLF also poured immense resources to gouge multiple tunnels out of steep mountains and erect multiple bridges over deep canyons to build wide-laned highways—not to speak of the almost completed railway line to Djibouti. Moreover, under the cover of a notorious “mutual endowment organization,”
#2 TPLF Fraudulently Diverted Billions of Dollars Aid Money and Loans from the International Community
EFFORT, the TPLF fraudulently diverted billions of dollars, not only from the Ethiopian budget it controlled for 27 years, but also from aid money and loans from international organizations, and allowed EFFORT-controlled companies to mushroom all over Tigray. These companies, armed with no-bid contracts, tax-free import/export licenses, and speedily granted permits, enjoyed a lopsided advantage in manufacturing and distributing products, thereby driving competitors into insolvency. In effect, this relegated non-Tigrayan investors to second-class citizens, bereft of a level-playing field. Predictably, an arrangement which allowed one region to prosper at the expense of all the rest spawned instant millionaires, triggering widespread resentment!
In contrast to the frenzied pace of development in Tigray, in many of the other regions, especially in the black-listed Amhara region, neglect and uneven development were the order of the day. TPLF applied the law capriciously and arbitrarily. With regard to the Amhara region, in particular, TPLF felt free to appoint its stooges and run the region’s affairs by remote control. It neglected new development projects and allowed existing roads, hospitals and schools to deteriorate. It also, shuttered airports, such as the vital lifelines to Debre Tabor, Motta and Debre Markos across the ragged Blue Nile gorge, which had been operating since as far back as Emperor Haile Selassie’s reign. More tellingly, rather than green-lighting new projects and facilities, in some cases, it went as low as dismantling equipment and shipping it to Tigray, a case in point being an old rock-crusher which had been creaking along since World War II!
#3 The TPLF Has Relentlessly Stoked Ethnic Hostility and Conflict and Rejected Peaceful Negotiations
Ethnic conflict has been the bane of Africa since before the advent of slavery and colonialism, yet fanning ethnic animosity and organizing, and financing, such conflicts in the Somali, Amhara, and Beni Shangul regions has been the TPLF’s stock in trade. The TPLF saw this brand of apartheid as its ticket for clinging to power indefinitely, but all decent people should see such a toxic agenda as a serious threat to all Black people. Africa can never attain its immense potential so long as anyone can dredge up even minor slights and blow them up into all-out ethnic warfare. To paraphrase President Obama, “tribalism” is Africa’s festering sore, and we certainly do not need a repeat of the Rwanda massacre of 1992—in fact, one magnified many times over--since Ethiopia has not two, but over eighty distinct ethnic groups!
TPLF’s hegemony over Ethiopia has been characterized by a history of “abuses and usurpations”!
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is not a war-monger who recklessly plunged Ethiopia into the current conflict. In fact, it was the TPLF which forced his hand by attacking the ENDF. As Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, and the Commander-in-Chief of its armed forces, he has the legal and political mandate to maintain law and order and safeguard Ethiopia’s territorial integrity. Ironically, Dr. Abiy had been roundly criticized for coddling the TPLF for too long: TPLF detained federal personnel sent to relieve a federal team in charge of security at Mekelle Airport.
TPLF’s hooligans blocked the Mechanized Division from relocating to another region to quell unrest, and they forced the soldiers to park their heavy military equipment at a school. The TPLF also rebuffed peace overtures initiated by faith and community leaders. Likewise, in September, it carried out an election which not only excluded two local Tigrayan political parties but also was illegal, since it usurped the central government’s prerogative to oversee elections.
Observers regarded such repeated provocations as brazen insubordination, yet Dr. Abiy chose to downplay them rather than take hasty steps. In short, he had shown the patience of Job in the face of flagrant provocations, but when his hand was forced on November 3, he had no choice but to act decisively, and that is what he did!
#4 Immediate Causes Triggering the Recent Law Enforcement Operation by the Central Government of Ethiopia
The reform-minded federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has wide popular support. Ethiopians had been oppressed by TPLF for so long that they greeted Dr. Abiy’s arrival with ecstatic demonstrations of support, not only throughout Ethiopia but also during his visit to several cities in Europe and the U.S. Despite this, the TPLF, ousted after 27 years of corrupt and brutal rule, has worked tirelessly to derail this fledgling government’s reform agenda. It has waged this campaign in a bid to reclaim its widely reviled reign of plunder and terror. It has continued to siphon away huge amounts of money to private accounts not only in Ethiopia but also abroad. It has been carrying out money laundering and gun-running rackets, and it is widely believed to be behind the lucrative black-market foreign exchange outfits which have sapped the nation’s foreign currency reserves. In turn, as we shall see below, TPLF has used such illegal sources of revenue to carry out a relentless propaganda campaign against Ethiopia and foment widespread ethnic unrest in a tireless bid to bring the government down.
In terms of the current conflict, although the TPLF wishes to frame it as one between two equivalent entities; this’s not the case: What has unfolded in recent weeks has been an operation by a sovereign nation’s leader to curb lawlessness in one of the ten regions of that country. More importantly, contrary to TPLF assertions, while no war is free from unintended consequences, this campaign is not a war against the Tigrayan people, but a campaign to rein in the criminality of renegade leaders. The reality is, Ethiopians have affection for the industrious people of Tigray: Tigray is the cradle of their civilization, and all Ethiopians take pride in the glories of Axum and the exploits of Emperor Abraha, who ruled over not only Ethiopia but also Arabia. The hills and plains of Adwa, in Tigray, are littered with the bones of non-ethnic Tigrayans, who came from all parts of Ethiopia to defend it from Italian invaders. The Victory of Adwa in 1896 is a source of pride not only for Ethiopians but also [for] Black people everywhere. Above all, Ethiopians would never confuse the long-suffering people of Tigray with the debauched TPLF warlords!
#5 The TPLF’s Military Assault and Unimaginable Acts of Barbarity Against the Northern Command Post of the ENDF
The TPLF’s Noverber 3rd assault on the Northern Command Post of the ENDF was chillingly premeditated: One week prior to the onset of the conflict, the TPLF invited the commandant of the Post to a luncheon with the TPLF leadership, which he accepted. Sadly, not long after he ate some of the food, he became violently ill, for, evidently his ruthless hosts had poisoned him, instantly incapacitating him. Next, when the ENDF sent another general to take the place of the stricken commandant, the TPLF warlords refused to recognize his legitimacy. Meanwhile, TPLF operatives had already abducted the deputy commandant of the Command Post, thus rendering the entire Post leaderless! This done, TPLF infiltrated the multi-ethnic ENDF with its cadres and systematically set out to disarm the entire division. It then chose the day a cargo-plane-load of new banknotes--sent to replace the discontinued banknotes--was delivered to Mekelle airport, to disrupt power and phone lines and to wreak havoc on the Northern Command Post!
It carried out unimaginable acts of barbarity against the gallant ENDF members, soldiers who had selflessly devoted 21 years of their lives to serving the Northern Command, tasked with protecting the people of Tigray. After cutting power and phone lines, the TPLF proceeded to perpetrate the most blood-curdling attack on fellow members of the Northern Command. TPLF, Tigray Militia, and Tigray Special Forces used ethnic-Tigrayan plants in the ENDF to target ethnic Amhara soldiers and officers. Then, on the night of November 3, in an act of chilling savagery, they crept on the trusting non-Tigrayan soldiers, comrades who had shared the same fox-holes with them for over 21 years. Unaware of the treachery ahead, the doomed soldiers were sleeping the sleep of the virtuous--following a long day of helping the local people harvest crops--when the assassins executed them at point-blank range--or cut their throats--stripped them naked, and tossed their bodies out into the open, to be feasted on by hyenas and vultures!
Despite such acts of barbarity, Ethiopia has done its best to minimize the loss of civilian life. Shocked into action by the kind of abominable barbarity described above, the ENDF advanced at lightning speed on all battlefronts of Tigray’s rugged terrain until they reached the gates of Mekelle in a mere three weeks! However, despite their grief at the brutal treatment of their fallen mates, the soldiers were not consumed by a hunger for vengeance. Rather, when they
were commanded to halt, halt they did, because they knew the horrors of urban warfare and would not subject the people of Mekelle to house-to-house combat. Although the federal forces had total superiority in terms of being equipped with the latest in battle gear, and being steeped in the techniques of urban combat, Dr. Abiy gave rebels soldiers 72 hours to weigh their options and prevent all-out urban warfare. In addition, although Ethiopia is still at war itself, and strapped for resources, it has been making a concerted effort to provide humanitarian assistance to internally displaced citizens, as well as to repatriate those forced to seek refuge in Sudan. Finally, it is worth noting that Dr. Abiy signed an agreement with the U.N., allowing it to provide relief.
#6 TPLF’s Relentless Efforts to Regionalize and Internationalize the Conflict
The TPLF coordinated its attack on the ENDF with a foreign power intent on destabilizing Ethiopia! In a Faustian pact with Egypt, which has poured hundreds of millions into TPLF coffers, TPLF has caused the deaths of thousands of people in ethnic conflicts throughout Ethiopia--except in Tigray. It was no coincidence, therefore, that President Al Sissi of Egypt was visiting South Sudan, the closest point to Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the day Mekelle fell to the ENDF. In addition to helping fuel ethnic conflict, Egypt has also tried to tarnish Ethiopia’s external relations, through an intense misinformation campaign in Western capitals. More ominously, it obtained President Trump’s blessing to bomb the dam, and recently concluded an arms-deal with France. Thus, Egypt is a serious threat to Ethiopia, and TPLF’s collusion with it puts Ethiopia’s stability and sovereignty in serious jeopardy!
The TPLF’s alliance with Egypt will also doom Ethiopia to economic purgatory indefinitely. For millennia, the Blue Nile has scraped every ounce of fertile topsoil from Ethiopia’s highlands and deposited it onto Egypt’s desert, enabling Egypt to build shining cities, while Ethiopia has remained stuck in a subsistence economy. In 2011, for the first time in its history, Ethiopia started work on the GERD, a project which promises ample water for large-scale agricultural projects and to run the turbines of one of the biggest hydro-electric plants in Africa. This plant would fuel ambitious industrial parks and provide surplus power for export. For these reasons, TPLF’s collusion with Egypt is a clear and present threat to the GERD, designed to pull Ethiopia’s 110 million people out of perennial poverty.
#7 TPLF Bears Direct Responsibility for Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide Against Innocent Ethnic Amharas in Mai Kadra
The TPLF is a terrorist group no less ruthless than Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, or Al Shabab--if not worse. As noted above, it slaughtered ENDF soldiers, defiling their bodies and feeding them to wild animals, as well as firing weapons of mass destruction into densely populated areas, notably Gondar, Bahir Dar, and Asmara. The TPLF also bears direct responsibility for the brutal slayings of over 674 defenceless civilians by Samri, a band of ruthless teen assassins it trained and financed. In Humera, a city illegally annexed by TPLF in 1991 and run by it until its liberation by ENDF, soldiers discovered mass graves with scores of bodies in a wooded area of the airport’s inner perimeter. Also, it was reported that, between 2004-2016 disturbingly high rates of injectable contraceptives were prescribed to Amhara women, unlike women in other regions, resulting in the precipitous decline of the Amahra population by 2.5 million people during that period. What is particularly chilling about this is that the evil practitioners singled out uneducated Amhara women and effectively sterilized them without their informed consent! This confirms the widespread contention that TPLF had committed genocide against the Amhara people. (See APU’s Report, pp. 24-26), and. The Demography and Health Survey (DHS), 2005, and David Stienman’s lawsuit against then Ethiopian Health Minister, and current WHO Director, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in the International Criminal Court (ICC)).
#8 The Ethiopian Government Successfully Completed the Law Enforcement Operation Without Civilian Casualties
On December 7th, the Ethiopian central government announced the capture of Mekelle - the regional capital of Tigray – without civilian causalities and destruction of private and public property. The capture of the capital brought the active phase of military operations to an end.
The current task of the central govern includes bringing fugitives to justice, restoring law and order, and guaranteeing citizens in the affected areas of the region have unfettered access to humanitarian assistance, transportation and communication services that have been disrupted and destroyed by the TPLF criminal clique.
The TPLF criminal clique has been spreading the false narrative that its fighters and supporters are battle battle-hardened and well-armed, posing the risk of protracted insurgency in
the rugged mountains of the Tigray region. The Criminal clique has beem thoroughly defeated and in disarray, with a negligible capability to mount a protracted insurgency.
#9 The Federal Government’s Effort for Humanitarian Assistance, Rebuilding of Infrastructure and Restoring Communication
The protection and security of all citizen have always been a priority for the federal government of Ethiopia. The federal government has launched a humanitarian support effort, working with relevant humanitarian agencies and UN partners. The government is actively working to extend protection and humanitarian assistance to those who are impacted by the law enforcement operations, including to non-Ethiopians living in refugee camps and in host communities in the Tigray region.
The federal government of Ethiopia has also started initiatives to return, resettle and rehabilitate Ethiopian refugees in a short length of time. It is to be recalled that the federal government signed an agreement with the UN for an enhanced coordination mechanism for humanitarian access, which will enable humanitarian partners to assist affected communities effectively and impartially, in a well-coordinated framework led by the federal government of Ethiopia.
Therefore, members of the Ethiopian Public Diplomacy Task Force humbly appeal to members of the global civic society organizations, academic institutions, human rights organizations, regional and international organizations to:
vehemently reject misinformation, fake news and disinformation campaigns of the rebel TPLF clique and TPLF-funded propagandists who have flooded the international media and the toxic “both-sides-ism” being waged by TPLF supporters, for nothing could be more unfair than treating the TPLF and the Ethiopian government as being equally deserving of support;
respect the Ethiopian government’s legal authority and sovereignty, and understand the causes of the conflict, the mission of the federal government’s law enforcement operations and its mandate to maintain law and order throughout the country;
to preserve law and order in the country, and fully support the reform-minded federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to help achieve the ongoing political, economic and democratization reform agenda in the country.
support the Ethiopian government and other international human-rights organizations’ efforts to hold the TPLF clique responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide against innocent Amharas in Makaidra;
support the Ethiopian government’s effort to restore transportation and communication, and social services that were disrupted and destroyed by the TPLF criminal clique;
support the Ethiopian government’s effort to bring fugitives to justice, restore law and order, and guarantee the safety of citizens in the affected areas of the region;
support the ongoing initiatives to return, resettle and rehabilitate Ethiopian refugees and support internally displaced people in a short time;
support the development and reconstruction efforts of the Ethiopian government and help re-build communication and development infrastructures, including bridges, roads, airports, and so on;
support the Ethiopian government’s law-enforcement efforts in order to foster regional stability and help reduce the influx of political refugees streaming to the neighboring countries and the west;
draw your attention to the fact that Ethiopia is one of the fastest developing nations in the world, and, with the help of its dam, the GERD, it is on the cusp of achieving tremendous growth, which will spur economic growth in the region. (Thus, supporting Ethiopia’s cause promotes regional prosperity, reducing the flood of economic refugees to the West and other parts of the world);
commit to helping provide protection and humanitarian assistance to those who are impacted by the law-enforcement operations, including to non-Ethiopians who are residing in refugee camps and host communities in Tigray region, and
help to enhance support to the government of Ethiopia from the African Union, the European Union, the United Nations, and the U.S. government’s diplomats!
Ethiopian Public Diplomacy Taskforce
Address 3250 Wilshire Blvd,
Unit 1101 Los Angeles, CA 90010
Email: Ethiopiandiplomacy@gmail.com
CC: Members of the Global Civic Society Organizations, Academic Institutions and Human Rights Organizations, Regional and International Organizations
ABC
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Africa Solidarity Centre, Ireland
African American Bishops for Justice, USA
African Voices Forum, UK
Africans Rising for Justice, Peace & Dignity, Gambia (To be distributed to over 400 member Organizations)
Afro Empowerment Center, Denmark
Afrogroov Ltd, Uganda
Afrosvenskarnas riksorganisation/Afro-Swedish National Organization (ASR), Sweden
Al Jazeera English
Amnesty International, Head Quarter
Atlantic Council, Africa Council
BBC English
Black Learning and Mental Health UK (BLAM UK), UK
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles
Black Lives Matter Sweden, Sweden
Black Voters Matter Fund, USA
Blavity
BuzzFeed
California State University, Los Angeles California, African Studies, USA
Cambridge University Center of African Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
China Today
CNN USA, CNN International
Colombia University, African Studies
Communities Empowerment Network (CEN), UK
Diaspora African Forum
Do it With Boldness Foundation (DWB), Kenya
Equal Health Global Campaign Against Racism, USA
European Commission
European Network of People of African Descent (ENPAD)
European Network of Women of African Descent (ENWAD)
European Parliament
European Union
France 24
Global Afrikan Congress (GAC)
Global Afrikan Congress (GACuk), UK
Harvard University, African American Studies, USA
Healing Paradigm, USA
Hong Kong Science and Technology University, Hong Kong
Howard University, Department of Afro-American Studies
Human Rights Watch, Head Quarter
IDPAD Coalition UK, UK (Over 300 member organizations)
INGWEE, Belgium
Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW21), USA
International Monetary Fund
Justice for Blacks, USA
Link Africa 365 for Trade and Development, Gambia
Los Angeles Times
Making Education a Priority (MEaP), UK
Mano Amiga de la Costa Chica, México
Michigan State University, African American and African Studies
Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD), USA and Nigeria
MUXIMA BIO B.V., Netherlands
National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC), USA
Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment, South Africa
New York Times
Northampton Somali Community Association, UK
Observatory of Justice for Afro descendants in Latin America (OJALA) at Florida International University, USA
Okay Africa
Organization for the Rights of People of African Descent, Guadeloupe, French West Indies
Organization SAN PON, Haiti
Oxford University, African Studies Center
PAD Business Network Foundation, Belgium
Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative, USA
People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), South Africa
Plataforma Gueto, Portugal
Qatar University, Department of International Affairs
Qiesto Learning Ltd, Nigeria
Rainbow PUSH Coalition, USA
Salifu Dagarti Foundation, UK
Stanford University, African American Studies, USA
The Economist
The Guardian
The Times
U.S. Africa Institute, USA
U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance, USA
Uganda Association Ireland, Ireland
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
UN Human Rights Council
UN International Decade for People African Descent
UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab, People of African Descent and the SDGs E-team
United States Institute of Peace
University of California - Los Angeles, Department of African American Studies
University of California at Irvine, USA, Africana Institute for Creativity, Recognition and Elevation (AICRE), USA
University of Helsinki
University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies
University of Nairobi, Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies
University of Southern California, USA
University of Washington, African American Studies
US Department of State, Bureau of African Affairs
US Human Rights Network
USA Today
Virgin Islands Youth Advocacy Coalition, Inc., Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Washington Post
When African Youth Speak (WAYS.org), Sweden
World Bank Group
