Statement from Amhara Association of America: Call for the Resignation of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

 Call for the Resignation of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Oromia Regional President Shimelis Abdisa and an Independent International Investigation into the Ongoing, State-Sanctioned Amhara Genocide 

June 20, 2022

Amhara Association of America: Call for the Resignation of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Oromia Regional President Shimelis Abdisa and an Independent International Investigation into the Ongoing, State-Sanctioned Amhara Genocide

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Amhara Association of America (AAA) strongly condemns the June 18, 2022, massacre of hundreds of Amhara civilians by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) in West Wollega Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia; with complicity and reported direct involvement of government security forces. While the effort to locate and bury the bodies of victims is still ongoing, our sources confirmed at least 378 Amharas were killed and estimate the total to be more than 600 people.

 Massacres against Amharas have been ongoing since the divisive ethnic federal “apartheid” system that minoritized Amharas in many regions was introduced in the early 1990’s. Since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali came to power and allowed the OLA to return to Ethiopia armed with a base to recruit and train, the intensity and scale of massacres against Amharas by the OLA with the support of the Oromia Regional Government [Oromo Prosperity Party (OPP)] and security forces [Oromia Special Forces (OSF)] has increased. AAA recorded at least 1,688 killings and 62 abductions in 2021 by the OLA alone. In the same year, OSF was responsible for killing at least 37 Amharas and supporting OLA forces in some instances. Oromia Regional President Shimelis Abdisa never acknowledged the recurrent massacres of Amharas in the region he is leading, signaling that ethnic cleansing of Amharas is a regional policy.

This recent massacre by the OLA is occurring in parallel to the massive crackdown dubbed “law enforcement operation” against Amharas by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, his OPP, and the Amhara Regional Government [Amhara Prosperity Party (APP)] where the government admitted to the arrest of over 12,000 Amharas since mid-May 2022. Those arrested include over 20 journalists, 62 opposition political party members, lawyers, university professors, and current/ex-government officials who were critical of the Abiy administration. Military officials, officers, and Fano veterans were also prime targets. In several instances, family members of targets were also abducted in order to lure out the targets. Over 30 peaceful protesters were killed by security forces in May 2022 during the crackdown.

 Unfortunately, the ongoing massacres and repression of Amharas has been normalized under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration. International human rights organizations and governments across the globe have sadly remained silent on the recurrent massacres against Amharas and hence little pressure has been exerted on the Ethiopian Government to end the ongoing Amhara Genocide. In their silence and refusal to demand action, Amhara members of Prosperity Party continue to be complicit in enabling a state-sanctioned genocide against Amharas. The Ethiopian Federal Government, APP, and OPP must stop deflecting blame and accountability and fulfill the basic requirements of a government to protect civilians and hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable. The lawlessness and loss of innocent lives in the so-called “Oromia Region” should be unacceptable to all Ethiopians. Amharas can no longer sit and watch non-action by Ethiopian authorities and international organizations as their family members are slaughtered by extremist actors such as OLA who have no political stances other than eliminating Amharas from areas they claim or managed to control. Amharas also have no reason to depend on a government that refuses even to recognize the killings of Amharas let alone try to undertake its basic responsibilities of protecting Amharas and bringing justice to survivors and victims.

These attacks have persisted for several years without any meaningful action by government officials to stop the bloodshed. Failure to act by the international community and Ethiopian Government at this critical juncture is tantamount to continuing the practice of normalizing violence against Amharas. AAA, its supporters, and the broader Amhara community in the diaspora call for:

1. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Oromia Regional President Shimelis Abdisa to resign and/or be removed for negligence, complicity, and/or direct involvement in the state-sanctioned Amhara Genocide in Ethiopia and allow independent investigation on the recurrent genocidal acts and ethnic cleansing in the so-called “Oromia Region” and recent war crimes committed by the TPLF. 

2. Federal parliament declare a nation-wide day of mourning to denounce the recurrent massacre of Amharas in Oromia Region and other parts of Ethiopia and set up an independent commission to document and redress the injustices done to the Amhara people by the former TPLF-led EPRDF (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front), the current Prosperity Party government and in the context of the ongoing civil war crimes committed by the TPLF. 

3. The UN, in collaboration with relevant human rights organizations, to establish a body to investigate the massacres with a clear road map to ensure accountability and transitional justice for those affected. 

4. National and international humanitarian actors to step up aid to survivors and those displaced fearing similar attacks. 

5. Governments across the globe to denounce the genocidal acts against Amharas by the OLA, TPLF, and Prosperity Party and to implement targeted sanctions against its leaders and financers. 

6. All Ethiopians to join Amharas in pushing for efforts to hold all actors who helped, enabled, and participated in the ongoing Amhara Genocide accountable including leaders of the APP. 

“This latest genocidal massacre by the OLA in West Wollega under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Oromia Regional President Shimelis Abdisa is sickening and is an attempt to normalize the state-sanctioned genocide against Amharas” said Tewodrose Tirfe, Chairman of AAA.

 “Amharas are asking for the international community to denounce this senseless violence, demand independent investigation, and stand with the Amhara people.” Tirfe continued.

Media Contact: 

Amhara Association of America 

info@amharaamerica.org

About AAA: The Amhara Association of America (AAA) is a nonprofit organization that coordinates the advocacy efforts of Ethiopia’s Amhara diaspora in the United States to Congress, the Executive Branch, nongovernmental organizations, and international bodies. Visit www.amharaamerica.org for more information. 

https://www.facebook.com/EthiopToday

https://www.youtube.com/EthiopiaToday/videos

https://twitter.com/EthiopianToday

https://www.tiktok.com/@ethioptoday

https://ethiopian-today.blogspot.com

More than 200 killed in attack in Ethiopia, witnesses say

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Witnesses in Ethiopia said Sunday that more than 200 people, mostly ethnic Amhara, have been killed in an attack in the country’s Oromia region and are blaming a rebel group, which denies it.

More than 200 killed in attack in Ethiopia

It is one of the deadliest such attacks in recent memory as ethnic tensions continue in Africa’s second most populous country.

“I have counted 230 bodies. I am afraid this is the deadliest attack against civilians we have seen in our lifetime,” Abdul-Seid Tahir, a resident of Gimbi county, told The Associated Press after barely escaping the attack on Saturday. “We are burying them in mass graves, and we are still collecting bodies. Federal army units have now arrived, but we fear that the attacks could continue if they leave.”

Another witness, who gave only his first name, Shambel over fears for his safety, said the local Amhara community is now desperately seeking to be relocated somewhere else “before another round of mass killings happen.” He said ethnic Amhara that settled in the area about 30 years ago in resettlement programs are now being “killed like chickens.”

Both witnesses blamed the Oromo Liberation Army for the attacks. In a statement, the Oromia regional government also blamed the OLA, saying the rebels attacked “after being unable to resist the operations launched by (federal) security forces.”

An OLA spokesman, Odaa Tarbii, denied the allegations.

“The attack you are referring to was committed by the regime’s military and local militia as they retreated from their camp in Gimbi following our recent offensive,” he said in a message to the AP. “They escaped to an area called Tole, where they attacked the local population and destroyed their property as retaliation for their perceived support for the OLA. Our fighters had not even reached that area when the attacks took place.”

Ethiopia is experiencing widespread ethnic tensions in several regions, most of them over historical grievances and political tensions. The Amhara people, the second-largest ethnic group among Ethiopia’s more than 110 million population, have been targeted frequently in regions like Oromia.

https://www.facebook.com/EthiopToday

https://www.youtube.com/EthiopiaToday/videos

https://twitter.com/EthiopianToday

https://www.tiktok.com/@ethioptoday

https://ethiopian-today.blogspot.com

Ethiopia Accuses Drivers of Delivering Unapproved Fuel, Equipment to Tigray

 ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - Amid efforts to provide aid to millions of people in Tigray, the Ethiopian federal government says commercial drivers of aid trucks are smuggling in banned products.

The UN says the first aid convoy in three months has entered Tigray

On a visit June 4 to the northwestern Afar region, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen said the trucks are carrying equipment which is being transferred to the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front.

Mitiku Kassa Gutile, commissioner for the Ethiopia Disaster Risk management agency, told VOA, "The drivers of the commercial fleet are taking and allowed supply such as extra fuel with barrels, satellite phones and other materials."

Contacted by VOA, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs declined to comment on the Ethiopian government's accusation.

The government recently declared a cease-fire to allow assistance to reach Tigray for the first time since mid-December 2021.

Aid agencies have previously raised concern that while the government authorized fuel for humanitarian operations into Tigray, the volume was insufficient and reserves were at low levels.

Commissioner Mitiku said due to the alleged violations, new measures will be put in place to prevent the transport of unauthorized goods into Tigray.

"When the partners have entered the contractual agreement, they have to put additional articles to hinder such type of wrongdoing from the commercial fleet side. So that the commercial fleet owners will take responsibility. Secondly, according to the legal law, the government will take action on the drivers," Mitiku said.

Aid agencies are seeking permission to transport more fuel to the north so they can distribute more humanitarian supplies, including lifesaving therapeutic milk and foods to about 240 health facilities across the Afar region.

Source: https://www.voanews.com/a/ethiopia-accuses-drivers-of-delivering-unapproved-fuel-equipment-to-tigray-/6605371.html

• ABIY'S REGIME IS FUELING FURTHER UNREST AND CIVIL WARS

https://www.facebook.com/EthiopToday

https://www.youtube.com/EthiopiaToday/videos

https://twitter.com/EthiopianToday

https://www.tiktok.com/@ethioptoday

https://ethiopian-today.blogspot.com

• MORE THAN 4,000 ARRESTED IN AMHARA AS ETHIOPIA CRACKS DOWN ON MILITIA

Ethiopia's mass arrests show rift with former Amhara allies

 By Rédaction Africanews  with AP

Ethiopia's Amhara region is experiencing government-led mass arrests and disappearances of activists, journalists and other perceived critics.

Mass arrests and disappearances of activists, journalists and other perceived critics.

More than 4,500 people have been arrested in the Amhara region as of May 23, according to officials, but some activists say the real figure could be much higher.

They accuse Ethiopia's government of targeting ethnic Amhara people it considers a threat to its authority as it tries to move on from the Tigray crisis.

The arrests are the latest sign that the federal government of Ethiopia is struggling to centralize its authority among scores of ethnic groups.

The Amhara are the second-largest ethnic group and, along with Tigrayans, the source of many of the country's leaders — and critics, especially after frustration grew during the war when Tigray forces invaded the Amhara region and attacked civilians.

The federal government's arrests among the Amhara are "a pre-emptive action to consolidate their power, which they think is slowly slipping out of their hands, especially in the Amhara region," Yilkal Getnet, deputy chairman of the opposition party Hibir Ethiopia, told The Associated Press. "For me, these mass arrests are politically motivated."

• "THE WEAK AND SUBMISSIVE AMHARA STATE GOVERNMENT"

The independent Ethiopian Human Rights Council earlier this week said it's not known where most detainees in the Amhara region are being held, alleging that many people were subjected to "kidnappings."

Separately, the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission called the "unlawful detention" of at least 19 journalists a "new low."

On Wednesday, federal police announced it had identified 111 online media outlets it called illegal and are "attempting to cause a rift between the government and the general public." It said 10 suspects are in custody.

Ethiopia's government and Amhara regional officials defend the arrests and say they will continue.

"There were attempts to portray the government as weak, and to cause public unrest and violence," regional spokesman Gizachew Muluneh told a press conference on Wednesday.

The mass arrests aren't limited to the Amhara region, but the loudest amongst the other regions. Among those arrested are members of the Amhara militia known as the Fano which was an ally of federal forces when fighting Tigray forces.

They are now described in state media as an "irregular force," and efforts are underway to disarm some of the fighters.

• MORE THAN 4,000 ARRESTED IN AMHARA AS ETHIOPIA CRACKS DOWN ON MILITIA

"Fano militia strengthened due to the war, and partly the arrests are an effort to bring them under government control," said William Davison, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.

"However, the broad sweep of the detentions, including multiple journalists, suggests the government is also trying to control the narrative as fears grow among Amhara that their interests will be undermined by federal government efforts to end its conflict with Tigray's authorities."

Three of Ethiopia's largest opposition parties have called on the federal government to stop the arrests.

The Amhara Association of America shared with the AP a list of detainees whom it said were targeted in recent weeks. It also alleged that seven people were killed on May 20 in Motta town in the Amhara region when the army and regional special forces fired on a peaceful demonstration against the mass arrests.

The federal government fears Amhara political elites could emerge as its most pointed critics during the current respite from the Tigray war, said Yilkal with the opposition Hibir Ethiopia.

Read from the Source here: https://www.africanews.com/2022/06/03/ethiopia-s-mass-arrests-show-rift-with-former-amhara-allies/

• ETHIOPIA SET A WORLD RECORD FOR DISPLACEMENTS IN A SINGLE YEAR: 5.1 MILLION IN 2021

https://www.facebook.com/EthiopToday

https://www.youtube.com/EthiopiaToday/videos

https://twitter.com/EthiopianToday

https://www.tiktok.com/@ethioptoday

https://ethiopian-today.blogspot.com

"The weak and submissive Amhara state government"

 "The weak and submissive Amhara state government"

 Freedom Fighter Keleb (Aster) Seyoum

 Freedom Fighter Keleb (Aster) Seyoum

When the TPLF took over the reins of government, the main tool was to create regional governments that sold their identities and made their stomachs.

The ADP ( Amhara Democratic Party) was one of the most important of these. The TPLF then ruled the Oromo people, it will be recalled that it was in ODP (Oromo Democratic Party).

Historically, the Organization for the Prohibition of Drug and Drug Addiction (ODP) has used its experience in the TPLF to establish a puppet party against the Amhara people.

This regional government has sold its identity and the unity of the Amhara people is being challenged and eroded. He arrests, kidnaps, and kills the people of Amhara for the benefit of the ODP.

The Defense Forces, which failed to bring to justice the TPLF thugs who were declared terrorists by the House of Peoples' Representatives, colluded with the ruling party in the region and looted the peaceful Amhara people. It will burn.

Many sincere people may not understand that at this crucial and historic moment, neither the TPLF nor the prosperous federal government is at war with the people of Amhara.

Both are seen attacking the people of Amhara and Afar.

The people who were killed and the property that was destroyed are only the people of Amhara and Afar.

Despite this fact, it is not disputed that the federal government will pave the way for the TPLF to come back and plunder the Amhara people.

At a time when the TPLF is preparing for a third invasion, what can be said about the fact that the Amhara people are rushing to register and disarm, and pave the way for the TPLF invasion?

In my personal opinion and political belief, there is no reason for the Amhara people to disarm unless they are at the grave.

The people of Amhara know very well what the TPLF did in their own country.

TPLF was raped and his wife and children were raped.

What could be more offensive - what more humiliating !?

If he does as much as he wants, he will not be fooled by the Amhara people who give him whatever reason he wants. Not at all.

Both the Prosperous Government and the Defense Forces are afraid to tread on Tigray once again because they have tasted the stumbling block.

The people of Tigray are being given a budget to recover from the devastation.

On the other hand, we call on the people of Amhara to disarm. Arrested: Will flee; He will be killed.

All this is being done to preserve the unity of Ethiopia, or to benefit the Oromo people; But it does not.

The people of Oromo are united with their brothers; Or their main goal is to make the ODP's cadres a billionaire by preparing for another massacre.

Just as TPLF officials have plundered the wealth of the Ethiopian people for thirty years and left their children and grandchildren behind in Europe and the United States, so do the people of the this party (ODP).

As long as the ODP in in power, they plan to make themselves among the African billionaires and carry out a conspiracy to overthrow the TPLF.

They will be able to carry out this evil plan by repeatedly attacking, impoverishing, displacing, killing, disturbing the peace and hope of the Amhara people, who are steadfast in their Ethiopian unity; Yes, they do.

The so-called transitional government of the Organization for the Prohibition of Drug and Drug Addiction (ODP) has not removed Article 39 from the constitution, conspired to divide the region, celebrated the TPLF's inauguration on May 28 every year, etc.

“He will not return to the stone he borrowed”

The people of Amhara have always been a great guarantee for a dignified Ethiopia.

If Amhara had joined forces with the enemy, the invincibility and heroism of Ethiopians would not have been possible to tell the world today.

In fact, the story of the liberation of the whole of Africa, not just the Ethiopians, could not be realized.

People who have paid a high price for all these things are now being attacked by their own brothers.

I tell you the truth! The people of Amhara have been betrayed.

The suffering of the Amhara people is similar to the persecution of Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ nailed His hands, nailed Him to the side, put a crown of thorns on His head, was flogged 666 times, and was crucified because He wanted to free all mankind from the bondage of sin.

The people of Amhara have shared in the fullness of Christ, just as he was condemned to death for paying a high price for the salvation of mankind. too bad; It hurts.

Freedom Fighter Keleb (Aster) Seyoum

• ABIY'S REGIME IS FUELING FURTHER UNREST AND CIVIL WARS

https://www.facebook.com/EthiopToday

https://www.youtube.com/EthiopiaToday/videos

https://twitter.com/EthiopianToday

https://www.tiktok.com/@ethioptoday

https://ethiopian-today.blogspot.com