Howard University venue for Ethiopian government healthcare claims claiming Tigray inclusion

Open Letter to Howard University October 13, 2022

Subject: Use of Howard University Venue to promote Ethiopian government healthcare achievement while Tigray under  medical blockade

Dear Sir/Madamn,

Many of us who are concerned with the dire situation in Tigray and are concerned about the use of a Howard University venue for the promotion of a government deeply involved in the deprivation and violations of a minority. Howard University is a historic and important institution in American history which was created to offer those who were denied opportunities a chance to reach their potential which also enriched America as a whole. Today I am writing you about something that denigrates the legacy of your fine institution.

At this moment the 6 million plus population of Tigray is faced with an essentially complete blockade of medical supplies, fuel, and electricity. The 8 major hospitals including the tertiary Federal Mekelle Hospital which is a part of the Federal Mekelle University are not functioning. I was present in Tigray since 2015 including the first three months of the Tigray occupation by the Ethiopian government which began in November 2020.

Even during this time before the Tigray Regional State retook control in July 2021 the Ethiopian Ministries of Health under Dr. Lia Tadesse and Education essentially stopped all support of the hospital and university When Dr. Tadesse came to visit Mekelle she refused to have a meaningful discussion with Tigray health and university officials and just used the visit as a photo opportunity.

Over a half a million people in Tigray have died from lack of health care, starvation, and civilian casualties from military targeting by Eritrean and Ethiopian forces. Thousands of women were raped and mutilated but their suffering is aggravated by the lack of medical services.

Dr. Tadesse has published glowing reports of medical progress in all the “substates” of Ethiopia while neglecting to declare that her office which she oversees provides NOTHING to Tigray. The only medical supplies come from foreign donors and only a trickle of what is donated is allowed to pass through a government inspection. This restricts the vast majority of aid reaching Tigray. While Filsan Abdullahi Ahmed, the Minister of Women and Children, resigned her position when she confirmed the violence against women, Dr. Tadesse has been silent.

This week the United States State Department in cooperation with 6 other countries called upon the government of Ethiopia which is represented by Dr. Tadesse and others who are being given a venue in your university to stop blocking humanitarian access to Tigray and to address the human rights violations that have occurred.

Finally and not the least important, last night I was on the phone with a Tigrayan student at Howard University who informed me that on campus and in Washington DC in general, there is an underground network of Ethiopia government supporters who frequently and in fact openly intimidate Tigrayans and Eritreans. She is fearful to discuss the issues on campus. Imagine the sentiments felt by students who have seen their families killed, violated, displaced, and deprived when their institution is supporting the agent of their despair without reasonable allowance for fair discussions of opposite views.

Ethiopian evil debtera magic versus Tigray Christian mercy in war

Daniel Kibre, a “deacon” and Social Affairs Ethiopian Minister defames Tigrayans as demons and subhumans worthy of extinction. He and other EOC followers tell their recruits that special blessings are upon to protect them from harm and punish the Tigray. While the Tigray leadership treats POWS with mercy and has EOC priests from Tigray pronounce forgiveness for Ethiopian POWS after their rehabilitation. In the background is a rare photo of a secret book of spells used by debtera.

Religious belief and custom are affecting the Ethiopian Tigray conflict. Ethiopia is relying on ancient beliefs of magic while Tigray counters with traditional mercy. The Ethiopian leadership under Abiy Ahmed is trying to use traditional mysticism and imperial religious stature rendered by Donatistic convictions to motivate and justify its sadistic aggression while the Tigray leadership is countering these using the conventional Christian virtue of mercy. The Ethiopian leadership of Abiy Ahmed and his religious supporters use the traditionally high stature of religious leadership along with the populations belief that they may have supernatural powers which can break established moral norms to achieve ends in war resulting in a perfect recipe for genocide.

Daniel Kibre, a “deacon” and Social Affairs Ethiopian Minister defames Tigrayans as demons and subhumans worthy of extinction. He falsely pronounces that Tigrayan leadership, Tigray Peoples Liberation Front are atheists and thus not eligible for Christian mercy.  The deceased leader of the TPLF, Meles Zenawi, was a practicing Ethiopia Orthodox believer and is buried on holy ground at Holy Trintiy in Addis Ababa.

Kibret’s actions are exhibiting the classic role of a debtera. He and other EOC followers tell their recruits that special blessings are upon to protect them from harm and punish the Tigray. While the Tigray leadership treats POWS with mercy and has EOC priests from Tigray pronounce forgiveness for Ethiopian POWS after their rehabilitation. 

There was not much communication with the Eastern Orthodox Church or Roman Church for hundreds of years due in part to the expansion of Islam which isolated Ethiopia . Many cultural factors including the close relationship of the clergy to the imperial state  and a strongly pious population created a unique form of Christianity which affected their daily lives.

The power of religious leaders was enhanced by two strong cultural developments. While much of Western Christianity rejected Donatism, the idea that for a priest to be holy enough to prepare the Eucharist or give blessings must be in a state of grace with God, for Ethiopia this become the rule. This greatly enhanced their status as advisors to government leadership as well as in communicating to the population giving them a great power of influence over both.

Secondly, the Eastern tradition of great attention to mysticism was greatly stressed in Ethiopia. A few elite clergy and lay practitioners in each generation were taught secret prayers and rituals which could cure the sick, affect natural events, place curses, or even change behaviors of individuals or groups. This prayers and rituals were closely guarded secrets. Both  selected clergy and a special class of religious zealots, debtera,  have special access to secret texts which describe special prayers and rituals which can perform alleviation of suffering such as  healing of the sick but also can be used to do harm. Anthropology researcher, Diego Maria Malara,  noted  

Yet, while drawing on this tradition, the debtera’s ritual repertoire also transgresses some of its central proscriptions. Transgression, in this context, does not abolish the boundaries it violates, but reinstates their legitimacy. This dynamic prompts debtera to engage in imaginative ethical reassessments of the unstable relationship between illicit knowledge and official tenets. Through their transgressive performances,debtera enable their clients to secretly address and actualise sinful desires that otherwise remain unacknowledged or are suppressed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.