Ethiopia persecuted intolerable terror not concern for the welfare of Tigray civilians

There was no attempt by the Ethiopian government to try the traditional approach of winning hearts and minds instead the strategy was one of one intolerable terror.

A review of the actions of military forces supporting Ethiopian invasion of Tigray since November 2020 demonstrates a strategy of persecuting intolerable terror to the civilian population to force an unconditional surrender contradicting the latest pronouncement from the Ethiopian government is that they have deep concern for the welfare of the Tigray. All the while  paradoxically calling for them to bare the sacrifice of suffering concurrently the punishing military operations against their elected leaders in the TPLF. They add that the Tigrayan people need to understand that their sacrifice is necessary during this military operation because ultimately it will be to their benefit.

Over the past two years we have heard and seen time and again from Abiy Ahmed supporters that the military action and removal of human rights of the Tigray people by Ethiopia was necessary. The Ethiopian Prime Minister complained following his “withdrawal” from Tigray in 2021 that he could not persuade the Tigrayans to stop supporting the TPLF. His Social Minister Daniel Kibret said that the Tigrayan people should be totally erased from history. Other leaders in the Amharic community stated that Tigrayans should be killed at birth.

Just to review what has been well documented since the onset of conflict in November 2020. In fact lets start even before that. Whilst about 3 years ago Abiy Ahmed gave a speech to the Ethiopian Parliament that the TPLF was a good example of government that works for its constituency just a year later he called them terrorists. At the time the leaders of the TPLF had pretty much left Addis Ababa and focused on Tigray. They had accepted the change in leadership. Yet Abiy Ahmed and his coalition of Amhara supporters decided that they all of sudden wanted no tigray in the parliament at all so they outlawed the TPLF.

At the same time in the year before the conflict Tigrayans were removed from administrative posts, academic counsels, and budgets for everything in Tigray began to be sharply cut. As the Tigrayans were no longer allowed in Parliament they had no voice. Amhara Prosperity Party members created and voted on a proposal that they were “Terrorists” without any due process. The Ethiopian Constitution which clearly states that the different regional states have a right to maintain defense forces and forbids one region’s defense forces from attacking another.

We know that a military buildup occurred in the regional states adjacent to Tigray well before November 2020. In anticipation of a bloody conflict, the Ethiopian federal government had set medical teams to care for military casualties month before. The “peace agreement” between the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea had contained an agreement for military alliance against Tigray. An immediate payment of $ 6 billion was given to Eritrea quickly at the onset of hostilities.

If the Ethiopian government was so concerned for the welfare of the Tigrayans consistently through this conflict the evidence to the contrary stands against this claim. The Ethiopian and Eritrean military forces have killed thousands of civilians, destroyed villages, farms, factories, homes, and places of business estimated to be worth worth one hundred billion birr by the Tigray Interim Administration appointed by Abiy Ahmed before Mekelle was retaken by the TDF.

Thousands of Tigrayans not even in Tigray proper have been detained without due process, allowed no right of free speech, had assets and property confiscated without cause, blocked from receiving medical care, and driven off land their families have worked for generations. Their representation in the Parliament has been effectively abolished.

For more than 2 years Tigray has endured an almost complete blockade of food, medical supplies, and fuel has been performed by the Ethiopian government. Electricity, phone service, and internet have been blocked. Clearly the intent of the Ethiopian government to was to convince the leadership of the TPLF that they would make the Tigrayan people suffer more and more hardship as a way of convincing the TPLF to give up. There was no attempt by the Ethiopian government to try the traditional approach of winning hearts and minds instead the strategy was one of one intolerable terror.

Author: Professor Tony Magana

Professor Tony Magana is Head of the Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences at Mekelle University in Mekelle, Ethiopia. He directs a neurosurgery residency and training program as well as neuroscience research.

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