Tag: tigray genocide

Mekelle physician reports diabetic patients dire situation without treatment in Tigray

Reports by MSF(Doctors Without Borders) and the UN have consistently shown attacks on healthcare facilities in Tigray as well as the complete blockade of medical supplies which has been called the assault on health care.

Correspondence from Dr. Merhawit Atsbha, internist and faculty member, of Ayder Hospital documents how the lack of medication and services available to treat diabetic patients in Tigray has lead to horrific suffering and loss of life.

Here is his letter to the world:

 

As to diabetes management we have-not received any medication after June 2021. We have so far been using the stock we had before that and starting from September we have started using expired po anti diabetic drugs. And our treatment has recently focused on preventing acute complications like DKA and HHS. We have stopped being concerned about good glycemic control and preventing chronic complications. We also mostly do not discuss about diet with patients as they have to eat what is available.

From the report we got from our pharmacy head we have learned that we are left with 150 vials of NPH and few strips of glibenclamide. Metformin has been out of stock for two weeks. The sad part is we even have run out of the expired drugs. With the limited amount of drugs that we have we will be able to serve for only 2 to 3 days.

To make things worse we have run out of IV fluids so we are treating even moderate and severe DKA with free water.
Thinking about the more than 10,000 patients in Tigray and more than 2500 patients in Ayder we are very sure that we will be flooded with acutely sick patients in the coming weeks but we will not be able to help them.

Therefore, we beg you all to be the voices of the voiceless patients and physicians here. And find a means to help our patients before it is too late.
Thank you for the efforts made so far.

The Tigray Regional Health Bureau system and Mekelle University Ayder Hospital had for many years made tremendous progress in the care of Tigrayans with diabetes mellitus. Providing medications, treating complications, providing community health education on self-care and prevention were all important factors in improving life expectancy and quality of life.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Ethiopia is estimated to be somewhere between 14% to 18%. With medication, diet control, and education teaching the patient self-care most diabetic patients can lead productive and near normal lives but without treatment complications like diabetic coma, peripheral vascular disease, and heart disease cause severe disability and early death.

In February 2021, Ethiopian Minister of Health Lia Tadesse lied to Reuters news agency when she said supplies were being sent to Tigray for the care of diabetics in response to news reports that people with diabetes were dying at home. Under the Ethiopian occupation no significant supplies were ever received. It is suspected that many shipments were taken instead to Eritrea.

 

 

A Statement and Plea from the Doctors at Tigray’s Ayder Hospital

The following statement and plea is from the medical staff and other health care professionals from Mekelle University Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Tigray. Normally this is a tertiary hospital serving over 10 million population of Tigray, Afar, northern Amhara, and refugees from Eritrea. The complete blockade of supplies, power, internet, telephone, and travel has rendered the hospital essentially inoperative.
 

Hoping Against Hope!

Jan. 4/ 2022: Position Statement of Doctors and other health professionals of Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital – College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University
 
We, the Doctors and other health professionals of Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital – College of Health Sciences, at Mekelle University, hear and experience firsthand the daily suffering our patients are enduring. As we had solemnly sworn an oath to protect and save our patients from suffering, the least we could do on difficult days like these ones is to become their voice and ventilate their sufferings for the world to hear.
The statement below, therefore, is the collective voice of all of us working in the hospital and the college to echoing our patients’ plea that we hear every day for the last six months.
 
We have no doubt that anyone listening or reading this position statement will be cognizant of the fact that meeting the health needs of a community in low-resource settings such as ours is a very daunting endeavor, even in times of peace and stability.
 
To substantiate this, we wish to put some historical milestones of our college into perspective:
 
• We, the Doctors and other Health Professionals of Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital – College of Health Sciences, remember our humble beginnings 14 years ago. We remember that, back then, our 500 – bed hospital had stood empty and idle for nearly a decade because of the severe shortage of health professionals, medical instruments, and financial resources.
• We also remember how this once empty hospital had grown fast through the hard work and perseverance of all of us, the unwavering support of our university, national and international partners.
A hospital that was barely better than a countryside health post in the early days of its establishment, grew to be a specialized referral center a decade later serving a catchment area of 9 million people from Tigray, neighboring districts of the Afar and Amhara regions.
It won’t be forgotten that our hospital had been also serving Eritrean refugees staying in the camps in Northern Ethiopia for quite a while. It is also to be well remembered that patients from Eritrea were well taken care of in our hospital during the brief period of border normalization between our two countries in 2018.
Our hospital’s annual patient visit had risen to nearly 300,000 and thousands of major surgeries, deliveries, and a wide variety of interventions and treatments used to be given.
We all took those positive developments for granted and it was customary for us to focus on future progress rather than dwell on past achievements.
However, while mentally unprepared, we have found ourselves, in such a short period of time, in a situation that we would never ever have considered possible in our wildest imaginations. How could we ever have expected to cancel surgeries for lack of intravenous fluids, anesthesia drugs, or tell patients or their relatives to find intravenous fluids somewhere in the city while the patient needed quick support?
But, we have been forced to work in a hospital without intravenous fluids, gloves, even the most commonly used antibiotics, anti-pain medications, drugs vital for women undergoing labor and delivery, drugs for various kinds of mental illnesses, basic laboratory tests, and a lot more other essential drugs.
• The availability of essential drugs, which was 79.3% a couple of years ago and 82% a year ago has now gone down to 17.5%.
• The availability of laboratory tests which was 93.7%, a couple of years ago and 84.2% a year ago, has now gone down to 42.1%.
The numbers are going down rapidly every week. The oxygen supply to our hospital has become very unreliable and resulted in the death of patients because of the frequent breaking down of the machines that could have been easily repaired if we got spare parts from the manufacturer through Addis Ababa to Mekelle which is now completely impossible.
To make matters worse, electricity blackouts have become more common and prolonged for days at times. There is no means of communication within the hospital and beyond. Thus, we have to walk and find the person we need, even to do something trivial.
We, the staff of the hospital and the college haven’t lost hope despite the huge psychological burden that we have to deal with as a result of witnessing what is happening to our patients on a daily basis.
As you might all be aware of:
• We haven’t been paid our well-deserved salaries for the last seven months, our extra–time payments for nearly 13 months,
• We are unable to withdraw whatever amount of money we have had in governmental and private banks because of the complete shutdown of banking service
• We have nothing to feed our families and ourselves
Against all odds, however, we have continued to serve our patients with whatever supplies are at our disposal!
We have:
• tried to produce fluids locally to clean infected wounds,
• beg business people or residents in the city to give us detergents, soap, bed sheets, and other linen for free or on credit to be able to keep the hospital running.
We have used and are still using expired drugs when that is the only option left. We have tried to give care to those in the most urgent need and ask others to wait to know that those who are waiting are also getting closer to hapless conditions.
Our neurosurgery team has decided to operate on patients with problems in the brain just based on clinical examinations, without having the support of CT scan and/or MRI images which have both been not functional for many months because spare parts could not reach our city due to the complete blockage.
Supplies that we used to get for free from donors and partners, as well as business counterparts, have not reached our hospital for the last six months.
As a result, children who needed shunt surgeries are left to die, those with treatable cancers are denied their rights and those with fractures are forced to wait while being immobilized.
Those who could easily have been saved with hemodialysis are dying. Patients who have had dialysis for years at our hospital are forced to die just because the supplies that could have been brought are not allowed to reach us.
The world is tested with COVID19. Add a large-scale, full-fledged War on it. Then add a siege on it. Imagine this three combined in a poor region that struggles for survival even in times of peace and stability.
We earnestly believe that there are very good people out there in Ethiopia, the horn of Arica, Africa, and the rest of the world who could be the advocates of our patients, our health professionals, and our people. We wonder how the world lets this man-made crisis continue unabated while it has all the capacity and the means it needs to stop it.
We, therefore, humbly and respectfully request all health professionals in Ethiopia, Africa, and the world to be the voice of our patients and stand with us in our effort to end the crisis. We also request the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia, different UN and other international organizations, all the other local partners, NGOs as well as international partners to intervene and bring the misery of several months to an end.
Whatever the cause of the war is, it cannot be right or ethical to deny patients lifesaving health care. Neither can it be justified to completely withhold a hospital budget for several months as if it is never the responsibility of the government of Ethiopia to let a hospital carry on its activities and deliver health to innocent civilians in urgent need of care.
We, people in the world, live on a tiny planet and our destinies are intertwined. It would be very heartbreaking to see those with the power and capacity do nothing except viciously say that they are “concerned”, “very concerned”, and “gravely concerned.”
It is already very late but those national, continental, and global authorities in health, as well as governments and organizations responsible for solving such problems, can still avert a catastrophe.
We have seen the world do that before and we, your fellow brothers and sisters, believe and hope against hope that you will do the same this time around as well.
Truly yours,
Doctors and other Health Professionals of Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital – College of Health Sciences, at Mekelle University
January 4, 2022

UN must apply precautionary principle of genocide response to Tigray

A grandmother lies mortally wounded by an Ethiopian drone attack on civilians in Southern Tigray in December 2021

Using euphemisms instead of the word, genocide, does not save lives or stop genocide. Instead of applying the precautionary principle of the UN Geneva Convention the delay in the official recognition of genocide directed against the people of Tigray and by Eritrea, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates, and Turkey  follows a sad pattern previously seen in Rwanda, Darfur, and Bosnia. Rather then directly confronting the offenders with the truth of an ongoing genocide the international community is once again delaying declaration of genocide based on the false hope proven by previous catastrophic experience that using lesser terms will allow diplomacy to bring a change in behavior. Using lesser terms only empowers the genocidal power to continue deprivation and killing.

Ethnic cleansing ( a term created during the Bosnia war), population displacement, and civil war are examples of terms that are lesser then genocide and do not trigger international sanctions. A years long total blockade of Tigray has resulted in total lack of health care and food supplies while targeted attacks on civilians have together resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and continues to threaten millions in Tigray as already documented by the UN. 

Academic study of this failure to respond has been well studied by public health researchers.  Using euphemisms instead of the term genocide always resulting in more death and destruction. Because the cost of human lives has so often been catastrophic the United Nations Convention in 1948 was created to function with a Precautionary Principle which stresses early intervention to stop the killing as soon as possible. Once reasonable suspicion is raised the burden of proof is changed from those suspecting the genocide to those carrying it out under international agreement. Despite this the 20th century saw over 170 million deaths from genocide.

Ethiopia and Turkey now openly attacking UN humanitarians in Tigray

UN staff member Michael Hiluf was killed by an Ethiopian directed drone attack

We know that Turkish mercenary forces are the ones often operating drone attacks in Tigray and in fact Turkish flags are now flying over Ethiopian communities. During this Christmas season these operators had the audacity and inhumanity to attack a United Nations convoy carrying UN staff. Is Ethiopia now becoming a colony of Turkey?

Michael Hiluf was traveling with his daughter while traveling from Alamata to Mekelle when Turkish drones killed him and injured others. Everyday dozens of civilians are killed on the streets of villages and towns in Tigray. Because of the complete blockade of food, medicine, and fuel there is nothing that can be done to help this innocent lives adding to the loss. 

The killing of UN staff and innocent civilians is only cementing in place the clear reality that Ethiopia and its allies in genocide are committed in their evil purpose. This purpose is driven by the belief that any means of annihilation of the Tigray people is appropriate to eliminate ethnicity and culture which is not Amharic dominant. This is reinforced by an infrastructure of media propaganda, Amhara academics, clerico-fascists, and revisionist history of Ethiopia artificially synthesized by biased sources.

The impetus on this growing evil grows stronger when the UN and the Western democracies who have claimed to stand for human rights and democracy since World War II only remain silent. 

Ethiopia promise no drone use against civilians may allow lawsuits in USA

Drone strikes against civilians in Southern Tigray from drones sold to Ethiopia by UAE and Turkey are continuing

New revelations that Turkey and UAE forced Ethiopia to sign agreements promising no drone use against civilians provides insight into potential legal action against Ethiopia in the USA.

As a way to cover themselves from later sanctions, litigation from victims, and complaints of blasphemy against Islam sources are now reporting that Turkey and the United Arab Emirates had Ethiopia sign agreements regarding the use of drones purchased.  Apparently this was the message given to United States Horn of Africa Special Representative, Jeffrey Feltman, during his visits to those countries. No doubt these two Muslim countries foresaw potential criticism and legal action arising from these controversial sales and thus covered themselves with this pre-agreement.

These agreements to only proper military use of drones could be key pieces of evidence that Ethiopia not only obtained these weapons but agreed to use them only against military targets and not against civilians. As a member of the United Nations Ethiopia is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other conventions against civilian targeting in war and against genocide which forbids these immoral actions.

There is a law in the United States, the Alien Tort Statue, first passed in 1789 and then extended into the Torture Victim Protection Act in 1991 and signed by President George H.W. Bush, which has been used successfully in cases involving torture, state-sponsored sexual violence, extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, war crimes and arbitrary detention. This extension of 1991 gives similar rights to U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike to bring claims for torture and extrajudicial killing committed in foreign countries.

The government of Ethiopia as well as government owned entities like Ethiopian airlines maintain assets in the United States in the banking system, properties, and other financial vehicles. These may be now be at risk of litigation to compensate the tens of thousands of victims in the Ethiopian murder and violation of Tigray, Oromo, and other victims.

Since its founding Islam has called for very strict adherence to rules of war by the Prophet Mohammed and later written by his General Abu Bakr which are often referred to as the Ten Rules for the Muslim Army. Clearly Turkey and UAE where aware of this potential conflict to their avowed religion in selling drones to Ethiopia. Whether these written agreements to Ethiopia would protect them from litigation is open to question?

O people! I charge you with ten rules; learn them well!

Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for your guidance in the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those that are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy’s flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone.

Ethiopian government says devil resides in all Tigray mothers implying genocide needed

The Ethiopian Press Agency which functions under the Ethiopian House of Representatives gives an inhuman description of Tigray mothers as possessed by Satan

An official Ethiopian government publication now says that Tigray mothers possess the “spirit of the Devil” suggesting they are not human and should be totally eradicated. This is latest indisputable proof of intentional genocide taken together with ongoing bombing of civilians as well as the starvation of millions of innocent women and children in Tigray by the Ethiopian government. 

Thanks to Yaddi Bojia for revealing this latest despicable wicked intent. This war on the Tigray has never been and is not now a “law enforcement operation”. The words of so called Deacon Daniel Kibret, trusted advisor to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, repeated multiple times that the Tigray people and any history of their existence must be eliminated are once again echoed in this latest government declaration. Everyday of inaction to stop this horror costs innocent lives. Abiy Ahmed’s propaganda of dehumanizing his opponents including Tigrayans to justify genocide is plainly demonstrating itself once again.

 

Don’t reward Ethiopia’s failure in real democracy with American aid

The reluctance of the world to act against the atrocities in Tigray only facilitates their continuation

The action of the majority of the world’s leading democracies to vote for investigation of human rights violations by all parties in Ethiopia is only significant if it represents a concerned and determined effort rather than a fleeting sound bite that will be forgotten.

Voting for a leader is the beginning of democracy not its end. Not since the rise of fascism and communism in the early 20th century has the concept of what makes democracy been so threatened in the world. Democracy is not the iron will of a majority over a minority it is instead the recognition of the rights of all citizens to basic freedoms. This is essence of democracy.

At this moment Ethiopia has become one of the most repressive governments in the world. There is no freedom of the press, no freedom of assembly, no habeas corpus protection, no right to impartial due process or any due process, no freedom from legal discrimination against a minority, no freedom of communication, no freedom to private property, no freedom to earn a living, and finally no freedom against extrajudicial killing or violation.

The State Department under the Biden Administration talks a lot but in reality has accomplished very little in facing many international challenges. America’s security and world stability always sits on the edge of precipitous cliff because democracy is a very fragile entity to maintain at home and abroad. As St. Paul tells us in his writings man is always struggling against his animal nature to find his spiritual self. The 18th century English philosopher John Stuart Mills, a major inspiration to the American revolution, espoused responsibility, morality, and freedom to live ones life as one chooses but strongly proclaimed that society must act strongly when clearly its actions hurt others pointing to the conflict of mob actions versus a minority.

The valuable resources the United States expends in foreign aid which are the fruit of Americans hard work should be given with understanding of  promoting democracy. At this point when there is much that needs to be done in America and you have a country of Ethiopia who is choosing to spend its capital in weapons and deprivation against minorities then America should abstain from facilitating these actions. Whilst many say that the United States cannot and should not be the policeman of the world nor should we be the facilitator of evil tyrants. Like the Bible tells us we should leave the house, shake the dust from our feet, and move on as regards Ethiopia.

On the other hand, if we abandon the Tigray, Oromo, and others in Ethiopia who are currently at risk of being crushed out of existence then that demeaning of their status of being equal creations of God in his image will serve to forever demean our own status before our Creator.

Ethiopian university removal of Tigray degrees may bring international sanctions

26th of November 2021 Professor Tassew Woldehanna, the President for the AAU, announces unprecedented actions against Ethnic Tigray degree holders

The announcement of Addis Ababa University that retroactive removal of academic degrees conferred on ethnic Tigrayans for not supporting the government of Abiy Ahmed may have severe repercussions not contemplated by the authors of this rash measure. Historically this type of action has been most associated with authoritarian regimes seeking to silence intellectual discourse which dissents from the despotic party line. When brought up in democracies on the other hand it has been rejected. International accrediting agencies for institutions of higher learning, funders of research, and potential universities offering advanced academic training for Ethiopians could place sanctions against this academic betrayal.

In the prelude to the World War II conflict Nazi Germany created a false Jewish strawman leading to the genocide of more than 6 million. In the midst of going from legalized discrimination to overt murder came the removal of all academic degrees from Jews in Germany and the occupied territories including Poland. 

In the United States students at Harvard University last year brought up the possibility of removing degrees from supporters of Donald Trump as punishment for his policies with which they vehemently disagreed. Long discussions where held and ultimately these type of sanction was deemed inappropriate as an attack on freedom of speech. 

The academic world of which I am a part is a world wide commitment to learning and teaching for the betterment of all mankind. Even between countries who are sometimes adversarial such as  China and the United States cooperate and share scientific discourse as well as research. I myself have looked at Iranian medical publications on treatment of tuberculosis of the spine as helpful for what to do in Tigray even though I do not agree with many policies of the Iranian government. The academic achievement of someone is a separate issue then their political affiliation. The beauty of academics is that those of different views can find common ground on which to collaborate.

I fear that the international academic community might feel compelled perhaps justifiable so to sanction active faculty of Addis Ababa University for their betrayal of the academic norms of procedure. This could include barring participation in international meetings, research funding from international sources, decertification of Addis Ababa University from international accreditation, and sanctions on assets of university leaders.

The continued efforts to isolate Ethiopia from the international community being self imposed will only lead to further loss of many milestones previously attained in development and human dignity.

 

Ethiopian diaspora in the USA should avoid acting as unregistered foreign agents

Protestors supporting Ethiopian government in Washington D.C. If they act without support or guidance from foreign governments they are acting within their right of free speech. However if receiving compensation and/or guidance that they are acting for a foreign government this is different.

Many Ethiopian diaspora becoming deeply involved as advocates for the Ethiopian governments genocidal actions should be aware of the differences between free speech and acting as a foreign agent.  The United States government has already imposed sanctions on Ethiopia for violating human rights previously protected in legal treaties with the United States and other countries. In addition now the government of Ethiopia is making threats of physical violence against the United States to the extent of approaching becoming a hostile nation.

Recently at a Washington, D.C. rally in protest of the Tigray famine several Tigrayan women were slapped, punched, and knocked down allegedly by members of diaspora Ethiopian organization. This is currently under police investigation. If for example these assaults were carried out or supported under suggestion of the Ethiopian government this becomes an issue.

Similarly, there appears at least superficially to be communication between Ethiopian diaspora groups in the USA and Addis Ababa about which political candidates should be supported. 

Ethiopian diaspora need to be aware that while serving in the Ethiopian or Eritrean military can ultimately lead to losing American citizenship it is also true that acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Ethiopia or Eritrea can lead to significant prison terms or fines.

The following information is taken from the official Department of Justice website

FARA is an acronym for the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended, 22 U.S.C. § 611 et seq. (“FARA” or “the Act”)FARA is an important tool to identify foreign influence in the United States and address threats to national security.  The central purpose of FARA is to promote transparency with respect to foreign influence within the United States by ensuring that the United States government and the public know the source of certain information from foreign agents intended to influence American public opinion, policy, and laws, thereby facilitating informed evaluation of that information.  FARA fosters transparency by requiring that persons who engage in specified activities within the United States on behalf of a foreign principal register with and disclose those activities to the Department of Justice.  The Department of Justice is required to make such information publicly available. 

WHAT IS AN “AGENT OF A FOREIGN PRINCIPAL”?
An “agent of a foreign principal” is any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee, or servant, or otherwise acts at the order, request, or under the direction or control of a “foreign principal” and does any of the following:

Engages within the United States in political activities, such as intending to influence any U.S. Government official or the American public regarding U.S. domestic or foreign policy or the political or public interests of a foreign government or foreign political party.

Acts within the United States as a public relations counsel, publicity agent, information service employee, or political consultant.

Solicits, collects, disburses, or dispenses contributions, loans, money, or other things of value within the United States.

Represents within the United States the interests of a foreign principal before U.S. Government officials or agencies.

See 22 U.S.C. § 611(c); 28 C.F.R. § 5.100.

President Sahle-Work Zewde belatedly claims she was against Abiy Ahmed “war mongering”

Great hope was placed when Sahle-Work Sahle as Ethiopia’s President.

Sahle-Work Zewde the President of Ethiopia who was widely hailed as a sign of reform of Abiy Ahmed has come out now saying that she was against the “war mongering” of Abiy Ahmed and his Prosperity Party supporters but could do nothing because her position was ceremonial only. Where was she when children were being starved, women being violated, and innocent villagers being executed?

Previously in February 2021 after being silent for three months she did utter the words that the humanitarian needs in Tigray were “enormous” but nothing else. Her words now claiming that “Abiy was dragging his country into a sort of downward spiral” to me seem mostly self serving to escape blame. If she is really sincere then she most immediately go public and convince Ethiopians to stop supporting Abiy Ahmed and seek an end to more killing, detainment, starvation, and suffering.