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UNSC Statement on Tigray Alone Won’t save Lives; Action Needed

Tigrayans and those who care about the people of Tigray are calling for urgent action to put an end to human rights violations. Above all, the UNSC members must demand Abiy Ahmed to take concrete measures to stop the war before it is too late. He should not be allowed to hide behind “sovereignty and territorial integrity” and continue, unchecked, to violate the human rights of Tigrayans. If he as a head of government cannot protect civilians, someone else should.

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It took six months and six meetings for the UNSC to issue a statement on the genocidal war on Tigray.  The reactions to the statement have been mixed, mostly unfavorable.

The statement was seen as “a very good progress” and hailed as “one small tiny step forward.” The effort of some UNSC members who  had been pushing hard to pass such a joint statement was considered “commendable.” That China and Russia joined the other members was seen favorably given their reluctance, despite reports of unimaginable atrocities. 

There was a consensus that the statement came in a little too late. Moreover, after repeated pleas from Tigrayans and numerous institutions, the “hard-won” yet extremely watered-down statement was met with outrage. Many expressed their disappointment, referring to the statement as “infuriating,” “tragic,” “hard to believe,” “shameful,” and “unimpressive.”

The source of the outrage is the fact that there was no demand for the withdrawal of the invading forces, most importantly the Eritrean army. The fact that the statement did not include any call for ‘action’ on what needs to be done to prevent the continued suffering of the people of Tigray was disappointing. Moreover, given the content, few see any tangible impact of the statement to those who are suffering on the ground. 

That the UNSC members applauded the Ethiopian government, despite continued reports that they are, along with Eritrean forces, blocking humanitarian aid, committing ethnic cleansing, and intensifying their assault with no vision to end hostilities, was astounding. In addition, the fact that AU and IGAD, who have not done anything tangible to stop the ongoing genocide and at times accused of complicity, were applauded was seen as “quite embarrassing.”

Another source of frustration has been the concern – deep or otherwise – that has been expressed. We have seen superpowers, national and international institutions express their concerns but it has not been enough or effective. Apart from words of concern, there is nothing in the statement that demands the verified withdrawal of invading forces; nor is there a timeline. 

As things stand, the ‘concerns’ will only exacerbate the misery of the Tigray people, as the invading forces tend to intensify their assault in a last-minute ditch to finish off what they have started before any external intervention.

Thus, if it took UNSC six months to express concern, how long before any tangible action? And in between, how many should die? How many girls and women should be raped? What kind of destruction will it take for the UNSC to take meaningful action? These concerns have not stopped Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afwerki from using hunger and rape as weapons of war.

If the UNSC members are serious about stopping the misery and if Tigrayan lives do matter, the only way is action. Enforce the immediate and verified withdrawal of the Eritrean soldiers and Amhara militia from Tigray. To ask for unfettered humanitarian access without the withdrawal of the invading forces is futile. Without dealing with the invading forces, the humanitarian access that the UNSC member states are requesting is impractical. The invading forces will still block any aid from reaching the civilians, as they have been doing to date. Moreover, with no measurable and specific demands, Isaias knows that he will get away with not not withdrawing his troops. In fact, we are hearing reports of additional Eritrean troops entering Tigray.

Tigrayans and those who care about the people of Tigray are calling for urgent action to put an end to human rights violations. Above all, the UNSC members must demand Abiy Ahmed to take concrete measures to stop the war before it is too late. He should not be allowed to hide behind “sovereignty and territorial integrity”  and continue,  unchecked, to violate the human rights of Tigrayans. If he as a head of government cannot protect civilians, someone else should. 

Medhanie Gaim is a researcher in paradox theory and entrepreneurship at Umeå University.

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  1. የብልፅግና ፖርቲካድሬዎች ከነደጋፊዎቻቸው ለፍርድ ይቅረቡ፥፥

    April 26, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    ከየትኛውም ከተማ፥ብሔር፥ጎሣ፥ጎጥ ሆነ ዝርያ ይምጡ ንፁሓን ዜጎች መገደል ሆነ አግባብነት ና ሰብዊነት በጎደለው አኳኋን(ቶርቸር) መያዝ እንዲሰቃዩ መደረግ የለበትም ብለን ብዙዎቻችን እናምናለን፥፥የትግራይ ሠራዊትም ቢሆን ወገኑን ሲገድልና ሲያሰቃይ የነበረ ሠራዊትን ከማረከ በኋላ በነጻ እየለቀቃቸው ስለመሆኑ መስማት እና መቀበል ቢቸፈንነንም እንኳ ሀላችንም የምናውቀው ሀቅ ነው ፥፥በመሆኑም ወያኔ ና የኦሮሞ ሠራዊት ላይ ለማላከክ በማሰብ ንፁሓን የአማራ ሕዝብን ሆነ የማንኛውም የብሔር አባላት ለፖለቲካ ፍጆታ፥እና የብቀላ ስትራቴጂ ምክንያት አትግደሉ አታስገድሉ፥በዚህ ማብቂያ መቋጠሪያ በሌለው የብቀላ ፖለቲካቹህ ሌላውን ማህበረሰብ ለብቀላ አታነሳሱት፥፥:የእናንተ ታክቲክ ስለተነቃበት በከንቱ አትድከሙ፥ ንፁሓን ወገኖችን ፆታ ዘር ዕድሜ ሌላም ሌላም ሳትለዩ እባካቹህ አታሰቃዩ ፥፥ተጠያቂ የሆኑ አካላት እንኳን ቢኖሩ በተገቢው መንገድ በሕግ ፊት መቅረብ እና የሚመለከታቸው አካላት ፍርድ እንዲሰጡበት ማድረግ ሲገባ ያለ አግባብ እንደ ኢሳያስ ያሉ ባዕዳውያን ወራሪዎች ጋር ሆኖ መሪዎቻችንን በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ መግደል ማስገደል የሀገሪቷን ሉዓላዊነት ና የሕግ የበላይነት ማንኳሰስ ና ውድቅ ማድረግ ነው፥:
    ሕዝቧንና መሪዎቿን ከ ባዕዳውያን ጋር ሆና የምትገድል ሀገር ሀገርነቷ የተጣለ ና የተናቀ የሉዓላዊት ክብራን አሳልፋ የሰጠች የሞተች ናት፥፥ኢትዮጵያ እንደሞተች ሁሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን የሚባሉ በሰንድ ና በምናብ እንጂ በተግባር በዕውነታ አናገኛቸውም፥፥

    የአምሐራ የብልፅግና ፓርቲ ካድሬዎች ፥የአቢይ ና የኢሳያስን የቂም በቀል ፖለቲካና ጭፍጨፋቸውን የተለያየ ስምና ሽፋን በመስጠት የሚደግፉ ሁሉ ለፍርድ ይቅረቡልን፥፥ ፥ምክንያቱም እነኚህ የኦሮሞና የተጋሩ ጠላት ብቻ ሳይሆኑ የመላው ህብረ ብሄር ጠላቶች :ሀገሬ የምትሏት ኢትዮጵያ አፍራሾች በመሆናቸው ነው፥፥ ፥፥በነገራችን ላይ በዓውሎ የዜና ማሰራጫ በቅርቡ ሕውሓት በጦርነቱ እጁ አለበት ቅብጥርሶ(ገለመለ) እየተባለ ሰምተናል:: ሕውሓት በተደጋጋሚ ጊዜያት እኛ የጦርነት አስከፊነት ከማንም በላይ እናውቀዋለን ስለሆነም በሰላማዊ መንገድ ችግሮችን ለመፍታት ዝግጁ ነን ሲል አበክሮ ገልፆ እና አሳስቦ ነበር፥ይህም የቅርብ ጊዜ ትውስታችን ነው፥፥የሾርት ሜሞሪ ችግር ያለባቸው አውቆ አበዶቹን ምህረቱን ይላክላቸው፥፥ ከመደጋገሙ ብዛት እኪሰለቸን ተነግሮናል መልዕክቱ ሁላቹሁም ሰምታቹሀል፥:

    አሁን ላይ ሆናቹህ ወያኔ ተጠያቂ ነው: በጦርነቱ እጁ አለበት ብትሉን መስሚያ የለንም፥፥ ሳፋ አስደቅናቹህ ብታለቃቅሱ ማንም አይሰማቹህም !!
    በኋላም ሕውሓት ሕዝቡንና መሬቱን ከወረራ ለመታደግ የመከላከል ትግል አደረገ እንጂ ንፁሓንን እንደናንተ አልፈጀም፥፥ከጦርነቱ በፊት የአማራ ልሂቃን ሲደነፉ እንደሰማነው ፥አለም እንደ ዳርፉሩ የሱዳን ግጭት ግፋ ቢል ለሁለት ሳምንታት ነው የሚንጫጫው : ግፋ ቢል ማዕቀብ ነው ሊጣልብን የሚችለው ፥፥ስለዚህ የመጣው ቢመጣ ወያኔን አጥፍተን በማዕቀብ ምክንያት መራብ እንኳ ካለብን እንራባለን ሲሉ የአማራ ልሂቃን ተደምጠዋል፥፥

    ትግራይን ለማጥፋት ያቀዱት ከአመታት በፊት ነው፥ዛቻቸው ብዙ እድሜን ያስቆጠረ በውሥጣቸው ተፀንሶ አብይን አህሎና መስሎ ተወለደ ፥፥ምናልባትም ፀጉር አብቅሎ አርጅቶ ተወለደ ሲባል ሰምታቹ ከሆነ የዲያብሎስ ልጅ የክፋትና የቂም በቀል በኩር አብይ አንዱ ነው ፥ : በሕዝባቹህ ሞትና ሰቆቃ ፊልም መስራትን አቁሙ :: ንፁሓንን እየገደላቹህ የናንተ ወገን በአፀፋ ሲገደል በግፍ የተገደሉ ለማስመሰል ፊልም አትስሩ፥፥
    ኦሮሞንና አማራን ስትገድሉ የሟች ወገን አፀፋ እንደሚመልስ የታወቀ ነው : ምንም እንኳ ሕውሓት ሆነ የኦሮሞ ሠራዊት በነፃ ቢለቃቹ፥፥ሕዝባቹህን የተሳሳተ መረጃ በመስጠት አውሮፓ ና አሜካ እንዲሁም አራት ኪሎ ሆናቹህ ንፁሓንን አታስገድሉ፥፥

    በተለያየ መንገድና አተረጓጎም ልትረዱ ትችላላቹ:የዚህ ኮሜንት ዋ ና መልዕክቱ የንፁሓን ወገኖችን ጭፍጨፋ አቁሙ አስቁሙ ኦሮሞ ፥አማራ ተጋሩ ጉምዝ አገው ሺናሻ ወይጦ ሌላውም ማህበረሰብ ሕብረ ብሔር መገደል የለበትም ያጠፉ መሪዎች እንኳ ቢሆኑ ለፍርድ መቅረብ ና በሕግ አካላት መዳኘት ብቸኛ አማራጭ እንዲሆን ይታሰብበት፥፥
    የአማራ ልሂቃን ና የብልፅግና ደጋፊዎች ሆይ ከየትኛውም ከተማ፥ብሔር፥ጎሣ፥ጎጥ ሆነ ዝርያ ይምጡ ንፁሓን ዜጎች መገደልን አቁሙ!!! አቢይ እና የብልፅግና ፖርቲ(ከውጭ በቅጥረኞች የመጣ የምናምንቴዎች አይዲዮሎጂ ነጮች ፈብርከው በአብይና መሰሎቹ ላይ ያሰረፁት መርዝ ሀሳብ በወገን መካከል ጠብን መገዳደልን የሚዘራ አገር ፍራሽ ፓርቲ)ካድሬዎች ከነደፊዎቻቸው ለፍርድ ይቅረቡ፥፥

    ውድቀትና ሽንፈት ለወራሪዎች በጅምላ ጭፍጨፋና በቂም በቀል እርምጃ ለተሰማሩ ሁሉ፦፦ድል ለውፁዓት ፦፦
    አቢይ እና የብልፅግና ፖርቲ(ከውጭ በቅጥረኞች የመጣ የምናምንቴዎች አይዲዮሎጂ ነጮች ፈብርከው በአብይና መሰሎቹ ላይ ያሰረፁት መርዝ ሀሳብ በወገን መካከል ጠብን መገዳደልን የሚዘራ አገር ፍራሽ ፓርቲ)ካድሬዎች ከነደጋፊዎቻቸው ለፍርድ ይቅረቡ፥፥

  2. Tigray will soon emerge victorious

    April 25, 2021 at 3:34 pm

    UN is a congregate of countries which are established and became countries after their anscetors committed a horrendous genocide against the genuine inhabitants of the respective land , historically speaking. Hence, They donot sound troubled on what is happening to poor people of Tigray for teh past 6 months. They have alreadsy obtained the information about the war from the horses mouth : their spies like Abiy and Isyas in a closed meeting and or any other mode of communication.

    Eritrea is a a valuable assets for EU and UNHCR . Eritreans have no problem except for economic migration. they trained themslves to invade our land and kill our people by playing a victim card:Ethiopia will invade us said PJDF officials when they are asked why they are doing a military training. It was sarcastic:intending to invade and rule Ethiopia.

    There is always money-oriented matter behind this silence and reluctant behavior of UN and UNSC.
    በጣም የሚያሳዝን ድርጊት ነው አይደለም እንዲህ ያለ ድርጊትና ቆሻሻ ፖለቲካ የሀገር ውስጥ ዜና መስማት እንኳ ነውር የሚመስለን አንዳችም የማይስበን ብዙዎች ነበር፥፥ወገናኖቻችን ጋሩ ብቻ ሳይሆን ስለ ሌላውም ኢትዮጵያዊ ዝም የምንልበት አእምሮ የለም፥፥ሕዝባችንን በዝምታ እያስገደሉ የፖለቲካ ቁማር ይጫወታሉ፥፥

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