Ethiopia Accused of ‘Serious’ Human Rights Abuses in Tigray in Landmark Case

💭 ኢትዮጵያ በትግራይ ከባድ የሰብአዊ መብት ረገጣ በወሳኝ ጉዳይ ተከሰሰች።

“ዕድሜያቸው ያልደረሱ ልጃገረዶች እና አሮጊቶች በኢትዮጵያና ኤርትራ ሃይሎች እየተደፈሩ እና በቡድን እየተደፈሩ መሆኑን ሁላችንም ምስክሮች ሰምተናል። ቄሶች እና ዲያቆናት በወታደሮች ታርደዋል፤” ይላል ምስክሩ።

“We all heard witness accounts of underage girls and old women being raped and gang-raped by the joint forces. Priests and deacons were slaughtered by the soldiers,” the testimony says.

👉 Courtesy: The Guardian

Lawyers bringing first complaint to Africa’s top rights body over conflict in country say violations ‘could amount to war crimes’

Ethiopia has committed a wide range of human rights violations in its war against Tigrayan rebel forces, including mass killings, sexual violence and military targeting of civilians, according to a landmark legal complaint submitted to Africa’s top human rights body.

Lawyers acting for Tigrayan civilians said the complaint, filed on Monday, marked the first time that the African Union’s human rights commission had been asked to look into the conduct of Ethiopian troops in their war with the northern region’s rebel forces.

The alleged violations, “could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, but further investigation would be required”, said Antonia Mulvey, executive director of the rights organisation Legal Action Worldwide (Law), which submitted the complaint with the US legal firm Debevoise & Plimpton and the Pan African Lawyers Union (Palu).

“The African Commission [on Human and Peoples’ Rights] has a unique opportunity to stand by victims and survivors from this conflict, to order emergency measures to stop unlawful killing of civilians trapped in Tigray and to hold Ethiopia to account,” added Mulvey.

Reporting to the 55-member African Union, the commission’s role is to investigate alleged human rights violations and make recommendations to heads of state and government. It can also make referrals to the African court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the union’s judicial arm.

The Law-Palu complaint alleges that since the conflict with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) erupted in November 2020, federal forces in Ethiopia have committed widespread violations, including the military targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure; mass and extrajudicial killings; gender-based sexual violence; arbitrary arrest and detention; mass displacement of civilians; destruction of property, food, and religious sites and cultural heritage; ethnic discrimination; and enforced information blackouts.

In a statement, lawyers said the allegations were based on the testimony of Tigrayan victims who could not be listed as complainants due to fear of reprisals from the government in Addis Ababa.

One written testimony, seen by the Guardian, contains allegations that Ethiopian and Eritrean forces carried out killings and rapes in the Shire region of Tigray in November 2020.

“We all heard witness accounts of underage girls and old women being raped and gang-raped by the joint forces. Priests and deacons were slaughtered by the soldiers,” the testimony says.

“The Ethiopian government has called the military operation in Tigray a ‘law-enforcement operation’,” the testimony continues. “But what we saw in Shire … was quite different. We saw with our own eyes that the military campaign was not only about eliminating the TPLF, but also about destroying the people and development of Tigray.”

A joint investigation released in November by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the UN found there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that all parties to the conflict in Tigray had, to varying degrees, committed human rights violations. Some of those breaches, it added, might amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On Monday, Law said that, while reports suggested that abuses had been committed by different parties, Tigrayan civilians constituted “the overwhelming majority of victims”.

Mulvey, a British solicitor who served on the UN’s fact-finding mission on Myanmar, said Law was keen to work alongside the commission’s existing inquiry into Tigray “to put an end to the impunity that has allowed these crimes to continue”.

Donald Deya, chief executive officer of Palu, said: “The government of Ethiopia is obliged by both its constitution and international law to protect all its citizens and residents from mass atrocities and violations of their human rights.

“Where it is unable or unwilling to uphold the same, as is the case here, we must seek recourse to competent international institutions. Hence, our urgent appeal to the African commission,” he said.

There was no immediate comment on the complaint from the Ethiopian government or the commission, which is based in the Gambia.

Ethiopia is not a state party to the founding statute of the international criminal court in The Hague, in effect making a trial there for alleged war crimes impossible without a referral from the UN security council. That possibility is considered highly unlikely due to objections from Russia and China, which can veto any such motion as permanent members of the council.

Source

_____________

Greece Protests to Turkey as Erdogan Turns Panagia Soumela Orthodox Monastery Into a Nightclub

💭 የክርስቶስ ተቃዋሚ ቱርክ እብዱ መሪ ኤርዶጋን ታሪካዊውን የሱዩሜላ ኦርቶዶክስ ድንግል ማርያም ገዳም ወደ ዳንኪራ ቤትነት በመለወጣቸው ግሪክ ተቃውሞዋን በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ አሰማች

❖ዛሬ ልደታ ማርያም ናት❖

✞የሱይሜላ እና ማርያም ደንገላት ገዳማት ገዳማት ተመሳሳይ መልክዓ ምድራዊ አቀማመጥ✞

‘ሱዩሜላ‘ የሚለው ቃል የተገኘው ‘ሞላሰስ‘ ከሚባለው በወቅቱ በግሪክኛ ከሚታወቅ ሥርወ–ቃል ነው። ትርጉሞም ‘ጥቁር‘ ማለት ነው። ወንጌላዊው ቅዱስ ሉቃስ የሳለው የእመቤታችንና ልጇ የጌታችን ስዕል መጀመሪያ በእዚህ ገዳም መገኘቱ ይነገራል። በሱዩሜላ ገዳም የተገኘው ይህ የእመቤታችንና የጌታችን ስዕል “ጥቁር” ኢትዮጵያዊ ገጽታ እንዳለው በግልጽ ማየት እንችላለን✞

😈 ቱርክና የዋቄዮ-አላህ ጭፍሮቹ በኢትዮጵያም ያቀዱትም ይህን ነው

👉 አስገራሚ ገጠመኝ፤ ባለፈው ዓርብ ጥር ፳፯/፲፬ ዓ.ም (ሊቃነ መልዓክ ሱርያል/ ነቢዩ ሔኖክ የተሰወረበት ዕለት) ፤ በማውቃቸው ቱርኮችና ይህ የግሪክ ገዳም የሚገኝበትን ከተማ ስምን በያዘው “ትራብዞን” በተሰኘው ሱቅ/ምግብ ቤት በኩል ሳልፍ፤ “ሔኖክ/ሐኖክ!” ብሎ የሚጠራኝ ድምጽ ስሰማ እነዚያ የማውቃቸው ቱርኮች መሆናቸውን አይቼ ለሰላምታ ወደነርሱ አመራሁ። ከሰላምታ በኋላ ወዲያው፤ “እንዴት ነው፤ ኤርዶጋን ከአፍሪቃ ጋር እየተዛመደ ነው፤ ከአሜሪካና አውሮፓ ጋር ከመስራት ከእኛ ጋር ብትሰሩ ይሻላችኋል፤ ጥሩ የሆነውን የእናንተን መሪን አብይ አህመድን እንወደዋለን፤ ድሮናችም እኮ ሥራቸውን በደንብ እየሠሩ ነው ወዘተ” እያሉ ሊሳለቁብኝ እንደሚሹ በመረዳት፤ ቅዱስ መጽሐፋችን፤ “ሰነፍ ያወቀ እንዳይመስለው እንደስንፍናው መልስለት ይላልና” እኔም፤ “ኤርዶጋን ከወነጀለኛው አብይ አህመድ ጋር አብሮ ሕዝቤን እየጨፈጨፈብኝ ነውና ብታስጠነቅቁት ለእናንተም ከግሪኮች፣ አርመኖችና ኩሮች ለጠካችኋትም ለዛሬዋ ቱርክ የተሻለ ነው። “ጥሩ ነው” የምትሉት አብይ አህመድ አሊ አረመኔ ነው፤ በአንድ ዓመት ውስጥ አንድ ሚሊየን አባቶቼን፣ እናቶቼን፣ ወንድሞቼንና እኅቶቼንና ወንድሞቼን መጨፍጨፉን አታውቁምን? ምናልባት ለእናንተ እንደ ድል ልታዩት ትችሉ ይሆናል፤ ግን በቅርቡ ዋጋ ያስከፍላችኋል፤ አልመኝላችሁም ግን ይህ ሁሉ መዓት በእናንተ ላይ ቢደርስ ምን ትሉ፣ ምን ታደርጉ ነበር?” ብዬ በቁጣ ተሰናበትኳቸው። ቀጥተኛነቴን ስለሚያውቁ ዝም፣ ጭጭ ክምሽሽ ነበር ያሉት። ብዙም ስላቆይ ባቡር ውስጥ አንድ ከማውቀው የቱርክ ተወላጅ ኩርድ ጋር ተገናኘንና ከቱርኮቹ ጋር ስለተነጋገርነው ነገር አወሳነው። ኩርዱም ሰላስ ሚሊየን የሚሆኑ የቱርክ ኩርዶች በገዛ ሃገራቸው እንደ ሁለተኛና ሦስተኛ ዜጋ እንደሚቆጠሩ፤ በቋንቋቸው መማር፣ መስገድ፣ መገበያየት እንደማይችሉ፤ “አውሮፓውያን ናቸው ዘረኞች ይባላል፤ ግን እነግርሃለው እንደ ቱርክ ዘረኛ በዓለም ላይ የለም!” ብሎ በቁጣ ነግሮኝ በሃዘን ተለያየን።

እንግዲህ የፋሺስቱ ኦሮሞ አገዛዝን የሚመራው አረመኔው ዳግማዊ ግራኝ አህመድ ከእብዱ ኤርዶጋን ጋር በተገናኘበት ወቅት “ኦሮሚያ” የተሰኘውን ሕገ-ወጥ ክልል ለቱርክ አሳልፎ ሰጥቶታል፤ “ቀዳማዊ ግራኝን ለመበቀል እንደ ግሪክና አረሜኒያ የኢትዮጵያን ኦርቶዶክሶችንም እንጨፈጭፋቸዋለን፤ ከዚያ በቱርክ እርዳታ እስላማዊት ኦሮሚያ ኤሚራትን እንመሰርታለን” ብሎ ቃል እንደገባለት ሁኔታዎች ሁሉ እያመላከቱን ነው። እኔ በጣም የማዝነውና ደሜ የምፈላው “ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ነን” እያሉ ከዚህ ፋሺስት የኦሮም አገዛዝ ጋርና ከኦሮሞ አክቲቪስቶች ጋር የሚያብሩ አማራዎች፣ ተጋሩ እና ጉራጌዎችን መታዘቡ ነው። እኔ እንኳን በአቅሜ በተለይ ቱርክን አስመልክቶ ለሃያ ዓመታት ያህል ባገኘሁት አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ቤተክህነትና ቤተምነግስት ድረስ እስከመሄድ በቅቼ ሳስጠነቅቅው የነበረ ትልቅ ጉዳይ ነው። ተዋሕዷውያን አካሄዳቸውን ካላስተካከሉ ወደፊት ምን ሊመጣ እንደሚችል በግልጽ ይታየኝ ነበር፤ ያው እንግዲህ ዛሬ ደረሰ። በእኔ በኩል ሃላፊነቴን ተውጥቻለሁ፤ ሃዘኔ አይቆምም፤ እየመጣ ካለው የደም ጎርፍ እጄ ንጹሕ ነው። ሌሎቻችሁ፤ ሁሉም ነገር ግልጥልጥ ብሎ በሚታየበት በዚህ ዘመን ከእስልምና እና ኦሮሙማ አጀንዳ ጎን የቆማችሁ ግብዞች ሁሉ ግን ዛሬውኑ ባፋጣኝ ካልታረማችሁ፣ ካልተመለሳችሁና ቀጥተኛውን የክርስቶስ መንገድን ካልተከተላችሁ ገሃነም እሳት እንደሚጠብቃችሁ ከወዲሁ እወቁት።

በጣም የሚገርም ነው፤ ባለፉት ሃምሳ ዓመታት ይህ ከንቱ ትውልድ ግሪክ እና አረመን ኦርቶዶክስ ወገኖቻችንን ከአገር አባርሮ ከጥፋትና ሞት በቀር ለሕዝባችን ምንም በጎ ነገር ማበርከት የማይችሉትን መሀመዳውያን ቱርኮችን ወደ ኢትዮጵያ በማስገባት ላይ ነው። ከቀና በፊት የአውሮፓው ሕብረት በኦርቶዶክስ ግሪክ በኩል የዘር ማጥፊያ ኮቪድ ክትትትትባቶችን በብዛት ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ሊልክ ነው የሚለውን ዜና ስሰማ፤ “በቃ ይህን ከንቱ ትውልድ ሳያውቁት ሊበቀሉት ነው!” አልኩ። እንግዲህ በዚህም በዚያም ይህ በአክሱም ጽዮን ላይ ያ ሁሉ ግፍ ሲፈጸም ፀጥ ያለ ከንቱ ትውልድ መጠረጉ አይቀርም! በጣም አዝናለሁ! 😠😠😠 😢😢😢 https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/03/greece-donates-covid-vaccines-ethiopia/

❖ ስዩሜላ (ማማ ማርያም) የኦርቶዶክስ ግሪክ ማርያም ደንገላት❖

የፓናጊያ ሱዩሜላ ገዳም ቅጥር ግቢ በቅርቡ ለማስታወቂያ ቪዲዮ ክሊፕ ተብሎ ወደ ምሽት ክበብነት ተቀይሮ በኦርቶዶክስ አለም ላይ ትልቅ ቁጣ ፈጥሯል።

በቱርክ ትራብዞን የሚገኘው የግሪክ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ገዳም የቱሪስት መስህብ ሲሆን በየዓመቱ ነሐሴ ፲፭/15 ቀን የድንግል ማርያም ማደሪያ አገልግሎት በመንበረ ፓትርያሪክ የሚካሄድበት የቱሪስት መስህብ ነው።

አወዛጋቢው የቪዲዮ ክሊፕ ዲጄ በታሪካዊው ገዳም ቅጥር ግቢ ውስጥ ከፍተኛ የኤሌክትሮኒክስ ሙዚቃ ሲጫወት እና ሰዎች ሲጨፍሩ ብዙ የኦርቶዶክስ እምነት ተከታዮች በቁጣ ምላሽ ሰጥተዋል።

ብዙ አስተያየቶች በማህበራዊ ሚዲያ ላይ እንዲህ ስላለው የታሪካዊው ገዳም ርኩሰት ይናገራሉ፤ ከሙዚቃው ጋር ፣ የቤተክርስቲያን ደወሎች ከበስተ ጀርባ ይሰማሉ።

ታሪካዊውን ገዳም እንዲህ በመሰለ መልክ ለማርከስ በመሞከሩ አንዳንዶች የቱርክ ባለስልጣናት ማብራሪያ እንዲሰጡ በኦርቶዶክሳውያኑ ዘንድ ተጠይቀዋል።

በ ፬/4 ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን የተመሰረተው ሱሜላ በምስራቃዊ ቱርክ ከጥቁር ባህር ደን በላይ ባለው ገደል ላይ የተገነባ የገዳም ስብስብ ነው። ከረጅም ጊዜ በፊት ይፋዊ የሃይማኖት ደረጃውን ተነጥቆ በቱርክ የባህል ሚኒስቴር የሚተዳደር ሙዚየም/ቤተ መዘክር ሆኖ ይሰራል።

በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ቱሪስቶች እና የኦርቶዶክስ እምነት ተከታዮች ወደ ገዳሙ በየዓመቱ ይጓዛሉ።

እ.ኤ.አ. በ 1923 በግሪክ እና በቱርክ መካከል በተደረገው የህዝብ ልውውጥ አካል ግሪኮች ከተባረሩ በኋላ በ 2010 ላይ የቱርክ ባለስልጣናት የመጀመሪያውን የኦርቶዶክስ የቅዳሴ ሥነ ሥርዓት ፈቅደዋል። እ.ኤ.አ. በ2015 የሱሜላ ገዳም ለመታደስ ተዘግቶ በ2019 ለጎብኝዎች ክፍት ሆኗል።

እ.ኤ.አ. በ2020 እና በ2021 የድንግል ማርያምን በዓል ለማክበር ቅዳሴ ተፈቀዶ ነበር።

የግሪክ የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር፤ “የፓናጊያ ሱዩሜላ ገዳም የሚከፈተው ለምዕመናን ብቻ በመሆኑ ለባንዱ ፈቃድ መሰጠቱ አስገራሚ ነው፤ እነዚህ ምስሎች አጸያፊ ናቸው እና የቱርክ ባለስልጣናት የኦርቶዶክስ ክርስቲያኖች ንብረት በሆኑት የአለም ቅርስ ቦታዎች ላይ የወሰዱትን ተከታታይ ጽንፈኛ እርምጃ ቀጥለውበታል፤” ብሏል።

ግሪክ እና ቱርክ ከአየር ክልል ጀምሮ እስከ ምስራቅ ሜዲትራኒያን የባህር ዳርቻ እና በጎሳና በሃይማኖት እስከተፋፈለባት የቆጵሮስ ደሴት ግጭት ድረስ በተለያዩ ብዙ ጉዳዮች ላይ ሁሌ እንደተወዛገቡ ነው።

ቱርክ ባለፈው ዓመት ላይ በቁስጥንጥንያ/ኢስታንቡል ውስጥ ወደ 1,500 የሚጠጋውን ታሪካዊውን የቅድስት ሀጊያ ሶፊያ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ሕንፃን ወደ መስጊድነት በመቀየሯ ግሪክና ቱርክ ሰይፍ ተማዘዋል። በጁላይ 2020 ላይ መሀመዳውያኑ አጋንንታዊ የእስልምና ጸሎታቸውን በዚህ ጥንታዊ ቅዱስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ከዘጠኝ አስርት ዓመታት በኋላ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ በማድረግ ቦታውን አርክሰውት ነበር።

https://addisabram.wordpress.com/tag/hagia-sophia/

❖ The Panagia Soumela St. Mary Monastery ❖

💭 Can you see the similarities between the Soumela St.Mary Monastery and the Mariam Dengelat St. Mary Monastery of Tigray, Ethiopia? On November, 2020 more than 100 Orthodox Christians were massacred by Turkish-allied evil leader of Ethiopia.

➡ CNN Investigation of Massacre at Maryam Dengelat Church in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

💭 The courtyard of Panagia Soumela Monastery was recently turned into a nightclub for an advertising video clip, causing outrage in the Orthodox world.

The iconic Greek Orthodox monastery in Trabzon, Turkey is a tourist attraction where each year on August 15 the service for the Dormition of the Virgin Mary is held by the Ecumenical Patriarch.

The controversial video clip, with a DJ playing loud electronic music in the courtyard of the historic monastery and people dancing, had many Orthodox Christians reacting in anger.

Many comments in social media speak of the desecration of the historic monastery as along with the music, church bells can be heard in the background.

Some even demanded explanations from Turkish authorities, as the historic monastery had essentially been turned into a nightclub.

Greece’s Foreign Ministry said, on Monday, images showing a band dancing to electronic music at the former Orthodox Christian Sumela Monastery in Turkey were “offensive” and “a desecration” of the monument, Reuters reports.

The Ministry called on Turkish authorities “to do their utmost to prevent such acts from being repeated” and to respect the site, a candidate for UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites.

“The recent images that were displayed on social media, in which a foreign band seems to be dancing disco in the area of the Historical Monastery of Panagia Soumela, are a desecration of this Monument,” it said.

Turkish officials were not immediately available for comment.

Founded in the 4th century, Sumela is a monastic complex built into a sheer cliff above the Black Sea forest in eastern Turkey. It was long ago stripped of its official religious status and operates as a museum administered by the Culture Ministry in Turkey.

Thousands of tourists and Orthodox Christian worshippers journey to the monastery annually.

In 2010, Turkish authorities allowed the first Orthodox liturgy since ethnic Greeks were expelled in 1923 as part of a population exchange between Greece and Turkey. In 2015, the Sumela Monastery was shut for restoration and re-opened to tourists in 2019.

A liturgy to mark the Feast Day of the Virgin Mary was allowed in 2020 and 2021.

“It is surprising that the permit was given to the band, as the Monastery of Panagia Soumela opens only for pilgrims,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said. “These images are offensive and add to a series of actions by the Turkish authorities against World Heritage Sites,” its statement said, without elaborating.

Greece and Turkey disagree on a range of issues from airspace to maritime zones in the eastern Mediterranean and ethnically split Cyprus.

The two countries have, in the past, crossed swords over the conversion of the nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque. In July 2020, the Mohammedans desecrated this ancient Holy Christian Church by holding their demonic Islamic prayers for the first time in nine decades.

https://addisabram.wordpress.com/tag/hagia-sophia/

Expressing an important value among the places you should go to in Trabzon, one of the most beautiful cities of the Black Sea, Sumela Monastery was built on steep cliffs in Altındere Village located within the borders of Maçka district of Trabzon. It is known by the name of “Mama Maria” among the people. Located approximately 300 meters above Altındere village, the Virgin Mary was built in accordance with the tradition of steep cliffs, forests, and caves, which are traditional monastery construction sites. The monastery, which was founded in reference to the Virgin Mary, took the name Sumela from the word molasses, which means black.

Etymology of the Name Sumela

It is understood that the name of Sumela comes from the word “molasses” meaning black, black darkness in the local language of the years when the monastery was built, and the name of the region is Oros Melas. The original name of the monastery is “Panagia Sou Melas”. In the Ottoman Empire records, the monastery takes place as “Su (o)Mela.

________________