☪ “The training program formally concluded with closing remarks by Mr. Frezer Ayalew, Director of Banking Supervision at the National Bank of Ethiopia.”
⚖️ A year after releasing an atrocity determination opens in a new tab for the conflict in northern Ethiopia, the United States government has not made any updates or taken on new policy changes towards justice and accountability.
“An atrocity determination without meaningful policy change that addresses the pervasive cycle of impunity in Ethiopia isn’t worth much to victims and survivors of these crimes,” warned Kate Hixon, Advocacy Director for Africa with Amnesty International USA. “The U.S. government must support survivors to ensure they receive the justice and accountability they demand and to which they have a right. The State Department should also seek to update the determination to address justice and accountability issues amid the ongoing armed conflict in the Amhara region, where Amnesty International documented possible war crimes.”
On March 20, 2023, U.S. Secretary of Antony Blinken announced a U.S. government atrocity determination that all parties to the conflict in northern Ethiopia committed war crimes. It found that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, Eritrean Defense Forces and Amhara forces also committed crimes against humanity, “including murder, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, and persecution.” Members of the Amhara forces were also identified as responsible for committing the crime against humanity of deportation or forcible transfer and committed ethnic cleansing in western Teaggreye.
Despite asks from international human rights organizations and many in Ethiopian civil society, the U.S. was complacent in allowing the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia mandate to expire in October 2023.
Since the cessation of hostilities, Ethiopian authorities have not taken meaningful steps towards justice and accountability for crimes committed during the conflict in northern Ethiopia. Additionally, ENDF and the Fano militia are now fighting in another armed conflict in Amhara region where Amnesty International documented possible war crimes by the ENDF. The ENDF and Amhara forces, which includes the Fano militia and Amhara special forces, were named as perpetrators of atrocity crimes in the 2023 determination for their acts in the Teaggreye region.
Since armed conflict broke out in early August, the entire Amhara region has been under an internet blackout. Independent journalists are barred from reporting on the conflict, and they are persecuted if they attempt to. Ethiopian authorities continue to use the state of emergency law to crack down on anyone who dares to dissent peacefully.
Amnesty International also continues to receive reports of harassment against civil society organizations in Ethiopia by the government.
“Secretary Blinken must urgently work with the African Union and the international community to engage the government of Ethiopia to order the ENDF to stop targeting civilians in the Amhara region. He must also ensure that the United States broaden its analysis of atrocity determination into the Amhara and Oromia region, where active risks of atrocities exist amid ongoing armed conflict, to urgently address justice and accountability issues,” concluded Hixon.
♱ This feast day marks the discovery of The True Cross of Jesus Christ.
The discovery of this revered relic within Christianity can be traced back to the fourth (4th) century when the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, Queen Helena received divine guidance to its location.
According to legend, Queen Helena, now canonized, had a dream. In the dream, she was told to make a bonfire from which the smoke would show her the location where the True Cross of Jesus was buried.
After doing as she was instructed and the bonfire lit, the smoke rose high up to the sky and returned to the ground, exactly where the Cross had been buried. Thus began the yearly celebration of the discovery.
According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the discovery of the True Cross is traditionally believed to have been in March, but Meskel was moved to September to avoid holding a festival during Lent, and because the church commemorating the True Cross in Jerusalem was dedicated during September.
❖❖❖[Galatians 6:14]❖❖❖
“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
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