Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on July 16, 2021
👉 Where’s the outrage over famine and genocide in Ethiopia
Not My Party: What’s Going on in Ethiopia (And Why You Should Care)
The world seems indifferent to the war, famine, and ethnic cleansing in Ethiopia. The United States shouldn’t be.
There’s a crisis in Ethiopia—ethnic cleansing and famine worse than anywhere in the world. So why is the social media outrage being carried by Bachelor Nation?
In the Ethiopian city of Aksum, hyenas fed on the bodies of some of the hundreds who were killed in a church massacre. The corpses of young boys laid in the street for days. This is one of the many horror stories taking place in the Tigray region of the country. Thousands are starving to death. Millions are in need of food. There have been over 22,000 rape victims. The government is blocking humanitarian efforts to supply aid, and they’re suspected of committing war crimes.
How did this happen in a country led by Abiy Ahmed, who won the Nobel Peace Prize just two years ago?
Tigray’s the home to the TPLF, a regional political party and paramilitary organization. The region is mountainous and sits on the border of Eritrea, a country that was once part of Ethiopia. Ethiopia and Eritrea have been at war for decades, with Tigray and the TPLF stuck in the middle. Abiy was hailed for bringing this conflict to an end in 2018.
Then last year, Abiy postponed the Ethiopian elections because of COVID. The Tigrayans didn’t like this too much. So they held elections on their own. Then, Abiy sent the Ethiopian military into the region after claiming that the TPLF had attacked their base, starting a sh*tshow of epic, historic proportion.
The Eritrean Army then saw an opportunity for revenge after years of war in Tigray. And so they invaded as well, alongside Abiy and the Ethiopian army. Internet access and electricity was cut off to the region. So the ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans raged in secret.
“There’s no hunger in Tigray. There’s a problem in Tigray, and the government’s capable of fixing that.” [Ahmed]
Nice Nobel Prize, ass.
That’s right: In 2021, when we can FaceTime our moms across the globe in a second, nobody knew about this mass murder and famine for months. But now that it’s public, with millions still denied aid, where’s the social media outrage? “Kony 2012” had Bieber and Gaga and everyone. Cardi B spoke out on Sudan.
But if you aren’t a consumer of foreign news here in the U.S., you might only know about this if you’re a “Bachelor’s” fan. That’s because when the last season finished, a contestant named Magi Tareke called her mother, who lived in the Tigray region, and she couldn’t get through because of the blackouts. Turns out her mother was safe, and her brother had fled to Sudan. In the meantime, the bachelorettes rallied around her on social media. And thank God—somebody had to.
The lack of outrage obviously stems from the Ethiopian government’s lies and gaslighting and blackout of the region. They blocked journalists and humanitarian groups and the internet, and it’s worked.
But I also worry that our muted response is a result of our own diminished view of the United States’s role in the world. Look, USAID director Samantha Power has been taking action. But all Joe Biden’s done is put out a nice statement. The administration’s been focusing more on COVID and the homefront.
The MAGA right has decided that the U.S. should ignore the problems in “sh*thole countries” and ban refugees fleeing persecution from coming here. Meanwhile, the extreme left thinks that U.S. involvement in the world does more harm than good.
We cannot let this America-alone mindset take hold. For all our flaws, the U.S. is needed. When there are problems, China and Russia ain’t coming through that door. It’s on us to reestablish ourselves as a beacon of hope in the world.
💭 Climate Scientists Shocked by Scale of Floods in Germany
Deluge raises fears human-caused disruption is making extreme weather even worse than predicted
The intensity and scale of the floods in Germany this week have shocked climate scientists, who did not expect records to be broken this much, over such a wide area or this soon.
After the deadly heatwave in the US and Canada, where temperatures rose above 49.6C two weeks ago, the deluge in central Europe has raised fears that human-caused climate disruption is making extreme weather even worse than predicted.
Precipitation records were smashed across a wide area of the Rhine basin on Wednesday, with devastating consequences. At least 58 people have been killed, tens of thousands of homes flooded and power supplies disrupted.
Parts of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia were inundated with 148 litres of rain per sq metre within 48 hours in a part of Germany that usually sees about 80 litres in the whole of July.
The city of Hagen declared a state of emergency after the Volme burst its banks and its waters rose to levels not seen more than four times a century.
The most striking of more than a dozen records was set at the Köln-Stammheim station, which was deluged in 154mm of rain over 24 hours, obliterating the city’s previous daily rainfall high of 95mm.
Climate scientists have long predicted that human emissions would cause more floods, heatwaves, droughts, storms and other forms of extreme weather, but the latest spikes have surpassed many expectations.
“I am surprised by how far it is above the previous record,” Dieter Gerten, professor of global change climatology and hydrology at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said. “We seem to be not just above normal but in domains we didn’t expect in terms of spatial extent and the speed it developed.”
Gerten, who grew up in a village in the affected area, said it occasionally flooded, but not like this week. Previous summer downpours have been as heavy, but have hit a smaller area, and previous winter storms have not raised rivers to such dangerous levels. “This week’s event is totally untypical for that region. It lasted a long time and affected a wide area,” he said.
Scientists will need more time to assess the extent to which human emissions made this storm more likely, but the record downpour is in keeping with broader global trends.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on July 10, 2021
😠😠😠 😢😢😢
Tigrayans in Humera and Alematta plead for help to escape ethnic violence
Tigrayan residents of the towns of Humera and Alematta say they are being singled out, attacked and driven from their homes by Amhara Special Forces.
The city of Humera, close to the tri-point of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan, has been at the forefront of the Tigray war since it began in November last year.
Attacks from Ethiopian troops and Amhara special forces from the South and by the Eritrean army from the North drove the Tigrayan forces from the city. But many Tigrayans remained. Now, as the Tigray Defence Forces are reportedly advancing from their strongholds in central Tigray westwards and southwards, the Tigrayans living in Humera are again under severe threat.
Tigrayans in Alematta say they are also being attacked.
This information has come from several sources.
Many Tigrayans in Humera and surrounding area say they are trapped and threatened.
Amhara Special Forces have been going door to door, warning Tigrayans to get out of what they call “their land”. Tigrayans say they have been given just 24 hours to leave their homes. Some people have been beaten and the community is traumatised.
“We told the Amhara that we don’t have a safe route to leave: the border with Sudan is closed and we are prevented from moving to Amhara or Tigray. They replied by telling us to go to Eritrea, but we said we can’t and won’t go to Eritrea.”
An appeal for help
The community says the situation is really urgent. They say they are being starved, abused, traumatized and have no hope.
Residents of Humera are appealing for the Red Cross, and other International Humanitarian Organisations, to come to their aid. They fear that unless a route out of the town is found along which Tigrayans can escape from Humera they will be abused or killed by the Amhara.
Alematta
Similar reports are coming from the town of Alematta and surrounding areas.
Many Tigrayans are taken from their home by Amahra force at gunpoint, without warning. There is a report that 9 young Tigrayan men were killed in public on Friday – accused of being supporters of the Tigrayan “junta”.
Tigrayans in the town are terrified, with many taken to prisons where they are being held. Older people and children have been taken to Mokeoni and left there – told they can walk into territory held by the Tigray Defence Forces, some 25 kilometres away.
These displaced people are being forced to leave their homes without money, clothes, or documents.
The UN Ocha recently reported that: “The road from Mekelle to Alematta, in Southern Zone, was also cleared but access beyond it has been denied by Amhara Security Forces (ASF), who are still in control of areas south of Korem toward Alematta and beyond.”
The Tigrayans of Humera and Alematta are appealing to the International Committee of the Red Cross to arrange safe routes along which these threatened people can escape to safety.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on July 5, 2021
💭 My Note: They say, there is war in Oromia too – so, why don’t they do the same to the Oromos in Addis? The Answer is because it’s the Oromos who are the perpetrators. It’s all lies, there is no war in Oromia – there ain’t no such thing as “Eritrean soldiers in Oromia” – Evil Abiy Ahmed’s fascist regime is an Oromo one – and it’s the Oromos + the Amharas who are responsible for the #TigrayGenocide. Will the Addis Ababa residents now have a desire to show solidarity with Tigrayans against this sort of barbarity? No, they won’t! Unless the TDF advance towards Addis Ababa, I smell Auschwitz!
Thousands of Ethnic-Tigrayan Residents of Addis Ababa Being Marched to Mass Detention Centers
FRESH WAVE OF ARBITRARY ARREST OF TIGRAYANS IN ADDIS ABEBA
Video showing thousands of ethnic Tigrayan residents of Addis Ababa – the city they built and modernized — being marched on the street to mass detention centers before they are transferred to concentration camps in Awash Arba and other locations.
Reports are surfacing to the arbitrary arrest and rounding up of ethnic Tigrayans residing in Addis Abeba by police along with non-uniformed security forces. Addis Standard received reports indicating that these arrests are taking place in different locations around the capital.
An eyewitness who wants to remain anonymous in fear of reprisal told Addis Standard that Addis Abeba police accompanied by men wearing civilian clothes appeared in Summit, a neighborhood with a huge presence of Tigrinya speaking community, and started to check for IDs and conduct body searches checking on what is on them. The eyewitness said that the police took people who didn’t have their IDs on them and sarcastically made inappropriate remarks and asked those being checked, “Are you a junta?”
Another eyewitness who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal detailed for Addis Standard similar incidents and said, “It was a mix of Addis Abeba police and Federal police personnels.” Addis Standard learned from the same source who was previously arrested that there was physical abuse of detainees at the police station he was held at.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also said that it is monitoring reports of arrests of media personnel in Addis Abeba as well as residents of Tigray origin suspected of connection with the ongoing situation in the region and warned, “Such measures could aggravate the public‘s concerns on the risk of ethnic profiling.” Addis Standard contacted the senior media advisor at the rights commission, Aaron Maasho who on his part said that no further information is available but added, “Our team is monitoring the situation closely.”
The wife of the Awlo Media cameraman Muse Hadera who was arrested on Friday, July 02, 2021 said that she doesn’t know his whereabouts and was told when she went to the federal police with his lawyer that he was freed. Mesi told Addis Standard, “I know that he wasn’t released and is held somewhere. We just want to know what his charges are as we are still not clear on them. Also we want to make sure that he was not arrested for his identity and we can only understand by having answers as to his whereabouts and his charges.”
This fresh wave of arbitrary arrests coincides with the arrest of at least 12 journalists at two online media platforms. The lawyer, Tadele Gebre, told Addis Standard that the 10 journalists, a cameraman alongside Five members of the Awlo media staff, were arrested by federal police. Tadele also disclosed that Two journalists, Abebe Bayu and Yayesew Shimeles from Ethio-Forum, a Youtube based news outlet were also arrested. At the time the Federal police commission said their arrests were due to their affiliation with a terrorist group which is banned by the parliament. It also comes in the backdrop of an earlier wave of arrests that swapped returnees from the Middle East earlier in May, 2021.
Addis Standard also contacted both the spokesperson of the Addis Abeba Police commission and the spokesperson of the Federal police commission to verify claims made by eyewitnesses and concerned family members. While Fasika Fanta, Addis Abeba police commission spokesperson denied having any knowledge of the arrests, the spokesperson for the federal police commission said, “The federal police commission did not and does not arrest citizens based on their identity unless otherwise they are involved in criminal acts,” he added, “ Police can arrest every one without any discrimination, when suspected with criminal act.” AS
“A cease fire doesn’t mean cutting a region off power or destroying critical infrastructure.
A credible cease fire means doing everything possible so that aid reaches the millions of children, women and men who urgently need it. Saving lives should be a priority for all. #Tigray.” Josep Borrell
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on July 1, 2021
😈 “He Was Defeated” Ethiopian PM Withdraws from Tigray After Months of Civil War as Famine Looms The Ethiopian military has withdrawn its forces from Mekelle, the capital of the war-torn Tigray region, after the government declared a ceasefire. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed denied reports his military was defeated by Tigrayan forces, and said he had successfully pacified the city. Ahmed, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, launched the offensive against Tigray separatists in November. Since then, thousands have been killed, over a million civilians have been displaced, and some 350,000 people are now on the brink of famine. Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam, a constitutional law scholar, political theorist and conflict analyst, says Prime Minister Ahmed’s “unilateral” ceasefire hides the reality of what happened. “He was defeated,” he says. We also speak with Stanley Chitekwe, chief of nutrition at UNICEF Ethiopia, who says the organization is seeing “very high levels of malnutrition” in Tigray, including among children under 5. “This malnutrition situation may deteriorate into famine,” he warns.
👉 Bridge on Tekeze River in Ethiopia’s Tigray Destroyed by Abiy Ahmed & His Oromara Agents
😈😈😈
A bridge on the Tekeze river in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has been destroyed, the International Rescue Committee said on Thursday, adding that as a result getting aid to the war-ravaged region would be “even more severely hampered than before”.
„We call on all parties to commit to an immediate, indefinite, negotiated ceasefire,„
“Our paramount priority is addressing the dire humanitarian situation.„
„We urge all parties to adhere strictly to international humanitarian law and commit to unhindered humanitarian access and independent mechanisms for accountability for human rights violations and abuses.”
💭 Ethiopia (Oromia) Used Hunger as a Weapon of War
There is fragile ceasefire in Northern Ethiopia’s Tigray after Ethiopian and allied forces withdrew after an occupation late in 2020. It’s a dramatic turn in conflict that has killed thousands, uprooted millions and featured atrocities the global community attributes to the government of a Nobel Prize winning prime minister. On Tuesday, Tigrayan rebels were claiming victory. Nick Schifrin reports.
💭 Ceasefire in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region
PRESS STATEMENT
NED PRICE, DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON
The Government of Ethiopia’s announcement yesterday of a unilateral ceasefire in the Tigray region could be a positive step if it results in changes on the ground to end the conflict, stop the atrocities, and allow unhindered humanitarian assistance. We are closely monitoring developments. We call on all parties to commit to an immediate, indefinite, negotiated ceasefire, so as to end the violence, restore stability to Tigray, and create a context for an inclusive dialogue that preserves the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ethiopian state.
We urge all parties to adhere strictly to international humanitarian law and commit to unhindered humanitarian access and independent mechanisms for accountability for human rights violations and abuses. We continue to call for the immediate, verifiable withdrawal of all Eritrean forces from Ethiopian territory, a necessary step for an effective, sustainable ceasefire and in accordance with the Ethiopian government’s March commitment to do so.
Our paramount priority is addressing the dire humanitarian situation. The United States stands ready to work with the Ethiopian government, Tigrayan authorities, the United Nations, and other international partners to expedite the delivery of life-saving food assistance, including to the estimated 900,000 people likely already experiencing famine conditions. In this regard, we urge the Ethiopian authorities to immediately restore telecommunication services in Tigray and permit unhindered freedom of movement for and ensure the safety and security of humanitarian organization personnel.
