Ethiopian Airlines Employees Are Fleeing The Country by Hiding in The Planes They Work On

Courtesy: CNN

Yohannes and Gebremeskel knew it would be freezing cold inside the bulk cargo area of the Airbus A350 plane on the long flight from Ethiopia’s capital to Belgium.

But the two ground technicians with Ethiopian Airlines, both of Tigrayan origin, said they felt a threat from the Ethiopian authorities that left them no choice but to stow away among crates of fresh flowers.

Both men said family members had been detained under sweeping emergency laws that have targeted ethnic Tigrayans — and that they feared it was their turn next. The laws were imposed in November as Ethiopian government troops battle forces from the northern Tigray region in a bitter conflict that has now dragged on for 14 months. The government denies the laws targeted any particular group and recently lifted the state of emergency.

A view of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on November 27. Witnesses and Ethiopia's human rights commission accused authorities of arresting people in the capital based on ethnicity, using the wider powers granted by the state of emergency.

A view of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on November 27. Witnesses and Ethiopia’s human rights commission accused authorities of arresting people in the capital based on ethnicity, using the wider powers granted by the state of emergency.

So, in the early hours of December 4, Yohannes and Gebremeskel, both 25, made a spur of the moment decision to climb into the storage section of a converted Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane that was sitting in one of the hangars at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, waiting for the early morning flight to Brussels, Belgium.

As ground technicians with Ethiopia’s flagship commercial airline for the past five years, they had access to the compartment for routine inspection purposes. But if their hiding place was discovered, they would face harsh punishment, they said. CNN has changed both men’s names at their request for security reasons.

For more than three hours before take-off, they hid in the cold among the cabin crew’s luggage, not far away from the plane’s cargo shipment — crates loaded with roses ready to be delivered to Europe. 

“We took the risk. We were — we had no choice, we had no choice, we couldn’t live in Addis Ababa, we were being treated as terrorists,” Yohannes, who has now obtained asylum in Belgium, told CNN in one of several phone conversations.  

Four of his relatives have been killed, his fiancée is in prison in Ethiopia’s Afar region and his sister, about seven months pregnant, was seized from his house along with his furniture, he said. Yohannes believes these killings and detentions were motivated by their Tigrayan ethnicity and actioned under Ethiopia’s new emergency laws. “I don’t know where she [his fiancée] is currently,” he added. CNN has not been able to independently verify the deaths or imprisonment of Yohannes’ relatives.  

“We took the risk. We were — we had no choice, we had no choice, we couldn’t live in Addis Ababa, we were being treated as terrorists.”

Yohannes

A spokeswoman for the office of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed noted in an emailed statement to CNN that the state of emergency was lifted on January 26, 2022.

“You would note that the Council of Ministers have today decided to lift the State of Emergency. Individuals apprehended under the SOE [State of Emergency] have been released in great numbers, over the past weeks by the security sector, following investigations,” spokeswoman Billene Seyoum Woldeyes said.

“The SOE was never enacted to ‘persecute’ any group of people based on their identity,” she said.

The pair are not the only airline employees to attempt a risky escape from their home country in recent weeks. On December 1, shortly before Yohannes and Gebremeskel fled to Belgium, two other Ethiopian Airlines technicians concealed themselves in a passenger aircraft destined for Washington, DC, a spokesperson for the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed to CNN via an emailed statement.

Yohannes and Gebremeskel decided to flee from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport after reports that security was more lax there following the suspension of dozens of Tigrayan guards.

Yohannes and Gebremeskel decided to flee from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport after reports that security was more lax there following the suspension of dozens of Tigrayan guards.

They had concealed themselves in the ceiling space above the seating, according to a source at Ethiopian Airlines with firsthand knowledge of the internal investigation that was launched afterward.

Their journey would last more than 36 hours in total, as the plane flew from Addis Ababa via Lagos, Nigeria, and Dublin, Ireland, before finally landing at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC.

Upon arrival in the US, the individuals were detained by the US Department of Homeland Security before later being transferred to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

CNN has also spoken to several other Tigrayan employees of Ethiopian Airlines who have fled Ethiopia in recent months through their jobs as flight crew. They told similar stories of widespread detentions of Tigrayans in Ethiopia and of targeted ethnic harassment from within the airline.

Concealed above plane crew’s bunk

CNN has been unable to speak directly to the stowaways who reached Washington, DC, but the source at Ethiopian Airlines said that both men were also of Tigrayan origin.

A CBP spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that after an identification and security examination, officers discovered the two “possessed Ethiopian Airlines employee identification cards, and that they stowed away with the intent of claiming asylum in the United States.”

“The two Ethiopian males are presently housed at a federal detention facility pending a hearing before an immigration judge,” the statement added. “CBP issued a civil penalty to Ethiopian Airlines for the security breach and were briefed on measures the airline is undertaking to enhance the airline’s aircraft security plan.”

CNN has obtained photos of the inside of the Boeing 777 aircraft as it looked during an inspection in the aftermath of the escape. In some pictures, it is possible to see the crew bunk in the center of the plane’s seating area, which the two men reportedly entered before lifting a mattress to reveal a maintenance access panel. 

The images indicate they then cut a larger hole in the panel to enable them to smuggle themselves through the gap into the plane’s ceiling. They hid in this spot, not far above the aircraft’s toilets, for over a day and a half. CNN showed Boeing the photographs and a Boeing representative deferred to Ethiopian Airlines for comment.

The source at the airline told CNN they believed the fact that the stowaways were former maintenance technicians for the airline enabled them to know exactly where to hide inside the plane to go undetected without damaging the structure of the aircraft. 

That they had the necessary tools with them to cut through the panelling might suggest the pair had planned the attempt in advance, the source at the airline added.

In total, 16 Ethiopian Airlines technicians appeared to have escaped via any possible means, either by boarding as cabin crew and walking off or stowing away, he said. CNN has been unable to independently verify this number.

For Yohannes and Gebremeskel, the decision to flee was an impromptu one, they said. They picked the first scheduled flight to a European country that was available and had to leave possessions including their cell phones behind in their lockers. 

For the whole of their seven-hour flight to Brussels, they sat in the cargo area of the Airbus A350 with no food, no water, in the freezing cold, unbeknownst to the other members of the crew on board.  

“I didn’t even have any clothes with me, I was wearing the uniform for maintenance […] I’m still wearing it,” Yohannes said.  

“We don’t have anything to change into here, no underwear, no shoes, even the shoes […] we tried to cover our feet and the legs with what we had, it was night shift, on night shift we have the jacket of Ethiopian Airlines crew,” Gebremeskel, who also obtained asylum in Belgium, told CNN.

It was not how Gebremeskel imagined he would experience his first trip out of Ethiopia. Despite working for five years at Ethiopian Airlines, he had never boarded an international flight. 

Airline employees claim discrimination against Tigrayans

Many people have left Ethiopia by land since the conflict began in November 2020. As of mid-December 2021, more than 50,000 people had fled into neighboring Sudan, according to UN figures. At the peak of the influx, “more than 1,000 people on average were arriving each day, overwhelming the capacity to provide aid,” a UN report said.

A refugee camp in Um Rakuba, Sudan, pictured in August. More than 50,000 Ethiopians have fled to Sudan since the Tigray conflict began in late 2020, according to the UN.

A refugee camp in Um Rakuba, Sudan, pictured in August. More than 50,000 Ethiopians have fled to Sudan since the Tigray conflict began in late 2020, according to the UN.

Meanwhile, attempts to leave Ethiopia by air by legal means have become increasingly difficult for Tigrayans, according to Ethiopian Airlines employees CNN spoke with.

Several attempted to leave by boarding planes from Addis Ababa’s Bole Airport as legitimate passengers but were denied access due to their Tigrayan ethnicity, they claimed. One former employee told CNN there were four checkpoints at the airport where passengers had their passports checked before departure.  

“They check place of birth and name,” they told CNN, recalling three of their own failed attempts to leave. If the person was born in Tigray or had a Tigrayan name they were denied exit from Ethiopia, the former employee said.

As a result, several employees told CNN they escaped by working on board international flights as flight crew and fleeing when the aircraft landed abroad, often when the destination was in Europe or the US.

CNN has obtained IDs that confirm the identities of all four men who stowed away. Flight paths of the two flights — the one to Brussels and the one from Addis to Dulles airport through Dublin — have also been crosschecked on FlightRadar24. 

Ethiopian Airlines has not responded to CNN’s request for comment regarding the stowaways’ journeys or the allegations of discrimination against Tigrayans.

This is not the first time Ethiopian Airlines has made headlines during the conflict in Ethiopia. In October last year CNN revealed that the airline had been ferrying weapons between Ethiopia and Eritrea at the outset of the conflict in November 2020, an act that was condemned by the international community as a potential violation of aviation law.

CNN’s investigation triggered calls by US lawmakers for sanctions and investigations into Ethiopia’s eligibility for a lucrative US trade program. Ethiopia was kicked out of the program over human rights violations at the start of 2022.

The airline has issued multiple denials about transporting weapons. 

‘We were shaking’

After the aircraft carrying Yohannes and Gebremeskel landed in Brussels, the two waited for their chance to reach the terminal building.  

“There were two guys working on the aircraft. One was unloading the cargo shipment and the other was coming with a torch around the plane,” Yohannes said. “So when the first was unloading the flowers we jumped to the ground — me and my friend — we jumped, and we ran to the terminal.”  

Inside, employees gave them water and something to eat, but Yohannes and Gebremeskel were still in shock. “We were afraid they were going to send us back […] The guards, they brought us tea, but we were kneeling down on the ground, we were shaking,” Yohannes added.  

Slowly, they felt a sense of relief, perhaps for the first time since they took off from Addis Ababa.

Their decision to flee had been prompted in part by reports that 38 Tigrayan security guards had been recently suspended at Bole Airport, meaning security was more lax than usual, they said.  

“We were afraid of course … Luckily, we were not found. If we had been found, the punishment would have been harsh.”

Gebremeskel

But NISS, Ethiopia’s national intelligence security service, was still searching every part of the aircraft before departure, Gebremeskel explained, in order to prevent escapes. The Ethiopian Prime Minister’s spokesperson, Billene Seyoum, did not comment on these allegations.

Ethiopian Airlines has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the security situation at Bole Airport

“We had some tools with us, we were afraid they were going to catch us because they check — the guy from the national intelligence security service checks every flight before departure,” Gebremeskel said.  

“We were afraid of course. We were sitting with some tools with us. Maybe they will come to check that we’re working on it. Luckily, we were not found. If we had been found, the punishment would have been harsh.” 

Yohannes hopes that in Belgium, he will find a country that will “respect my demands, the right to life.”

Pieter-Jan De Block, their lawyer, confirmed in a statement to CNN that both his clients had “obtained international protection in Belgium” and that they’d been released from the center where they were staying. 

For Gebremeskel, the picture is bittersweet. With his family still far away — his parents are in a refugee camp in Sudan — and no money or job in Belgium, life is not easy. Although he has accommodation now, his first two nights after being granted asylum were spent sleeping at a train station.

He told CNN he hoped one day to return to Ethiopia but that until the country is a place where “people aren’t treated differently for their ethnicity,” that hope feels very remote.

Source

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አቶ ተወልደ ገ/ማርያም ከኃላፊነታቸው በፈቃዳቸው ቶሎ ይሰናበቱ

💭 My Note: Today fascist Abiy Ahmed Ali has named a new defense minister, traitor Tigrayan Abraham Belay. It is “symbolically interesting” to see a Tigrayan appointed as defense minister. I’ve stated in the past there are very cynic and satanic motives behind the appointment of all these Tigrayan technocrats.

Preparing for The #TigrayGenocide evil Abiy Ahmed and his Luciferian overlords brought Tigrayans to occupy key positions nationally and internationally:

👉 His Holiness Abune Mathias, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

👉 Dr. Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin, Minister of Health of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

👉 Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Director-General of the World Health Organization.

👉 Mr Tewolde Gebre Mariam Tesfay, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines.

and Today:

👉 Dr. Abraham Belay as Defense Minster.

💥 Wow! Let’s connect the dots…this is how monster war criminal Abiy Ahmed Ali and his Luciferian babysitters are literally working hard to destroy Ethiopia, instantly, before our very eyes – with the help of the Amharas — and how they are preparing themselves to blame those Tigrayan appointees for all the evil deeds of the fascist Oromo regime in Addis Ababa.

(CNN) Ethiopia’s government has used the country’s flagship commercial airline to shuttle weapons to and from neighboring Eritrea during the civil war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, a CNN investigation has found.

Cargo documents and manifests seen by CNN, as well as eyewitness accounts and photographic evidence, confirm that arms were transported between Addis Ababa’s international airport and airports in the Eritrean cities of Asmara and Massawa on board multiple Ethiopian Airlines planes in November 2020 during the first few weeks of the Tigray conflict.

It’s the first time this weapons trade between the former foes has been documented during the war. Experts said the flights would constitute a violation of international aviation law, which forbids the smuggling of arms for military use on civil aircraft.

Atrocities committed during the conflict also appear to violate the terms of a trade program that provides lucrative access to the United States market and which Ethiopian Airlines has benefited greatly from.

Ethiopian Airlines is a state-owned economic powerhouse that generates billions of dollars a year carrying passengers to hubs across the African continent and all over the world, and it is also a member of the Star Alliance, a group of some of the world’s top aviation companies.

The airline previously issued two denials about transporting weapons.

Responding to CNN’s latest investigation, Ethiopian Airlines said it “strictly complies with all National, regional and International aviation related regulations” and that “to the best of its knowledge and its records, it has not transported any war armament in any of its routes by any of its Aircraft.”

The governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

Military refills

Long-simmering tensions between Ethiopia’s government and the ruling party in the Tigray region exploded on November 4, when Ethiopia accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front of attacking a federal army base.

Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, ordered a military offensive to oust the TPLF from power. Government forces and regional militias poured into Tigray, joined on the front lines by troops from Eritrea.

Thousands of people are estimated to have died in the conflict, which by many accounts bears the hallmarks of genocide and ethnic cleansing. While all sides have been accused of committing grave human rights abuses during Tigray’s war, previous CNN investigations established that Eritrean soldiers have been behind some of the worst atrocities, including sexual violence and mass killings. Eritrea has denied wrongdoing by its soldiers and only admitted to having troops in Tigray this spring.

Documents obtained by CNN indicate that flights carrying weapons between Ethiopia and Eritrea began at least as early as a few days after the outset of the Tigray conflict.

On at least six occasions — from November 9 to November 28 — Ethiopian Airlines billed Ethiopia’s ministry of defense tens of thousands of dollars for military items including guns and ammunition to be shipped to Eritrea, records seen by CNN show.

The documents, known as air waybills, detail the contents of each shipment. In one document, the “nature and quantity of goods” is listed as “Military refill” and “Dry food stuff.” Other entries included the description “Consolidated.” The records also had abbreviations and spelling mistakes such as “AM” for ammunition and “RIFFLES” for rifles, according to airline employees. They told CNN the spelling errors were introduced when the contents were manually entered by employees into the cargo database.

Benno Baksteen, chairman of DEGAS, the Dutch Expert Group Aviation Safety, told CNN that these waybills were required for all commercial flights as the crew on board need to know the contents of the cargo to ensure they are transported safely.

On November 9, five days after Abiy ordered a military offensive in Tigray, records show an Ethiopian Airlines flight transported guns and ammunitions from Addis Ababa to Asmara, Eritrea’s capital.

An air waybill and a cargo manifest from that date show that Ethiopian Airlines charged Ethiopia $166,398.32 for about 2,643 pieces of “DFS & RIFFLE WITH AM (sic)” on that flight. DFS is a reference to “dry food stuff,” according to airline sources.

Another air waybill from a few days later, November 13, has the same shipper and consignee. The content of that shipment was “military refill and dry food stuff,” according to the document. The shipments came at a time of increased military activity; security sources in the region told CNN the Eritreans needed re-supply for the fight in Tigray.

As planes went back and forth between the two countries, massacres of Tigrayans in the city of Axum and the village of Dengelat by Eritrean troops took place on November 19 and November 30 respectively.

Cargo documents show that the series of flights between Ethiopia and Eritrea continued until at least November 28, 2020.

Some current and former Ethiopian Airlines employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, said the flights continued past this date but that the majority of arms trips to Eritrea were in November.

Both cargo and passenger planes were used in the operation, though CNN has no evidence that commercial passengers were on any of the flights carrying weapons. Many of these flights do not appear on popular online flight tracking platforms such as Flightradar24. When they do, the destination in Eritrea is often not visible and the flight path vanishes once the plane crosses the border from Ethiopia.

The employees told CNN the staff could manually turn off the ADS-B signal on board to prevent the flights being publicly tracked.

The flights were often assigned the same flight numbers, primarily ET3312, ET3313 and ET3314, with ‘ET’ being the code for Ethiopian Airlines. All the planes mentioned in the cargo files seen by CNN are American-made Boeing aircraft. The airline has been in a long relationship with the US aviation giant.

A Boeing representative declined to comment.

Ethiopian Airlines workers described witnessing other airline employees loading and unloading arms and military vehicles on flights directed to Asmara. A few even claimed they helped load the weapons on the planes themselves. All spoke of being ethnically profiled for being Tigrayan. 

CNN has seen the Ethiopian Airlines’ ID cards of these employees and confirmed their identities.

One former employee told CNN they were instructed at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport to load guns and four military vehicles onto an Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane that was due to fly to Belgium but was sent instead to Eritrea.

“The cars were Toyota pickups which have a stand for snipers,” the employee said. “I got a call from the managing director late at night informing me to handle the cargo. Soldiers came at 5 a.m. to start loading two big trucks loaded with weapons and the pickups.” 

“I had to stop a flight to Brussels, a 777 cargo plane, which was loaded with flowers, then we unloaded half of the perishable goods to make space for the armaments.” 

The former employee warned soldiers that the vehicles were carrying far more gas than was allowed under international air transport rules, but said they were overruled after a direct call from an army commander.

“He [the commander] said we are going to war and we need the fuel to be loaded,” the employee said. “Then I referred the issue to my manager and my manager took responsibility and allowed them to load it.”

The flight, loaded with both weapons and flowers, traveled to Eritrea, then returned to Addis before flying on to Brussels the following day, the employee said. CNN cross-referenced this testimony with Flightradar24 and found the record of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft returning from the direction of Eritrea and flying to Brussels the next day, but could not independently verify it was the same flight referred to by the employee.

Days later, the employee said they were temporarily suspended from work. They believe they were suspended for being Tigrayan but also for the incident with the soldiers. The employee fled Ethiopia in March.

Ethiopian Airlines told CNN in its statement that no employees had been suspended or terminated due to their ethnic background.

It appears to be not the only long-distance international flight with unplanned stops. A flight from Addis Ababa to Shanghai on November 9, 2020, took a long detour via Eritrea according to the ADS-B signal that tracks the route on Flightradar24.

Several employees at the Addis Ababa airport said they saw multiple weapons flights leave for Eritrea each day at the outset of the conflict. They also spoke about flights carrying weapons from Eritrea back to Ethiopia. It’s unclear why armaments were being transferred back to Ethiopia.

One said they saw tanks and heavy artillery loaded onto planes coming to Addis Ababa, while small arms — mortars, launchers — were dispatched to Asmara. Employees told CNN they believed the smaller weaponry were being sent to Asmara to arm Eritrean troops.

All the employees said they were instructed by the airline to delete photos of the weapons from their phones. Not all of them did.

In June, photos circulated on social media platforms showing crates containing mortars on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight and the same crates being loaded on the plane in Massawa, Eritrea.

The company released a statement strongly denying the allegation that its planes were transporting weapons and claimed the photos were photoshopped. 

However, CNN has corroborated the photos using visual analysis techniques, interviews and documentary evidence, dating them to a 777 Freighter cargo flight that flew from Ethiopia to Eritrea and back between November 8 and 9.

Continue reading…

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Allan Rock President Emeritus of University of Ottawa | The UN is a Disgrace – Where’s Mr Guterres?

💭 Allan Rock is President Emeritus of the University of Ottawa, and a Professor in its Faculty of Law, where he teaches International Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflict in International Law.

He practised in civil, administrative and commercial litigation for 20 years (1973-93) with a national law firm in Toronto, appearing as counsel in a wide variety of cases before courts at all levels, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He was inducted in 1988 as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is a former Treasurer (President) of the Law Society of Ontario.

Allan Rock was elected to the Canadian Parliament in 1993, and re-elected in 1997 and 2000. He served for that decade as a senior minister in the government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, in both social and economic portfolios. He was Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (1993-97), Minister of Health (1997-2002) and Minister of Industry and Infrastructure (2002-03).

He was appointed in 2003 as Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations in New York during a period that involved responding to several complex regional conflicts, including those in Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo and Darfur. He led the successful Canadian effort in New York to secure, at the 2005 World Summit, the unanimous adoption by UN member states of The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing and other mass atrocities. He participated in the negotiation (in Abuja, Nigeria) of the Darfur Peace Agreement in May, 2006. He later served as a Special Envoy for the United Nations investigating the unlawful use of child soldiers in Sri Lanka during its civil war.

In 2008, Allan Rock became the 29th President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, a comprehensive university of 50,000 students, faculty and staff. uOttawa is ranked among the Top Ten in Canada for research intensity, and is the largest bilingual university (French-English) in the world. He completed two terms as uOttawa President in 2016.

Allan Rock was subsequently a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School, associated with the Program on International Law and Armed Conflict.

He is a member of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, and a Senior Advisor to the World Refugee and Migration Council.

Allan Rock is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. He is married to Deborah Hanscom and they have four children.

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መደመጥ ያለበት | የማይካድራና ዳንሻ የጅምላ ጭፍጨፋ በማን ነው የተፈፀመው? ቆይታ ከጂኦሎጂስትዋ ፋና በላይ ጋር

💭 በጣም የሚያሳዝነውና የሚያስቆጣው ነገር ደግሞ፤ የሠሩት እጅግ በጣም ከባድ የሆነ ወንጀል ስላልበቃቸው የወንጀላቸው ሰለባ የሆነውን ምስኪን ሕዝብ ለሠሩት ወንጀል ተጠያቂ ለማድረግ እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ ሲለፍፉና ሲጮሁ መሰማታቸው ነው። 😠😠😠 😢😢😢

👉 ኦሮሞዎች፣ አማራዎች፣ ኤርትራውያን፣ ደቡቦች፣ ሶማሌዎች፣ አፋሮችና አረቦች በትግራይ ላይ በፈጸሙት ከባድ ወንጀል፤

“አባትህንና እናትህን አክብር፤ እግዚአብሔር አምላክህ በሚሰጥህ ምድር ዕድሜህ እንዲረዝም። አትግደል። አታመንዝር። አትስረቅ። በባልንጀራህ ላይ በሐሰት አትመስክር።

የባልንጀራህን ቤት አትመኝ፤ የባልንጀራህን ሚስት ሎሌውንም ገረዱንም በሬውንም አህያውንም ከባልንጀራህ ገንዘብ ሁሉ ማናቸውንም አትመኝ።”[ኦሪት ዘጸአት ምዕራፍ ፳]

የሚሉትን አሥሩንም የእግዚአብሔር አምላክ ትዕዛዛት ጥሰዋቸዋል። ወዮላችሁ!

✞✞✞[መዝሙረ ዳዊት ምዕራፍ ፴፭፥፲፱፡፳፬]✞✞✞

“በግፍ የሚጠሉኝ በላዬ ደስ አይበላቸው፥ በከንቱ የሚጣሉኝም በዓይናቸው አይጣቀሱብኝ። ለእኔስ ሰላምን ይናገሩኛልና፥ በቍጣም ሽንገላን ይመክራሉ። አፋቸውንም በእኔ ላይ አላቀቁ፤ እሰይ እሰይ፥ ዓይናችን አየው ይላሉ። አቤቱ፥ አንተ አየኸው፤ ዝም አትበል፤ አቤቱ፥ ከእኔ አትራቅ። አምላኬ ጌታዬም፥ ወደ ፍርዴ ተነሥ፥ አቤቱ፥ ፍርዴን አድምጥ። አቤቱ አምላኬ፥ እንደ ጽድቅህ ፍረድልኝ፥ በላዬም ደስ አይበላቸው።”

አሁን የጽዮን ሠራዊት ተገቢ የሆኑ ቦታዎችን በቁጥጥር ሥር ካዋለ በኋላ ጦርነት እንኳን ማካሄድ አያስፈልግም፤ የተሠሩትን ወንጀሎች የሚያጋልጡ መረጃዎች በገለልተኛ የዓለም ዓቀፍ መርማሪዎች እጅ ከገቡ በኋላ ሁሉም ለሁለተኛና ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ ጦርነቱን ተሸንፈው ለፍርድ ይቀርባሉ።

ወንጀለኞቹ የኦሮሞ፣ አማራ እና ኤርትራ ሰአራዊቶች ሆን ብለው የትግራይ ሕዝብ ኦርጋኒክ የሆኑትን የጤፍ እንጀራዎች፣ ጥራጥሬዎች፣ አታክልቶችና ፍራፍሬዎች እንዳይመገብ ነው ማሳዎችን፣ እርሻዎችን፣ የአታክልት ቦታዎችን፣ የእኅል ጎተራዎችን እንዲሁም ቤት ውስጥ ያሉ ሊጦችን ሲያቃጥሉ፣ ሲያበላሹና ሲመርዙ የነበሩት። እንስሳቱን እና ከብቶችንም ገድለዋቸዋል፣ ዘርፈዋቸዋል። እንግዲህ ይህ ሁሉ አረመኔያዊ ተግባር የትግራይን ክርስቲያን ሕዝብ ከማስራብ ዘልቆ የተረፉት በእርዳታ ለሚመጡ የተዳቀሉ/GMO ተጋላጭ እንዲሆኑና ማንም በማይመረመረው የእርዳታ ምግብ፣ መጠጥና ክትባት መንፈሳዊ ፀጋቸውንም እንዲያጡ በማሰብ ነው።ለአሚሪካ አውሎ ነፋሳት ምክኒያት ይሆናሉ የሚሏቸውን ፩ሺህ ትግርኛ ቋንቋ ተናጋሪ የጸሎት አባቶች/መነኮሳት ከዋልድባ ገዳም እንዲባረሩ የተደረጉበት አንዱ ዓላማቸው ይህ ነው፤ አዎ! አባቶች በእርዳታ ለሚመጡ የተዳቀሉ/GMO

ምግቦች ተጋላጭ ሆነው ከእግዚአብሔር እንዲለዩ ለማድረግ በማሰብ ነው። ወደ ገሃነም እሳቱ ይጣላችሁ እናንት እርኩሶች የዲያብሎስ ጭፍራዎች! 😠😠😠

💭 የትግራይ ሠራዊት ባፋጣኝ ወደ ኦሮሞ እና አማራ ክልሎች ዘልቆ በመግባት አገር በቀል/አገር ወለድ የሆኑትን ጤፉንም፣ ጥራጥሬውንም፣ ከብቱንም፣ ዘይቱንም፣ ውሃውንም፣ ዶሮውንም በግድ ወደ ትግራይ ጭኖ መውሰድ ይኖርበታል። ከተቀዳሚ ተግባራቱና ግዴታው መካከል ይህ አንዱ ነው!

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CNN | The Nobel Peace Prize Winner Who’s Presiding Over a Humanitarian Catastrophe

CNN

In 2018, after a two-year conflict, two historically warring nations — Ethiopia and Eritrea — at last signed a peace agreement. The following year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who brokered the peace, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the two years since, Abiy joins the ranks of controversial Peace Prize recipients and nominees, as his record now includes overseeing what may amount to war crimes. Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, for example, was awarded the prize in 1991 “for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights;” shortly thereafter, her government was accused of genocide against the Rohingya minority. Joseph Stalin, head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was twice nominated for the prize.

When Abiy received his Nobel Prize, he faced two clear paths: the path of democracy that could reconcile deep-rooted internal ethnic divisions and bring lasting peace to Ethiopia, or that of authoritarianism and renewed ethnic grievances.

Sadly, he has failed to heal a persistent national rift. Ethiopia is in crisis, as an escalating armed conflict between Abiy’s federal Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and forces of the previously dominant political party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), has ballooned into a humanitarian catastrophe. This power struggle came to a boiling point last year during a constitutional dispute when the Tigray region held its own elections, refusing to recognize Abiy’s administration.

Following an alleged attack by the TPLF on an Ethiopian military camp, Abiy then deployed troops into the Tigray region and, as some international observers believe, joined forces with Eritrean troops, who slaughtered Ethiopian citizens. This act of betrayal fueled the Tigrayans’ long-simmering sense that Abiy had abandoned them. After months of denying the presence of Eritrean troops in Ethiopia, Abiy finally admitted to their involvement in perpetrating abuses against the Tigrayans, but couched their involvement in the conflict by stating that Eritrea had acted in self-defense of its border.

Gruesome accounts of decapitated bodies, the use of rape and starvation tactics as weapons of war, and mass extrajudicial executions have surfaced since November. More than 500 cases of rape — including rape by armed forces, gang rape, and forced rape of family members — have been reported in Tigray.

The ENDF, regional forces, and Eritrean soldiers have destroyed food supplies and targeted civilian areas with fire — bringing upon the Horn of Africa probable famine and incalculable death.

More than 2.2 million Ethiopians have been displaced by the ongoing conflict and violence. In one week alone last December, at least 315,553 Ethiopians were displaced. International pleas for a ceasefire by aid agencies, the African Union, and the United States have been rejected. This crisis could destabilize not only Africa’s second-most populous country, but the entire Horn of Africa.

After assuming power, Abiy made steps toward democratic reform, but in the face of renewed conflict, these have given way to increasingly repressive rule. In an effort to stifle dissent, for example, Abiy shut down phone and internet communication, and detained journalists and dissidents on politically motivated charges. His government also began a state-sponsored propaganda campaign to conceal abuses in the Tigray region.

Allowing Abiy to continue this repressive course sends a signal to other countries that authoritarian regimes can operate with impunity, perpetuating mass killings, rape, famine, and displacement — all of which we have a collective interest to end. But what can the international community do to avert further authoritarian ascendance and deescalate the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia?

👉 First, democratic leaders should refuse to engage formally with Abiy, and bar him from participating in global events such as the World Economic Forum while mass killings in Ethiopia continue. Democratic governments should boycott events — like World Press Freedom Day and the African Union Summit — hosted or sponsored by Ethiopia’s regime. Doing so will let authoritarian rulers like Abiy know that the international community will not tolerate their abuses. Notably, the US State Department imposed travel restrictions on Ethiopian officials on Sunday.

👉 Second, business leaders and institutions can refuse to trade with or provide financial bailouts to Abiy’s government, which would only grant Abiy undeserved legitimacy in global markets. As Africa’s second-most populous nation, Ethiopia is an important trade and investment partner. Refraining from further trade would represent a blow to Abiy’s propaganda campaign and increase pressure on him to end rights abuses in his own country.

Many business leaders consistently cite their commitment to human rights standards, while doing the bare minimum to enforce these standards. They need to ensure tangible actions by governments to address abuses before moving forward with partnerships with the likes of Abiy. They should follow the example of a number of companies that have called out China’s oppressive regime and refused to support the exploitation of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, whose forced labor supplies dozens of international brands.

👉 Third, international journalists must continue to report on the humanitarian disaster Abiy’s agenda has wrought, as Abiy attempts to portray an image of democratic reform abroad. Abiy helped create an information blackout in Ethiopia by jailing domestic journalists and restricting foreign reporting. The global media has a responsibility to expose human rights abuses and hold authoritarian rulers accountable.

Abiy has, of course, capitalized on the authority that the Nobel Peace Prize confers, to enhance his standing in the global community. Petitions asking the Nobel Committee to rescind the prize have garnered tens of thousands of signatures. But the Nobel Committee says the Prize, which is awarded for past accomplishments, cannot be revoked. It is essential, however, that anyone who prizes peace push to stop the displacement and killing of Ethiopian civilians immediately.

Source

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Ethiopian Soldiers, Armed With Guns & Grenades Raided a Hospital Because They Spoke to CNN

ጠመንጃና የእጅ ቦምብ የታጠቁ የኢትዮጵያ ወታደሮች አንድ ሆስፒታል ወረሩ፤ ሐኪሞች ለ ሲ.ኤን.ኤን ስለ ተናገሩ። ዋው!

ጎበዟና ጀግናዋ ሱዳናዊት ጋዜጠኝ ሕይወቷን መስዋዕት ለማድረግ በመወሰን በትግራይ ሕዝብ ላይ የሚደረገውን ጭፍጨፋ ለዓለም ታሳውቃለች። የእኛዎቹ ጋዜጠኞች፣ ፖለቲከኞች፣ “መንፈሳውያን” የሞቀ ቤታቸው ቁጭ ብለው የቡና ቤት ወሬ ከማውራትና ኬመቀበጣጠር አልፈው ዓለም ስለዚህ የዘር ማጥፋት ዘመቻ እንዳያውቅ ይሻሉ፤ እንዲያውም የአረመኔዎቹን ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ አሊ ኦሮሞ ሰአራዊት፣ የኢሳያስ አፈቆርኪ አህዛብ ቤን አሚር ሰአራዊት እና የአማራ አህዛብ ሚሊሺያዎች እየፈጸሙ ያሉትን ጭካኔ የሚያጋልጥ ሰው ሲወጣ በድንጋይ ይወግሩታል። የሲ. ኤን. ኤን ተመልካቾችም “ኢትዮጵያውያን ነን” ከሚሉት ወገኖች የተሻለ ሰብዓዊነትን በአስተያየቶቻቸው ያሳያሉ። እግዚኦ! ጨካኝና ፋሺስታዊ የሆነ ትውልድ በኢትዮጵያ ነግሷል። “ጦርነቱ ይቁም!” የሚል እንኳ አንድም “ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ” ባይ አለመኖሩ ትውልዱ ምን ያህል መውደቁንና ለጥምንብ አንሳ አህዛብ ቀለብ ለመሆንም እንደተዘጋጀ ያሳየናል!

Ethiopian soldiers armed with machine guns, sniper rifles and grenades raided a hospital in Ethiopia’s war-torn northern Tigray region earlier this week in retribution, doctors say, for a CNN investigation that revealed Ethiopian and Eritrean troops were blocking humanitarian aid to patients there.

Medical staff at the University Teaching and Referral Hospital in the besieged city of Axum, in Tigray’s central zone, said that the soldiers stormed the hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning, raiding the student dormitory, doctors and patient wards, contaminating the operating room and stopping all surgical operations.

The troops returned again on Monday, after some medical staff and patients fled, searching for people they accused of “tarnishing the country’s image” in news reports, doctors speaking on condition of anonymity told CNN. The soldiers demanded a “list of the names of doctors who will not cooperate with the military’s investigation into the hospital.”

The international medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) confirmed the incident to CNN, saying that several soldiers went “ward by ward looking for patients, intimidating caretakers and threatening health staff.”

In spite of the threats, medical staff said they don’t regret speaking out. “I feel like I’m living on an isolated planet, with no law or order. The world must open its eyes that people in Tigray are living in anarchy,” staff at Axum University Teaching and Referral Hospital said in a statement.

CNN has reached out to the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s Office for comment.

In April, a CNN team reporting from Tigray with the permission of Ethiopian authorities witnessed Eritrean soldiers — some disguising themselves in old Ethiopian military uniforms — blocking aid to desperate populations more than a month after Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize winning leader Abiy Ahmed pledged to the international community that they would leave.

On April 21, after being thwarted repeatedly by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, the team traveled from the regional capital Mekelle to the historic city of Axum, two weeks after it had been sealed off by the military. An aid convoy also made the seven-hour journey.

Inside the Axum University Teaching and Referral Hospital, CNN interviewed medical workers who detailed the disastrous effects of the blockade — essential supplies were so perilously low that some staff had begun donating blood. They asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, but requested that CNN identify the hospital so that people in the region knew they were still operating.

At the time, CNN also witnessed gun-toting troops roaming the corridors of the hospital, dropping off wounded soldiers and threatening medical staff, who were trying to treat a grim array of trauma from shrapnel, bullets, stabbings and rapes.

On Tuesday, after 48 hours of raids by Ethiopian soldiers, only a few patients — those who were unable to move — remained in their beds.

One doctor, who is still at the hospital, told CNN over text message they are living in fear of what will happen when the soldiers next return.

“Everyone in the hospital is now helpless, with either detention or death looming at any point in the future from now.”

The United Nations on Thursday confirmed that “blockades by military forces” had severely impeded the ability for assistance to reach rural areas of Tigray where the humanitarian crisis is worst. The report has also triggered condemnation in recent days from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and ratcheted up a bi-partisan push for the Biden administration to enact sanctions.

In a rare public statement on their activities in Tigray, Mari Carmen Viñoles, head of the emergency unit of MSF, told CNN the organization was “very concerned about the frequent violations of the neutrality of the medical mission by armed groups.”

👉 Selected Comments from CNN channel:

💭 Rebecca Mæd

“Even the stones cry out for their painful sorrows. Why must humans create such horrors? 😞 “

💭 Kristi Stevens

“May the ancestors and Gods help these people. Our hearts are with them.”

💭 Stanley Glover

„Thank you for bringing Ethiopia’s callous blood letting to our screens . My heart aches for these poor, defenseless , old and children being deliberately murdered by the evil regimes in Addis Ababa and Massawa😩😭”

💭 M Anderson

“This type of horrible crimes towards innocent people make you wonder just how awful human beings can be to one another. And why???“

💭 Redacted

„This is madness, one can only imagine the suffering off camera. Miss Elbagir and her team demonstrated bravery and empathy in the face of death; Exemplary journalists of the past would be proud.“

💭 Kristi Stevens

“Is there any way to help that girl? I would proudly foster her or any of the kids. How can we help????”

💭 SA Doherty

“You are one extraordinarily brave lady Nima, as well as your team–totally courageous, all of you. Massive props to all of you!!

And my God, the inhumanity is just brutal, devastating and absolutely heartbreaking. I pray for the Ethiopian people and victims of this cruel and murderous force. May they get what they deserve!!”

💭 Bb Sen

“Thank you for reporting this heartbreaking story for the whole world.”

💭 Daniel Hostetler

“The cruelty of man is limitless…truly heartbreaking! The World must respond!”

💭 Sylvia Carmichael

“Sorry for your losses my heart is with these people, I don’t understand how humans could do this to others, they are the ones who don’t deserve to exist.”

💭 Simon

“This piece deserves an Emmy!”

💭 Brook Tu

“The reporter, Nima Elbagir, is an incredibly brave woman. So calm, and polite, in the face of danger.

That’s one tough lady. And the story she presents is, both, enlightening and heart-breaking. She should get an award, even if it’s only ‘Employee of the Month’.”

💭 Gods Vibes

“God Please Send Heavenly Support to These People 💟, Your Children Heavenly Father. Remove the Anger from my Heart towards these Evil Men. I Send the Parents and Children My Unconditional Love.

Mankind will never learn what Love is until we love all people on the planet.”

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CNN | Eritrean Troops Disguised as Ethiopian Military Are Blocking Critical Aid in Tigray

🔥 Cruelty at its peak! 😈 Abiy Ahmed Ali & Isaias Afewerki 😈 are the most evil monsters of the planet. It’s mind-blowing and disappointing that The U.S. Department of State is sending the special envoy to these two war criminals! Are they working for them?

🔥 የጭካኔ ድርጊት በከፍታው ላይ!😈 አብይ አህመድ አሊ እና ኢሳያስ አፈወርቂ 😈 የፕላኔቷ እጅግ መጥፎ ጭራቆች ናቸው፡፡ የአሜሪካ የውጭ ጉዳይ መስሪያ ቤት ልዩ መልዕክተኛውን ወደ እነዚህ ሁለት የጦር ወንጀለኞች መላኩ አእምሮን የሚንጥ እና የሚያሳዝን ነው! ለእነሱ እየሠሩ ስለሆነ ነውን?

Eritrean troops are operating with total impunity in Ethiopia’s war-torn northern Tigray region, killing, raping and blocking humanitarian aid to starving populations more than a month after the country’s Nobel Peace Prize winning leader pledged to the international community that they would leave.

A CNN team traveling through Tigray’s central zone witnessed Eritrean soldiers, some disguising themselves in old Ethiopian military uniforms, manning checkpoints, obstructing and occupying critical aid routes, roaming the halls of one of the region’s few operating hospitals and threatening medical staff.

Despite pressure from the Biden administration, there is no sign that Eritrean forces plan to exit the border region anytime soon.

On April 21, a CNN team reporting in Tigray with the permission of Ethiopian authorities traveled from the regional capital Mekelle to the besieged city of Axum, two weeks after it had been sealed off by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers. An aid convoy also made the seven-hour journey.

Ethiopia’s government has severely restricted access to the media until recently, and a state-enforced communications blackout concealed events in the region, making it challenging to gauge the extent of the crisis or verify survivors’ accounts.

But CNN’s interviews with humanitarian workers, doctors, soldiers and displaced people in Axum and across central Tigray — where up to 800,000 displaced people are sheltering — indicate the situation is even worse than was feared. Eritrean troops aren’t just working hand in glove with the Ethiopian government, assisting in a merciless campaign against the Tigrayan people, in some pockets they’re fully in control and waging a reign of terror.

The testimonies, shared at great personal risk, present a horrifying picture of the situation in Tigray, where a clash between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), in November has deteriorated into a protracted conflict that, by many accounts, bears the hallmarks of genocide and has the potential to destabilize the wider Horn of Africa region.

Sign at Axum Referral Hospital. ???Blood Campaign, for mothers, for children, for all those that need it.???

Ethiopian security officials working with Tigray’s interim administration told CNN that the Ethiopian government has no control over Eritrean soldiers operating in Ethiopia, and that Eritrean forces had blocked roads into central Tigray for over two weeks and in the northwestern part of the region for nearly one month.

As the war and its impact on civilians deepens, world leaders have voiced their concern about the role of Eritrean forces in exacerbating what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to spokesperson Ned Price, has described as a “growing humanitarian disaster.” In a phone call with Abiy on April 26, Blinken pressed Ethiopia and Eritrea to make good on commitments to withdraw Eritrean troops “in full, and in a verifiable manner.”

CNN’s efforts to reach Axum were thwarted by both Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers multiple times over several days.

On one of the first attempts, the CNN team encountered what it later learned was the aftermath of a grenade attack, where a group of local residents were flagging down cars, warning passersby not to go any further. But before we reached the scene, a large army truck drove up and parked sideways, blocking the road. Our cameraman got out of the car and started filming only to be confronted by Ethiopian soldiers, who threatened the team with detention, demanding that we hand over the camera and delete the footage. But we refused and were able to conceal the footage until we were eventually released.

On another occasion, CNN was turned back by an Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) Command operating out of a former USAID distribution center in the outskirts of the city of Adigrat, where several trucks laden with sacks of desperately needed food sat languishing in the hot sun. The aid, bound for communities in Tigray’s starved central zone, had been stopped from going any further despite daily phone calls from humanitarian workers pleading for access.

Even after being granted entry to Axum by the Ethiopian military, CNN’s path was obstructed by Eritrean troops controlling a checkpoint on a desolate mountain top overlooking Adigrat. The forces were wearing a mixture of their official light-colored Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) fatigues and a woodland camouflage with a green beret, which military experts verified as tallying with old Ethiopian army uniforms.

Hannibal ??? Shot in the leg as he was sitting on his mother???s lap. Shown here at Axum referral hospital where he is receiving treatment.

It is one of the first visual confirmations of reports — relayed in recent weeks by the UN’s top humanitarian official Mark Lowcock and US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield — that Eritrean soldiers are disguising their identities by re-uniforming as Ethiopian military, in what Thomas-Greenfield described as a move to “remain in Tigray indefinitely.”

CNN was informed by aid agencies that they had also been turned back by Eritrean soldiers manning the same checkpoint. Ethiopian military sources in the region confirmed to CNN that Eritrean soldiers were in control of key checkpoints along the route to Axum. The military sources said they had requested multiple times for the Eritreans to allow cars and convoys through, but had been refused.

CNN has reached out to the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments for comment.

After repeated phone calls to Ethiopian central government and senior military officials, CNN was finally allowed into Axum on its fourth try. On the same day, international medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres demanded that the 12-day blockade of the road into Axum be lifted.

Many aid agencies are still being barred from the besieged city, where one of the few hospitals operating for miles is running out of essential supplies, including oxygen and blood, humanitarian workers working in the region told CNN.

On arrival at the Axum University Teaching and Referral Hospital, patients are greeted by a sign asking for blood.

7 yearold Latebrahan Fessahaatsion, from Chilla, 100 Kms from Axum near border of Eritrea where famine has arrived.

The medical staff we spoke to asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, but requested that CNN identify their hospital — they say that they want people to know that they are still here.

Inside one of the under-resourced examination rooms, a malnourished 7-year-old was lying on a gurney, wrapped in a blanket to cushion her fragile skin. Latebrahan’s emaciated legs could no longer hold her weight and she lay wide-eyed, staring up at the crowd of doctors gathered around her bed.

The medical team were doing their best to keep her alive, but they had run out of a therapeutic feeding agent due to the blockade, the only way to help her gain weight without disturbing her delicate system.

Latebrahan’s father, Girmay, who asked to be identified only by his first name, told CNN the journey from their home in Chila, around 60 miles north of Axum, near the border with Eritrea, had been dangerous and costly.

“There is no help, no food, nothing. I didn’t have a choice though — look at her,” Girmay said.

Like many other rural border towns, Chila has been blocked off from receiving aid since the conflict began six months ago. Humanitarian workers say famine could have already arrived there and they would have no way of knowing.

“Based on guesswork there is a sense that in these areas that we are not able to access, out in the countryside for instance, places are falling into pockets of famine. But we’re not able to verify that and that’s part of the problem,” Thomas Thompson, the UN World Food Programme’s emergency coordinator, told CNN.

The fighting erupted during the autumn harvest season following the worst invasion of desert locusts in Ethiopia in decades. The conflict has plunged Tigray even further into severe food insecurity, and the deliberate blockade of food risks mass starvation, a recent report by the World Peace Foundation warned. The Ethiopian government itself estimates that at least 5.2 million people out of 5.7 million in the region are in need of emergency food assistance.

USAID handing out aid in the town of Hawzen. They hadn???t had much-needed aid here for 2 months.

Eritrean soldiers have been blocking and looting food relief in multiple parts of Tigray, including in Samre and Gijet, southwest of Mekele, according to a leaked document from the Emergency Coordination Centre of Tigray’s Abiy-appointed interim government obtained by CNN. In a PowerPoint presentation dated April 23, the center states that Eritrean soldiers have also started showing up at food distribution points in Tigray, looting supplies after “our beneficiaries became frightened and [ran] away.”

That report was corroborated by humanitarian workers in Tigray, who said they had “protection” issues around distributing aid in some areas as civilians were later robbed of the aid by Eritrean soldiers. Emily Dakin, who leads the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team in Tigray, also told CNN that she had received reports of health centers being looted, which was “contributing to some of the dysfunctionality of the hospitals.”

Eritrea’s Minister of Information Yemane Meskel has rejected these claims.

Eritrea’s power in the region feels absolute even in the Axum Teaching Hospital, where Eritrean soldiers are among the gun-toting troops roaming the corridors, dropping off wounded soldiers and threatening medical staff. It is a terrifying scene for patients, many of whom say they were injured either directly or indirectly by soldiers.

One doctor, who asked not to be named, told CNN that the siege had prompted a surge in patients. In addition to cases of malnutrition like Latebrahan, doctors and nurses are treating a grim array of trauma from shrapnel, bullets, stabbings and rapes. In a desperate attempt to keep pace with demand, medical workers have also begun donating blood.

But despite this, there wasn’t enough blood on hand to save one young woman, who had been attacked by soldiers who tried to rape her.

The doctor treating the woman told CNN that the hospital had seen a spike in sexual assault cases over recent weeks, but that the rise was just “the tip of the iceberg,” as many were too scared to seek medical services.

An alarming number of women are being gang-raped, drugged and held hostage in the conflict, in which sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war and its use linked to genocide. According to one agency’s estimate, almost one-third of all attacks on civilians involve sexual violence, the majority committed by men in uniform.

An autopsy photo of the young woman seen by CNN showed her internal organs spilling out from a wound in her lower abdomen.

“She came to our emergency department and she had a sign of life initially. [But] if you find blood for a patient, it’s only one or two units and one or two units could not save this woman. She bled [out] and she died,” the doctor said haltingly, overcome with emotion.

He took a deep breath, then added, “I see this woman in my dreams.”

This reporting would not have been possible without the support of dozens of Tigrayans, who shared their stories at great personal risk. CNN is not naming them to protect their safety. It also builds on a series of investigations into massacres and sexual violence in Tigray by CNN’s Bethlehem Feleke, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Katie Polglase. Read CNN’s full Tigray coverage here.

Source

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አሜሪካ አረጋገጠች | ኤርትራ በኢትዮጵያ የሚካሄደውን ጦርነት ተቀላቅላለች

ይህ ምንም የሚያጠራጥር ነገር አይደለም፤ ቆሻሻው አብዮት እና ከሃዲው ኢሳያስ እኮ ላለፉት ሦስት ዓመታት በየወሩ አብረው ሲንሸራሸሩ የነበረው ተነፋፍቀው አይደለም። እነዚህን ሁለት እርኮሶች የሚደፋ ምን ያህል የተባረከና ምርጥ ጀግና በሆነ ነበር።

|የማቴዎስ ወንጌል ምዕራፍ ፲፳፡፩፥፳፫]

“ወንድምም ወንድሙን፥ አባትም ልጁን ለሞት አሳልፎ ይሰጣል፥ ልጆችም በወላጆቻቸው ላይ ይነሣሉ ይገድሉአቸውማል። በሁሉም ስለ ስሜ የተጠላችሁ ትሆናላችሁ፤ እስከ መጨረሻ የሚጸና ግን እርሱ ይድናል።በአንዲቱ ከተማም መከራ ቢያሳዩአችሁ ወደ ሌላይቱ ሽሹ፤ እውነት እላችኋለሁና፥ የሰው ልጅ እስኪመጣ ድረስ የእስራኤልን ከተማዎች አትዘልቁም።”

US Believes Eritrean Soldiers Helping Ethiopia’s Fight Against Rebels

U.S. officials have reportedly come to the conclusion that Eritrean soldiers have entered Ethiopia to assist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government in its fight against opposition forces.

Reuters reported Tuesday that a U.S. government source and five regional diplomats briefed on the assessment said that evidence from satellite images, intercepted communications and anecdotal reports appear to confirm Eritrean involvement.

However, Reuters noted that both countries have denied Eritrea’s participation in the offensive against the opposition group Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

“There doesn’t appear to be a doubt anymore. It’s being discussed by U.S. officials on calls — that the Eritreans are in Tigray — but they aren’t saying it publicly,” the U.S. government source, who has had access to internal calls, told the news service.

The two nations signed a peace treaty in 2018, identifying the Tigray rebellion force as a mutual enemy.

While the U.S. considers Ethiopia a major ally in the region, Washington has accused Eritrea of severe human rights violations, with the State Department on Monday renewing its country of particular concern designation over reported violations of religious freedom under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.

Eritrea has also faced allegations of jailing political opponents and forcing its citizens into long-term military or government service. Eritrea has denied these claims, accusing Western nations of carrying out smear campaigns.

According to Reuters, a senior diplomat from another country confirmed the presence of Eritrean forces in Ethiopia, saying “thousands” of Eritrean soldiers were likely involved.

The State Department did not confirm the accounts, though a spokesman said it would be concerned by any Eritrean involvement and that its embassy in Asmara is urging restraint to officials.

Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed said, “We are not involved. It’s propaganda,” when contacted by Reuters on Saturday.

Ethiopia has also denied the reports, but Abiy did say last week that some government troops were given assistance after retreating into Eritrea earlier on in the conflict.

Abiy’s spokeswoman told Reuters that questions surrounding Eritrean involvement should be directed to Eritrea.

Last month, the Ethiopian military announced that it was fully in control of the capital city of the Tigray region hours after it launched an offensive against the TPLF.

The announcement followed a day of fighting against the opposition group, which retains a foothold in Tigray after it was swept out of national power in 2018 and then sidelined by reforms under Abiy’s government.

Source

👉 Ethiopia’s Forces Shoot at and Detain U.N. Staffers In Tigray

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A Nobel Peace Prize Winner’s Damn Shame | Treason + War + Genocide

“አብይ አህመድ የኖቤል የሰላም ሽልማትን እንዲያገኝ ያስቻለውን ጉዳይ ተቃርኖ በመላው የትግራይ ክልል ውስጥ ጦርነት ለማካሄድና በ ፮/ 6 ሚሊዮን ሰዎች ላይ ጦርነት መክፈቱ ለማሰብ እንኳን በጣም ይረብሻል።“

👉 CNN uncovers reality for refugees on the Ethiopia-Sudan border

Again, and again, they described how the Ethiopian army enters a town and tells civilians that they are safe. Then the Ethiopian soldiers leave, and other armed groups arrive….

“They beat us with the machine guns, they would make us lie on the ground and put the weapon in our mouths,” he said. “If you are afraid, they will kill you, and if you don’t show fear, they turn you on your back and hit you with the back of the rifle.”

Western diplomats based in the region, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of exacerbating the situation on the ground, told CNN their biggest fear is that the conflict could descend into ethnic cleansing.

“How do you say you didn’t know, when all the signs are there — clear as day,” wondered one diplomat, voicing a frustration common among Western governments’ representatives there. “But how do you even begin to stop this?”

CNN hears testimony from refugees at the Sudan-Ethiopia border, all of whom say they were targeted because of their Tigray ethnicity. CNN also heard from a member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front that the majority of the forces operating in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are from Eritrea, suggesting that one of the international community’s biggest fears – regional contagion – is already happening. CNN’s Nima Elbagir reports.

በመሬት ላይ ያለው ሁኔታ እንዳይባባስ በመፍራት ስማቸውን ለመግለጽ ያልፈለጉ በአካባቢው የሚገኙ የምዕራባውያን ዲፕሎማቶች ለሲኤንኤን እንዳሉት ትልቁ ፍርሃታቸው ግጭቱ ወደ ብሄር ማጽዳት ሊገባ ይችላል የሚል ነው። እዚያ ባሉት የምዕራባውያን መንግስታት ተወካዮች መካከል የተለመደውን ብስጭት በመናገር አንድ ዲፕሎማት “የብሔር ማጽዳትን የሚያሳዩ ሁሉም ምልክቶች እየታዩ እንዴት አላውቅም ትላላችሁ? – ሁሉም ነገር እንደቀኑ ግልጽ እኮ ነው።”። “ግን እንዴት ይህንን ማቆም ይቻላል?” ብለዋል

ሲ.ኤን.ኤን በሱዳንና በኢትዮጵያ ድንበር ላይ ከሚገኙ ስደተኞች ምስክርነት ይሰማል ፣ ሁሉም በትግሬነታቸው ምክንያት የዘረኝነት ኢላማ ተደርገናል ይላሉ። ሲ.ኤን.ኤን.ኤም እንዲሁ ከትግራይ ህዝብ ነፃ አውጭ ግንባር አባል የተሰማው በኢትዮጵያ ትግራይ ክልል ውስጥ የሚንቀሳቀሱት አብዛኞቹ የአብይ አህመድ ደጋፊ ኃይሎች ከኤርትራ የመጡ መሆናቸውን በመግለጽ ከዓለም ዓቀፉ ማህበረሰብ ትልቁ ፍርሃት አንዱ የሆነው – የክልል ተላላፊ – ቀድሞውኑ እየተከሰተ ነው። ከፍተኛ ዓለም አቀፍ ዘጋቢ ኒማ ኤልባጊር ዘገባውን አቅርባለች።

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For Abiy to have won The Nobel Prize and Wage a War on 6 Million People is Appalling to Think About

👉 Noble Peace Prize = License for Genocide

👉 የኖቤል የሰላም ሽልማት = ለዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል ፈቃድ

አብይ የኖቤል የሰላም ሽልማትን እንዲያገኝ ያስቻለውን ጉዳይ ተቃርኖ በመላው የትግራይ ክልል ውስጥ ጦርነት ለማካሄድና በ ፮/ 6 ሚሊዮን ሰዎች ላይ ጦርነት መክፈቱ ለማሰብ እንኳን በጣም ይረብሻል።

በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ እየሆነ ያለው “በሥልጣን ላይ የሚነሳ ግጭት ወደ ጎሣ ማጽዳት በመቀየር ላይ ነው ፥ የትግራይ ተወላጆች “በመታወቂያ ካርዳቸው ላይ ባለው የብሔር ልዩነት ላይ በተመሰረተ እየተጠቁ ነው”። ብላለች ሱዳናዊቷ የሲኤንኤን ከፍተኛ ዓለም አቀፍ ዘጋቢ ኒማ ኤልባጊር።

ጎበዝ!

CNN senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir says what is happening in Ethiopia is “a conflict over power that has descended into potentially a form of ethnic cleansing,” with Tigray people being “targeted based on the ethnic distinction on their ID cards.”

For Abiy Ahmed to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, for something which has enabled him to wage a war in an entire region, on 6 million people is just appalling to think about.

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