Months after the terrorist TPLF had committed mass atrocities on the people of Amhara and Afar, in the wake of the government’s announcement of a declaration of a unilateral humanitarian ceasefire, international rights-based organizations started to denounce the egregious acts of the thugs.
As always, we say: “better late than never.” Most in the international community had been misled due to the biased international media reporting.
Lobby organizations and PR firms also played no fewer roles in misguiding many actors of human rights and administrations alike. Due to this, the victimizer that was crying foul had been considered as a victim. But we have been confident when we always say: “In the end, the truth will prevail.” The US in a statement on February 22, 2022 condemned the TPLF’s appalling deeds perpetrated on civilians.
It has expressed its “grave concern by the reports of atrocities, including sexual violence, committed by fighters affiliated with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in the Amhara region of Ethiopia in late August and early September 2021, as described in a recent Amnesty International report”.
The people of Ethiopia at home and abroad have been exposing the war-monger nature of the terrorist force since the latter attacked the country’s northern command. Ethiopians in the US rallied in front of the state department and also delivered various messages to inform the US administration on the same issue. The thing is these voices were unheard for months.
Diametrically opposite to this, policies that are based on malicious information have been implemented. The removal of Ethiopia from AGOA can be a good example in this regard. Worse still, some quarters in the US congress are devising tools to punish Ethiopia and its people by pushing the so-called HR 6600.
The bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives Tom Malinowski, a Democrat, and Young Kim, a Republican, targets Ethiopians including those living in the diaspora. And also seeks to sanction Ethiopia from accessing financial assistance from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF. In short, the congressmen are pushing for multifaceted pressures against the people of Ethiopia.
What makes such attempts even worst is that these individuals and others who cosponsor the bill have based their claim on unfounded information. And ultimately, the provisions of the bill incentivize a group that has been involved in acts that constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.
In any way, the people of the US and most of the representatives as well as the administration of President Biden cannot have a goal to encourage a terrorist organization.
At least this group had qualified as a Tier III terrorist organization under INA section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi) (III) following its activities before it had joined the former Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
Even after assuming government office, the TPLF had been involved in terrorizing the public to tighten its grip on power. Its brute ruling had ended with a mass protest in various places.
Though the group claims to stand for the people of Tigray, it has used the people as its hostage to pursue a destructive end while the youths in the state are made to serve as its cannon fodder. What is encouraging is that the truth is coming out in bits and pieces. Some quarters that blatantly supported the group have started to understand the reality.
That is what the recent statement of the State Department and rights-based groups including Amnesty tell us. The bottom line is—the atrocities documented by the rights bodies are just the tip of the ice-burg
The Ethiopian 24 February 2022
