ADDIS ABABA – Western journalists stated that the Human rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) have proven how incapable they are and how much disdain they have for African lives.
Getty Images’ Photographer Jemal Countess and PushStart Media’s Betty Sheba Tekeste had a stay with local media regarding their recent journalism work trip to Afar and Amhara states.
Betty indicated that the U.S. that is saying Ethiopia should be sanctioned and the United Nations bodies that have criticized Ethiopia for not allowing “independent investigators” really need to check themselves.
As to her, there are people on the ground that are still struggling to tell their true stories, and the respectable organizations like HRW and AI are literally giving false information. So why would the Ethiopian government or Ethiopians in general trust these agencies to come and investigate everything. The H.R 6600 and S.3199 are also asking for independent investigation.
She also noted that she wonders who is going to provide this independent investigation, because if they are going to be HRW and AI, they have proven how incapable they are and how much disdain they have for African lives.
She said: “People have died. More people are suffering and it is high time that Africans get respect for protecting their sovereignty, and for telling their own stories, because we have a right to, because it is our story, and we can investigate ourselves.” And that is the biggest message that the international community needs to hear, she added.
If the Western rights groups, media organizations, and NGOs do not have the moral compass to do the right thing, then they have to stop perpetuating lies that will affect even more harm, she stated.
She further opined that HRW and AI had not even visited the area. It is a tragedy that people with respectable credentials, who call themselves journalists, humanitarians, are corroborating false narratives. It is not just damaging to the people who are already gone and who cannot have justice, but to the people who are waiting for justice for their family, as to her.
Betty Sheba Tekeste describes Addis Alem; a town near Gehanem – a TPLF Settlement – built on top of a site in which many people were killed, and in which residents have found human bones when digging in their gardens.
Jemal Countess on his part said that he has lost faith in these international NGOs. “It is as if the TPLF wrote a script, gave it to these organizations and they did some tweaking and signed their names to it.”
He also indicated that people are still in 2022 thinking that “white is right”. “We can tell Africa’s story for them because they cannot tell it for themselves.”
He further opined that he think the entire Western media apparatus has completely failed. If the Western media organizations want there to be redemption for their mistakes that they need to start over. The correspondents who were here were compromised and chose one side over the other side first, as to him.
Jemal described the conditions experienced by those who were tortured and killed at Gehanem (meaning “hell” in Amharic) in Welkait as “medieval”. He added that victims were forced to march several KMs to these sites where they were either forced to renounce their identity or in some cases just killed brutally.
One the IDPs centers that Jemal has visited is IDPs camp in Dessie town of Amhara state, in which ethnic-Tigrayans have been sheltered.
As to him, the ethnic-Tigray IDPs in the camp said “the propaganda when we were in Tigray was always ENDF, Amhara Fano and Militia are going to kill you but when we cross the border and arrived kobo we do not find any of that”.
Theses Ethnic-Tigray IDPs also told him that TPLF is using the food aid as a weapon, and the food aid sent to Tigray is being distributed to TPLF officials, their supporters, and their soldiers.
BY ABDUREZAK MOHAMMED
THURSDAY 14 APRIL 2022
