The Government of Tigray is grateful to the European Union for its consistent and principled efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Tigray in particular and in Ethiopia in general.
The Joint Motion for a Resolution passed by the European Parliament on October 6, 2021 is an extension of the European community’s principled, humane and morally informed position on the multifaceted humanitarian crises engulfing Ethiopia resulting from the genocidal war on Tigray. We commend the European Parliament for cataloguing a litany of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and acts of ethnic cleansing and of genocide perpetrated by the Ethiopian and Eritrean militaries as well as allied Amhara forces against the people of Tigray. We would also like to express our appreciation to the European Parliament for highlighting the plight of Tigrayans being subject to untold atrocities, including arbitrary arrests, suspension and revocation of business licenses, forced disappearances, and murder throughout Ethiopia solely on account of their identity.
Despite our appreciation for Europe’s principled stand and some concrete actions taken to compel the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments to deviate from their destructive path, we sadly note that the international response to the genocidal war on Tigray has been woefully inadequate. Consequently, the humanitarian landscape in Tigray remains dire and is expected to get worse The multifaceted humanitarian crises associated with violent conflict have been exacerbated in the case of Tigray by the willful, cruel and immoral imposition of a “de facto blockade” by the Abiy Ahmed government. Medical supplies are denied entry into Tigray. Humanitarian partners are out of food stock. As a result of shortage of food and medical supplies, countless Tigrayans have been subject to otherwise preventable deaths. By expelling 7 high-level UN officials on September 30, the Ethiopian government has once again displayed its disdain for the rules and norms governing international conduct. That the decision to expel these officials came at a time of maximum need once again confirmed the Abiy government’s deliberate weaponization of starvation to achieve that which has eluded it on the battlefield: bringing the people of Tigray to their knees.
Aside from the inadequacy or the international response thus far, we have, also observed a perplexing tendency to apportion blame for on-going hostilities not on the basis of objective facts but on the need to appear even-handed. The Abiy Ahmed government has exploited this tendency by manufacturing countervailing accusations against Tigrayan forces so as to muddy the narrative and escape accountability for the plethora of atrocities committed against the people of Tigray. That there are two or more parties to a conflict does not automatically imply that their causes are equally Just and their conducts equally appropriate. The European’s Parliament’s Resolution Suggesting the imposition of sanctions on all parties if conditions do not improve by the end of October is a glaring example of the tendency to propose punitive sanctions on victim and aggressors alike. However, the application of indiscriminate sanctions is bound to tail to achieve its objectives for, by punishing the victims, it rewards the aggressor(s). The people of Tigray are already fighting an uphill battle, given the limited domestic and international resources at their disposal. Punishing them for defending themselves in the quest for even-handedness, makes a mockery of Justice,
The Government of Tigray has, among other things, accepted the principles outlined in Biden’s Executive Order, affirming its commitment to a negotiated resolution of the current crisis. By contrast, Prime Minister Abiy’s open letter to President Biden demonstrated his predilection for a military solution to a fundamentally political conflict. In fact, the Prime Minister deliberately conflated calls not to starve his citizens to death, violate their rights and seek a negotiated solution with encroachments on national sovereignty, a common retrain by authoritarian governments determined to commit atrocities against their citizens with impunity. And yet, the international community seems wedded to notions of fairness that paradoxically rewards the aggressor. A reflexive effort at even-handedness means that victims are also included in conversations about coercive sanctions. lf the goal of the threatened sanctions is to compel a change of course, they must be targeted at the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments – the parties dead set against change. The Government of Tigray once again reiterates its commitment to support and work with an independent investigation of allegations made and to address any wrongdoings on the part or our forces.
The Abiy Ahmed government is determined to exterminate the people of Tigray through a slow-motion asphyxiation. It is also the side that has been obstructing the delivery of humanitarian supplies and seeking to prolong the conflict by officially threatening another round of brutal offensive against Tigray. Indeed, our military engagements outside of Tigray are intelligible in the context of our adversaries public pronouncements to bring us to our knees; our engagements are, thus, motivated by a desire to break the siege and to stave off another round of invasions once our adversaries have regrouped and rearmed, making our military campaign fundamentally defensive.
The Government and People of Tigray merely ask that they are allowed their right to survive as a people. In fact, the Resolution by the European Parliament catalogues a litany of horrific crimes committed by the invading forces against the people of Tigray. But when it comes to coercive sanctions, even-handedness rears its ugly head. Only commitment to a misplaced notion of fairness could lead to the inclusion of the people and the Government of Tigray in conversations about punitive measures.
The Ethiopian government and its propaganda outlets have been working overtime to establish some kind of moral equivalence between their genocidal forces and that of the Tigrayan forces engaged in a campaign of self-defence that is as morally just as it is legally sound. It would be a miscarriage of justice if the international community bought into this narrative and punish the people of Tigray for exercising their legitimate right of self-defence.
Despite the aforementioned misgivings, the Government of Tigray emphasizes its full support and appreciation for international efforts at removing the brutal siege, facilitating unobstructed humanitarian aid delivery, bringing about a negotiated ceasefire, ensuring the withdrawal of all invading forces from Tigray, and initiating an independent investigation into all atrocities committed in the course of the brutal war on Tigray, and holding perpetrators accountable for their crimes.