By Andrew DeCort
I do not believe in guilt by association. It’s important to meet and talk with people we profoundly disagree with. This is how dialogue begins, and peace can be built. Ethiopia urgently needs dialogue and peace.
But President Biden and the world need to remember this: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is a ruthless war criminal.
Abiy’s smile is handsome, his talk is sweet, and his wife sings worship songs. But Abiy mercilessly starves children to death as a weapon of war. He unleashes gangs of rapists and looters that terrorize women and girls. He bombs civilian populations. He normalizes genocidal language, which has normalized horrifying murders across Ethiopia. He mass-produces poverty and corruption in the shiny name of “prosperity.” As a result, he is rapidly becoming one of the deadliest rulers in Ethiopian history and contemporary Africa.
Abiy can still repent. No one is beyond redemption. I pray for him often and hope he changes course.
But until Abiy repents of these horrifying atrocities, this must not be forgotten: he is a ruthless war criminal with the blood of hundreds of thousands of children, women, and men on his hands.
Like Abel’s, their blood cries out to God and humanity for justice.
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18)
Note:
This opinion piece was taken from the author’s Facebook page with his consent. The original piece can be found here.