Eritrea Wire

Thousands of Ethiopians gathered in the nation’s capital Sunday to protest outside pressure on the government over its brutal war in Tigray.

Protesters at the rally in Addis Ababa carried banners that criticized the United States and others in the international community who are voicing concern over atrocities in Tigray, where Ethiopian forces are hunting down the region’s ousted and now-fugitive leaders. Troops from neighboring Eritrea are fighting in Tigray on the side of Ethiopian government forces, in defiance of international calls for their withdrawal.

But the protesters in Addis Ababa carried placards that read: “Ethiopian young people denounce the western intervention.” Others said Ethiopia’s sovereignty was at stake.

The U.S. said last week it has started restricting visas for government and military officials of Ethiopia and Eritrea, who are seen as undermining efforts to resolve the fighting in Tigray, home to an estimated 6 million of Ethiopia’s 110 million people. Besides the visa restrictions, Washington is imposing wide-ranging restrictions on economic and security assistance to Ethiopia.

Testifying on Capitol Hill last week, Robert Godec, the U.S. acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, said Ethiopia is now at a turning point and, unless it reverses course, could face further measures such as Magnitsky Act sanctions that can include asset freezes.

Atrocities including brutal gang-rapes, extrajudicial killings and forced evictions have been part of the violence in Tigray, according to victims, witnesses, local authorities and aid groups. Thousands of people are estimated to have died.

The Ethiopian government called U.S. actions “misguided” and “regrettable.”

“The Ethiopian government will not be deterred by this unfortunate decision of the U.S. administration,” said the statement tweeted by the ministry of foreign affairs.

“If such a resolve to meddle in our internal affairs and undermining the century-old bilateral ties continues unabated, the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia will be forced to reassess its relations with the United States, which might have implications beyond our bilateral relationship,” said the statement.

The crisis began in November after Ethiopia accused former leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, of ordering an attack on an Ethiopian army base in the region.

Troops sent by Ethiopia’s leader, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, quickly ousted the TPLF from major cities and towns, but guerrilla fighting is still reported across Tigray.

More than 2 million people have been displaced by the war.

Source: Voice of America

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor on Sunday urged Sudan’s transitional government to hand over suspects wanted for war crimes and genocide in the Darfur conflict, the Sudanese official news agency reported.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda arrived in Sudan’s western Darfur region on Saturday to meet with authorities and affected communities in the region, the court said. Bensouda said she was inspired by “the resilience and courage” of the Darfur people.

Among those wanted by the international court is former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been in jail in Khartoum since his ouster in April 2019 and is facing several trials in Sudanese courts related to his three decades of authoritarian rule.

The conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region broke out when rebels from the territory’s ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

Al-Bashir’s government responded with a campaign of aerial bombings and raids by militias known as Janjaweed, who stand accused of mass killings and rapes. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

The ICC charged al-Bashir with war crimes and genocide for allegedly masterminding the campaign of attacks in Darfur. Sudanese prosecutors started last year their own investigation into the Darfur conflict.

Also indicted by the court are two other senior figures from al-Bashir’s rule: Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein, interior and defense minister during much of the conflict, and Ahmed Haroun, a senior security chief at the time and later the leader of al-Bashir’s ruling party. Both Hussein and Haroun have been under arrest in Khartoum since the Sudanese military, under pressure from protesters, ousted al-Bashir in April 2019.

The court also indicted rebel leader Abdulla Banda, whose whereabouts is unknown, and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, who was charged last week with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Bensouda and her team met Saturday with Darfur’s Gov. Mini Arko Minawi, who said the prosecutor’s main concern is to hand over those wanted by the court as soon as possible, and speed up the transfer of Haroun since his case is related to that of Kushayb.

In a Sunday meeting with officials in North Darfur province, the ICC prosecutor said they would continue demanding the government hand over all those wanted by the court, SUNA reported.

Sudan’s transitional government, which has promised democratic reforms and is led by a mix of civilian and military leaders, has previously said that war crime suspects including al-Bashir would be tried before the ICC, but the trial venue is a matter for negotiations with The Hague-based court.

Source: Voice of America

Eritrean nationals in Australia and France celebrated the 30th Independence Day anniversary with patriotic zeal under the theme “Resilient-As Ever”.

The celebratory event the nationals conducted in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Perth was highlighted with various programs including speeches by friends of Eritrea, narration by youth that participated in the war to safeguard the national sovereignty, as well as cultural and artistic performances among others.

Explaining on the heroic feat the Eritrean people demonstrated in the liberation struggle and safeguarding the national sovereignty, Mr. Mehari Tekeste, General Consul of Eritrea in Australia, said that the colorful Independence Day celebrations attest to the unity and love of the country of the Eritrean people.

Mr. Kidane Ginbot, chairman of the Holidays Organizing Committee, on his part, indicated that the Eritrean people emerged victorious against all external hostilities and conspiracies and called for reinforced participation and contribution in the implementation of the national development programs.

In the same vein, Eritrean nationals in Paris, Nantes, Rennes, Angers, Vannes, Marseille, and Metz celebrated the 30th Independence Day anniversary featuring various programs.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Late last month, an extremely insightful commentary article written by Ann FitzGerald and Hugh Segal, titled, Ethiopia: A New Proxy Battlespace? Explained how “the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern state of Tigray is being fought on two interconnected fronts. The first is physical and on the ground, while the second is a dangerous information campaign projected via social media…”

In terms of the first battleground, theTPLF’s dangerous military objectives were successfully foiled early on saving the region the chaos and turmoil that would have ensued otherwise.Regarding the second battleground, having gravely miscalculated and seen all of its military aims successfully thwarted, the TPLF, along with its vast network of influential, well-remunerated supporters and sympathizers, continues to work overtime to unremittingly churn out one lie after another. This is all conducted with the basic goal of capturing public sympathies, attracting global attention, and drawing some sort of external intervention to rescue it. The latest of the lies was “reported” by the Daily Telegraph news outlet last week, preposterously claiming that Ethiopian and Eritrean forces had utilized “white phosphorous”.

First, it is a basic matter of fact that Eritrea has never developed and does not possess any chemical, or biological weapons or their means of delivery. Additionally, in fundamental contrast to what was explicitly claimed in the Daily Telegraph’s report, Eritrea is actually party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and Their Destruction (1992), and for years has been a member and active participant of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Second, it is worth noting that the allegations raised against Eritrea do not align in any way whatsoever with its long-established military doctrine or practices. Specifically, recall that even during the height of large and highly destructive military battles, first during its struggle for freedom and then later to protect its sovereignty and basic existence as an independent state, Eritrea never contemplated, let alone resorted to, using white phosphorus or any other biological, chemical, or other prohibited weapons.

Third, beyond these significant factors, the evidence forwarded in support of the claims made is flimsy and weak. According to the so-called “Sagan standard,” which illustrates a core principle of the scientific method and skepticism and can be used to determine the validity of a claim, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Today, knowing all that we do of how “precise” or “accurate” this format or approach to gathering evidence has been throughout the duration of the conflict in the Tigray Region, one can only be expected to have grave concerns and serious doubts about the credibility of any of the Daily Telegraph’s claims.

Last, of course, there is also the unfortunate fact that the Daily Telegraph (and the recent story’s authors) also has a troubling history of making specious allegations based on the dubious evidence targeting Eritrea. Over the past several months, for example, the Western news outlet and one of the story’s main authors were the sources and disseminators of sordid claims about sexual violence perpetrated by Eritrean soldiers. These sadistic allegations, like so many others, were not only completely unsubstantiated and totally at odds with the country’s proud social, cultural, and military traditions or history, but they also went entirely against simple logic and reality. (For instance, they raised hysterical claims that Eritreans were seeking to spread HIV among the population in Tigray, even though HIV prevalence and infection rates in Eritrea are infinitesimal and far lower than in those Tigray Region.)

Overall, it ought to be crystal clear to any reasonable, objective observer that the TPLF having utterly failed to accomplish any of its military aims when it launched a reckless, callous attack last November, the last vestiges of the group, along with their network of influential supporters and sympathizers, have raised the scope and intensity of their frantic, shrill propaganda campaign, hoping to inflame public opinion against the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments, tug at public heartstrings and arouse emotions, and find some sort of external lifeline or rescue.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea