Image source: Tesfanews
Written By Midhasso Foge, Pharm.D, APh, BCACP
Dictators come and go, but the nation and the people must survive.
As images of Ethiopian military in coordination with Amhara militia and Eritrean soldiers massacring men, women, and children in Tigray region slowly drip into outside world, many people are rightly horrified. Yet the cycle of violence in Ethiopia is not lost on many Ethiopians whose anguish has never reached the outside world but suffered under successive regimes. Most Ethiopians have seen the faces of evil in armed mobs, policemen, and military without any legal guidance or conscience. Cruelty and injustice have been inflicted upon people of Ethiopian for many decades. With advancement of technology, Ethiopia’s ruling elites from different background had just perfected its mob rule. Instead of only relying on paid informants, now they have spy whares. Instead of having to send military men, now they also have drones. In the third world dictatorship, technology have been blessing for the ruling elites. Yet, the same technology is now capturing their vicious brutality for the world to witness.
Any person with smart phone from any corner of the world can expose acts if injustice. Just as the images of police brutality against African Americans in the U.S horrified ordinary people in an advent of telephone videos, the mob massacres of Tigrayans and Oromos in Ethiopia, have shown a true character of dictatorship in Ethiopia. It has shaken a cult like personality of ruling elites bent on denying their crimes to death. It has also shaken traditional ethos of society that tends to trust its ruling elites would do what is best for the nation. We owe a depth gratitude to those who continue to capture state sponsored terrorism in Ethiopia for the whole world to see.
Ethiopia, a nation of over eighty ethnicities with their own languages and culture has always been ruled by violent elites who elicited resentment and suspicion among the people. It is no coincidence that Abiy Ahmed is using Eritrea and Amhara militia to commit ethnic cleansing in Tigray. This is to inflict unhealable wound among the people. Sexual violence against the women of Tigray is to dehumanize generations of current and future Tigrayans. Additionally, its to create culture of fear and punishment. The mega maniacs running the nation into ruins are vicious and ruthless. They want to shift blame to everyone else, but themselves. This was a trademark of Tigray people’s Liberation Front (TPLF) before its fall from national grace.
Sexual violence against the women of Tigray is to dehumanize generations of current and future Tigrayans. Additionally, its to create culture of fear and punishment.
The Tigrayan elites with TPLF at the helm inflicted the same type atrocities during its 27-year reign. Sexual violence was common occurrence. In the early years of TPLF reign, the military chased out or killed men to continue to rape and torture their women at will. Many of us vividly remember these occurrences specially in Oromia, where inexplicable violence reigned in the name of hunting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) fighters. Many of the women victimized by TPLF continue to live that horror to this day. Unfortunately for them, there were no telephone cameras to have captured their realities for the world to witness.
Divide and concur was the modus operandi of the TPLF regime. It used historic grievances between the Oromo and Amhara people to extend its iron fist rule. It orchestrated mass murders and pinned it onto one or the other group. TPLF captured videos of its own crimes and presented as documentaries to incite one group against the other. The wiki-leak cables exposed some of those atrocities. That cycle continues as Abiy Ahmed uses historic grievance between the Tigaru and Amhara people to inflict maximum pain on the people of Tigray. Let us not forget that Abiy Ahmed and majority of current ruling elites are repentant lonely foot soldiers in TPLF army that forced many of our families into exile, killed, imprisoned, raped, tortured, and made disappear tens of thousands of Ethiopians. They are employing lessons of violence harnessed while serving TPLF regime. They have no moral ground today to accuse TPLF of all these atrocities.
We need to show empathy for people who are suffering not matter their ethnicity.
Ethiopian elites have long infected the nation with deep moral disease. Women continued to be at the receiving end of this infection. Just as the TPLF raped and assaulted countless women in Oromia and elsewhere, the Amhara militia, Abiy military, and the Eritrean army are now inflicting the same wound on the women of Tigray. The nation is on the verge of collapse for it. The lunatics that ran the country are so myopic, they are not seeing beyond potential loss of power. Some of the brightest mind Ethiopia have ever produced, the likes of Jawar Muhammed and Bekele Gerba continue to languish in prison. At the same time, the foot soldiers of previous human rights violators are drifting the nation further and further into chaos. If a nation is to be rebuilt from this ruin, people of good conscience, including Ethiopians need to do what is moral. We need to show empathy for people who are suffering not matter their ethnicity. We should not deny horrid massacres in Tigray on behalf of the ruling elites. Our religious institution must speak up now. I would specially implore Ethiopia Orthodox church to speak up as your influence of Amhara elites can go a long way. In the same token I would implore a good people of Amhara to reject the forces committing these atrocities in your good names.
Lastly, the Tigray conflict is an abject failure by the regime in power. But the regime will never acknowledge its reckless actions. Instead, it trying to blame others, including OLF, TPLF, and some unknown external forces. The regime continues to create real and imagined enemies. It continues to lie to us until most Ethiopians believe the lies. Abiy is trying to conceal his brutality and paranoia with image of public servant, the like Ethiopia has never had. If we remain quite today, our people will meet the same brutal fate as the Tigrayans. Worse yet, Abiy will continue to provoke enemies left and right to distract us from his brutality. He will try to create common enemies for us to focus on, instead of his failed leadership. His arrogance will lead to disintegration of Ethiopia. As crime and lawlessness soars, Ethiopia will not be safe for anyone. Dictators come and go, but the nation and the people must survive.
Ethiopia In Cycle Of Violence | Opinion & Commentaries
Image source: Tesfanews
Written By Midhasso Foge, Pharm.D, APh, BCACP
As images of Ethiopian military in coordination with Amhara militia and Eritrean soldiers massacring men, women, and children in Tigray region slowly drip into outside world, many people are rightly horrified. Yet the cycle of violence in Ethiopia is not lost on many Ethiopians whose anguish has never reached the outside world but suffered under successive regimes. Most Ethiopians have seen the faces of evil in armed mobs, policemen, and military without any legal guidance or conscience. Cruelty and injustice have been inflicted upon people of Ethiopian for many decades. With advancement of technology, Ethiopia’s ruling elites from different background had just perfected its mob rule. Instead of only relying on paid informants, now they have spy whares. Instead of having to send military men, now they also have drones. In the third world dictatorship, technology have been blessing for the ruling elites. Yet, the same technology is now capturing their vicious brutality for the world to witness.
Any person with smart phone from any corner of the world can expose acts if injustice. Just as the images of police brutality against African Americans in the U.S horrified ordinary people in an advent of telephone videos, the mob massacres of Tigrayans and Oromos in Ethiopia, have shown a true character of dictatorship in Ethiopia. It has shaken a cult like personality of ruling elites bent on denying their crimes to death. It has also shaken traditional ethos of society that tends to trust its ruling elites would do what is best for the nation. We owe a depth gratitude to those who continue to capture state sponsored terrorism in Ethiopia for the whole world to see.
Ethiopia, a nation of over eighty ethnicities with their own languages and culture has always been ruled by violent elites who elicited resentment and suspicion among the people. It is no coincidence that Abiy Ahmed is using Eritrea and Amhara militia to commit ethnic cleansing in Tigray. This is to inflict unhealable wound among the people. Sexual violence against the women of Tigray is to dehumanize generations of current and future Tigrayans. Additionally, its to create culture of fear and punishment. The mega maniacs running the nation into ruins are vicious and ruthless. They want to shift blame to everyone else, but themselves. This was a trademark of Tigray people’s Liberation Front (TPLF) before its fall from national grace.
The Tigrayan elites with TPLF at the helm inflicted the same type atrocities during its 27-year reign. Sexual violence was common occurrence. In the early years of TPLF reign, the military chased out or killed men to continue to rape and torture their women at will. Many of us vividly remember these occurrences specially in Oromia, where inexplicable violence reigned in the name of hunting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) fighters. Many of the women victimized by TPLF continue to live that horror to this day. Unfortunately for them, there were no telephone cameras to have captured their realities for the world to witness.
Divide and concur was the modus operandi of the TPLF regime. It used historic grievances between the Oromo and Amhara people to extend its iron fist rule. It orchestrated mass murders and pinned it onto one or the other group. TPLF captured videos of its own crimes and presented as documentaries to incite one group against the other. The wiki-leak cables exposed some of those atrocities. That cycle continues as Abiy Ahmed uses historic grievance between the Tigaru and Amhara people to inflict maximum pain on the people of Tigray. Let us not forget that Abiy Ahmed and majority of current ruling elites are repentant lonely foot soldiers in TPLF army that forced many of our families into exile, killed, imprisoned, raped, tortured, and made disappear tens of thousands of Ethiopians. They are employing lessons of violence harnessed while serving TPLF regime. They have no moral ground today to accuse TPLF of all these atrocities.
Ethiopian elites have long infected the nation with deep moral disease. Women continued to be at the receiving end of this infection. Just as the TPLF raped and assaulted countless women in Oromia and elsewhere, the Amhara militia, Abiy military, and the Eritrean army are now inflicting the same wound on the women of Tigray. The nation is on the verge of collapse for it. The lunatics that ran the country are so myopic, they are not seeing beyond potential loss of power. Some of the brightest mind Ethiopia have ever produced, the likes of Jawar Muhammed and Bekele Gerba continue to languish in prison. At the same time, the foot soldiers of previous human rights violators are drifting the nation further and further into chaos. If a nation is to be rebuilt from this ruin, people of good conscience, including Ethiopians need to do what is moral. We need to show empathy for people who are suffering not matter their ethnicity. We should not deny horrid massacres in Tigray on behalf of the ruling elites. Our religious institution must speak up now. I would specially implore Ethiopia Orthodox church to speak up as your influence of Amhara elites can go a long way. In the same token I would implore a good people of Amhara to reject the forces committing these atrocities in your good names.
Lastly, the Tigray conflict is an abject failure by the regime in power. But the regime will never acknowledge its reckless actions. Instead, it trying to blame others, including OLF, TPLF, and some unknown external forces. The regime continues to create real and imagined enemies. It continues to lie to us until most Ethiopians believe the lies. Abiy is trying to conceal his brutality and paranoia with image of public servant, the like Ethiopia has never had. If we remain quite today, our people will meet the same brutal fate as the Tigrayans. Worse yet, Abiy will continue to provoke enemies left and right to distract us from his brutality. He will try to create common enemies for us to focus on, instead of his failed leadership. His arrogance will lead to disintegration of Ethiopia. As crime and lawlessness soars, Ethiopia will not be safe for anyone. Dictators come and go, but the nation and the people must survive.