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“Negotiating with people like the TPLF would legitimize terrorists and terrorism more broadly” Tibebe Samuel.
By Baby Samuel Ferenji
Terrorism is defined as a violent medium designed to unleash political change by affecting an audience larger than its immediate target. What took place in Ethiopia on November 4, 2020, was a terrorist attack by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) against the Ethiopian Defense Force Northern Command (EDFNC). The TPLF is not new for acts of terrorism; it has been listed in the United States Department of State as a terrorist organization. As a rebel force in the 1970s and 1980s, the TPLF targeted civilians. He engaged in mass killings and bombardment of civilian targets, including convoys carrying food and support for Tigray civilians.
As the government of Ethiopia, the TPLF ruled the nation with an “iron fist” and engaged in state-sponsored terrorism. The crime against humanity and brutality of TPLF is too much to list here; however, it is important to highlight some of his terrorist acts. As soon as he assumed power, he used the government media to incite violence against the Amhara ethnic group. As a result, many Amhara were killed and displaced. Oromos, Wolaytas, Gambelas and other groups also killed en masse by TPLF security forces.
As if this weren’t enough, the TPLF bombed vehicles and hotels in several cities. Notable among those are some of the bombings in Addis Ababa. On May 20, 2008, TPLF security officers bombed a minibus taxi carrying passengers in Addis Ababa and blamed the OLF for it. This brutal action was leaked by WikiLeaks years later. Six passengers were killed and about seven passengers were injured in this incident. The TPLF used this explosion as a pretext to persecute Oromos who reflected views opposed to those of the TPLF. Its agents carried out numerous attacks, including the bombing of the Tigray Hotel in Addis Ababa. These bombings were used to arrest, torture and kill members of opposition parties and anti-TPLF activists.
This brutal organization terrorized the Ethiopian people for more than thirty years as a rebel force and as a government. Many political prisoners were brutally tortured; its officers tortured many male prisoners by hanging a 20-ounce water bottle on their genitals; they gang-raped and filmed the prisoners. They forced female prisoners to have sex with other female prisoners and videotaped them to be used later to blackmail political dissidents. These brutes sodomized the prisoners with a broom and murdered countless innocent citizens. The brutality of the TPLF is well documented by the US State Department. What is tragic and hypocritical for Western governments is that they supported the TPLF’s “state sponsored terrorism” by funding and training their brutal police force. We did not listen then, what we are hearing now. In particular, the Amhara ethnic group was marginalized and there are credible allegations that the TPLF used injections to sterilize Amhara women. Those of us who were heartbroken by the brutality of the TPLF pleaded with Western governments to stop funding this terrorist organization to no avail. Media outlets like CNN painted an optimistic picture on the TPLF as the people of Ethiopia suffered under the brutality of the TPLF.
Terrorism is in the DNA of the TPLF; Since its inception, the TPLF carried out its armed struggle by participating in violent attacks against civilians. The organization did not want any other political organization to operate within Tigray; thus, he massacred the leaders of the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF), while they slept after the leaders of the two organizations concluded their reconciliation meetings. He also killed and expelled many members of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP) from Tigray. The people of Tigray suffered greatly under the TPLF. Those who refused to support the TPLF were brutally treated.
After 27 years in power and the murder of millions of innocent Ethiopians, the TPLF was ousted from power in April 2018, a new prime minister took power in Ethiopia. The new Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, called on the Ethiopian people to forgive the atrocities committed by the TPLF and its allies and want the country to move forward in a spirit of forgiveness. He took extensive reform measures to get the country on the right track. Such measures made it difficult for TPLF leaders and their families to loot the country’s scarce resources. The TPLF thought it could turn the new prime minister into a puppet who would be subordinate to the TPLF. Fortunately for Ethiopia, the TPLF was not prepared for the rude awakening; TPLF leaders began to realize that Abiy is not someone they can control. He overcame them and was able to break the trap that TPLF set for him. It was then that these brutes decided to flee to Mekele, the capital of Tigray, and plan their next move to overthrow the government of Abiy.
The Federal Government of Ethiopia was very patient and smart in dealing with these old guards. It provided them with multiple opportunities on multiple occasions to participate in a peaceful political process and adhere to the constitution that they wrote and ratified themselves. Although many political actors, including some Tigray activists, demanded that Dr. Abiy take action against the TPLF leaders, he was patient. Instead of military action, he chose reconciliation. He sent the elders on multiple occasions supplications to the TPLF leaders to participate in a peaceful political process within the framework of the Ethiopian Constitution. They refused.
Instead of a peaceful compromise, the TPLF chose to engage in a proxy war; it provided arms and funds to various rebel groups and orchestrated the massacre of Amharas, Oromos and other innocent ethnic groups. To make matters worse, the TPLF went to enormous lengths to create a religious conflict in Ethiopia. Forces trained by the TPLF burned Orthodox Christian churches and mosques. Their effort failed because the people of Ethiopia have been keenly aware of how the TPLF works. With all these atrocities, the federal government was very patient.
The TPLF used its media to undermine the federal government; he engaged in propaganda to exacerbate the division he sowed for more than thirty years between various ethnic groups. He collaborated with extremist Oromo groups to attack innocent citizens and destroy property. His army officers provided comfort and assistance to the armed groups that terrorized Ethiopians in the Oromo and Benishangul regions. The Ethiopians suffered greatly; Millions have been displaced from various regions in multiple attacks orchestrated by the TPLF. Even then, the federal government made various attempts to resolve these difficult problems with the TPLF peacefully without success. For two years, the TPLF prepared for war by stockpiling heavy weapons and training its special force.
On November 4, the TPLF crossed the “reddest line.” The EDFNC was attacked in the middle of the night. These are soldiers who protected the people of Tigray from invasion and attack for more than 20 years. These soldiers participated in the region beyond their duty. They contributed their meager wages to building schools in Tigray; They helped Tigray farmers plow their land and plant seeds. On November 4, 2020, EDFNC soldiers were massacred while in bed in their barracks; killed by their own brothers in arms. Some were able to escape and go to Eritrea, where they were cared for and assisted by Eritrean soldiers.
This was an act of terrorism; many doubted the story when the government announced that the TPLF attacked the EDFNC. However, the TPLF leaders were quick to boast of their ill-conceived brutal action. They told us that they reported in their own media how the EDFNC soldiers had been massacred at full speed. They claim that it took 45 minutes for the TPLF to “destroy” the EDFNC. The soldiers were killed in one of the most brutal and inhumane ways; TPLF soldiers ran over Cino Truck’s over some of the soldiers while they were still alive. The TPLF not only attacked the EDFNC in various camps, but also advanced into the Amhara region and engaged the special forces of the Amhara region in their attempt to invade the Amhara region.
These are the facts; There is a great dichotomy between what is on the ground and what the media says that are fed with lies by the public relations companies. The false narrative being told to the world, orchestrated by the TPLF’s public relations and hiring firms, are public relations ploys in a desperate attempt to seek the intervention of Western governments in this conflict and save the TPLF from total disintegration. The US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Resolution passed on March 25, 2020 on Ethiopia is an attempt to prescribe drugs without understanding the root cause of “the disease.” Such a resolution only provides aid and comfort to terrorists. The TPLF and its apologists never cared about the people of Tigray. They used the people of Tigray just to seize power by any means necessary. American officials must stop listening to lobbyists and public relations firms and make efforts to learn the truth. If the United States is truly interested in improving peace and stability in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, it must sanction those who support the TPLF, a terrorist organization that has been responsible for the death and suffering of millions. No government in the world would tolerate the way the Ethiopian government tolerates the TPLF.
I know for sure that no responsible person in the Western world would ask the United States government to negotiate with the rioters of the United States Capitol, domestic or foreign terrorists. The United States and the rest of the Western world have a strict policy of not negotiating with terrorists; If this is the case, why is the United States requiring Ethiopia to negotiate with a terrorist organization like the TPLF? In 2003, then-US President George W. Bush said of terrorists: “You have to be strong, not weak. The only way to deal with these people is to bring them to justice. You can’t talk to them. You can’t negotiate with them. ”Negotiating with people like the TPLF would legitimize terrorists and terrorism more broadly. Legitimizing terrorist groups and their actions would weaken the democratic quality of states and would probably only serve to incite more. violence Is this what the United States wants in Ethiopia?
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