Mekelle: 2 May 2024 (Tigray Herald)
PJTI expresses deep disappointment with the April 25th misleading & dangerous statement by AUC Moussa Faki
which could lead to another war in the region especially #Tigray. He rejected the Ethiopian constitution & called illegally annexed areas as “contested”. No
RE: Response to Your Statement Released on April 25, 2024 Your Excellency Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat,
This response is from Peace and Justice for Tigreans International (PJT International), a Tigrayan Diaspora organization registered as 501(c3) in the United States.
The statement released on April 25, 2024, from your office contains statements with grave consequences to Tigray, Ethiopia and the region in general.
First, it is our understanding that the role of the AU is to bring Africans together, not to make statements that deepen the discontent and mistrust between parties – especially as between Tigray people and its government with other ethnic groups in Ethiopia.
Secondly, we object to the content of your message, which we do not believe accurately reflects the present reality on the ground.
With this letter we are providing evidence-based information that will help you reconsider and to reissue your statement with a more accurate depiction of the reality on the ground.
Millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Tigray are suffering. Specifically, more than one million people have been evicted from their homes and their lands and their properties have been looted by Amhara militia and Eritrean forces. As a result, the IDPs have been forced to live in shelters and on the streets, which is deleterious to their wellbeing in light of the extent of destruction on the socio-economic infrastructure of Tigray.
Slow pace of mobilizing resources to support the DDR. While the guarantors of the Pretoria Agreement are largely responsible for this slow pace, at the same time the negative impacts on the population are multiplying daily due to your inaction and with your inflammatory statements.
Continued presence of foreign and local invaders in Tigray. Many villages and towns in Tigray are still under Eritrean and Amhara forces, which has dire consequences for the wellbeing of the Tigrayan people.
Lack of security and basic government service. By allowing foreign and local invaders to remain in control of parts of Tigray, the Federal Government of Ethiopia is indirectly promoting the destabilization, suffering, and insecurity of the people of Tigray.
Continued unlawful imprisonment of Tigrayans. Hundreds of ethnic Tigrayan former Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) members are still languishing in prisons under harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.
Lack of accountability and justice for victims of war crimes: After the signing of the Pretoria Agreement, it appears that the African Union has walked-back an initiative to secure accountability and justice for victims of war crimes in Tigray. Whereas this promise was viewed as an important tenet of the agreement, in July 2023 the AU’s Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) quietly ended its inquiry into war atrocities and deleted its webpage from the AU’s official website that had been standing for the previous two years. It’s noted that the commission was never allowed to travel to Tigray and therefore was not able to issue a report of findings. Consequently, no tangible action has been taken by the Federal Government nor the guarantors of the peace agreement to bring accountability and justice for war victims in Tigray.
Collectively, the above observations paint the unacceptable bias and double standard of the AU which is leading to abrogation of responsibility by the Federal government to fulfill its obligations in implementing the cessation of hostilities that it sponsored. The recent statement is further adding to the existing mistrust, insecurity, and instability the people of Ethiopia and in particular the people of Tigray are enduring with no end in sight.
The reality on the ground and the pre painted by Chairman Faki’s statement on April 25, 2024, are at odds. Mr. Faki’s statement emphasized concerns about “. the escalating tensions between local communities in the contested areas of northern Ethiopia, including Raya, Alamata, Zata and Ofla.”
