Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald)

What a hell is Tadesse Worede doing in Ethiopia Dialogue Commission fake conference?

By EA

Is Tadesse Worde bowing to Abiy Pressure, playing dangerous games, becoming the Trojan Horse of Tyranny?

Why Tadesse Worede’s Participation in the Ethiopian Dialogue Commission Betrays Tigray and Imperils African Transitional Justice Action Plan and International Law-

The Ethiopian Dialogue Commission is born in Sin, An Attendance Steeped in Betrayal of The people of Tigray .

The establishment of Ethiopia’s National Dialogue Commission (NDC) was not an earnest step towards reconciliation; it was a calculated maneuver by the Prosperity Party (PP) government to evade accountability for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide committed primarily in Tigray. Its very foundation bypasses the indispensable pillars of genuine transitional justice.

Against this backdrop of institutionalised impunity, the potential attendance of Tadesse Worede, President of the Tigray Interim Administration (TIA), at the NDC’s forum is not merely ill-advised; it constitutes a catastrophic betrayal of the Tigrayan people, a direct assault on the African Union’s (AU) Justice and Accountability Action Plan, a gross violation of the Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), and a whitewash that breaches fundamental principles of international law.

His participation would lend a veneer of legitimacy to a process designed to protect perpetrators, permanently silencing Tigrayan demands for independent justice and paving the way for the PP’s crimes to be buried under the guise of “dialogue’’ my comments presents a robust legal, political, and moral argument against Tadesse Worede’s attendance, demanding instead unwavering adherence to mechanisms capable of delivering true justice.

Why I disagree:

I. The NDC: An Instrument of Impunity, Not a Vehicle for Justice

A. Foundational Flaws: Bypassing Accountability Mandates. The Primacy of Accountability International law, particularly in the aftermath of mass atrocities, unequivocally establishes that sustainable peace cannot be built on the graves of the unavenged.

The UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims, the Updated Set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through Action to Combat Impunity, and the jurisprudence of international tribunals consistently affirm that justice – including criminal accountability, truth-seeking, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence – is a non-negotiable prerequisite for genuine reconciliation.

The NDC’s mandate, however, deliberately sidesteps this imperative. Its focus on “national consensus” and political dialogue inherently prioritises stability (as defined by the victors) over justice, creating a framework where accountability can be bargained away as a political concession.

State Obligation Under International Law:

Ethiopia, as a state party to numerous human rights treaties (including the ICCPR, CAT, Genocide Convention), bears a positive obligation to investigate and prosecute gross human rights violations and serious international crimes. Establishing a dialogue commission before or instead of credible, independent judicial mechanisms constitutes a failure to fulfill this erga omnes obligation owed to the international community as a whole.

The NDC, lacking any prosecutorial power or mandate for binding findings on individual criminal responsibility, is structurally incapable of meeting this obligation. Its existence, therefore, functions as a de facto shield for the PP leadership and military commanders implicated in atrocities.

B. Illegitimacy through Exclusion: The Tigrayan Void- Lack of Consultation and Representation of Tigray:

The NDC’s formation process was fundamentally exclusionary, particularly concerning Tigray. At the height of the conflict and its brutal aftermath – involving widespread atrocities, siege conditions, and mass displacement – Tigrayan civil society, political parties (including the TPLF), religious leaders, and victim groups were systematically excluded from meaningful consultations on the commission’s formation, structure, mandate, and membership.

This violates core principles of legitimate national dialogues, as outlined by the UN and AU, which require broad-based inclusivity, particularly of those most affected by the conflict. The commission was imposed upon Tigray, not developed with or by Tigrayans. Tadesse Worde has no TIgrayan mandate to join in this meetings , boycotted by Tigrayans .

Contested Legitimacy of the Tigray Interim Administration (TIA): The TIA, appointed by the PP government following the CoHA, lacks democratic legitimacy and broad popular mandate within Tigray. Its primary function, as perceived by many Tigrayans, has been to implement PP dictates under duress, amidst ongoing security threats and humanitarian catastrophe. Its ability to genuinely represent the diverse and deeply traumatised Tigrayan populace, particularly victims demanding justice, is profoundly contested.

Its mandate does not extend to surrendering Tigrayan rights to independent justice mechanisms.

II. Tadesse Worede’s Attendance Catastrophic Implications:

A. Legitimising a facist government , Endorsing the Whitewash

Conferring False Legitimacy By participating, President Worede would signal the TIA’s acceptance of the NDC as a legitimate and adequate forum for addressing Tigray’s profound grievances, including the demand for justice.

His presence, as the nominal head of Tigray’s administration, would be exploited by the PP and its international apologists to claim Tigrayan “buy-in” to a process explicitly designed to avoid accountability. This transforms the TIA from an interim administrative body into an unwitting agent endorsing the erasure of Tigrayan suffering and the normalisation of PP impunity.

Tadesse Worede’s actions will certainly erode Victim-Centered Justice. The core demand from Tigrayan civil society and victims’ groups is for an independent, impartial, and international or Regional mechanism to investigate atrocities and hold perpetrators accountable. Worede’s participation in the NDC directly contradicts and undermines this demand. It signals a willingness to substitute a government-controlled “dialogue” for genuine judicial process, effectively telling victims their quest for justice is secondary to political expediency dictated by their oppressors. This is a profound moral betrayal.

B. This is sabotaging the Pretoria Agreement and International Law-Violation of the CoHA’s Accountability Provisions:

Paragraph 10 of the Pretoria CoHA is unambiguous: “The Government of Ethiopia shall implement a comprehensive national transitional justice policy aimed at accountability, ascertaining the truth, redress for victims, reconciliation, and healing, in conformity with the Constitution of FDRE and the African Union Transitional Justice Policy Framework.

The AU Framework explicitly mandates criminal accountability for serious crimes. The NDC, as currently constituted and operating, cannot fulfill this obligation. By participating in the NDC instead of demanding the establishment of the independent transitional justice mechanism implied by Pretoria, Worede facilitates the PP’s violation of the agreement. His attendance becomes complicity in nullifying a core pillar of the peace deal.

This Breach of International Legal Standards. His participation lends credence to a process that violates:
a, The Right to an Effective Remedy (ICCPR Art. 2): The NDC offers no judicial remedy for victims of international crimes.
b, The Right to Truth: A dialogue commission controlled by a party to the conflict cannot uncover the impartial truth demanded by international law.
C, The Duty to Prosecute (CAT Art. 4, Genocide Convention Art. 1, IHL):States cannot substitute political dialogue for criminal prosecution of grave breaches of international humanitarian law, torture, or genocide. Worede’s participation implicitly accepts this substitution.

d, The Principle of Non-Refoulement (by Proxy): By undermining the establishment of genuine independent accountability mechanisms in the Regional Tribunals , participation increases the risk that victims and witnesses remain unsafe, effectively denying them protection and the possibility of justice.

What about weakening Tigrayan Agency and Solidarity??

This will be Dividing Tigray and Silencing Dissent- Worede’s attendance, while all major Tigrayan civil society organizations, political parties (including the TPLF), and victim associations boycott the NDC, creates a dangerous fracture within Tigray. It pits the PP-appointed interim administration against the expressed will of the Tigrayan people.

This division has already weakened Tigray’s collective bargaining power and allows the PP to claim it is engaging with “Tigray” while ignoring its authentic representatives. It silences the unified Tigrayan demand for justice under the false pretense of representation.

Surrendering Sovereignty?Tigrayans possess the inherent right to determine how justice for the atrocities committed against them is pursued. By participating in a flawed, Addis Ababa-controlled process that precludes genuine accountability, Worede effectively surrenders this collective right. He substitutes the judgment of the PP victors for the demands of the Tigrayan victims, denying them agency in their own pursuit of justice.

D. Crippling the African Union’s Credibility and Justice Agenda will be certain!
Undermining the AU Transitional Justice Policy Framework (AUTJPF):
The AUTJPF clearly articulates that transitional justice processes must be inclusive, victim-centered, and guarantee accountability, particularly for international crimes.

The NDC demonstrably fails these AU standards. Worede’s high-profile participation sends a devastating message across Africa: that AU member states can establish sham “dialogue” processes to evade accountability, and that even appointed leaders of traumatized regions can be co-opted into endorsing them. It makes a mockery of the AUTJPF and signals that its principles are merely aspirational, easily discarded by powerful states.

This will certainly be encouraging Continent-Wide Impunity. If this arm twisting succeeds in using the NDC to whitewash atrocities in Tigray with the participation of a nominal Tigrayan leader, it sets a catastrophic precedent. It tells other African leaders implicated in atrocities that they too can create Potemkin dialogue commissions to escape justice, undermining decades of AU efforts to combat impunity and strengthen the rule of law. The Tigrayn diasporas silence or tacit acceptance of Worede’s participation would be seen as complicity in this erosion of its own foundational principles.

My argument Against Participation:

A. Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Representation Mandate:
Tadesse Worede, as head of the TIA, arguably holds a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the Tigrayan people, particularly the victims of the conflict. Participating in a process explicitly designed to shield perpetrators and deny independent accountability constitutes a fundamental breach of this duty.

Legally, his mandate (derived from the CoHA and PP appointment) cannot reasonably be interpreted to include the authority to surrender Tigrayans’ fundamental human rights to justice and remedy, rights enshrined in international law and the Ethiopian Constitution (however compromised the latter may be). His participation exceeds his lawful authority and acts ultra vires concerning the core interests of his purported constituents.

B. Complicity in the Breach of International Obligations:

By lending legitimacy to the NDC as a purported mechanism for addressing atrocities, Worede risks becoming complicit in Ethiopia's ongoing failure to meet its international legal obligations to investigate and prosecute serious international crimes. While not a direct perpetrator, his participation aids and abets the PP's strategy of evasion, potentially fulfilling the criteria for complicity under principles of state responsibility and international criminal law concepts of aiding and abetting (though establishing individual criminal liability would require specific intent and knowledge, which may be difficult to prove here). Ethically and politically, it is undeniable complicity in a whitewash.

C. Violation of the Right to Effective Participation:
International law guarantees the right of peoples to participate in decisions affecting their fundamental rights (ICCPR Art. 1, 25). The NDC process, by excluding authentic Tigrayan representatives and imposing a flawed structure, violates the collective right of the Tigrayan people to participate meaningfully in designing mechanisms for justice and reconciliation.

Worede’s participation, representing an administration lacking broad popular mandate, does not rectify this violation; it compounds it by creating the false impression of participation while the actual representatives of the people’s will are excluded. He becomes part of a process denying his own people their fundamental right to self-determination in matters of justice.

D. Undermining Jus Cogens Norms:
The prohibition of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture are peremptory norms (jus cogens) of international law, from which no derogation is permitted. Mechanisms designed to avoid accountability for violations of these norms are inherently illegitimate.

Participating in such a mechanism (the NDC) implicitly accepts the possibility of impunity for jus cogens violations, thereby undermining these foundational pillars of the international legal order. No leader purporting to represent victims of such crimes can ethically or legally engage with a process that treats these crimes as negotiable political issues.

E. Precluding Future Reliance on Universal Jurisdiction/ICC:

A key principle governing the intervention of international mechanisms like the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the exercise of universal jurisdiction by national courts iscomplementarity: they step in only if the state is unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute. 

By participating in the NDC and lending it credibility as a purported “dialogue ” mechanism, Worede potentially bolsters Ethiopia’s argument that it is “willing” to address past crimes through its domestic processes, however flawed. This could create significant legal hurdles for future efforts to trigger ICC jurisdiction or universal jurisdiction cases, effectively slamming the door on international justice for Tigrayan victims.

IV. The Path Forward:

Rejection, Resistance, and Rigorous Accountability:

Tadesse Worede’s attendance is not just a political misstep; it is an act of profound legal and ethical transgression against the Tigrayan people and the principles of international justice. The only morally defensible and strategically sound course is:

1. Immediate and Public Withdrawal: Tadesse Worede must publicly announce his refusal to participate in the NDC forum, explicitly stating that the commission lacks the independence, mandate, and inclusivity necessary to address justice for Tigrayan atrocities and is therefore illegitimate.
2. Unified Demand for Independent Mechanisms-

The TIA, aligning itself with the overwhelming sentiment of Tigrayans, must unequivocally demand the immediate establishment of an independent, impartial, and *internationalised mechanism – as envisaged by the spirit of the Pretoria Agreement and mandated by international law – to investigate atrocities committed by all parties and ensure criminal accountability.

This must be the non-negotiable precondition for any Tigrayan participation in any national process.

3. International Pressure:The AU, UN, EU, US, and other international actors must move beyond cautious diplomacy. They must publicly condemn the NDC’s lack of focus on accountability and its exclusionary nature. They must unequivocally state that Worede’s participation does not equate to Tigrayan consent and actively pressure Ethiopia to establish a credible transitional justice process in line with the AUTJPF and Pretoria Agreement. Sanctions targeting individuals responsible for atrocities and obstruction of justice should be intensified.
4. Amplifying Civil Society- International support must pivot directly to Tigrayan civil society organizations, victims’ groups, and excluded political entities, ensuring their voices and demands for justice are heard globally and form the non-negotiable basis for any future settlement.

No Seat at the Table of Betrayal**

The Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission is a gilded cage constructed by the Prosperity Party to imprison the truth and execute the hope of justice for Tigray. Tadesse Worede’s attendance would be the act of stepping inside and locking the door behind him, abandoning the Tigrayan people outside with their wounds unhealed and their cries for justice unheard.

It would be a catastrophic betrayal, sacrificing the fundamental rights of victims at the altar of political expediency dictated by their oppressors. It would shred the Pretoria Agreement’s promise of accountability, spit in the face of the African Union’s transitional justice principles, and provide a blueprint for impunity across the continent. It would violate core tenets of international law, from the duty to prosecute to the rights of victims to an effective remedy and meaningful participation.

The legal arguments against participation are robust and grounded in the bedrock of international human rights and humanitarian law. The political consequences are dire, guaranteeing the entrenchment of PP power through impunity and the permanent silencing of Tigrayan demands.

The moral imperative is undeniable:

one cannot represent victims while legitimising the mechanism designed to deny them justice. Tadesse Worede must not attend. To do so is not dialogue; it is capitulation. It is not peace; it is the perpetuation of injustice under a new guise.

The only path worthy of the Tigrayan people’s suffering and resilience is the unequivocal rejection of this sham process and the relentless, uncompromising pursuit of independent, international justice. Anything less is a surrender to tyranny and a betrayal that history will not forgive!!!!!!