Is Abbiy’s government at a loss by refusing to accept or denying the genocide that had been committed?
Posted: 07 Sep 2020, 12:06
There are three threatening groups at play here competing to destroy Abbiy’s government reputation with regards to the recent genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Oromia region:
First of all for the victims of this heinous crime and many concerned Ethiopian citizens, more so for the victim’s families justice is paramount importance. Anything less than a just, genuine and thorough investigation in to the presumed, by many experts in the field, genocide and crimes against humanity would create a rift between the government and many Ethiopians who had put a high hope on it for burying the past treacherous and deceptive way of leading this nation. Without Justice there will be a severe mistrust between the government and the public for the public had witnessed the crimes first-hand. So there is no way of denying the truth and doing so is a huge mistake with catastrophic consequences. It will be very hard to sale any of this government’s agenda for the citizens without being honest with them. At this juncture the Abbiy’s government has a huge task of convincing Ethiopians that it is different from TPLF. The last thing this Government wants to do is “convince or confuse ቁማር ቤት politics”
Second the Prosperity Party top members, as per the party’s own admission, especially those from ODP, are deeply involved in this heinous crime. Of course Abbiy’s Government is taking steps to punish those who immerse themselves in to this heinous crime , however, the government is still short of calling it by its name which down the road is going to haunt it- I will explain the ‘how‘ later.
The third is diaspora Oromo and TPLF rats-trying to piggyback on OLF in their desperately attempt to find their way back to “Arat Kilo palace” after their unceremonious eviction two years ago.
The threat from this third group will become imminent if and only if the Government fails to address this unfortunate event in our history appropriately. This is the “how” I promised you above. So how is it going to haunt this government? Well, any treatment of this crime with less than genocide and crimes against humanity (that’s what it was!) does seem to loosen the tension among ODP part of Prosperity Party (PP). This is because again top ODP members are deeply involved in this genocide and crime against humanity, so calling it something else other than genocide and crime against humanity at first glance may seem to loosen the strained relationship that would have happened if it was called by its actual name. The bigger problem is if they call it just an incident rather than genocide and crimes against humanity to avoid persecution of top ODP government officials at, potentially ICC, the pressure will mount on Ethiopian Government to release the perpetrators including Bekele and Jawar for the “petty crime” the Government is accusing them of.
The pressure will come from international community, human right organizations and more interestingly the pressure will be exacerbated by the emboldened diaspora Oromos, TPLF rats in the background and other ‘bandas’. I said embolden diaspora Oromos because they are emboldened by the inactions of the very Government who should have or supposed to have called it appropriately (genocide and crimes against humanity) and by that the government could have scared away these “ጅራፍ እራሱ ገርፎ እራሱ ይጮሃል” kind of groups roaming in Europe and America demanding release of individuals that should have been suspects of genocide and crimes against humanity. This is unheard of anywhere in the world. One commits a crime in a broad day light and then seeks justice for the perpetrators; this is absurd never heard before! But that is because the government was lukewarm about it except taking action on groups and individuals threatening its power.
That is not all, by exposing the true extent of the crime the government would have secured or benefited from the international community’s support to prosecute the perpetrators both with in and outside the country. This is a golden opportunity the Abbiy Government should have taken advantage of (well, it is not really taking advantage, rather it was doing the right thing) the current situation to stabilize the country.
Therefore if the Abbiy Government didn’t want to commit a further costly mistake they would have Paved the way for justice to prevail in this nation and charge the individuals or organizations involved in the genocide and crime against humanity for what they did irrespective of who they are or their position in the government! They shouldn’t have made it a political gamble.
In my honest view, compromising with crime of this magnitude is a recipe for the down fall of any government and Abbiy’s is not different.
“Do the right thing even if it is hard ”
TheManWhoSawTomorrow
First of all for the victims of this heinous crime and many concerned Ethiopian citizens, more so for the victim’s families justice is paramount importance. Anything less than a just, genuine and thorough investigation in to the presumed, by many experts in the field, genocide and crimes against humanity would create a rift between the government and many Ethiopians who had put a high hope on it for burying the past treacherous and deceptive way of leading this nation. Without Justice there will be a severe mistrust between the government and the public for the public had witnessed the crimes first-hand. So there is no way of denying the truth and doing so is a huge mistake with catastrophic consequences. It will be very hard to sale any of this government’s agenda for the citizens without being honest with them. At this juncture the Abbiy’s government has a huge task of convincing Ethiopians that it is different from TPLF. The last thing this Government wants to do is “convince or confuse ቁማር ቤት politics”
Second the Prosperity Party top members, as per the party’s own admission, especially those from ODP, are deeply involved in this heinous crime. Of course Abbiy’s Government is taking steps to punish those who immerse themselves in to this heinous crime , however, the government is still short of calling it by its name which down the road is going to haunt it- I will explain the ‘how‘ later.
The third is diaspora Oromo and TPLF rats-trying to piggyback on OLF in their desperately attempt to find their way back to “Arat Kilo palace” after their unceremonious eviction two years ago.
The threat from this third group will become imminent if and only if the Government fails to address this unfortunate event in our history appropriately. This is the “how” I promised you above. So how is it going to haunt this government? Well, any treatment of this crime with less than genocide and crimes against humanity (that’s what it was!) does seem to loosen the tension among ODP part of Prosperity Party (PP). This is because again top ODP members are deeply involved in this genocide and crime against humanity, so calling it something else other than genocide and crime against humanity at first glance may seem to loosen the strained relationship that would have happened if it was called by its actual name. The bigger problem is if they call it just an incident rather than genocide and crimes against humanity to avoid persecution of top ODP government officials at, potentially ICC, the pressure will mount on Ethiopian Government to release the perpetrators including Bekele and Jawar for the “petty crime” the Government is accusing them of.
The pressure will come from international community, human right organizations and more interestingly the pressure will be exacerbated by the emboldened diaspora Oromos, TPLF rats in the background and other ‘bandas’. I said embolden diaspora Oromos because they are emboldened by the inactions of the very Government who should have or supposed to have called it appropriately (genocide and crimes against humanity) and by that the government could have scared away these “ጅራፍ እራሱ ገርፎ እራሱ ይጮሃል” kind of groups roaming in Europe and America demanding release of individuals that should have been suspects of genocide and crimes against humanity. This is unheard of anywhere in the world. One commits a crime in a broad day light and then seeks justice for the perpetrators; this is absurd never heard before! But that is because the government was lukewarm about it except taking action on groups and individuals threatening its power.
That is not all, by exposing the true extent of the crime the government would have secured or benefited from the international community’s support to prosecute the perpetrators both with in and outside the country. This is a golden opportunity the Abbiy Government should have taken advantage of (well, it is not really taking advantage, rather it was doing the right thing) the current situation to stabilize the country.
Therefore if the Abbiy Government didn’t want to commit a further costly mistake they would have Paved the way for justice to prevail in this nation and charge the individuals or organizations involved in the genocide and crime against humanity for what they did irrespective of who they are or their position in the government! They shouldn’t have made it a political gamble.
In my honest view, compromising with crime of this magnitude is a recipe for the down fall of any government and Abbiy’s is not different.
“Do the right thing even if it is hard ”
TheManWhoSawTomorrow