Mereja.Forum

Open Letter to Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Commissioner of the African Union

Subject: The involvement of the African Union in investigating genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, massacre and rape committed on the people of Tigray

Your Excellency,

We, three opposition parties in Tigray, have been calling repeatedly for a full, independent and international investigation of the crimes committed in Tigray. Now, it has become loud and clear that the international community too is demanding that there should be a full, independent and international investigation. We strongly believe that this kind of investigation is necessary given the scale of the crime, the number of actors involved and the magnitude of the continuing destruction.

At this moment, the African Union has declared it has accepted the invitation of the Ethiopian government to jointly investigate the war crimes, ethnic cleansing, massacres, rape and all grave crimes that have been committed and are still ongoing in Tigray. If the “African solutions to African problems” motto is still in place, we would have liked to see the AU taking its own initiative; first and foremost, to prevent any conflict and war in the continent. We still believe African problems can have African solutions if the African Union can focus its resources and works genuinely on resolving conflicts and preventing wars. We hope the AU succeeds in this regard and the people of Africa live a better life. We also strongly believe that working with the international community is crucial to have a peaceful and stable Africa. Thus, it is our sincere hope to see the AU working hand in hand with the international community to stop the war in Tigray and prevent a flare up in the Horn of Africa region.

When it comes to the acceptance by the AU of the Ethiopia’s proposal for a joint investigation of the crimes committed in Tigray, we are sorry to find ourselves having reservations and limited hope for the following main reasons.

Your Excellency, Mr. Mousa FakiMahamat, gave a clear support to Ethiopia’s genocidal war on Tigray in your speech dated December 20, 2020, at the IGAD conference in Djibouti. In this speech, you endorsed the ostensible and ironic claim of Ethiopia that this devastating war was a ‘law enforcement operation’. As it turned out, the war has been a total war on Tigray involving three African countries directly and other non-African countries. It is a pity that all the crimes, which came to the attention of the world now,were happening while this speech was delivered. In our eyes and the eyes of all independent observers, this speech of Your Excellency has made the AU to lose its impartiality in this conflict. We, therefore, do not have the trust that the AU can be an independent investigator of the crimes committed in this tragic war as it has already received the blessing of Your Excellency.

Even though one of the main missions of the African Union is to stop wars and resolve conflicts, it chose to be silent while a destructive war of a magnitude that has never been seen before is raging in its backyard for the last four months. This war is still underway and the AU cared little as to even make a call for it to stop. We, Tigrayans, might have never imagined that the AU will let us down in such an outrageous manner given the huge respect and trust that we have for African brotherhood. Nonetheless, we have lived to lament this disregard of the AU to our pains and are made to seriously doubt the credibility of the AU with regards to this matter.

We have come to know that the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) is the institution groomed to investigate the crimes in collaboration with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC). We have not seen the ACHPR investigating crimes of the nature and magnitude that is happening in Tigray to this date. For this reason, we do not believe that the ACHPR is experienced enough to investigate the extensive crimes committed by several state and non-state actors in Tigray.

The Ethiopian government started the war and allowed the other actors to join hands and do all the horrible crimes together. Thus, we believe the Ethiopian government is the main culprit of all the crimes in Tigray. This government has also refused to provide access to a full, independent and international investigation despite repeated calls by the international community. As a suspect in those crimes, the Ethiopian government is not supposed to select investigators of the crime. Thus, the invitation of the AU by the Ethiopian government to investigate the crimes in collaboration with the EHRC; while closing doors to independent international investigators cannot be taken as a genuine initiative of investigating crimes. We suspect that this move by the Ethiopian government is an attempt to cover up the crimes. As a result of this then, we do not have the hope to see a genuine investigation of the crimes.

Most probably the AU might not answer to the letter. It is simply cadres talk. There is no an iota of truth in it. The writing is bad. It is ok, even great, if some ER member wrote for discussion in ER forum. But when addressing the AU clarity in using the language is essential, which it is lacking.
By the way it is not a good idea to use “ we Tigreans” in the letter.
As far as AU is concerned there is only Ethiopia. We Tigrean Ethiopians could describe better the letter writers.
My advice to politicians when compelled to write letters seek advice from prominent lawyers. They could be helpful.

Good response from Meeks and McCaul, "There must be an international, independent investigation of all reported atrocities, including ethnic cleansing."



Meeks, McCaul Issue Joint Statement on the Conflict and Humanitarian Crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

Washington, DC- Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Michael McCaul, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today issued the following statement after a briefing by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for members of the Committee on the growing humanitarian crisis and ethnic conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region.

“Today, we heard from the State Department and USAID about the scale of the devastating conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and the alarming impact on civilians. Currently, over 4.5 million people out of the 6 million people in the region are in urgent need food, medical supplies, and shelter. We are deeply concerned about reports of war crimes against civilians, forced displacements, restricted access to food and healthcare, and the role of Eritrean forces in Ethiopia. There must be an international, independent investigation of all reported atrocities, including ethnic cleansing. The United States, in coordination with partners and allies, must take action to hold perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable. We must strongly urge the Government of Ethiopia to make more progress on granting full access to humanitarian partners, independent media, diplomats, and human rights monitors to aid civilians and to assess the impact of the conflict in Tigray.

“Ethiopia has long been a key partner in the Horn of Africa and has achieved significant economic and development progress. However, the ongoing conflict in Tigray threatens the credibility of upcoming elections in June and the stability of the entire region. We will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/2021/3 ... ray-region