Andrew Korybko's Newsletter
The US’ Meddling In Ethiopia’s Transitional Justice Process Aims To Predetermine The Outcome
Andrew Korybko
https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-us-m ... ansitional
Mar 22
This provocation can be described as yet another example of the US’ infamous “humanitarian imperialism” whereby it weaponizes humanitarian issues like transitional justice for the purpose of advancing its imperialist interests. In this case, the US wants to revise history in order to retroactively extend a degree of false credence to its debunked claims of “genocide” against Tigrayans, delegitimize the Government Of Ethiopia as a result, and thus weaken its authority as part of the long-term plot to “Bosnify” this cosmopolitan country.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) reacted angrily to the State Department singling certain actors out when it came to alleged crimes against humanity while conspicuously omitting others despite overwhelming evidence of the latter’s culpability. This provocation came shortly after Secretary of State
Blinken’s trip to that country as it continues making progress on its promised transitional justice process that was agreed to as part of November’s Cessation Of Hostilities Agreement (COHA).
https://korybko.substack.com/p/twelve-l ... arned-from
The Government of Ethiopia (GOE) and the TPLF, which just had its terrorist designation removed,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/2 ... gray-party decided to pursue political avenues instead of military ones for resolving their well-known disputes. They’ve slowly but surely continued to move forward in this respect, though everything of course still remains very sensitive considering how fresh their two-year-long war’s wounds are in everyone’s minds. Nevertheless, it’s significant that the situation has noticeably improved over the past four months.
It was within this context that the State Department’s politicized report
https://www.state.gov/war-crimes-crimes ... -ethiopia/ was published. The MFA’s official statement
condemned that development as “
unilateral and adversarial”, warning that it’ll
be used to advance highly polarized campaigns pitting one community against others in the country.
The US’ statement was then described as “
partisan”, “
divisive”, “
ill-advised”, and “
unwarranted”, hence those diplomats’ conclusion that it
undercuts the support of the US for an inclusive peace process.
This inflammatory meddling in Ethiopia’s most sensitive domestic affair wasn’t a faux pas by inexperienced and uninformed experts, but a deliberate plot to predetermine the outcome of that targeted country’s transitional justice process. Observers shouldn’t forget that an unnamed senior State Department official threatened shortly after the COHA was signed that the US might impose more sanctions against Ethiopia on human rights pretexts.
https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-us-h ... t-sanction
That individual’s exact words on 15 November according to the State Department’s official website
https://www.state.gov/briefing-with-sen ... -ethiopia/ were that
The United States always has at its disposal as a policy tool the prospect of sanctions, and we will not hesitate to deploy them if that should become necessary in terms of holding actors accountable for human rights violations or for the purposes of trying to ensure that this agreement is respected and abided.
It's no secret that the US took a hyper-partisan approach towards the latest Ethiopian Conflict, and it’s with this in mind that its true intentions in this latest incident can be better understood. Washington wants the GOE and its allies to be the only ones convicted of crimes against humanity since this would retroactively extend a degree of false credence to its debunked information warfare narrative that they were committing “
genocide” against Tigrayans, thus enabling the US to “
save face” to an extent.
Put differently, the State Department’s twisted report amounts to an implied order given to the GOE to go along with this historical revisionism under the pain of those sanctions that the earlier mentioned unnamed senior official threatened in mid-November. If none of the identified parties are found guilty of crimes against humanity and/or if members of the TPLF are convicted, then Washington could predictably allege that the process was “
politicized” and subsequently impose unilateral punishments.
The GOE mentioned in their official statement that Blinken’s visit
gave hope that the two countries are poised to mend their bilateral relations
and that
the frank discussions held and understanding reached during the Secretary of State’s visit to Ethiopia will help restore the strategic relations
between them.
This sentiment is sincere since Ethiopia wants to be friends with everyone and enemies with no one, but that well-intended hope is unlikely in the event that the US continues meddling in its affairs.
Washington can’t have its cake and eat it too, or in this particular context, it can’t preach non-interference in others’ affairs and the independence of their judicial processes as part of its so-called “
rules-based order”
https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-us-s ... pproach-to while blatantly violating these same principles. Its officials would react with rage if their counterparts abroad told them who to find guilty of exactly what throughout the course of their investigation, not to mention if they also ominously implied sanctions should their demands not be met.
This provocation can therefore be described as yet another example of the US’ infamous “
humanitarian imperialism” whereby it weaponizes humanitarian issues like transitional justice for the purpose of advancing its imperialist interests. In this case, the US wants to revise history in order to retroactively extend a degree of false credence to its debunked claims of “
genocide” against Tigrayans, delegitimize the GOE as a result, and thus weaken its authority as part of the long-term plot to “
Bosnify” Ethiopia.
https://russiancouncil.ru/en/blogs/andr ... to-bosnia/
The authorities deserve to be applauded for so strongly resisting this latest
Hybrid War scheme, which represents the US’ non-kinetic backup plan for dividing-and-rule the country after the two-year-long identity conflict that it was responsible for externally exacerbating ended in their TPLF partners’ defeat. Peace has finally returned to the Horn of Africa as a result of both warring parties’ brave decision to politically resolve their disputes, and anyone who threatens this is an enemy of the Ethiopian People.
