- Allegations of human right violations against civilians will be investigated and perpetrators will be punished if there is any, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appeared before lawmakers to respond to wide-ranging questions posed by the MPs regarding the law enforcement operation in Tigray, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and tripartite talks, the upcoming election, Ethio-Sudan border tension, ten-year economic plan and other current affairs.
Here follows the Premiers’ response in relation to the law enforcement operation that has been carried out in Tigray and the rehabilitation process as wells misinformation surrounding the circumstance of the operation. Some of the statements are directly quoted from the social media accounts of the Office of the Prime Minister.
It is abundantly
clear that the main source of the conflict was the reckless force. Around 1.8
people of the state were surviving through Safety Net program for 20 years and
were fighting with locusts. These people do not deserve war and conflicts.
However, the Junta kept on adding fuel to the fire getting involved in a wide
variety of evil deeds.
The law enforcement operation has been taking in the Tigray region with a view to serving a wide spectrum of functions. It is to be recalled that the TPLF junta officials opened fire on the Ethiopian National Defense Forces positioned in the Tigray region and caused indescribable human suffering by demonstrating extreme cruelty and unparalleled betrayal.
Sad as it may sound, they ended up throwing some of them into prison, killing and throwing away the soldiers’ bodies like rubbish. They committed a crime of high treason. As the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia does not allow this aforementioned reality on the ground to take place, we began disarming the TPLF junta.
As everybody knows, the TPLF Junta officials who were held hostage by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces have been in good hands. They are all in very good condition.
The first mission is to bring the perpetrators to justice, save the hostages. Furthermore, quite a lot of officers and generals were taken hostage. We freed all of them. In the first mission, a wide spectrum of criminals were caught successfully despite some remnants in Tigray. As a matter of fact, at an institute level, the TPLF Junta officials have been paralyzed to the extent that they cannot function.
We have made our officers be released. We were able to bury defense forces who have been killed and thrown away by the TPLF junta clique. The TPLF junta officials were able to loot quite a lot of military equipment of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces. However, we have possessed back all our military equipment. It was a success.
The interim administration of the Tigray region has been setting up infrastructure in all zones and Woredas and pulling up all the stops to serve the community.
The administration should be supported. What is more, the federal government and regional states should stand by the side of the interim administration for the love of our people. Unless the people stand by the side them, they will be immersed into a state of misery.
During the law enforcement operation, we have made a great effort not to cause a civil causality. When the TPLF junta officials launched rockets in the war, we did not do anything in retaliation for their evil acts for the sake of not harming civilians.
While on the subject, the main reason why the TPLF junta stored military equipment in religious institutions and cities to cause were for the loved civilians’ causalities.
When the Ethiopian National Defense Forces embarked on undertaking the law enforcement operation in the Tigray regional state, on the whole, more than 30,000 prisoners were freed almost instantaneously.
More than ten thousand prisoners were unleashed merely from Mekelle prison. In the olden days, we did not have an inkling of what was going on there.
If you remember, I myself had appeared in front of you and apologized the people of Ethiopia for the crimes the then EPRDF and TPLF clique perpetrated for over 20 years. We agreed to leave the past and began by apologizing to the Ethiopian people.
I have clearly stated that the people of Tigray should no more hear the sound of gunfire. The problem continued to emerge from the destructive forces. Personally, I have made several attempts to mediate before going to the operation. However, the preparation by the other party was arrogant preparation for war. The government handled the matter patiently until it was accused of failure to act.
What happened to us as a country should not be forgotten. In the Tigray region, 200 coordinated attacks took place overnight. When the Defense Forces arrived in Mekelle, more than 1,300 government officers were not found. The destructive force fired rockets on our airports, destroyed infrastructure, and released more than 10,000 prisoners in Mekelle alone. The Mai Kadra massacre was highly organized.
Reports of violence are extremely exaggerated. However, the government will not tolerate even a single crime and human rights abuse. It is the government that ultimately faces the devastation and work hard to rebuild Tigray. So far, we have spent over forty billion Birr to rehabilitate, and the regions have provided support. The utmost collaboration is needed from the people of Tigray. If the global community is not able to realize these facts, it implies the need to shift their focus.
Ethiopian people will never forget the way the Eritrean people and government have cared for our army who were attacked by their own. However, we do not allow any force to cross borders and attack our people. We have had extensive discussions with the Eritrean government in this regard. The response from the Eritrean military to the fortifications is that those forts have been used by the destructive group for the past 20 years and could be used to attack them again if unguarded.
The Ethiopian army evacuated due to the rule of law operation. The Eritrean government has asked for assurance from the Ethiopian government which we have not been able to do as we are in the middle of the operation. Once we have controlled the destructive power that fights us, we can immediately guarantee that. The Eritrean government has also announced their decision to punish any perpetrators on their side.
The Ethiopian Herald March 24/2021
