BY SOLOMON DIBABA
The UN Security Council yesterday conducted a closed session on the situation in Ethiopia for the 8th time in less than a year. Although the basic issue falls under the jurisdiction of the country, the US and other western countries chose to repeatedly interfere in the internal affairs of the country and the US in particular escalated the volatile situation in the country by imposing diplomatic, military and economic sanctions on a country which partnered with the US for more than 100 years.
The western media attached to the governments in western countries continuously reverberated fake news that terrorist TPLF has been distributing through its networks of media outlets and paid lobbyists. It is interesting to note that this orchestra of misinformation is being accepted as a truth by the western world with no attempt for verification from any source in the Ethiopian government.
On a UNSC closed special session conducted yesterday that dwelt on the situation in Ethiopia and Tigray Region, Ambassador Richard Mills, U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations said “As we have heard from the Secretary-General, the military confrontation has escalated. The Ethiopian government has not responded positively to proposals for negotiations.”
While it is clear that terrorist TPLF has triggered by killing members of the Ethiopian Defense Forces on March 4, 2020, and if terrorist TPLF has killed hundreds of Afar people 107 of whom are children and in a situation in which terrorist TPLF has continuously blocked the smooth transition of food into Tigray, the ambassador puts the responsibility of negotiations on Ethiopia while terrorist TPLF has declared it would continue with the war unless the preconditions it has set are not met. It would be illogical and unfair to opt for negotiations while terrorist TPLF has vowed to stick to its spirit of belligerency.
Despite their verbal commitments to abhor the violations of human rights and genocide in Mai Kadra, Humera and Galicoma in Fenti Resu of Afar, none of the governments in the western developed countries has condemned the inhuman atrocities perpetrated by terrorist TPLF.
Over the last 9 months and particularly after the withdrawal of Ethiopian armed forces from Tigray, the western powers, over a month to facilitate a conducive environment for farmers in Tigray to tend to their farmlands, some of the UN systems, the western media, EU officials and the US State Department continued to show their partiality by blaming the Ethiopian government even for the crimes that terrorist TPLF has conducted with no grain of truth or evidence.
Responding to the speeches by US Deputy Representative, Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie firmly noted that “the case that has been submitted to the UNSC today by some members is based on erroneous assertions, my government makes has never made any distinction among citizens based on religion, ethnicity or other divisive factors. We are a nation of valuable assets. We have no degraded moral standards that and our unity is solidly based on respecting diversity. No cause would allow meddling in the internal affairs of the country and we will fully cooperate with those who are willing to cooperate with us.”
The representative of the Russian Federation who attended the Council meeting warned against using relief aid as a political weapon and called for “de-politicization of the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia and providing due respect to the sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the political independence of Ethiopia.” She added that relief support must be extended to other regions of Ethiopia including Amhara, Afar and Oromia who are also affected by drought, locust and other forms of humanitarian disasters.
The delegates from Kenya and India also vowed that they would support Ethiopia’s efforts to contain the crisis in the country and stressed the ability of Ethiopia to manage its internal affairs effectively.
The representative of the Peoples Republic of China noted that “the international community should support Ethiopia on its efforts to bring peace and stability in the country and should refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of the country in the name of human rights.
Ethiopia is thankful and would remain thankful for the consistent support that Russia and China have provided to Ethiopia in defending the legitimate cause of the country. India and Kenya have consistently supported Ethiopia when the nation was forced to grapple with the conspiracies of the western world and the terrorist induced destruction of public property perpetrated by terrorist TPLF.
Politically, the fact that Ethiopia has conducted the most peaceful and credible election in the recent past indicates that the people in the country are united and are ready to advance the causes of democracy in the country.
Although the UNSC has a huge amount of duties to accomplish as a leading organ of the UN, leading western countries including the US are busy attempting to use the forum to carry through their interests at the global level.
The blame game on Ethiopia at the UNSC cannot help to resolve the issue at hand but the international community should support the genuine causes of the Ethiopian government and should be bold enough to condiment war crimes and crimes against humanity that is being conducted by terrorist TPLF in Ethiopia.
Furthermore, Ethiopia has an unswerving stand for peace in the country and at the regional level. However, unless the barbaric rampages by the terrorist TPLF are checked immediately, the atrocities that are being escalated by this terrorist group could pose a greater danger for the Horn of African and the entire region at large.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
The Ethiopian Herald August 28/2021
