by Zelalem Abate
E-mail: zelalem.abate1@gmail.com
One
may ask why rulers commit genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic
cleansing on the very people they rule. Although nothing would justify,
heinous rulers always provide bizarre and incomprehensible
justifications. The tyrants in Ethiopia, for example, say Amharas
were evicted because they cut trees. For them cutting trees is enough
reason to commit ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
As the
world knows, these kinds of despicable crimes have been committed in
Rwanda, Liberia, Sudan, Ethiopia and other countries. The star actors of
genocide and crimes against humanity in Rwanda, Liberia and Sudan are already
facing justice. The tribal and racist-primitive rulers who have been
committing ethnic cleansing and crimes against Amharic speaking people
(the Amharas) for the last 22 years in Ethiopia are still leaving lavish
lives at the expense of the resources of their victims-the Amharas.
Would you please listen to these verses, Emama Ethiopia?
“My country, Ethiopia
You are fool, deceivable
You feed your murders
While you starve your martyrs!”
No single
spot exists in the mountains, plains, low lands, deserts, jungles,
rivers and lakes, where Amharas did not spill their blood to protect the
national integrity and sovereignty of Ethiopia. A lot has been said
about the battle of Maqdala, Adwa, Mychew, and The Five-Year War with
Facist where Amharas gave their chest for bullets and their whole body
for mustard gas in order to transfer a proud and free country to us.
Let’s just gaze at the very near past. It was the Amhara peasants who
broke the back bone of invader Siad Barre. It was the Amhara militia who
protected our natural sea ports until mama Ethiopia’s neck and breasts
were butchered by her traitor children. What is the gladiator Amhara
getting in return now? Systematic discrimination, frequent eviction,
endless displacement, repeated ethnic cleansing, chronic crime against
humanity, and genocide?
One of the leading Ethiopian online
news papers on Ethiopian affairs, Ethiomedia, covered on its March 17,
2013 front page, that 59 uprooted Amharas were killed by car accident in
Benishngul Gumuz, western Ethiopia while they were forcefully evicted
after their property was confiscated. [1]
Similarly the Ethiopian Satellite Television, an independent news
outlet, reported that more than 3, 000 people were evicted from
Benishangul area. [2] These crimes were also discussed in the Voice of America Amharic program.[3]
The evicted people and the deaths include children and pregnant women.
Mind you, the victims only crime was being born Amhara. Dr. Yakob
Hailemariam, one of the Lawyers who investigated the Rwandan Genocide,
call this act of the TPLF lead government ethnic cleansing. [4]
In this 21st
century human traits such as age, gender, and ethnicity are protected
human characters. In civilized societies (at least in theories),
discriminating based on these protected traits is illegal and immoral.
However, concepts such as legality and morality are not found in the
dictionaries of the barbaric tribal rulers of Ethiopia. Unfortunately,
the ruling party’s fundamental policy in Ethiopia dictates cadres to
organize people based on ethnicity and the language they speak.
Furthermore, this backward policy (The Wild-animals’ law as the
distinguished scholar professor Mesfin woldemariam calls it)promotes the
different ethnic groups to discriminate each other based on human
nature such as race, language, religion and so on.
The Amharas, who are
mainly against this uncivilized jungle law, have been the prime victims
of this brutal and retarded policy since the racist Tigrai People
Libration Front (TPLF) took power through a Trojan horse- the Ethiopian
Democratic Libration Front (EPRDF).
The Amharas are the second
largest ethnic group in the country. Some, in fact, argue that Amhara
could be the largest group in the nation if counted in unbiased manner.
Ancient and modern history teaches that this population group existed
with other ethnic groups in Ethiopia and the surrounding East African
countries since humans started to live as society on this earth.
However, the Amharas have never claimed certain regions of Ethiopia as
their own sole state. Unfortunately, TPLF created a segregated area
called Amhara killil (Killil -a local term for segregation) for these
groups of people.
Many including former members of TPLF have
stated that TPLF leaders have been labeling the Amharic speaking
people as their enemies since they organized themselves as communist
Guerilla fighters in the early 70’s.[5]
The crimes committed against Amharic speaking people since this rebel
group (formerly labeled as terrorist group by USA) took power are the
practical applications of this former communist Guerilla fighters’
racist-jungle manifesto.
As mentioned above, systematic
discrimination of Amhara has been on the making for more than two
decades. As soon as the TPLF took power in 1991, it cleansed more than
42 intellectuals (almost all of them Amharas) from the teaching
positions at Addis Ababa University.[6]
It established a unique and effective contraception programs in the
Amhara communities to reduce the number of births. No sane Amharic
Speaking individual with viable conscience is allowed to take key
positions in the government. Those individuals who claim to represent
the Amharas in the government are either non-Amharas or Amharas who sell
out their soul and conscience to money and other ephemeral advantages.
About
two years after the TPLF took power, thousands of Amharic speaking
people including women and children were massacred in the eastern part
of the country called Bedeno.[7]
It needs an outstanding historical film maker to document how these
unfortunate people were thrown away from the top of the cliff as high as
100 meters. It takes Schindler’s List film director to document the
suffering of the children of these victims. It takes the skill of a
horror film maker to produce how women were repeatedly raped in front of
their husbands during this crime against humanity.
Similar crimes have
been committed against Amharic speaking people in Central, Southern,
Western and Northern Ethiopia. Such kinds of atrocities were
relatively abated by the formation of the All Amhara People
Organization. Unfortunately, this organization’s leader, Professor Asrat
(the first surgeon in the country), was incarcerated and died because
he was denied access to medical care by TPLF lead government.
As a
continuation of “cleanse the Amharas motto”, thousands of Amharic
speaking people were forced to leave from Gura Ferda (southern Ethiopia)
in 2012.[8]
These unfortunate people were forced to leave their houses and other
property behind and no one really knows who exactly has robbed their
possessions. Many have suffered and died during this disgraceful ethnic
cleansing. Only God and the victims know about what happen to the
cleansed victims who are not dead at this point.
The officials who
systematically conducted theses dreadful crimes still hold higher
positions in the States and Federal Government. Such is the case in the
current Ethiopia-you commit wicked crime, you get promotion.
Besides
being forcefully evicted from their homes at the different regions of
the country, Amharas also roam to different parts of the world even to
the failed state Somalia to escape the systematic discrimination and
ethnic cleansing. During this mass migration, Amharas die every day in
hundreds from various causes such as flood, wild animals, hunger,
diseases, etc. Still among those who are able to escape and live in the
foreign land, many die of slavery and suicide.
In summary, Amharas
were not born Amharas by choice. Their ethnicity or language is their
protected identity. Above all, the evicted Amharas fathers’ and
forefathers’ have spilled their blood in every corner of Ethiopia to
defend the sovereignty and pride of our nation. The land currently
cultivated by Indian, Chines and Arab traders is enriched with Amhara’s
blood and flesh. Despite this glorious history of their ancestors,
Amharas have been discriminated and cleansed by TPLF lead government
which is composed of disloyal and treacherous individuals who sold out
our sea access and fertile land. This act of the narrow-minded TPLF
government is not just totally immoral but absolute crime that should
not happen in 6000 BC let alone in 21st century.
If the TPLF
lead rulers continue the ethnic cleansing of Amharic speaking people
with this rate, Amharas will be endangered species in the near future.
Therefore, those people who have direct or indirect participation in
systematic discrimination, evicting, and ethnic cleansing of the Amharas
or any other ethnic group should face justice as soon as possible.
Lawyers and Judges (especially of Ethiopian origin) have professional,
moral, ethical, historical and national responsibility to force these
horrendous criminals face justice.
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