Western Democracy at the Crossroad: Should the West Realign Its Reading of the Narratives in Ethiopia?
An Excursion into the Historical Evolution of the Current Conflict
Ethiopia’s multifaceted challenges require a nuanced understanding of the last 30 years’ political evolution. In the last three years, the country is trying its best to move away from the Tigray’s People Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated reign of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
Ever since its inception, the TPLF, though representing a region barely 6% of the Ethiopian population, has had the lion’s share of political power, holding key positions: the role of Prime Minister, National Security, Foreign Relations, Defense, and so on. The euphoria of the proclaimed ‘unity and democracy’ under EPRDF did not last very long. Rather, it was soon replaced by the resentment that the elites of the TPLF brought upon the party and its government by open dominance, ethnocentric nepotism, and repression. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑰𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝑷𝑳𝑭, 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆-𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝑷𝑹𝑫𝑭 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒎𝒆.
Following the 2005 election, which marked the beginning of the political erosion of the EPDRF, many parties were systematically dismantled with their leaders being imprisoned, forced into exile, and sentenced to death in absentia.
The Legacy of the TPLF-Dominated EPRDF and Its Eventual Inevitable Rejection
Ethiopia’s political landscape has changed much in the last 50 years. Nonetheless, for most Ethiopians, these changes echo a cyclical story of injustice, pain, neglect, dictatorship, and poverty. We have witnessed “freedom fighters” becoming oppressors. The electoral violence and corruption of the 2005 election and all subsequent elections assured the TPLF’s continued dominance within EPRDF. According to the 2016 Human Rights Watch Report, “Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of donor aid in Africa, receiving almost $3 billion in 2015,” despite its appalling records on human rights abuses, torture, arbitrary detention, and prevalent corruption. Former PM Hailemariam Desalegn sums it well:
“𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒂 𝑻𝑷𝑳𝑭-𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑬𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 27 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 . . . 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝑷𝑳𝑭’𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒗𝒚 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”
The Genesis of the Current Conflict and Its Turning Point
In 2018 the people spoke and said “NO” to the TPLF’s dominance. Subsequently, it left its privileged position and departed from the new path of reform that gave all parties a second chance for peace. The TPLF mutually rejected the overwhelming voice of the people. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕, 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒆𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆: 𝒎𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒗𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝑬𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔’ 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑻𝑷𝑳𝑭 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. The Ethiopian government had been extremely patient with TPLF’s constant defiance and incitement for war. This was to the extent that many in Ethiopia felt insecure and considered the Federal Government too weak to lead.
The TPLF’s actions, direct and indirect, began to surface behind sporadic ethnic-based violence in various parts of the nation. This conceit led to the November 3, 2020 massacre along ethnic lines of the unsuspecting and innocent Federal Troops based in Tigray. This was shocking and disheartening for the nation — a fact in the war that the world has now recognized for the first time after the publication of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) submitted on 3 November 202. The TPLF rejected the ceasefire, calling it a “joke” and vowed to continue to fight, invading the region of Amhara and Afar. The JIT has confirmed that the TPLF is also implicated in the atrocities committed in the current war. The full extent of human rights violations since the TPLF’s invasion of the Amhara and Afar regions is coming out. Two of the darkest atrocities are the massacre of women, children, and older people sheltering in a camp in Galikoma Kebele, in Afar, and the November 1st violent execution of over 100 youth in the city of Kombolcha. These are but two of the many untold stories that reveal the true horror of the TPLF’s violent nature.
It is with horror we read Amenity International’s report of the gang rape, looting, and physical assaults committed by the TPLF in the town of Nifas Mewcha in Ethiopia’s Amhara region for nine days between 12 and 21 August 2021. Agnès Callamard, Secretary-General, writes:
“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙏𝙋𝙇𝙁 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙧 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙞𝙤𝙩𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮.”
The climax of the rejection of the TPLF by the Ethiopian people was affirmed by outlawing it as a terrorist organization, along with Shene by the unanimous vote of the House of Peoples Representatives, having met the national and international definition of the term. The splinter, Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a.k.a. Shene, is the militant branch that is responsible for the massacres in the Eastern Wolega and Ataye, North Shewa. . 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝑷𝑳𝑭 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂 “𝑻𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝑰𝑰𝑰 𝑻𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑶𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏” 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑺 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝑩𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒏!
The Choice Western Democracy has to Make: A Unifying force of A Democratically Elected Government or the Disintegrating will of Armed Insurrectionist
Ethiopia’s current path to democracy is radical and remarkable, young as it is. It has a long way to go. Recently, Ethiopia held a fair and transparent election, but it was pre-judged and de-legitimatized by the US and the EU. The African Union Observers testify: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆-𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚, 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 . . . 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑬𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚.” It was a national verdict that overwhelmingly rejected the sociopolitical paradigm of the TPLF-dominated repressive rule of the EPRDF. One needs to keep in mind that 80% of eligible voters participated through more than 40 political parties legitimately contesting the election. Opposition party leaders were appointed, crediting the vote they received. A prominent example is the appointment of Birhanu Nega, who was in exile, labeled a terrorist, and sentenced to death in absentia by the previous administration, as Minister of Education. This new path of democracy was never recognized by the US or by the EU, and it represents a form of patronizing against not only Ethiopia but all of Africa, in general. It is ironic that they gave recognition to previous highly manipulated elections, the worst being the 2005 violent election that claimed the lives of 193 protestors (by a mild estimate) and resulted in the imprisonment of more than 40,000 Ethiopian citizens.
The election’s current path provides an opportunity both locally and globally for honest dialogue and to make progress towards forgiveness, conciliation, peace, and healing.
𝑨𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝑷𝑳𝑭’𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.
As painful as it is, it is in the best interests of Tigray to engage in an honest and open dialogue with the people of Eritrea and to talk through past historical animosity, bitterness, and mistrust. One has to keep in mind the historical evolution that caused an inevitable drift between these two brother nations. Whatever happened during the recent war, Eritrea being implicated after repeated rocket attacks by the TPLF, the animosity we witnessed had displayed an over-spill (NOT A JUSTIFICATION!) of deep-seated resentment. Former Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, perceptively expressed his fear as he tweeted:
These two great peoples are inseparably intertwined in culture, language, and heritage. 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈.
The West must re-examine its reading of the conflict in Ethiopia toward a more objective, humane, balanced view. 𝑬𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑬𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒂’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚. Undue pressure and partiality only worsen human suffering in the country. The right way forward is collaborative dialogue towards peace, reconciliation, and healing. A stronger, united, stable, and democratic Ethiopia is vital for the peace of the Horn of Africa. This begins with recognizing and appreciating Ethiopia’s people’s choice and its government. As Ann Fitz-Gerald has put it correctly,
“𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚 . . . 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚.”
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