Dear reader,
First of all, our best wishes for 2022 and
ርሑስ
በዓል
ልደት – may we soon see peace in Tigray and Ethiopia as a whole!
In this digest, we address the ongoing extreme famine and starvation in Tigray (section
1) and the new edition of the “Tigray: Atlas of the Humanitarian Situation” (section
2). On the diplomatic front, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution establishing an international commission to conduct an investigation into allegations of human rights violations, and the USA terminated
Ethiopia’s access to its preferential trade programme AGOA as the Ethiopian government failed to address the issue of gross human rights violations raised in November 2021 (section
3). We also highlight the
peace or ceasefire diplomacy taking place (section
4), as well as the political life within Tigray
(section 5). We end with some unexpected bottom-up history (a serial, a cartoon and some newly discovered maps -
section 6), followed by opinion pieces
(section 7) and media articles
(section 8).
From the USAID assessment: “Ethiopia is projected to face record levels of
food insecurity during 2022, with the greatest needs concentrated in conflict-affected areas of northern Ethiopia. Insecurity and a critical shortage of supplies and fuel continue to hinder food assistance. No convoys carrying humanitarian aid reached
Tigray’s capital city of Mekelle between December 15 and 30, exacerbating the already dire need for assistance.”
Also, Tigray’s
healthcare system has
completely collapsed. Patients die in the hands of doctors at
the best hospitals in Mekelle,
for sake of lack of medical supplies; even expired medicines have been used and are exhausted now. See the
statement by Doctors and other Health Professionals of Ayder Hospital – College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University
(4 January 2022).
Related articles:
By the end of December, version 2.2 of the “Tigray:
Atlas of the Humanitarian Situation” has been published. Besides updated maps, there also are some new maps (and corresponding explanatory texts) in the Atlas:
The Tigray Atlas team continues working on
the online georeferenced database of massacres and civilian victims:
www.ethiopiatigraywar.com and on the associated
booklet.
We also admire a very professional Ethiopia-Tigray conflict map by Dzsihad Hadelli:
https://twitter.com/dhadelli/status/1477289122180050944
On 17 December 2021, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution establishing an international commission of experts on Ethiopia, to conduct an investigation into allegations of human rights
violations and abuses by all parties to the conflict. (https://twitter.com/UN_HRC/status/1471855119096549389).
The resolution was adopted despite intense diplomatic pressure by the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments. Hosting AU headquarters, the Ethiopian diplomats particularly targeted the African countries. Nevertheless, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Sudan
and Togo resisted the pressure from the Abiy Ahmed regime and abstained during the vote.
The US has repeatedly warned the Ethiopian government about “the gross violations of internationally recognised human rights being perpetrated by the government of Ethiopia and other parties”.
Here, we were even desperate about the never-ending repetition of messages of “greatest concerns”. Finally, belated action has been taken by 1 January 2022; the
US has removed Ethiopia from its preferential trade programme.
Concerns for employment expressed by economic decisionmakers sound fake – we never saw them concerned about the levels of the textile workers’ salaries – 0.5 USD per day! What they will miss is the hard currency generated by the trade of cheap and unethically
produced clothes.
Also, the Joe Biden administration
penalised Ethiopia for
its democratic backsliding, and withheld
hundreds of millions of dollars of MCC money (Millennium Challenge Corporation).
Related media articles:
Somehow frontlines have stabilised over the last weeks along Tigray’s borders (except for Western Tigray), although ethnic cleansing and drone attacks on Tigray continue to take place. Yet, there is an understanding that
peace or ceasefire diplomacy currently is taking place. Major media and opinion articles in this regard are:
When talking about Tigrayan politics, friends and foes focus on one party only, i.e. the TPLF. However, in addition to civil society organisations, there are several opposition
parties in Tigray, having their political position on the
causes and consequences of the war,
humanitarian situation, governance in Ethiopia, political re-organisation of Tigray, peace negotiations, and security and territorial integrity of the region. For instance, General Tekleberhan Woldearegay (Tigray
Defence Forces) hinted at the existence of political differentiation in Tigray:
https://twitter.com/tklebrhanw/status/1475205398672166922,
and in a
joint press release, the three Tigray
autonomist parties
demanded involvement in
the
peace negotiations:
https://twitter.com/HailuKebede_/status/1476575069698678789/photo/1 .
Since a couple of months, interviews in Tigrinya that TMH TV has broadcasted, for instance of
Hayalu Godefay (Sawot party),
Mehari Yohannes (Tigray Independence Party),
and Kidane Amene (Baytona
Party)
- all three members of the TDF
- make their distinct positions clear concerning the fate of Tigray.
On 23 December, the Global Society of Tigrai Scholars pleaded also for “a broad-based inclusive consultation among all Tigrayan stakeholders including the political parties,
youth, women, scholars, religious leaders, civil society and minority ethnic communities”.
It would be interesting to have a political analyst writing a comprehensive review of these and other similar discussions in Tigray.
To stay in touch with Tigray’s history, our colleague Prof. Eloi Ficquet republished
Ras Wolde-Selassié's Adventurous Youth (around 1800)
in the form of a serial.
Note that this was written before the scramble for Africa! Eloi published the first issue. It is possible to
subscribe in order to get the next
issues of the serial.
Then, just out, “Stichproben”, the Vienna Journal of African Studies has published:
Tigray Tragedy -
A graphic essay by Manuel João Ramos (Department of Anthropology - University Institute of Lisbon),
representing the views of different actors in the conflict. https://stichproben.univie.ac.at/en/all-issues/stichproben-no-412021/
- holding introductory words,
graphic essay (cartoon), and
an interview with the author.
Colleagues also retrieved a couple of
maps of the Horn published around 1850 (again, before Tigray got divided as part of the Scramble for Africa) – hope to see it re-published soon!
----------------------------------------------------------
Jan Nyssen
Professor of Physical Geography
Department of Geography
Ghent University
Belgium
(0032) 9 264 46 23
http://geoweb.ugent.be/staff/802000198480
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