Our deep concerns about the recent award you have given to Abiy Ahmed
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January 31st, 2024
Re: our deep concerns about the recent award you have given to Abiy Ahmed
We write to express our deep concerns about the recent award you have given to Abiy Ahmed. This award undermines the credibility and integrity of your esteemed organisation. We seek clarification on the specific achievements that warranted such recognition, as there are troubling instances that raise questions about the appropriateness of this award.
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Has FAO considered the reports indicating that Abiy Ahmed’s government was involved in the illegal sale of wheat donated by USAID, which was intended for the starving population?
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Are the allegations by Human Rights organisations, providing evidence of Abiy Ahmed’s army using food as a weapon of war, taken into account in this decision?
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Is FAO aware of the reports suggesting that the regime denied fertilisers to impoverished farmers in the Amhara region prior to the last rainy season?
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Does FAO not heard of the claims that the regime’s army is intentionally burning crops and harvests in various areas of the Amhara region?
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How does FAO respond to the distressing reports of people dying from starvation in both the Tigray and Amhara regions under Abiy Ahmed’s leadership?
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Given the concerns raised about the accuracy of Ethiopia’s data, especially in light of allegations of inflated figures for political purposes like the reported planting of 32 billion trees, does FAO believe it is appropriate to reward accomplishments based on such inaccurate data?
It is evident that the decision to honor Abiy Ahmed raises serious questions on multiple fronts. We urge FAO to reconsider and provide a thorough explanation, as this award has caused confusion and eroded the trust we once had in an organisation we viewed as a crucial partner for development. Your prompt attention to this matter is essential for restoring faith in the principles and values that FAO represents.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Federation of Amhara Association in Europe
End the State Of Emergency
and Withdraw the Army from the Amhara Region
January 26, 2024
Re: End the State Of Emergency and Withdraw the Army from the Amhara Region
Dear
We, members of the Federation of Amhara Associations in Europe of Ethiopia origin, are writing to express our deepest concern regarding the endless state of emergency in the Amhara region.
Six months ago, the Ethiopian Government announced a state of emergency and deployed its army to the Amhara region declaring a full-scale invasion. The region has sustained extensive economic devastation, significant civilian casualties, disruption of basic services, and destruction of public infrastructure.
The purported goal, envisioned six months ago, of the swift quelling of the uprising within declared two weeks in the Amhara region has become a distant wish. The inhumane atrocities, gross human rights violations such as indiscriminate killings, massacres, executions of innocent civilians in public, mass detentions, torture, rape, deliberate and intentional burning of crops and destruction of homes and civilian property as well as devastation of the regional economy have unified the opposition against the regime. Much of the territory in the Amhara region is now governed by the highly disciplined Fano who enjoy substantial support from the local population. The regime’s structure is dismantled by Fano in many areas. In its place, publicly elected officials are in charge of administration in a direct challenge to the authority of the regime.
Fano adheres to a strict code of discipline in protecting even government infrastructure, including banks and financial institutions. They stand against rampant corruption and lawlessness. Ordinary citizens who live in Fano-administered areas, despite destruction of basic infrastructure and lack of public services, are relieved of corruption and bureaucracy that are known to be hardships endured by ordinary civilians in government control areas.
In light of the above, to prevent more losses of lives, and avoid further suffering it is prudent for the government to end the state of emergency, withdraw its army from the Amhara region and strive to find a political solution to the conflict for lasting peace and stability by engaging with the Fano using peaceful means as its military campaign has failed. The causes of the uprising of the Amharas that led to the conflict are clear and simple. They want respect for their basic human rights to live, work, and travel safely and freely in their own country. They want an end to decades-long political, and socioeconomic marginalisation, as well as systemic ethnic-based killings. They called for an end to extortion, open bribery, robbery, destruction of their properties, their mass displacements with impunity, which, still, is a common practice.
As a last straw, they were denied the very basic needs of farming, access to fertilisers and seeds, at the beginning of the last rainy and farming season hindering them from producing agricultural products to sustain their livelihoods. Such deliberate and unwarranted denial was seen as an act and an attempt not just to cripple the region economically, but to starve the population. There was also no attempt to address the long-standing grievances described above. Instead the regime chose to subdue the region using all-out war and brute force.
We call upon on all peace-loving nations, organisations, and human rights defenders to press the Ethiopian regime so that it doesn’t extend the state of emergency which is supposed to expire at the end of January 2024, and pull its troops out of the Amhara region as a primary measure and cooperates with human rights organisations to investigate the war crimes and human rights abuses by its troop to bring about sustainable peace in the Amhara region and the country.
Yours sincerely,
Federation of Amhara Association in Europe
Preventing civilian Oromos murders in Somalia
21st, January, 2024
Re: Preventing civilian Oromos murders in Somalia
The current crisis instigated by the Abiy regime is straining the longstanding and close relationship between Somalia and Ethiopia. We express deep concern over the resultant loss of life and attacks on numerous Ethnic civilian Oromos resident in Somalia. Please do understand that our civilian Oromo brothers and sisters should not be held accountable for the unwise decisions made by Abiy’s regime. In many parts of the Oromo region, similar to the experiences of the civilian Amharas, civilian Ethnic Oromos are facing violence, torture, and imprisonment at the hands of Abiy’s regime military and security forces.
We urge the Somali Government to fulfil its responsibilities by safeguarding Ethiopians, particularly our Oromo brethren, from harm during these turbulent times. Please also note, most civilian Ethiopians (Oromos included) residing in neighbouring countries are there mainly to escape violence and extreme poverty. We call upon all peace-loving Somali brothers and sisters to ensure that Oromos and Ethiopians residing in Somalia can live peacefully.
We make this plea with the same fervour with which we denounce the atrocities committed against the Amhara community in the Oromo region, opposing any form of murder or ethnic cleansing committed everywhere.
Yours sincerely,
Federation of Amhara Association in Europe
The recent turmoil in the country and the instability
in the Horn of Africa
15nth January 2024
Re: The recent turmoil in the country and the instability in the Horn of Africa
We are residents/citizens of various European countries of Ethiopian origin who follow current affairs, political and economic decisions as well as diplomatic developments in Ethiopia very closely. The recent turmoil in the country and the instability in the Horn of Africa brought about by the current Ethiopian regime that has plunged the nation into a deepening crisis is alarming, and the Ethiopian regime has become a menace to regional stability. We respectfully ask you to hold Ably Ahmed’s administration accountable for all crises in the country and tensions in the Horn of Africa.
There are credible reports indicating that the regime is purchasing drones, jets and sophisticated weapons mainly from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to use against its own people in Amhara and Oromo regions. The meagre income the country has and assistance it gets from donors is squandered on funding these needless wars and on unnecessary projects like building an opulent palace.
Under Ably Ahmed’s leadership, Ethiopia finds itself entangled in extensive conflict with its own population. The brief respite after the Tigray conflict was followed by invasion of the Amhara region, resulting in unprecedented devastation in the region. The economic mismanagement has exacerbated the daily struggles for survival among the ordinary civilians . There are already reports of famine in the Amhara and Tigray regions that has led to fatalities.
Currently, the nation is grappling with a diplomatic crisis, which is evident in recent announcements by the African Development Bank of withdrawal of its personnel from Addis Ababa following physical assaults on two of its high-ranking bank officials by Ethiopian security forces in breach of diplomatic norms. In addition, Ably Ahmed’s provocative announcement of acquisition of a seaport in Eritrea, by force if necessary, has heightened tensions in the region. Eritrea has deployed its military forces to the Ethiopian border. The alarming military readiness indicates the potential for, yet again, another conflict.
Furthermore, Ably Ahmed’s decision to recognize Somaliland, by ignoring potential repercussions and setting a precedent for similar actions across Africa and the world, is concerning. Such acts undermine diplomatic norms and fuel tensions in the already fragile region.
In light of these events, Ably Ahmed’s leadership is marked by instability and poses a substantial threat to regional stability and is plunging Ethiopia into an existential crisis.
We propose exploring avenues to deliver aid directly to the affected communities and work with emerging entities like Fano. Unlike lawlessness, widespread atrocities, sexual violence and indiscriminate killings practised by the regime’s army, Fano’s adherence to the rule of law in areas they control in the Amhara region is commendable. It is proof that they are credible potential partners for peace and stability.
We urge you to use all diplomatic means at your disposal and press the Abiy regime to adhere to international law and norms and refrain from destabilising the region in the name of national interest and work together with neighbouring countries and IGAD for regional stability and economic development.
Yours sincerely,
Federation of Amhara Association in Europe
Forced Relocation of internally displaced people
13 January 2024
Re: Forced Relocation of internally displaced people
During the current regime that brought Ethiopia to unprecedented turmoil, the worst of its kind in
recent memory, ethnic division and violence have gripped the country.
Amhara people, one of the largest ethnic group in the country, have especially been a subject of persecution for the past 32 years.
Unfortunately, this heinous genocide has intensified in the past 5 years after the current regime
took power and systemic ethnic cleansing of the Amhara people has become an integral part of it. Amhara people have being driven out of places they have lived for generations in harmony with other ethnic groups, their homes burnt down, their possessions looted and destroyed, and they are forced to flee for their lives.
The Amhara IDPs are in various camps in the country, fleeing horrific attacks and
killings in parts of the Oromo, Benshangul, and southern regions. Their only crime is belonging to Amhara ethnic group. They were gunned down, attacked with knives, machetes, and spears, and
burned alive in their homes. The IDPs are surviving victims who lost their belongings and most or all of their family members. The perpetrators of these heinous crimes were emboldened enough to post horrific images and videos of their actions on social media. Most of these
attacks against innocent Amhara victims were not even acknowledged by the
Ethiopian regime.
According to Human Rights Watch, surviving Amhara victims have repeatedly
confirmed that regional police and militia in the named regions above have actively participants in these crimes. The regime does not allow independent media or any investigation of such activities including the relentless war in the Amhara region or the ongoing displacement of
non-Oromos from towns surrounding Addis Ababa. There are evidences that confirm that the
regime not only has been complicit or failed to prevent these attacks but also, in some
instances, supported them.
With this in mind we call for immediate actions.
1. Provide emergency food aid: Statistics (what is the source of the statistics) indicate serious lack of resources in the camps of IDPs.
2. Document and report: The stories of these victims must be investigated, documented and reported in order to reveal the humanitarian tragedy to the world and raise international awareness in view of preventing further acts of violence and to obtain support of the international community.
3. Provide medical and psychological support: The Victims the ethnic cleansing have gone through traumatic experiences and need medical and psychological care. Treating the after-effects is essential to their recovery and well-being of affected people.
4. Restore the rule of law: We call for a concerted campaign to establish the rule of law in Ethiopia to guarantee the protection of the innocent lives and property of all citizens.
5. Eradicate hatred of the Amhara people. Efforts must be taken to eradicate the politics of hatred that fuelled these atrocities, shattered harmony and social cohesion.
Considering the seriousness of these problems, we call upon international governments, human rights defenders and aid organizations to intervene and prevent the irresponsible Abiy regime from
forcibly repatriating refugees and provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the victims”
Yours sincerely,
Federation of Amhara Association in Europe