H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat
Chairperson, African Union Commission
P.O. Box 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
RE: Response to Your Statement Released on April 25, 2024
Your Excellency Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat,
This response is from Peace and Justice for Tigreans International (PJT International), a Tigrayan
Diaspora organization registered as 501(c3) in the United States.
The statement released on April 25, 2024, from your office contains statements with grave
consequences to Tigray, Ethiopia and the region in general.
First, it is our understanding that the role of the AU is to bring Africans together, not to make
statements that deepen the discontent and mistrust between parties – especially as between Tigray
people and its government with other ethnic groups in Ethiopia.
Secondly, we object to the content of your message, which we do not believe accurately reflects
the present reality on the ground.
With this letter we are providing evidence-based information that will help you reconsider and to
reissue your statement with a more accurate depiction of the reality on the ground.
- Millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Tigray are suffering. Specifically,
more than one million people have been evicted from their homes and their lands and their
properties have been looted by Amhara militia and Eritrean forces. As a result, the IDPs have
been forced to live in shelters and on the streets, which is deleterious to their wellbeing in
light of the extent of destruction on the socio-economic infrastructure of Tigray. - Slow pace of mobilizing resources to support the DDR. While the guarantors of the
Pretoria Agreement are largely responsible for this slow pace, at the same time the negative
impacts on the population are multiplying daily due to your inaction and with your
inflammatory statements.
Peace and Justice for
Tigreans International
PJT INTERNATIONAL
Email: pjtint2023@gmail.com
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Peace and Justice for
Tigreans International
PJT INTERNATIONAL
Email: pjtint2023@gmail.com - Continued presence of foreign and local invaders in Tigray. Many villages and towns in
Tigray are still under Eritrean and Amhara forces, which has dire consequences for the
wellbeing of the Tigrayan people. - Lack of security and basic government service. By allowing foreign and local invaders to
remain in control of parts of Tigray, the Federal Government of Ethiopia is indirectly
promoting the destabilization, suffering, and insecurity of the people of Tigray. - Continued unlawful imprisonment of Tigrayans. Hundreds of ethnic Tigrayan former
Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) members are still languishing in prisons under
harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. - Lack of accountability and justice for victims of war crimes: After the signing of the
Pretoria Agreement, it appears that the African Union has walked-back an initiative to secure
accountability and justice for victims of war crimes in Tigray. Whereas this promise was
viewed as an important tenet of the agreement, in July 2023 the AU’s Commission on Human
and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) quietly ended its inquiry into war atrocities and deleted its
webpage from the AU’s official website that had been standing for the previous two years.
It’s noted that the commission was never allowed to travel to Tigray and therefore was not
able to issue a report of findings. Consequently, no tangible action has been taken by the
Federal Government nor the guarantors of the peace agreement to bring accountability and
justice for war victims in Tigray.
Collectively, the above observations paint the unacceptable bias and double standard of the AU
which is leading to abrogation of responsibility by the Federal government to fulfill its
obligations in implementing the cessation of hostilities that it sponsored. The recent statement is
further adding to the existing mistrust, insecurity, and instability the people of Ethiopia and in
particular the people of Tigray are enduring with no end in sight.
The reality on the ground and the picture painted by Chairman Faki’s statement on April 25,
2024, are at odds. Mr. Faki’s statement emphasized concerns about “… the escalating tensions
between local communities in the contested areas of northern Ethiopia, including Raya, Alamata,
Zata and Ofla.”
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Peace and Justice for
Tigreans International
PJT INTERNATIONAL
Email: pjtint2023@gmail.com
To be clear: there are no such rising tensions. The only tension that exists comes from the
Amhara militias who invaded and occupied the area for the past four years. These occupiers have
been terrorizing the communities, looting their properties and driving them out of their homes
and lands causing them to live in shelters and streets of towns and cities under the control of the
Interim Government of Tigray. The presence of Amhara militias has been among the major
stumbling blocks to the peaceful return of internally displaced Tigreans back to their homes and
land.
It must also be clarified that Tigray’s territory is defined in the constitution to include Raya,
Alamata, Zata, Ofla, which sadly, remains under the control of Amhara militias and Eritrean
forces. The Ethiopian constitution doesn’t place any area as contested. The listed areas are parts
of Tigray, and the people are Tigrayans historically, socially, economically, and politically.
Therefore, for the Chairman to refer to these legitimate and historic parts of Tigray as “contested
areas” is irresponsible and flat out wrong.
We urge the Chairman and his good office to set the record straight by correcting its statements.
Doing otherwise would only serve as a fuel gas for those who are working to undermine the
Pretoria Peace Agreement and to continue their genocidal war to exterminate the people of
Tigray.
PJTI is a 501(c3) registered in the US to advance the promotion and protection of human rights,
justice and peace.
Sincerely,
Peace and Justice for Tigreans International (PJTI), USA
1629 K Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
e-mail: PJTINT23@gmail.com
