Stop This Madness in Ethiopia and Withdraw the Nobel Peace Prize from Abiy Ahmed! Published on November 27, 2020
Status is online Ali Mansouri
Writer, Researcher, Consultant “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea. The prize is also meant to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.” (Oslo, 11 October 2019) Now, instead of doing his best to achieve peace, Abiy Ahmed is destroying his own country by launching a brutal war against one of the most important minorities in Ethiopia, which may lead to a bitter and lengthy civil war not only in the Tigray region but also in the other regions of Ethiopia well-known for its too many ethnic minorities. And instead of engaging in “international cooperation” as the Nobel Prize requires, Abiy Ahmed is asking the international community to “mind their own business” and not interfere to stop the war because he has already won the Nobel Prize for the peace that he will achieve through a bloody war against his fellow citizens! The world is being shocked every day by the videos, scenes, and images of the brutal war in Ethiopia. This madness has no justification whatsoever and should be stopped immediately. The war has been raging for three weeks with hundreds of people being killed every day and thousands already displaced and thousands more fleeing the country to neighboring Sudan which has already declared itself as a “land of catastrophe and human emergency” due to the recent devastating floods bearing in Page 1 of 4
mind it already hosts about a million refugees who live in miserable, dire conditions and scarcely find anything to eat and survive. When Abiy Ahmed was granted the Nobel Peace Prize not a very long time ago (11 October 2019), we felt hopeful that, at last, we have now an African leader who will work for peace in a continent that has long been known for destructive wars, chronic hunger, atrocities against innocent civilians, and gross violations of human rights. There have been too many racist, fascist, and ruthless dictators in Africa and we hoped that Abiy Ahmed would be different from them. Regrettably, he is not. He is also a racist, fascist, and ruthless dictator who is prepared to smash his political opponents and all those who disagree with him by abusing his powers and using military might to defeat them. I do not care about the complexities of the politics of Ethiopia nor do I care about the religion of the Tigrayan people, whether they are Muslims or Orthodox Christians. Whatever their religion, they are still human beings who have the right to live in peace and prosperity in their region and within Ethiopia. They also have the right to self-determination like any other minority in Ethiopia and the world. So why should Abiy Ahmed launch a merciless war against one of the minorities in his country just because they wanted or organized local elections to choose their local representatives against the advice of Abiy Ahmed? Does this “disobedience” justify a war? It does not. Nor does a “violent incident” against some Ethiopian soldiers in or near the Tigray region, as the Ethiopian Prime Minister claims. A wise leader should always try his best to solve any problem or crisis in his country peacefully, especially when the crisis concerns a minority who believes, rightly or wrongly, that their political, ethnic, and human rights have been confiscated by the federal government. Abiy Ahmed has made a terrible blunder by launching a brutal war against his own people. The Tigrayan Popular Front played a great role in toppling the dictatorship in Ethiopia after a very long and bloody struggle. I do not think they will surrender to Abiy Ahmed whose actions and behaviors do not seem to differ from other ruthless dictators of Ethiopia and Africa. Many millions of Ethiopians live below the poverty line and millions of them work as expatriate workers and housemaids in other countries, especially in the Middle East. They were happy when Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as they were hoping he would bring them peace and help them get rid of poverty. Instead, he is taking them to hell by launching a destructive war against their fellow citizens. What annoys us and makes us angrier is the insistence of Abiy Ahmed in continuing the war against the Tigrayan people with all the miseries and sufferings of all Ethiopians including the innocent civilians. A Nobel Peace winner should not insist on war; he should insist on peace. He should never exhaust his means of peace even with his enemies, let alone his fellow citizens. Page 2 of 4
Tigray is a region in the north of Ethiopia and its population makes up about 6% of the total population in Ethiopia. The Tigrayan leaders and politicians dominated Ethiopian politics for many years, especially between 1995 and 2012. So it is not easy to exclude them from the political and public life of Ethiopia nor is it wise to ask them to “surrender” as Abiy Ahmed has just demanded and gave them an ultimatum to do so. This will be great humiliation for them and people like them will never accept it. The ultimatum expired on Wednesday, 26 November 2020. Abiy Ahmed threatened to smash the Tigrayan forces and occupy their capital, Mekelle – the fifth largest city in Ethiopia with a population of five million. Abiy Ahmed has promised to “avoid” civilian casualties but this is not really realistic. The civilians always pay a heavy price in any war. Now Abiy Ahmed wants to bomb a regional capital and wants to keep the civilian population safe and protected. How naïve and unrealistic! The madness of war has been raging in Ethiopia and the world has just been watching- just watching and doing nothing to stop it. Abiy Ahmed has asked the international community to “not interfere” in his country as if Ethiopia is not a part of the world and is subjected to international laws and conventions. He wants the world just to watch how he slaughters his people and do nothing because he is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and he is a Nobel Peace Prize winner! This is absolute arrogance and stupidity! When Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he should have promised to cooperate with all local, regional, and international peace efforts for the sake of his fellow citizens and his fellow human beings because this is what all Nobel Peace Prize winners always do. Let us read the starting statement of the Announcement of the Norwegian Nobel Committee regarding the award: “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea. The prize is also meant to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.” (Oslo, 11 October 2019). Now, instead of doing his best to achieve peace, he is destroying his country by launching a brutal war against one of the most important minorities in Ethiopia, which may lead to a bitter and lengthy civil war not only in the Tigray region but also in other regions of Ethiopia which is well-known for its many ethnic minorities. And instead of engaging in “international cooperation” as the Nobel Prize requires, Abiy Ahmed is asking the international community to “mind their own business” and not interfere to stop the war because he has already won the Nobel Prize for the peace that he will achieve through a bloody war against his fellow citizens! I was one of the people who felt very happy and hopeful when Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But after I heard him threatening Egypt with war and Page 3 of 4
after he mentioned he was prepared to go to war because of the Ethiopian Dam, I realized that this man does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. Now I feel very strongly that the Nobel Peace prize should be withdrawn from him as it should be from anyone who is racist and fascist and devotes his time and energy to war instead of peace. The Committee of the Nobel Peace Prize is well advised to reconsider its decision and withdraw the award from Abiy Ahmed because he is another African dictator and warmonger. And, simply put, he does not deserve it. It is really tragic for a Nobel Peace Prize winner to launch a brutal war against his own people and it is even more tragic to see the UN too weak to stop his madness.
Page 4 of 4