Ethiopia: McCaul says Actions to be judged in the coming days after previous empty promises
Source: Globe News Net
House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul said actions taken to operationalize truce announcement to be judged in the coming days after previous empty promises.
In a statement today, McCaul said that he is encouraged by the news of humanitarian truce, noting that news of the truce must be judged by actions taken by authorities in the coming days.
“The actions taken to operationalize this announcement must be judged in the coming days, not weeks. Prime Minister Abiy and his government, as well as regional authorities in Afar and Amhara, must immediately restore communication and banking services and continuously and proactively facilitate trucks of food, fuel, and medical supplies into Tigray. The TPLF must also take action now, to withdraw its forces from Afar and stop hostilities”, McCaul said, adding “All parties should proceed to negotiations for a permanent ceasefire without delay.”
The actions taken to operationalize this announcement must be judged in the coming days, not weeks…
McCaul said that Ethiopian authorities should be evaluated by their deeds not by their promises having previous history of making empty promises.
“Unfortunately, we have seen empty promises before“, McCaul Said.
McCaul added “That is why Congress will be closely monitoring developments on the ground and spoilers of this truce and commitment to humanitarian access must face consequences.
McCaul in his statement said that the humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray is dire. McCaul noted that aid convoys have been blocked for months with less than eight percent of the necessary food supplies allowed into the region since July.
McCaul also Vowed to continue working for accountability.
“I continue to support efforts to hold individuals and entities accountable for blocking humanitarian aid and perpetuating the fighting”, McCaul said.
The war began in November 2020 when Ethiopia’s army, backed by Eritrean and Somalia national armies and troops from Ethiopian regional states, moved to oust a TPLF-led regional government in Tigray after a long-standing political hostilities between Abiy’s ruling party and the TPLF. The other dimension of the war was a genocidal campaign that has been brewing by elites from Amhara and Eritrean government. The trio combined their forces to unleash the November 2020 ‘war-of-annihilation’ on Tigrayans.
The UN rights office last week reported in March that at least 304 civilians had been killed in air strikes in Tigray, since November.
The more than 16-month-old war was marked by extreme brutality, including the use of rape and hunger as weapons of war, massacres and ethnic cleansing against Tigrayans. As a result, the conflict has left thousands dead and forced many others to flee their homes with hundreds of thousands driven to the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.
Since June, Tigray has been put under a total humanitarian blockade by the Ethiopian government, with only less than 10 %of the needed essential aid allowed to enter the region and no aid reached the region since December 15, 2021. This has resulted in man-made famine to more than 900,000 people in the region and more than 5400 deaths as a result.
Nearly 40 percent of people in Tigray, a region of six million people, face “an extreme lack of food”, the UN said last month. The dire assessment published by the World Food Programme (WFP) came as humanitarian groups increasingly curtail activities because of fuel and supply shortages.
A recent study by Mekelle University and the Regional Health Bureau showed that 120,000 women in a conservative Tigray came forward to report rape by either Ethiopian, Eritrean, or Amhara. Researchers say that the figure was only a tip of the iceberg, considering the sexual conservativism in Tigray into account. Tigray regional health bureau announced today that 7.3 % of the women who have been raped have been contracted with various sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and 5 % have been infected with HIV.
