Asmara denounces Washington’s “unjustified hostility” and “demonization” against Eritrea
March 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Eritrean authorities have branded as “unfounded” and “defamatory” the accusations made by the United States against Asmara for the responsibility of its troops in war crimes in the framework of the two years of war in the Ethiopian region of Tigray (north). , some affirmations that already provoked the rejection of Addis Ababa.
“Secretary of State (Antony Blinken) has once again brought baseless and defamatory charges against the Eritrean Defense Forces in connection with the two years of conflict in Ethiopia, sparked by the regrettable war of insurrection launched by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF), the Eritrean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Thus, he has stated that “the accusations, which are not new, do not derive from factual and irrefutable evidence” and added that “it represents an incarnation and continuation of the unjustified hostility and demonization that the US administrations have carried out against Eritrea since 2009 to promote their hidden political agendas”.
“The illegal and unilateral sanctions imposed against Eritrea and the unacceptable conduct of Washington during the last two years, mainly aimed at acquitting and saving the TPLF, only accentuate its complicity due to the tragic consequences”, he stressed, while asserting that these accusations are part of “a cheap demonization campaign aimed at blackmailing and intimidating Eritrea and the Ethiopian federal government.”
In this sense, the Eritrean Foreign Ministry has stressed that Washington “launches false accusations” to “hold Asmara and Addis Ababa hostage” while “reinforcing the TPLF to generate more chaos.” “The subsequent violence would create pretexts and conditions to maintain their interference and unlawful intervention,” he has maintained.
“The moment chosen for this announcement is also significant, in a context in which Washington’s erroneous policies are being challenged globally, especially on the African continent,” argued Asmara, who has called on Washington to “put aside cynical and deceitful acts and their illegal interference”.
“The peoples of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and the region as a whole have an inalienable right to find lasting solutions to their own problems, and the United States has no moral or legal right to act as prosecutor and judge in these matters,” he said, while which has once again held the TPLF responsible for the “devastating war” between November 2020 and November 2022 in the Tigray region.
Asmara’s response came after Addis Ababa rejected Blinken’s accusations and indicated that his words “do not include new conclusions” regarding those formulated by the joint investigation of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the Office of the High Commissioner for United Nations for Human Rights.
“The Government of Ethiopia does not accept the broad condemnations contained in the statement and does not consider this unilateral and confrontational position to be of any value,” he said, before stressing that the US complaints “are selective” and “unfairly attribute the guilt between the different parties in conflict”. He also criticized that the statement was published “at an inopportune moment”, since it comes just after the start of the national consultations “to address options on transitional justice, with accountability being one of the pillars” of the same.
The Ethiopian Executive and the TPLF are immersed in a dialogue process to materialize a peace agreement, after the cessation of hostilities agreed in November 2022 in South Africa. The Ethiopian Parliament has adopted this Wednesday a decision to remove the group from its list of terrorist organizations.
The conflict in Tigray erupted in November 2020 after an attack by the TPLF against the main base of the Ethiopian Army, located in the capital of Tigray, Mekelle, after which the Government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an offensive against the group, after months of tensions at the political and administrative level, including the TPLF’s refusal to recognize an electoral postponement and its decision to hold regional elections on the sidelines of Addis Ababa.
The TPLF accused Abiy of stoking tensions since he came to power in April 2018, when he became the first Oromo to take office. Until then, the TPLF had been the dominant force within the coalition that has ruled Ethiopia since 1991, the ethnically based Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The group opposed Abiy’s reforms, which it viewed as an attempt to undermine his influence.
