A top United Nations development agency says the leadership of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia deserves much of the blame for provoking the war and subsequently causing the humanitarian crisis in the region.
A four-page memo to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres points to the TPLF group as provoking the Ethiopian government offensive by attacking and seizing Ethiopia’s Northern Command headquarters in Tigray in early November 2020, in what would have been an “act of war everywhere in the world, and one that typically triggers military response in defense of any nation.”
It provides a largely sympathetic account of Ethiopia’s role in the crisis, echoing government talking points and repeating the Ethiopian leadership’s says that the international community has failed to address TPLF’s provocations over the past two years, including its opposition to government reforms and refusal to engage in political talks with the government.
The memo also urges donor states to focus more on development and humanitarian goals and less on reprimanding the Ethiopian government over its human rights record and especially situations during the conflict.
It recommends that any investigation into human rights abuses be led by Ethiopia’s own national Human Rights Commission, possibly with international participation.
MG/abj/APA