Horrific Crimes in Tigrai: What Worse did Charles Taylor Commit in West Africa?

Yusuf 03.07.21

Charles Taylor of Liberia was brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and charged with:

"aiding and abetting RUF (Revolutionary Armedo Front) atrocities against civilians, which left many thousands dead or mutilated, with unknown numbers of people abducted and tortured. He was also accused of assisting the RUF in the recruitment of child soldiers."

On April 26, 2012, the former Liberian president Charles Taylor was found guilty of abetting horrific war crimes, including rape and mutilation in Sierra Leone. Taylor was also found guilty of murder, rape, forced sexual slavery and building a child army which behaved like wild beasts against civilians.  Taylor got 50 years in jail at the time; he was 64 years old then.

The horrific crimes being committed in Tigray by Abiy's and Esaias's military and the Amara militia and Fano (young fascist cadres) in Tigray are no less atrocious than Taylor’s crimes committed in Liberia. In fact, they have committed much more horrifying crimes than those Charles Taylor committed in Liberia. The atrocities committed in Tigray are daily being reported by UN agencies, international aid agencies, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, international media and many other sources.

It's now common knowledge that Eritrea's Esaias Afewerki's dozens of army divisions are in Tigray killing, raping, destroying and looting, although Abiy and Esaias and the Amhara authorities shamelessly continue to deny their presence in Tigray. Abiy Ahmed's army and the Amhara special forces, militia and Fano groups in their tens of thousands in Tigray fared no less in the killing, raping and looting savage acts of terror.

The massacres of civilians in many parts of Tigray, the millions internally displaced, the indiscriminate shootings, the tens of thousands of youths being imprisoned, the thousands abducted and tortured, the destruction of churches, mosques, cities, public and private property are all clear testimony to the crimes against humanity being perpetrated by the dictators and special forces and militias of neighbouring Amhara region.

We have no doubt that member countries of the UNSC are all aware of what is happening in Tigray. Tigray  is subjected to collective punishment simply because as a Federal State it opposed the indefinite postponement of the federal and regional elections, as did other political parties, ostensibly because of Covid 19 and decided to conduct its own elections as per the Constitutions of the country and the region's, because it opposed the unconstitutional ways of amending the Constitution and dismantling of the federal arrangement and because all the signs were that Abiy was heading towards dictatorship.

The talks with Eritrea's Esaias Afewerki were and still are being conducted in secret defying all public demands for transparency, subsequently culminating in unleashing war on the peaceful people of Tigray in the name of restoring law and order which actually Abiy himself has been and is breaking as described above.

Nobody in their rational mind would accept the objective of the war on Tigray was to restore law and order when in reality there was no problem of that kind. Rather than respecting the constitution, engaging in public debates and dialogue regarding issues and conducting the elections on time as per the Constitution, Abiy postponed the elections blaming Covid 19 which had very little negative impact in the country at the time and later on.

Abiy Ahmed and Esaias are 'Leaders' Specializing in Lies, Deceptions and Media Fake News and hate propaganda. They are bent on creating havoc in the Horn of Africa for the sole purpose of staying in power. No good can be expected from their evil wishes and behaviours that the world knows full well. The real interests of economically advanced countries lie in helping the people remove the criminals from power and working with genuinely democratic parties and leaders who deeply understand the source of the centuries-old chronic problems of Ethiopia and had come up with viable solutions to bring about genuine peace, democratic unity, stability and socio-economic change in the Horn countries. Although there were shortcomings, there was no doubt that the track records of these countries showed remarkable and continuous improvement in Governance and promotion of local and Foreign Direct Investment before the two evil dictators spoiled it all and threw the region into chaos.

The people of Tigray are yet again and again calling on the International Community in general and the UNSC in particular to give attention to the situation in Tigray, condemn the horrible atrocities being committed by Abiy, Esaias and Amhara special forces and militias and take action against them. The time for the International Community to act is now and not later.

The whole world has understood and accepted Tigray’s call for the withdrawal from its territory of Eritrean military and Amhara special forces, militia and the notorious Fano all of whom really behave like wild animals committing the horrific crimes.  The people of Tigray need to get humanitarian assistance distributed and supervised by international aid organizations. Independent investigation of the war crimes and crimes against humanity must be carried out by international independent bodies as quickly as possible.

We believe the situation in Tigray and the crimes committed should not be viewed in the context of global super-power rivalry and mere interest.  This is purely a humanitarian crisis created by evil dictators who are of no use to any world power. The International Community and particularly the UNSC must stand on the side of the people of Tigray and take action to realise the demand of Tigray for the perpetrators to be charged and brought before the International Criminal Court. Tigray is a victim of crimes no less horrifying than the crimes committed by Charles Taylor in Liberia.