Call for the Prosecution of Abiy Ahmed and his Prosperity Party for Crimes Against Humanity (APF)

As part of its ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing, the apartheid government of Abiy Ahmed has continued to destroy religious establishments and viciously massacre innocent civilians based on their identity. Over the last several weeks alone, the government has demolished numerous mosques in the capital city, Addis Ababa, and murdered several unarmed worshippers.

More recently, the government, in its continued effort to decimate the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, launched a barbaric attack on the historic monastery at Debre Elias in the Amhara region, summarily executing hundreds of monks, orphans and other pilgrims, and looting all the properties of the 600-year-old religious institution. We have images and firsthand testimonies we are prepared to submit to investigating authorities.

Under an unfounded pretext that the renowned human rights activist, Eskinder Nega, was using the monastery as a refuge or base camp, Abiy Ahmed’s forces, deploying heavy weaponry, massacred innocent individuals based on their identity and religious affiliation, and pillaged the town of Debre Elias with intent to deprive the survivors of any means of subsistence.

It is ridiculous and preposterous to imagine a devoted orthodox Christian like Eskinder Nega would choose a monastery for refuge or base camp as the government alleges knowing the government is currently destroying places of worship throughout the land to advance its agenda of ethnic cleansing.

Eskinder Nega, wherever he might be, is doing what earned him worldwide fame. He is fighting for the fundamental human rights of the Amhara people who are targeted for extinction by the Abiy Ahmed regime. The iconic human rights activist is teaching his people how to defend themselves within the parameters of international law. The Amhara Popular Front (APF) calls upon the UN and its affiliated agencies, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Genocide Watch, and related institutions to investigate the genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Abiy Ahmed regime and bring the responsible individuals and groups to justice.

APF demands that the international community should uphold the promise it made after the Rwandan genocide of 1994 not to ever allow such things to happen again.