Open Letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee

September 24, 2023

The Norwegian Nobel Committee
Henrik Ibsens gate 51
0255 Oslo
E-mail: postmaster@nobel.no

Dear Excellencies:

Subject: A Condemnation of Abiy Ahmed Ali, “The Mad King,” (1) Is Long Overdue

In my previous three letters that I wrote to you over the past two years (2), I beseeched your excellencies to strip Abiy Ahmed Ali of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize due to the ethnic cleansing, genocide, and crimes against humanity that have been committed against the people of Ethiopia since he came to power under “acts or omissions”. However, you have chosen to ignore such clarion calls to a great disappointment of peace and justice loving Ethiopians. 

Abiy Ahmed Ali has intensified his destructive rule against the Ethiopian Nation and its people to a level of absolute madness! As it has been reported by various local and international media, human rights organizations, and the international community through organizations such as Amnesty International and United Nations, he is currently waging an overt war against the Amhara people in the Amhara Administrative Region using all resources at his disposal, not least of which the “Ethiopian National Defense Forces” (ENDF) that includes the Army, Airforce, and the Defense Industry. Although ENDF’s role is to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia and its people, Abiy Ahmed Ali has turned it into his own stooge to wage war against the very people he is supposed to protect!

The transition from systemic, systematic, and proxy-based (for example through the Oromo Liberation Army) ethnic cleansing and genocide that Abiy Ahmed Ali and his government have been committing into an all-out war against the Amhara people has caught the attention of the international community and is being discussed within the different organs of the United Nations as I write this letter. (3) Abiy Ahmed Ali, through the ENDF, the Oromia Special Forces, which is absolutely loyal to his Oromia Prosperity Party, and other local militia and Police Force that are loyal to his government are committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in full view of the international community.

To cite few examples, the ENDF, the Oromia Special Forces, and other local militia and Police Force that are loyal to the government:

• Massacred over 550 Orthodox Christians (hermits and other parishioners) at the historic Debre Elias Monastery about a month ago using heavy artillery and machineguns (this was reported by the international media) and buried their dismembered bodies in the forest (this was publicly confirmed by a delegation of priests that visited the site after the said attack). (4)
• Attacked and killed large numbers of civilians using drones and air strikes in Finote Selam, Kwarit, Debre Berhan, and other cities and towns. (5)
• Massacred, using air strikes and drones, large numbers of farmers while they were working in groups on their farms following traditional practices.
• Summarily executed thousands of civilians through door-to-door searches (in the presence of their families) claiming that they are either part of or supporting the Fano fighters. (6)
• Gangraped women and young girls and then, in some cases, shot them dead.
• Destroyed churches and mosques using heavy artillery and airstrikes.
• Clubbed, arrested, and put large numbers of civilians in prisons and hidden government-operated concentration camps merely because they are Amharas, starving them as a punishment and exposing them to communicable diseases such as cholera (reports indicate hundreds have so far died and they have been buried at unknown places). (7) (8)
• Persecuted intellectuals, journalists, social activists, medical doctors, etc., and arrested them in known and unknown locations simply because of their public criticism of the government and/or Amhara identity, denying them family visits and access to their lawyers. (9)
• Raided, during the night, the residences of Mr. Christian Tadele, Member of Parliament, Dr. Kassa Teshager, Member of the Addis Ababa City Counsel, and Mr. Yohannes Buayalew, Member of the Amhara Administrative Region Council, beaten them, and threw them into jail at unknown locations for the mere reason that they publicly criticized the government, abrogating illegally their immunity not to be sued or arrested unless they are red-handed while committing crimes. (10)
• On and on.

The Amhara people after years of relentless peaceful struggle through various means, including protest demonstrations and formal appeals to the government demanding their citizenry right to live peacefully in the country, had no choice but to rise in unison and lift arms in self-defense as Fano against Abiy Ahmed Ali’s government in all parts of the Amhara Administrative Region. The Fano, that constitutes the people of Amhara from all walks of life including farmers, students, university professors, medical doctors, engineers, etc., not only have they confronted Abiy Ahmed Ali’s aggression but also blown remarkable defeats to his defense forces in different parts of the region. 

Abiy Ahmed Ali’s and his government’s attack on the Ethiopian Nation and its people is premeditated and is part of their plan to disintegrate Ethiopia and found a daydream “Cushitic Oromia Republic”! Ever since Abiy Ahmed Ali came to power, millions of Ethiopians in different parts of the country have perished, internally been displaced, dehumanized, and have suffered and continue to suffer from existential threats. 

In a recent secret meeting with some Oromo ethnonationalists who reside in Saudi Arabia, Lencho Bati, the Ethiopian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and a close confidante of Abiy Ahmed Ali, reportedly boasted that he and his comrades are engaged in giving birth to an Oromia Republic and, in reference to the millions of Ethiopians who have been slaughtered by his government and perished, commented that “bleeding during birth is a natural phenomenon”, to which he received a round of applause from his extremist audience! Prior to being appointed as an Ambassador and when he served as an advisor to Abiy Ahmed Ali, Lencho Bati on camera bragged that he and his party have “deconstructed Ethiopia.”

Under the circumstances, the Nobel Peace Committee that bestowed the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize on Abiy Ali just four years ago, must rise to the ideals for which it stands and publicly condemn his atrocious crimes and an unjust war against the Amhara people as soon as possible. Failure to do so would negate the tenets of the “Nobel Peace Prize” and is tantamount to condoning his actions! 

Respectfully,
Feleke Alemu

References:
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub6qnEuFydM&t=3s
(2) https://zehabesha.com/open-letter-to-the-norwegian-nobel-committee-3/
(3) https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2023/03/ethiopia-governments-effort-to-
end-mandate-of-un-human-rights-commission-must-be-rejected/
(4) https://eclj.org/religious-freedom/un/ethiopie–570-victimes-dans-lattaque-dun-
monastere-orthodoxe
(5) https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-amhara-arrests-emergency-
d9e07bd51061c75e8436849085cd888e
(6) https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/sep/08/ethiopian-troops-accused-
mass-killings-amhara-civilians-region-fano-militia
(7) https://borkena.com/2023/09/13/ethiopia-cholera-outbreak-in-concentration-camps-
where-thousands-of-ethnic-amhara-detained/

(8) https://borkena.com/2023/09/16/ethiopia-21-century-abiy-ahmeds-concentration-
campsnew-leaked-video/
(9) https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/08/ethiopia-authorities-must-grant-
independent-investigators-media-unfettered-access-to-amhara-region-to-probe-violations-
under-state-of-emergency/
(10) https://borkena.com/2023/08/04/christian-tadele-ethiopian-police-reportedly-beat-
arrest-member-of-parliament/

Editor’s note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com  

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