Cease-fire agreed to stop Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict – DW – 11/03/2022

all the warring parties involved in the conflict Ethiopian The Northern Tigre region must now show a strong commitment towards achieving long-lasting peace, security and political analysts.

Ethiopian government forces on Wednesday Rebels reached a ceasefire with Tigreyan forcesArbitration in South Africa by African Union (au).

The deal is meant to end a two-year conflict that has caused a humanitarian crisis in the region with a population of 6 million.

Previous five month ceasefire In August a breakdown between the Ethiopian government and the Tigrian forces led to fresh conflict.

In a joint statement, the two sides said they had agreed to “permanently silence the guns and end the conflict”, which was welcomed around the world.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that he welcomed “the signing of the cessation of hostilities between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigre People’s Liberation Front”.

Blinken commended the African Union “for its extraordinary efforts to bring peace to northern Ethiopia”.

“The agreement in South Africa is an important first step,” said Lugar Shadomski, the head of DW’s Amharic service, but cautioned that “as the moderators have rightly said: the devil is now in the implementation.”

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Government troops were sent to Tigre in November 2020 after the Tigre People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was accused of attacking military camps.

The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s ruling political coalition for decades before Abiy came to power in 2018.

The ensuing conflict killed thousands of civilians, uprooted millions and famines hundreds of thousands.

Ethiopia’s warring sides agree to a peace deal

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What did they agree on?

To end two years of suffering for ordinary Ethiopians, the parties agreed that “the Government of Ethiopia will further enhance its cooperation with humanitarian agencies to expedite aid to all those in need of assistance.”

Both the sides had pitted their strength against each other for the last two years. The latest deal states that the two armies have agreed to “stop all forms of conflict and hostile propaganda”.

According to the joint statement, there will be a “program for disarmament, demilitarization and re-integration into the National Defense Force for TPLF fighters”.

Again, the parties “intend to implement transitional measures including the restoration of constitutional order in the Tigre region, a framework for settling political differences, and a transitional justice policy framework to ensure accountability, truthfulness, reconciliation and remedy”. Is.”

The conflict cut off communications and transport links to the Tigre, which severely affected the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia’s northernmost region.

The agreement states that the Ethiopian government will “continue efforts to restore public services and rebuild the infrastructure of all communities affected by the conflict.”

The speed at which aid distribution can be restored in the area after the ceasefire is not yet clear, but students are allowed to go to school, “farmers, and shepherds to their fields, and public servants to their offices.” has been called.”

Olusegun Obasanjo, a member of the African Union negotiating team, said at the signing of the agreement that “today is the beginning of a new dawn for Ethiopia, for the Horn of Africa and indeed for Africa as a whole.”

cautious optimism

Despite both sides saying the latest ceasefire offers “a new and optimistic chapter in the country’s history”, some analysts are cautiously optimistic.

Solomon Tefera, a political science teacher at Ambo University in the Oromia region, told DW that there must be transparency in implementing the details of the deal to ensure lasting peace.

“To ensure lasting peace across the country, the Ethiopian government should open the door for discussions with all opponents and groups, especially in Oromia, to achieve the peace process.”

He said that space has been created for activists, scholars and other interested parties to contribute towards establishing peace in the country.

“I think it is good that the killings will stop, we welcome it, but there are many key issues that remain unanswered,” Professor Merara Gudina, president of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) party, said in an interview with DW.

He said he was concerned about the lack of a framework on the types of dialogue that would be all-inclusive to achieve peace.

“Let’s see how it is [the peace deal] will be implemented,” Gudina said, demanding that the entire Ethiopian population be taken along during the process.

Davit Gebremichael, a civil servant at Tigre who is hoping the latest conflict will be crucial in resolving the conflict, told DW he had some doubts.

“How safe is the peace agreement? Because we have had experiences that did not deliver on what was promised. For this reason, we have doubts about its implementation,” he said.

unresolved Eritrean factor

During the war, Ethiopia’s National Defense Forces have received support from neighboring Eritrea.

While peace talks were taking place in South Africa, Ethiopian government troops backed by the Eritrean army launched artillery bombings and airstrikes, The rebels capture a string of towns.

No mention was made by AU arbitrators regarding such calls from the international community and Tigreyan forces to withdraw the Eritrean army from the battlefield.

“Eritrea’s matter is not raised in the agreement,” Geberemicel told DW.

“The Eritrean soldier committed many atrocities, killings of people in Ethiopia-Tigre. Therefore, we doubt how the agreement will be accomplished,” he said.

DW’s Shadomski agreed on Eritrea’s place in the conflict and the subject of the latest deal.

“The main obstacle to a permanent solution is the absence of the main attacker, EritreaBy agreement,” he said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock, who has welcomed the ceasefire, is calling on Eritrea to “lay down its arms and withdraw”.

Naomi Kikolor, a strategist on the prevention of mass atrocities, told Reuters that ensuring implementation of the agreement “would require the departure of Eritrean forces whose government was not part of the talks,” describing that element as “critical”.

assurances from the warring parties

The head of the government team, Abiy’s national security adviser, Redwan Hossain, praised both sides for their “constructive partnership in allowing the country to put this tragic period of conflict behind us.”

“Now for all of us to respect this agreement, we must go through the letter in the spirit of this agreement,” Hussain said.

“The people of Ethiopia expected more from the text of this agreement. They demand peace and harmony, they want development, they have spoken of a promising hand, a bright future.”

He assured that “the government will take various proactive steps on its part to nurture democracy and inclusive growth in the country”.

TPLF representative Getachev Reda is also hopeful.

Reda said, “Therefore, I hope that our efforts to silence guns will be followed seriously. And our people deserve all the peace in the world, and we need to rebuild the communities that have already been shut down.” Has been done.”

He assured that TPLF is “ready to do everything, to ensure that no effort on the part of spoilers will hold us back”. [on our commitment for peace],

human condition

Ahead of last month’s peace talks, the UN said the level of need in Ethiopia was “shocking”.

It said 13 million people were in need of food and other aid in Tigre and its neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, before hostilities resumed in August this year.

Alyona Sinenko, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in East Africa, told DW that since August when fighting resumed, it had been difficult to reach civilian aid in the conflict zone, resulting in many deaths.

“Humanitarian needs are enormous after two years of conflict,” he said, adding that he had not replenished his stock of supplies since fighting resumed in August.

“All walks of life have been affected,” said Cinenko, highlighting the challenges citizens face in accessing food, medical careand clean water.

Cinenko, however, explained that “this positive development [the truce] Will allow us to deliver much-needed humanitarian supplies to people in Tigre and other areas of the north.”

A Red Cross spokesman, however, said the implementation of the deal would be crucial if there was to be any breakthrough on the ground in terms of humanitarian aid.

Milian Haliselasi, Abu-Bakr Jaloh and Seyum Getu Hailu contributed to this article.
Edited by: Keith Walker

WHO: Tigre ‘health crisis for 60 million people’

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