An open appeal to the prime minister of Ethiopia

His Excellency Mr. Melles Zenawi

Prime Minister

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

P. O. Box 1031
Addis Ababa- Ethiopia
May 14, 2012

Your Excellency:

The Irob Rights Advocacy Association (hereafter IRAA) is writing this open letter to draw attention to
problems related to the Ethio-Eritrean war of 1998-2000 and its aftermath. This letter will address the
impact of the Algiers agreement and the Hague decision on the Irob and other border area Ethiopian
citizens; the plight of Ethiopians abducted by the Eritrean rouge regime; and the perplexed migration of
the Irob youth and the heinous crimes being committed against them by the unscrupulous human
traffickers.

As your Excellency is well aware of, in 2007 Gregorian calendar 5 European tourists and 13 Ethiopians
were abducted allegedly by the Eritrean Government. At that time, the Ethiopian government quickly
warned the Eritrean regime with serious consequences. All European abductees were freed in a short
time thereafter. Unfortunately, after the release of the European tourists we have heard no word from
your government about those missing Ethiopians yet to date. Again, on January 16th 2012, after five
European tourists were killed and two injured, two Germans and two Ethiopians were kidnapped by the
attacking gunmen at Erta-Ale, in the Afar region. As it was in the previous abduction case regarding
foreigners, the Ethiopian government’s rhetoric against the regime in Asmara was sharpened and it even
looked as if war between the two countries was on the horizon. Anyhow, the kidnapped Europeans
were released but again the two poor Ethiopians are yet unaccounted for.

First, IRAA would like to pay its condolences to those Europeans who lost their loved ones under these
ambiguous circumstances. It equally appreciates the vociferous stand the Ethiopian government took
against the rogue regime in Asmara in order to secure the release of the kidnapped Europeans. This
time again, however, the Ethiopian citizens are left to their fate; hence our appreciation is not without
reservation. Generally speaking, the handling of the Ethiopian abductees’ case is totally flawed and
irresponsible. There are Ethiopian civilian men, women, young and old, including clergy, who are still
unaccounted for after being abducted from their residences by the same regime in Asmara during the
Ethio-Eritrean border war of 1998-2000. In addition to that, there are 15 Ethiopians mentioned above
kidnapped in 2007 and 2012; and, of course, hundreds kidnapped during last 12 years from various
localities bordering Eritrea whose fate is still unknown as well. IRAA supported the Ethiopian
government’s aggressive posturing to get the kidnapped foreigners released; on the other hand, it is
very much dismayed with the indifference the same government showed towards the abducted
Ethiopian citizens.

Mr. Prime Minister, once while responding to a question posed by a member of the Ethiopian
parliament, you argued that the blood of a victim of terrorists, whether she/he is black or white,
remains always red. Regrettably, Ethiopians are not so fortunate to see these words put into practice.
Hence, Ethiopians should not be blamed if they question the sincerity of your public statement
mentioned above.

There is a valid reason behind this suspicion, Mr. Prime Minister. There are Ethiopian abductees and
prisoners of war suffering in the hands of the Eritrean Regime since 1998. These abductees are
Ethiopian tax-paying citizens who are called upon to defend whenever their motherland’s interest is at

stake. Despite this, the Ethiopian government is leaving no stone unturned to get the European tourists
released, but, after all these years, no word is heard from the same government about the missing
Ethiopian citizens. This contradicts the position you entertained in your response to the parliamentarian.
It is as if you are telling us that the blood of every human is red; but, some humans’ blood is redder than
others’. Otherwise, the minimum your government would have done was to show equal sympathy to all
the abductees and exerted equal action to have them released. In the absence of equal sympathy and
action, your affirmation that “all humans have red blood” is nothing more than hypocrisy.

IRAA believes that Ethiopian citizens deserve, at a minimum, equal if not more attention than those who
have strong governments to fight for their release. Governments are judged by the heart and mind they
have for their citizens, not by the good words that they utter. We can safely say that your government
takes the European abductees case very seriously, while ignoring Ethiopians who are kidnapped around
the same time with them. This is a clear manifestation of your government’s prioritization of the
necessity of appeasing donor nations. Unfortunately, your government fails to respect the responsibility
it is bestowed with to take care of Ethiopian citizens. The priority of a self-prided and civilized nation
must presuppose the respect of its citizens with all means possible including muscle-flexing when
necessary and appropriate. In a country where a responsive government exists, organizations like IRAA
would have been the last to voice for these voiceless victims. A government that discriminates against
its citizen can never be trustworthy. Mr. Prime Minister, IRAA calls upon your government to take the
Ethiopian abductees case, at a minimum, as equal to the case of abducted European tourists.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister and other Ethiopian authorities, the border case and the condition of border
area citizens is another totally disregarded matter. The devastation that the Eritrean invasion caused to
our nation and especially to the areas that were under occupation for two long years is immense.
Looting and demolishing of schools, primary public health posts, and entire towns like Zalambesa; and
desecrating and destroying churches are some of the offenses not to be overlooked. The communities
under occupation have sustained much more devastation that IRAA has tried to partially list in its
previous numerous press releases. Therefore, since repeating the details here can be superfluous, we
prefer to refrain from going deeper into explaining the incalculable material and psychological
devastations that the communities in question have sustained. To sum it up with a phrase, the trauma
the above mentioned communities sustained is deep and lasting. This is something a government who
has its citizens at heart can vividly see.

Mr. Prime Minister, to try here to bring to your attention the details of human and material loss that
Ethiopia sustained to reverse the Eritrean invasion would be futile because the whole data is on your
shelves. We do not think that the number of lives paid to ensure the sovereignty of the nation is beyond
your understanding unless you intentionally prefer to ignore it. Setting aside the briefly touched upon
issue of war related destruction here, we would like to put our focus on the aftermath of the war, taking
Irob-land as our case study.

The question we would like to pose is: Where is Ethiopia’s political leadership? The Ethiopian defense
forces and the Ethiopian people paid the ultimate price to secure Ethiopian sovereignty. Enormous
human life and material resource were sacrificed. We thank our Ethiopian heroes and heroines who
secured our territories through their sacrifices. To sum it up, the people and the military had done what
is expected of them. But, unfortunately, the hard won victory by the Ethiopian people in the battlefield
is made irrelevant by the political leadership when they took the agenda to Algiers unnecessarily. In our
opinion, the Algiers agreement transforms a victory into a disastrous defeat for our nation. Going to
Algiers and signing such a defeatist document which favored the belligerent regime in Asmara after
conclusively winning the battle is absolutely incomprehensible. Prof. Beyene Pertos, who was a member
of parliament at the time, had posed a very important question regarding the validity of the agreement
signed after winning the war. He expressed his worries about the phrase “final and binding” included in
the document. His concern was not addressed with the weight it deserves. To the contrary, he was
lambasted by you, Mr. Prime Minister. His worries, however, proved to be correct and your justification
wrong. Mr. Prime Minister, bear in mind that the concern of Prof. Beyene was shared by millions of
Ethiopians and was clearly expressed by demonstrations and writings. Therefore, your reply to the
professor was by implication lambasting the millions who shared his concern.

Subsequent to the Algiers agreement, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission (EEBC) was established
and consequentially on April 12 2002 its ruling was announced. Following the EEBC deliberation, the
then Ethiopian foreign minister Ato Seyoum Mesfin was quick to tell the Ethiopian people to come out in
millions to the streets to celebrate the “victory achieved at the court of law” in The Hague by adding
“the victory booked in the war front is repeated and upheld in the court of justice too.” Soon the EEBC’s
ruling was released and the public got a chance to know the truth. The document revealed Ato
Seyoum’s victory claim to be disastrously wrong. The hope and jubilation of the Ethiopian people were
soon evaporated. It had been proved that Ethiopia lost the victory it earned on the battlefield. Had there
been a dedicated patriotic political leadership, the result would have been totally different. If Ethiopia
had an astute political leadership it would never have contemplated going to Algiers to sign a document
that would not assure its national sovereignty. Besides, to exhume and bring to life invalid 1900, 1902
and 1908 “treaties” was wrong and consequently brought shame and devastation to the whole nation.
This damage must be reversed and our nation has to get out of this disgrace because its impact on the
entire nation and particularly on minorities like the Irob and Kunama nationalities is immense.

IRAA would like to emphasize the devastating effect regarding the survival of the Irob people as a
community because of the Algiers agreement and the decision of The Hague. Hence, IRAA is consciously
following every bit of information coming out about the border demarcation. Ceding a large part of the
Irob territory to Eritrea means letting the Irob people wither out. To allow the division of this small
community between two nations means denying it the right to preserve its identity and promoting its
gradual disappearance Therefore, to divide the indivisible Irob minority is an irresponsible act which
should not be tolerated by any standard. Irobs deserve to remain Ethiopians and undivided as they have
been for centuries. IRAA again appeals to you and your government to annul the irresponsible decision
of The Hague.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, one more concern we would like to call your attention to is the desperate and
perilous exodus of the Irob youth.

Since 1980s, Irobs have been randomly trying to emigrate from the region they dearly love. The reason
for their emigration has been multifaceted. The primary causes of the flight are political and economic
problems that intermittently manifested in their area. After the fall of the military regime, there was a
renewed hope and optimism of change for the better in the hearts and minds of our people. The
situation, however, is not going the way they had hoped it would. In Irob-land, the economic situation
remains at its all time worst. No development activities are observable and, as a result, unemployment
is rampant. Thus, the youth is forced to become prey to unscrupulous human traffickers. The number of
the Irob youth drowning in the Red Sea while trying to cross to Arab countries in search of better lives is
staggering. Nowadays, an exodus to Israel is also at its full swing. Those murderous human traffickers
are luring the Irob and other youth of the region to go to Israel and the desperate youth are entering the
trap of these criminals. They pay the traffickers everything their family posses to go to the “promised
land” and the criminals are selling them to other criminals beyond, mostly to those in the ill-famed Sinai.

There they are asked to pay an exorbitant amount and when they fail to afford it all kinds of abuse befall
them, the worst abuse being the sale of their organs without their consent. This is happening in the 21st
century under the obvious watch of your government and the International Community.

Mr. Prime Minister, we call upon your government to do whatever it can to stop this criminal human
trafficking.

Your Excellency, IRAA hopes that the following points would get the highest consideration of your good
office.

1. The Abductees Case: On Feb. 08-2012 during your appearance in the House of Representatives
   to present the six month performance of your government, for the first time, you were heard
   talking about the recently kidnapped 100 Ethiopians from North Western Tigray while they were
   fetching gold. This is something that we happily welcome and we hope your government will do
   everything at its disposal to get these people released. However, we would like to see the
   demand pushed further so that it includes all abducted Ethiopian citizens, among them, the
   more than 100 Irob abductees who were taken from their homes between 1998-2000 by the
   Eritrean forces. These citizens are abandoned by their government.

   Mr. Prime Minister, your government is extremely reluctant when it comes to the abduction of
   these and other Ethiopian citizens and extremely vocal when citizens of European descents are
   kidnapped. This is no less than discrimination by any standard. Hence, it is now time for your
   government to take a bold and unbiased action to get these Irob and other Ethiopian abductees
   back home to their family and country. We request your government to openly recognize their
   abduction, and work for their freedom using anything and everything at your capacity.

2. The Border Issue: According to the EEBC delimitation coordinates, 1/3 of Irob land is ceded to
   Eritrea. There is no time in history that these areas were under the administration of the
   political entity now known as Eritrea, be it pre-colonial times, during colonial administration of
   the entity, or after. These areas being ceded are the most fertile areas of the Irob-land and
   densely populated. A little less than half of the Irob population resides in these areas. Therefore,
   as it is pointed out above, the consequence of dividing this minority into two countries is
   nothing less than deciding on its termination.

   Mr. Prime Minister, the Algiers agreement, if it ever had any value, already is revoked by Eritrea
   in various ways, notably when it ordered the UN peace keeping force to leave the country,
   making the agreement it entered into regarding the 25km buffer zone de facto void. There is no
   obligation for Ethiopia to respect the agreement single handedly. Hence, we request you to
   officially declare the Algiers agreement and the byproduct Hague Decision null and void.

3. Emigration of the Youth: Criminal human traffickers are busy taking advantage of the jobless
   Irob and other youth of the region. These youth are the future hopes of our nation. However,
   poverty and unemployment are forcing them to wander in all directions, leaving behind their
   family and country in hopes of a better future. This emasculating trend must be tackled and a
   solution must be found. The government should look for new approaches to mitigate this
   deplorable unemployment. Our youth needs to be made an asset for the nation. At the same
   time, the criminal human traffickers must be held accountable for the crimes committed and be
   put behind bars.

Respectfully submitted,

By: Irob Rights Advocacy Association

E-mail: [email protected]

CC The Honorable Mr. Abbadulla Gemmeda

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The Honorable Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The Honorable Mr. Abbay Woldu

President of Tigray Regional State

The Honorable Mrs. Qudusan Negga

Speaker of the Tigray Regional Parliament

Honorable Mr. Berhe Zigta

Irob representative

House of Peoples Representative

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Mr. Hagos Tsegay

Irob Region Administrator

Medrek

Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP)

All Ethiopian unity Organization

And

All Ethiopian political and civic organizations where ever they are!

NB:

To those who are receiving this appeal per post please find the enclosed Irob Abductees list and to those
who are reading it online you can find the list on www.irobmablo.org.