501(c)(3) & 33/11 registered non-partisan ¬-for-profit Global Knowledge Network of thousands ofTigray Professionals aimed at creating knowledge based economy
๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!
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As we step into the New Year, we celebrate the shared spirit that drives our mission forward. May 2026 bring more peace, solidarity, stability, growth, and meaningful impact for all.
2026 is a year in which we commit to uplifting Tigray and its people from the extraordinary and unparalleled challenges they are facing due to ongoing socio-political turmoil.
Let this year be one of solidarity, as we work hard to secure our territorial integrity; facilitate the safe, dignified, and voluntary return of our IDPs and refugees to their homes and properties; advance collective healing, recovery, and reconstruction; consolidate peace; and create the conditions necessary for Tigray to transition into a functional and democratically elected government through free, fair, and transparent elections.
The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) remains steadfast in its dedication to supporting the full implementation of the Pretoria Agreement, promoting peace, resilience, unity, and lasting solutions for Tigray, its people, and beyond in the year ahead.
Best Regards,
The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS)
@TomFletcher@UNOCHA@DrTedros@WHO@FilippoGrandi@Refugees@cindymccain@WFPChief@WFP@PKraehenbuehl@ICRC@JamesCleverly@FCDOGovUK@ingerashing@save_children@SaveCEO_Intl@MPopowskiEU@EU_Commission@eu_echo@Bankole_Adeoye@AUC_PAPS
RE: Emergency Appeal โ Save Lives of IDPs in Hitsats and Other Camps in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia
Your Excellencies,
The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) urgently calls your attention to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis facing internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Tigray. The IDPs in Hitsats and other camps in the Tigray region, including vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied children, pregnant women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and chronic illnesses, are already dying from starvation, malnutrition, and preventable diseases. The situation is catastrophic and getting out of control. Field reports and emerging images show people succumbing daily to conditions that could be alleviated with immediate intervention. Every hour of delay costs many lives that could have been saved.
In light of the dire humanitarian situation, we urgently call upon your esteemed offices to:
1. Swiftly deploy and scale up life-saving assistance, including food, medical care, and emergency relief, to Hitsats and all other affected IDP camps in Tigray;
2. Ensure unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas where IDPs are located;
3. Coordinate urgent international efforts to prevent further loss of life and safeguard the dignity, safety, and survival of these highly vulnerable populations; and
4. As a durable solution, leverage all available political and diplomatic measures with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Tigray authorities to ensure the swift implementation of the CoHA, thereby enabling the safe, dignified, and voluntary return of Tigray IDPs and refugees in Sudan to their homes and properties.
The gravity of this crisis cannot be overstated, and immediate action is essential to avert catastrophic loss of life.
The GSTS stands firmly with the IDPs and refugees and is ready to work closely with all relevant stakeholders to avert a humanitarian catastrophe marked by staggering loss of life.
GSTS Systematic Review of the Second Tigray Interim Administrationโs Eight-Month Performance โ JULY 2025
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Summary
GSTSโs systematic evaluation of the Tigray Interim Administration (TIA) reveals that, despite initial commitments to establish an inclusive administration, promote genuine dialogue and reconciliation, embark on healing and recovery, consolidate peace and facilitate the return of IDPs and refugees through the full implementation of the CoHA, and create conditions for a smooth transition to an elected government, the current TIA has moved in the opposite direction, including reversing several modest gains achieved by the prior interim administration in creating an enabling environment for press freedom, the right to assemble and protest, open public debates and conferences, decoupling of party politics from state institutions, ensuring equitable access to public mass media for diverse voices, maintaining the non-partisanship of the security forces, and reconstituting an inclusive cabinet.
The administration has become increasingly exclusionary, carried out political cleansing across public institutions, responded with force to legitimate community demands, and enabled escalating tensions within the Tigray security forces (now divided into two groups). Political and military actors have dominated decision-making, politicizing the security apparatus and the administration itself, while citizen-centric initiatives, including healing and recovery efforts and the implementation of CoHA, have been sidelined.
Inflammatory rhetoric has intensified, threatening the Pretoria Agreement and heightening tensions with Addis Ababa. These developments have deepened mistrust, intensified social and political polarization, and increased public fears of a return to conflict.
GSTS cautions that without immediate corrective measures, Tigray risks accelerating internal fragmentation and faces the real danger of sliding back into war. Accordingly, GSTS calls for the urgent reconstitution of the TIA, ensuring that the new interim administration decisively departs from the shortcomings of previous and current interim administrations, is mandated to revitalize and implement the CoHA, deliver essential public services, and guide the transition to a legitimate government through free, fair, and transparent elections.
Calling on the Ethiopian Government and International Community to Urgently Avert the Specter of another War in Tigray
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It is with profound dismay and deep concern that we witness the rapidly worsening political and security crises in Tigray. The dark clouds of an imminent war are gathering once again, an outcome that should have been entirely avoidable, and one that must be halted immediately.
The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) urgently appeals to the international community, particularly the AU, IGAD, EU, USA and the UK, who facilitated and witnessed the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), to seize this critical moment, act with urgency, and employ all available political and diplomatic instruments to prevent the recurrence of another horrific war.
The Ethiopian government is duty-bound to uphold the Pretoria Agreement and to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to protect the lives and welfare of the people of Tigray. Yet, it has failed to comply with several of the CoHAโs critical provisions, most notably the removal of non-ENDF forces and the safe and dignified return of IDPs and refugees. Escalating war rhetoric from public officials, party leaders, and even some military generals only fuels an already fragile situation, heightening tensions and amplifying the spectre of renewed conflict. Threatening the security of the people of Tigray constitutes a grave dereliction of constitutional duty, a clear violation of the CoHA, and a breach of the UN Charter on human rights, to which Ethiopia is a signatory.
On a parallel note, it is important to underscore that the people of Tigray stand for peace. Any inflammatory or militant rhetoric coming from any political or military authority or group within the Tigray region does not represent the interests or collective will of its people. The people of Tigray should not be conflated with any political party and must be decoupled from the toxic political developments in the region, treated instead as citizens with full rights and dignity, deserving of protection and respect.
The GSTS has worked tirelessly, particularly within Tigray, to ensure the comprehensive implementation of the CoHA, fostering a process of reconciliation and the formation of an inclusive governance framework, essential for a peaceful transition toward a pluralistic political system. While these initiatives have been widely supported and demanded by nearly all stakeholders (including political parties, civil society, and most of the Tigray security forces), few gatekeepers within the ruling party have scuttled these efforts.
GSTS advanced these initiatives not only to consolidate the cessation of hostilities into a durable peace but also to facilitate Tigrayโs healing from the genocidal war, paving the way for recovery and reconstruction in earnest. Tragically, these efforts have been obstructed, leaving Tigray once again teetering on the verge of another devastating and costly war - one that must be prevented at all cost.
Hence, the GSTS urgently calls on the:
Ethiopian Government (@AbiyAhmedAli@GHessebon@AbrahamPostDoc, @mfaethiopia) to:
1) Immediately and unconditionally remove all non-ENDF forces from Western, Southern, and Northern Tigray as stipulated in CoHA (Articles 2 (b), 4, and 5.3) and the Nairobi Declaration (Article 2.1(d); dismantle all illegal administrations at every level; and restore Tigrayโs constitutionally defined borders to the pre-November 3, 2020, status quo ante;
2) Swiftly take full responsibility for ensuring the safe, dignified, and voluntary return, reintegration, rehabilitation, and recovery of IDPs and refugees to their homes, land and properties with appropriate support and reparation, in accordance with the CoHA (Article 5(3)) and in line with international humanitarian norms and best practices;
3) Cease any war rhetoric discourses and acknowledge that the people of Tigray seek peace, rehabilitation, and healing;
4) Desist from treating any war-mongering slogans or statements by certain political or military actors in Tigray as representative of the true will and aspirations of the Tigrayan people, who continue to endure immense suffering and remain largely deprived of accountable and responsible leadership;
5) Pursue legal, constitutional, administrative, and political mechanisms to resolve the issues affecting Tigray and the broader national context;
6) Recognize, respect, and ensure the legitimate voices and rights of the people of Tigray and representation in federal institutions, including the House of Federation and the House of Peoplesโ Representatives, as per Article 9(2) of the CoHA; and
7) Recognize, respect, and guarantee the security and welfare of the people of Tigray both within Tigray and throughout Ethiopia, including those residing near international borders.
African Union, CoHA Mediators and Observers, and the International Community (@_AfricanUnion, @ymahmoudali , @DCP_Haddadi , @Oolusegun_obj
,@Bankole_Adeoye, @AUC_PAPS, @DrWorkneh, @IGADsecretariat, @UhuruKE, @phumlambongcuka
) to:
1) Exert all available diplomatic and political pressure and leverage on the Federal Government and Tigray authorities to fully comply with and implement the CoHA, thereby preventing any relapse into another war;
2) Demand of the Ethiopian Government for the unconditional, immediate, complete, time-bound, and verifiable withdrawal of all non-ENDF forces, from Tigrayโs constitutionally recognized territories; and for the safe return and dignified repatriation of Tigrayan IDPs and refugees;
3) Take concrete measures against the Eritrean government, which continues to undermine CoHA, forcefully occupy Tigray territories, and violates the safety and welfare of bordering communities, and at large interferes in Ethiopiaโs internal affairs and the wider Horn of Africa, further fueling instability and perpetuating a record of regional destabilization.
The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS)
16th Novermber, 2025
@SwissAmbUN_GVA@volker_turk@UNHumanRights@UN_HRC@GerEmbAddis@EUtoAU@EUinEthiopia@EUAmbEthiopia@UKinEthiopia@USEmbassyAddis@FCDOGovUK@DavidLammy@FCDOGovUK@USEmbassyAddis@EUtoAU@addisstandard@EthioReporter@dimtsiweyane1@Tigrai_TV@VOANews
The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) has recently conducted an in-depth assessment of the six-month performance of the Tigray Interim Administration, with particular focus on its commitment to implement 13 strategic recommendations formally submitted by GSTS to the President during the meeting held on July 6, 2025. GSTS will soon release a detailed report of its assessment, along with its official position.
Following the release, GSTS will undertake broad-based consultative deliberations with all relevant stakeholders to meaningfully address the worsening political, security, and humanitarian crisis in Tigray. It will also call upon all segments of Tigrayan society to unite in efforts that foster peace, stability, and collective healing.
In addition, cognizant of the devastating genocidal war on the people of Tigray, the millions of lives lost and displaced, the severe impact wars place on the demography of Tigray, the generational trauma and disproportionate burden it places on victims of war and their families, GSTS will release a separate declaration reaffirming its unwavering stance on its โNo Warโ position!
Further details will be announced soon.
To:
United Nations- Human Rights Council (UN-HRC, @UN_HRC );
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR, @UNHumanRights); Diplomatic Missions in Addis Ababa (Embassies and Multilateral Diplomatic Groups); African Union (AU) Commission on Human and Peoplesโ Rights (@achpr_cadhp); and Human Rights Advocacy Organizations and Media Outlets
RE: Urgent Call for Attention to the Ongoing Grave Human Rights Violations in Tigray
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The Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) is gravely alarmed by the escalating human rights abuses in Tigray following the March 2025 overthrow of the Interim Administration by the TPLF faction, backed by military commanders.
Despite initial hopes that the current Tigray Interim Administration (TIA), led by President General Tadesse, would steer Tigray toward peace, recovery, stability, and democratic transition, this opportunity has steadily deteriorated, and the human rights situation has now reached a tipping point. The ongoing forced and illegal leadership change in Southern Tigray (Raya) against the will of the people, including the use of masked soldiers, has resulted in widespread forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, unlawful removals from office, intimidation, terror, and suppression of self-administration. Similar violations have been reported and persist throughout Tigray, such as in the Southeastern Zone, Eastern Zone, Tembien, and Northwestern Tigray.
Under President Tadesse Werede, the TIA has fallen under the full control of a narrow political faction within the TPLF, and with its president reduced to the role of a protรฉgรฉ. The gains achieved under former TIA President, Getachew Reda, including a relatively inclusive cabinet, media freedom, free movement, the right to assemble and protest, and space for divergent views, have been severely rolled back, creating an increasingly toxic and repressive political environment that threatens peace, stability, the rule of law, human rights, good governance, and the prospects for a smooth democratic transition. Consequently, the people of Tigray, already enduring deep pain and trauma from years of war, continue to live in fear and terror, facing systematic oppression, political hostage-taking, and the denial of their fundamental human and civil rights.
The ongoing politicized, military-backed, and state-sponsored human rights violations flagrantly contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, Articles 3, 9, 12, 13, 19, 21, and 23), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, Articles 6, 9, 12, 19, and 25), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, Articles 6, 11, and 12), and the Ethiopian Constitution (FDRE Constitution, 1995, Articles 8โ26 and 43), and encompass the following abuses:
1. Extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, intimidation, mass arrests, and social isolation of civilians accused of supporting political reform, sympathizing with the former interim administration, holding dissenting political views or exercising their fundamental rights and demanding self-governance;
2. Coercive political cleansing and dismissal of civil servants from all levels of government: the systematic removal and exclusion of individuals and communities from political life and public employment based on their beliefs, affiliations, or activities, including the deliberate targeting of communities perceived as resisting the imposed political agenda;
3. Suppression of political rights and freedom of participation: the denial of citizensโ rights to engage in political life, participate in decision-making, or freely express dissenting views;
4. Illicit activities contributing to human rights abuses: including large-scale land grabbing, illegal gold mining (often involving toxic chemicals), illicit trade, smuggling, human trafficking, and embezzlement of public resources; and
5. Restriction of civiliansโ freedom of movement: imposed by military forces, further isolating communities, disrupting economic activities, exacerbating humanitarian crises, and compounding the suffering of war-affected and already vulnerable populations.
These violations undermine the rule of law, deepen political polarization, exacerbate instability, and inflict severe and widespread suffering on the people of Tigray.
In light of these egregious human rights violations by the Tigray interim administration and its allied military and political forces, the GSTS respectfully urges your offices to:
1. Immediately and publicly condemn the ongoing human rights violations committed by the interim administration and allied military and political forces in Tigray;
2. Employ all available diplomatic and political mechanisms to secure an independent investigation into these human rights violations, ensuring justice and that perpetrators are held accountable; and
3. Exert every possible effort to prevent the Interim Administration from using military force to intimidate or suppress civilians, including their rights to seek self-administration, access fundamental government services, and exercise their basic rights (such as freedom of expression, freedom of movement, political participation etc).
The GSTS strongly appeals to the OHCHR, diplomatic missions in Addis Ababa, the ACHPR, and other human rights advocacy organizations to exercise their moral and institutional authority to urgently protect the fundamental rights of the Tigrayan people and prevent further abuses.
The GSTS stands ready to actively collaborate with all relevant stakeholders, including international organizations, diplomatic missions, and human rights bodies, to provide accurate information, support independent investigations, and contribute to efforts aimed at protecting human rights, promoting accountability, and restoring peace and stability in Tigray.
@SwissAmbUN_GVA@volker_turk@UNHumanRights@UN_HRC@GerEmbAddis@EUtoAU@EUinEthiopia@EUAmbEthiopia@UKinEthiopia@USEmbassyAddis@amnesty@hrw@AmbafranceET@AlexisLamek@addisstandard@NHRIEU@LawyersComm@crdefenders@HRWFint@fidh_en@HRHFoundation@humanrights1st@FrontLineHRD@humanrights1st@HRF@FCDOGovUK@DavidLammy
GSTS Press Release on Its Recent Engagement with H.E. General Tadesse Werede, President of the Tigray Interim Administration, on Tigrayโs Current Affairs and Beyond
@addisstandard@dimtsiweyane@Tigrai_TV@Tmhtvnews
RE: Vehement Objection to @UNOCHA 's Continued Territorial Misrepresentation and Classifications in Western Tigray
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Academic and civic society organizations have lodged strong protest against @UNOCHA for its persistent misrepresentation and artificially reclassifying the illegally occupied Western Tigray. The organizations emphasized that OCHAโs reports, which either incorporate these areas into the Amhara region or misleadingly label it as โcontested,โ undermine Tigrayโs historical identity and territorial integrity.
#Western #Tigray lies within the constitutionally recognized boundaries of the Tigray region and thus OCHAโs references to this area as โcontestedโ are either grave errors or deliberate attempts to legitimize forced occupation, in direct violation of both domestic and international law. Such actions disregard the rule of law and the principles of the UN Charter, posing a serious threat to peace and the Pretoria Agreement. They emphasized that despite multiple appeals, including formal submissions, @UNOCHA@OCHA_Ethiopia persisted in producing reports, maps and public statements that present misleading geographic descriptors and classifications showing its systematic bias that provide tacit legitimacy to intrusive demographic changes and forcefully redrawing of regional boundaries, in contradiction to its anticipated institutional neutrality and credibility in the eyes of the victims, the 1995 constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and Ethiopiaโs internal administrative boundaries.
The organizations further warned that these actions are not only brazen and egregious violations that exceed @UNOCHA's mandate and risk overshadowing its otherwise commendable role in coordinating humanitarian efforts, but they also represent calculated political acts that set a dangerous precedent. Moreover, such meddling in internal affairs threatens to open a Pandora's box, potentially encouraging the redrawing of regional boundaries and provoking false or forceful territorial claims both within Ethiopia and across the broader Horn of Africa.
In response, the organizations have called for:
โก๏ธThe United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (@antonioguterres, @UNEthiopia, @OCHA_Ethiopia , @UNReliefChief ) to:
1. Conduct an immediate investigation to identify the source of these persistent and dangerous misrepresentations, and to rectify them in all reports, maps, and statements, ensuring that such errors are never repeated;
1. Immediately reverse such policy and engage with legitimate Tigrayan authorities, the Tigray Interim Administration (TIA), on appropriate geographical and administrative designations that respect Tigray's constitutional status and territorial integrity;
3. Exercise utmost care and sensitivity to avoid unwittingly or deliberately affirming the illegal occupation of Tigrayan territories or employing unconstitutional characterizations that contradict the countryโs constitution and perpetuate the sufferings of the indigenous Tigrayan residents under the occupied areas; and
4. Adhere strictly to its humanitarian mandates and the principles of neutrality, independence, and respect for local governance structures, which should guide its work as outlined in the UN Charter, UN General Assembly, and UN Security Council resolutions, such as neutrality, on sovereignty and internal affairs of member states, etc.
โก๏ธThe Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (@AbiyAhmedAli@GHessebon@abraham@AbrahamPostDoc@mfaethiopia) to:
1. Take decisive action against such politically motivated misrepresentations, and ensure that all local and international institutions and organizations respect and uphold the constitutional boundaries and regional maps of Ethiopia as they existed before the war on Tigray; and
2. Reaffirm its commitment to the peace process by swiftly countering any efforts that distort the constitutional framework or territorial integrity of regional states.
โก๏ธTigray Interim Administration to:
1. Swiftly and formally condemn and reject these arbitrarily designations; and demand OCHA and other actors immediately withdraw any maps and documents that misrepresent Tigrayโs territorial integrity, respect Tigray's proper administrative units and names as established under the constitutional framework; and officially file suit against these irresponsible actions to ensure accountability.
โก๏ธGuarantors and Stakeholders to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA - @_AfricanUnion, @ymahmoudali, @DCP_Haddadi, @Oolusegun_obj ,@Bankole_Adeoye, @AUC_PAPS, @DrWorkneh, @IGADsecretariat , @UhuruKE, @phumlambongcuka ) to:
1. Strongly condemn these calculated political acts by OCHA, as they have the potential to undermine the peace process initiated by the Pretoria Agreement by weakening the agreementโs call for restoration of constitutional status quo ante, and thus call on OCHA to cease and desist actions that could jeopardize the peace process.
@FCDOGovUK@USEmbassyAddis@EUtoAU@addisstandard@EthioReporter@dimtsiweyane1@Tigrai_TV@VOANews