“A Body Torn, A People Bleeding: The Story of #Birtukan_Temesgen_Kebede and the Forgotten #AmharaGenocide”
In a time when silence is complicity and truth is hunted like prey, I share with you the searing testimony of Birtukan Temesgen Kebede, a young Amhara woman whose voice now echoes on EBS Television, despite the regime’s desperate efforts to suppress it. Her story is not just her own. It is a mirror reflecting the suffering of millions. It is the soul of a people under siege.
Birtukan was born in the Amhara region, the first child in a home already marked by abandonment and loss. Her father fled into exile. Her mother died during childbirth. Raised by her grandmother in crushing poverty, she began working as a domestic laborer at the age of eight, raising other people’s children while holding on to her dreams. In 2018, she completed high school and was admitted to Dembi Dolo University in western Ethiopia, a place that would soon become a living nightmare.
At Dembi Dolo, Birtukan and other Amhara students were abducted by the Oromo Liberation Army, operating with impunity in the region. For over a year, they were held deep in the forests, subjected to starvation, torture, and systematic abuse. Her only crime was being Amhara.
In her own harrowing words:
“First, they told us to strip off our clothes. We were completely naked. After raping three or four girls, I was next. He told me to lie down, and they raped me, one after the other. I lost consciousness. Then they pierced me with a multi-pronged iron rod. I could feel the wound and the blood when I touched it. They smashed my head. I was covered in blood. On the sixth day, I regained some consciousness. I heard another girl screaming beside me. I was barely clothed, but I took what little I had and tried to cover her, to help her as best I could.”
Eventually, she stumbled back to town, bleeding and broken. A stranger bought her a piece of cloth for 50 birr and led her to the university. There, she received minimal treatment and was soon forgotten. Making her way to Addis Ababa, she survived on the streets while caring for her newborn child. That is when EBS Television found her and gave her story the dignity of being seen.
Birtukan’s story is not an isolated tragedy. It is a symbol of the ongoing genocide against the Amhara people, first launched under the TPLF and now carried forward with even greater cruelty by Abiy Ahmed’s Oromumma regime. Entire communities have been destroyed. Places of worship leveled. Livelihoods erased. The region is being systematically dismantled while the world watches in silence.
Birtukan carries within her the pain of a people. Her anguish is our anguish. Her tears are our tears. Her scars are our scars.
To those still looking away, still asking for evidence, I say this: watch her testimony. Let her voice pierce the silence. Let the world finally see what it has chosen to ignore.
@UN_HRC@UNHumanRights@amnestyusa@amnesty@AmnestyUK@hrw@nytimes@UNOCHA@guardian@DanielBekele@AP
"አዲስ እጅ በጨበጠ ቁጥር መርሁን የሚቀይር ማንኛውም ሰው ሀገርና ህዝብን መምራት አይችልም/For anybody which changes his principles depending on whom he is dealing, that is not a man who can lead a nation'' ማንዴላ
https://t.co/G83Kxp8H00
In this video, the late Pofessor Asrat Woldeyes talks about the delibrate denial of Medical care by TPLF regime while he was imprisoned for being an #Amhara. Today, people like Christian Tadelle and Yohannes Buyalew who are imprisoned by @AbiyAhmedAli for the same reason are denied Medical Care by the regime. @amnesty@hrw
Access to Health Care is a Human Right
Access to Health Care is a Human Right
Access to Health Care is a Human
Right
Access to Health Care is a Human Right
Access to Health Care is a Human
Right
Access to Health Care is a Human
Right
Access to Health Care is a Human
Right
Access to Health Care is a Human
Right
Access to Health Care is a Human
Right
Access to Health Care is a Human
Right
@amnesty@BBCAfrica@hrw@UNHumanRights
Regardless of what posters print, online advocacy should always use the hashtags
#AmharaGenocide and #WarOnAmhara in addition to those proposed by different rally organizers. This may not affect rally posters, but it affects the data, evidence and testimonies that are attached with these hashtags that were in long run use from being visible on online searches.
You can see from the trends over time how consistently Amhara advocates used these tags. So keep them in all your other additional tags.
📍 Plus don't forget to attend rallies near you!
📍 This is it! This should be the last year we see our people targeted, attacked, massacred and ignored! It needs to stop and with your unwavering determination it is possible!
📍 Please check out organizers official accounts for updated posters. I am only sharing posters as I find them.