The African Union, once conceived as custodian of peace, unity, and sovereignty across the continent, has regrettably descended into irrelevance and moral compromise. Its recent decision to involve itself in a fake “peace agreement” within the Amhara region—brokered with an inconsequential individual lacking legitimacy and a regime bereft of integrity—underscores the magnitude of its institutional decay. Such a charade does not advance peace; it merely lends undeserved legitimacy to a government defined by repression and systematic deception.
Having previously served within the United Nations system and having worked directly with the African Union, it has been profoundly disheartening to witness the AU’s steady retreat from principle, competence, and credibility. Time and again, the organization has failed to act decisively where its presence has been most needed—from Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Sahel, South Sudan, and beyond. Today, it seeks to mislead the international community with the illusion of diplomacy, claiming to have “mediated or observed” peace in the Amhara region. This exercise in political theater is even less defensible than the so‑called Pretoria Agreement it mediated and at least involved two recognized parties—the Ethiopian government and the TPLF.
By endorsing and legitimizing a patently contrived process, the African Union has once again betrayed the values it was established to defend. Its actions erode confidence not only in the institution itself but also in the notion of African‑led solutions to African crises.
Equally troubling is the conduct of IGAD, whose credibility has collapsed under the weight of compromised leadership. That the bloc is currently led by a figure implicated in serious human rights violations, including the killing of peaceful demonstrators during his tenure as head of the brutal Ethiopia’s internal security forces, renders any pretense of impartiality untenable. Any statement from an organization led by a UCH individual can not have any credence.
The AU and IGAD must recognize that by endorsing fabricated processes and aligning themselves with discredited regime, they do not serve peace—they desecrate it. Until both institutions confront their failures and commit to genuine, transparent engagement grounded in legitimacy and human rights, they will continue to stand as symbols not of African unity, but of its betrayal. @antonioguterres, @marcorubio@AlJazeera@BBCAfrica@SABCNews
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the 2nd largest Orthodox church globally, after the ROC. However, it faces serious safety and integrity issues, and lacks a digital presence to share its rich history and ongoing persecutions (existential threats) by the regime & extremist groups.
Compassion does not have ethnicity.
Compassion does not have nationality.
Compassion does not need religion or ideology.
But compassion IS necessary.
SAVE A M H A R A NOW
She was kidnapped, tortured, and raped. She was left for dead, simply because she is Amhara.
Birtukan Temesgen Kebede survived the unthinkable, only to be silenced by the Ethiopian government. The journalist who told her story has been arrested, and the media was forced to delete the interview.
Why is the world silent? Where are the human rights organizations? Where are the women's rights advocates?
Being Amhara is not a crime. If you ignore this, you are complicit!
@UN_Women@hrw@amnesty
#JusticeForAmhara #AmharaGenocide #ProtectWomen #BeingAmharaIsNotACrime
She was kidnapped, tortured, and raped. She was left for dead, simply because she is Amhara.
Birtukan Temesgen Kebede survived the unthinkable, only to be silenced by the Ethiopian government. The journalist who told her story has been arrested, and the media was forced to delete the interview.
Why is the world silent? Where are the human rights organizations? Where are the women's rights advocates?
Being Amhara is not a crime. If you ignore this, you are complicit!
@UN_Women@hrw@amnesty
#JusticeForAmhara #AmharaGenocide #ProtectWomen #BeingAmharaIsNotACrime
“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
NEW: Ethiopian security forces have committed widespread attacks amounting to war crimes against medical professionals, patients, and health facilities in the Amhara region.
https://t.co/qROuWkzjVS
The healthcare system in Ethiopia's Amhara region is experiencing "utter devastation."
In today's Daily Brief, @astroehlein discusses urgent questions amid widespread attacks in Ethiopia ⤵️