Thread by @MuluBK

#WarOnTigray #UNSC ‘s #R2P
A THREAD

The #WarOnTigray is into its 41 days now, with military engagements taking place every single day. Involving hundreds of thousands of forces and all kinds of weaponry, it qualifies as a major war the region has seen in decades. 1/16

Heavy involvement of #Eritrea in the conflict is now confirmed. There is also a strong indication that #UAE drones are in use. The #Sudan is already feeling the hit, as desperate #Tigrians, currently standing at 61,000, are trekking to its eastern villages for safety. 2/16

Uncharacteristic of modern conflict of this magnitude, however, war footages are rare. This has been deliberately effected by the regime. Not only did it render #Tigray off limits to the media and rights organs, it also deployed a systemic campaign of misinformation. 3/16

The bits of info'n available, however, reveal a grim reality. Up to a #Million people are internally displaced; war crimes ranging from cold murder of civilians to looting of towns and cattle; to destruction of factories & burning of crops; to raping girls and women abound. 4/16

People are starving, with no access to food, fuel, medicine, and cash for 41 days and counting. #Tigrians elsewhere are also being profiled, detained, laid off, their movement liberties curtailed, searched and harassed.

This is #Crimeagainsthumanity if not also #Genocide 5/16

Worse, the much-needed humanitarian access is, as of yet, denied by the #AbiyAhmed regime for no apparent reason.
Also, #WarOnTigray is nowhere near its completion. Just yesterday, #AbiyAhmed ordered a 2nd phase of the war, hunting #Tigrian authorities across the region. 6/16

The fact that the #Amha region has defacto annexed a large swathe of territory in both western and southern #Tigray and #Eritrea doing the same in northern #Tigray could only fuel the resistance against, what for all practical purposes, has become an occupation. 7/16

Sadly, the international community is watching the catastrophe idly by. In a circumstance where the very state which should protect people are terrorizing them behind an unparalleled blackout, it is incumbent on the int’l commt'y to act, before another #Rwanda unfolds. 8/16

According to the Int'l Comm'n on Interv'n and State Sovereignty, Int'l #R2P is yielded 'if 'a population is suffering serious harm, as a result of internal war, insurgency, repression or state failure, and the state in question is unwilling or unable to halt or avert it.' 9/16

Acc. to the same Commission, #R2P has 3 pillars.
1. Prevention: by addressing crises
2. Reaction: by responding to situations of compelling human need with appropriate measures, coercive measures included, &
3. Building

Prevention has failed.
Reaction is needed NOW! 10/16

Under Art. 24 of the @UN Charter, the #UNSC bears the primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security on behalf of the international community. It has the authority, capability and the mandate to save millions in #Tigray 11/16

2005 World Summit Outcome Document highlights @UN's responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other means, in acc. with Chap. 6 and 8 of the Charter, to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.' 12/16

The @_AfricanUnion has failed miserably. After #AbiyAhmed rejected its mediation offers and denied envoys to visit #Tigray, z @AU_PSD did not even dare to discuss the matter in its recent meeting, despite clear responsibility under the Constitutive Act. It's now on #UNSC! 13/16

State sovereignty, which the #AbiyAhmed regime has mischievously invoked against all attempts of external influence, cannot be a defense against #UNSC engagement in this regard. The life of millions is in imminent danger and it cannot be left out to a single tyrant. 14/16

We only need to ask as the late Kofi Annan did: ‘if humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica, to gross and systematic violation of HRs that offend every precept of our common humanity?” 15/16

We demand the #UNSC to:
Sanction a ceasefire
Order unfettered access to humanitarian organs
Send investigators into all atrocities
Compel the regime to open #Tigray for all media and rights organs
Order an immediate withdrawal of #Eritrean forces from #Tigray

END

Amhara*