The underlying problem here is US exceptionalism. It has to end. It has corrupted the global order and 1000s of innocent Ethiopian civilians have paid the price of this corruption in blood 🩸 and tears 😭.
Ethiopian Nobel Peace Prize laureate @AbiyAhmedAli responded very clearly to the latest exercise in illegal unilateral sanction threats on behalf of Ethiopia.
Let the UNSC now consult.
/ENDS
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Kenya took over Presidency of the UNSC for October on Friday. A media/officials briefing was held yesterday at the UN HQ in New York yesterday with the Permanent Representative and the Kenya's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Raychelle Omamo.
WATCH HERE >> media.un.org/en/asset/k1e/k…
This briefing his held each month when the Presidency rotates. The program of work for the month is the subject of the briefing which can be found here >> un.org/securitycounci…
The detailed briefing is by Kenya's Permanent Representative Martin Kimani who participated in the Tigray crisis meeting held on August 26th.
The program includes 2 meetings to be chaired by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on the 12th (Peace) and 28th of Oct. (Cooperation).
Would be nice to see some news reports leading with the allegations that have been made against the UN officials who have been expelled. @AP@Reuters@AFP
@mfaethiopia issued a statement yesterday. There are 2 sides to this story. There seems to be a racist trope at play here.
@AP@Reuters@AFP@mfaethiopia It is clear that the legal basis the UN is relying on is unreliable. According to their own legal opinions and based on recent precedents in the case of both Burundi and in 1998 for the TPLF, who expelled 30 UN officials.
@AP@Reuters@AFP@mfaethiopia One would have thought that the substance of the Ethiopian claims against the UN officials ought to be examined at some point in this discussion. The missing trucks one is undeniable. The "rape as a weapon" data manipulation one is supported by a leaked audio recording.
The appointment of a confirmed Asst. Secretary of State For African Affairs to the Biden Administration is an important development.
And the timing of the appointment is interesting.
Confirmation hearing July 20th.
Confirmation September 28th
Swearing in yesterday.
At the link in Ben's tweet quoted above you can view the video of testimony presented in the confirmation hearing. There is also a transcript there which includes written answers to questions by @AsstSecStateAF#MollyPhee - pages 46 to 64.
@AsstSecStateAF The Republicans have been holding up a large number of important confirmations now for months. Senate Foreign Affairs Cmtte Chairman Menendez made a speech/statement about this most recently on Sept 13th. foreign.senate.gov/press/chair/re…
And here is her archived State Dept biography page. She spent three years serving as Deputy Chief of Mission in Ethiopia. 2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/2…
Ok since we seem to have an information vacuum here - which is unhelpful to all, I have some off the record information to share on the reasons for the expulsions.
It looks as if there was a reason that @KSansculotteG Kwesi Sans-Culotte was singled out with his on special tweet. He appears to be accused of leaking audio of the country team discussion on whether there is credible evidence of "rape as a weapon".
Whether this incident - involving the creation of a HR investigation with the ACPHR apparently without notice & claiming consent - was part of reasoning wrt Kwesi is not known, but here are it seems specific reasons for each expulsion.
The first of these tweets from expelled UNDP country manager for Ethiopia, Dr Kwesi Sansculotte-Greenidge (@KSansculotteG) raises interesting questions.
This false statement is the opening sentence of background.
"On 4 Nov. 2020 the Govt. of Ethiopia launched a military offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), this was followed by attacks on the Northern Command of the ENDF by the TPLF on the same day."