Summary
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian government have agreed to a final cessation of hostilities. This step is essential to ending this war that has led to thousands of people dead and millions more in need of food aid. Both sides said Wednesday evening that they would forever silence the guns and end the two-year conflict in northern Ethiopia. According to the statement, the Ethiopian Tigray rebels will eventually be disarmed and demobilized.
Olusegun Obasanjo, High Representative of the Horn of Africa to the African Union and former President of Nigeria, announced this. In the future, systematic, orderly, smooth, and coordinated disarmament will occur in the region. There will also be restoration of services, unhindered access to humanitarian supplies, and protection of civilians, especially women, children, and other vulnerable groups (Feleke, 2022). This is not the end of the peace process, but its beginning, as follows from the statement.
The peace process has been intermittent so far, and in September, forces in the Tigray region of Ethiopia said they were ready to honor an immediate ceasefire. The adoption of an African Union-led peace process was also announced. This was done to end the conflict involving federal forces within almost two years (Feleke, 2022).
However, since the beginning of October, hostilities have escalated again. On October 17, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, stated that the situation was escalating out of control. He once again urged an immediate end to the fighting in Tigray.
Guterres emphasized the devastating loss of life among Ethiopian civilians, noting that hundreds of thousands had been displaced from their homes. He also said that the UN had received alarming reports of sexual violence and other acts of cruelty against women, children, and men. CNN has previously reported on evidence of the use of sexual violence as a deliberate weapon of war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.
In a statement on Wednesday, leading TPLF delegate Getachew Reda acknowledged that thousands of combatants and civilians from both sides have died in recent days since fighting resumed. He also emphasized the importance of promptly implementing the peace agreement (Feleke, 2022). He called on the international community to support a cessation of hostilities to avoid resumption. In a separate statement, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also noted the completion of negotiations.
Analysis
This article discusses the peace process during the war in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government and the TPLF have agreed to a permanent ceasefire (Feleke, 2022). The article maintains a neutral tone, as reflected in the author’s emphasis on the text. For example, he says that thousands of fighters and civilians from both sides have lost their lives in recent days since the resumption of hostilities.
The article is quite informative in retrospect of the events that took place, which gives the proper context. For example, the author mentions that the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Tigray on October 17 (Feleke, 2022). He drew attention to the horrific civilian casualties in Ethiopia, saying that hundreds of thousands of people had been forced to flee their homes. This is not an assessment of the article’s author but a correct quotation that conveys the attitude of the UN toward the event.
Reference
Feleke, B. (2022). Warring parties in Ethiopia agree on ‘permanent cessation of hostilities’. CNN. Web.