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Mekelle, Tigray – Global Society of Tigray Scholars and Professionals (GSTS) has congratulated His Excellency H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf on his election as a new chairperson of African Union Commission (AUC). Along with their well wishes, the organization has made an urgent appeal for his leadership in ensuring the prompt and full implementation of the Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA).
In the letter, GSTS brings to the attention of the newly elected Chairperson the devastating impact of the two-year-long war on Tigray, which has resulted in immense loss of over one million lives, the displacement of millions and the destruction of infrastructures and livelihoods in Tigray.
While acknowledging the positive progress made on silencing the guns in Tigray, GSTS sheds light on the failure to fully implement the “core provisions of CoHA,” leaving many Tigrayans to remain in distress.
The letter points out GSTS’s deep concern over the delayed repatriation of millions of Internally Displaced Persons and tens of thousands of refugees in Sudan “evicted from their ancestral lands.” The letter further draws attention to the breach of the CoHA, the Nairobi Declaration and the Ethiopian constitution reiterating that “over 40% of Tigray’s territories remain forcefully and illegally occupied by non-Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF), the Eritrean Armed Forces and Amhara Regional forces.”
In the letter, GSTS calls on the newly elected Chairperson to utilize his authority on the new role to consider the full implementation of CoHA as priority to put an end to the devastating humanitarian crisis in Tigray, restoring stability in Ethiopia and the broader Horn of Africa.
GSTS urges the newly elected AUC Chairperson to “swiftly convene a high-level strategic review meeting” with global and regional actors of the CoHA to closely evaluate the progress of CoHA implementation. The organization further demands the newly elected chairperson to enforce the federal government to withdraw “foreign forces (Eritrean) and non-ENDF Amhara Regional forces from the constitutionally recognized territories of Tigray,” and the return of IDPs in Tigray and refugees in Sudan per the peace agreement.
Emphasizing on justice and accountability, GSTS calls for the newly elected chairperson to push for “the integration of justice and accountability for the atrocities committed during and after the war in Tigray into the AU’s broader and peace agenda.”
In the letter, GSTS also requests the newly elected chairperson to make a fact-finding visit to Tigray to engage with officials of the Interim Administration in Tigray, Tigray Interim Council, representatives of IDPs, weaponized sexual violence survivors, civil societies, and humanitarian organizations to gain firsthand insight into the Tigray’s pressing needs.
Lastly, GSTS urges the newly elected AUC Chairperson to provide essential support to the Interim Administration in Tigray in executing post-war restoration, recovery, and rehabilitation efforts.
