Translation
By
Assefa Negash, M. D.
Amsterdam, the Netherlands - 10th
of July 2022
Ethiopian Semay
7/10/22
I have Buried 61
People Including 22 of My Own Children and Grandchildren – Personal Testimony
of an Amhara Father Who Survived the Massacre at Gimbi (Western Ethiopia) on
Saturday the 18th of June 2022
Readers of this translated report can forward
any comment they may have with regard to the translation via Debesso@gmail.com
On Saturday the 18th
of June 2022 many Amhara inhabitants and their family members have been killed
in the massacre perpetrated at the locality known as Tole which is located in
Gimbi, Western Wellega zone of Ethiopia.
Among the Amhara inhabitants
of this locality who survived this gruesome massacre figure Mr. Mohammed Yusuf.
Mr. Mohammed Yusuf, aged 64 told (BBC reporters) that he moved from his birth
place Harbu which is located in Wello of the Amhara region to his present place
of residence Wellega in 1990. He moved from his birth place to Wellega in order
to escape the deleterious effect of the drought that affected his birth place
at that time.
Mr. Mohammed moved
to Wellega, along with his wife he married at a young age and their six
children. After he moved to Wellega, he was legally given land to till and was
engaged in farming thereby paying the appropriate tax due to the government.
After he moved to Wellega, he got more children and has also been able to be a
grandparent.
Mr. Mohammed who
said that “Before this time, there was no such worry. We used to live by
working very hard on our farm”. But what transpired or happened on Saturday the
18th of June 2022 was unprecedented and has left behind an indelible
memory of grief which he cannot ever forget. On this fateful date the 18th
of June 2022 when the locality he lives in was invaded by armed men, “assuming
that they do not kill women and children, my children, grandchildren gathered
at my home and sat behind closed door. I hid myself in within a maze farm” said
Mr. Mohammed recollecting what happened.
Mr. Mohammed said
that he returned to his home after the shooting which lasted more than half a
day has subsided. But when he arrived at his home, the door of his house was left
wide open. When he entered his house, his family members whom he left behind
were not inside his house. Mr. Mohammed said “I moved here and there and
everywhere in search of my family members”. In the process of searching for
his family members, he met his wife and the mother of his children, with whom
he has lived since his youth walking on the road. His wife has sustained wounds
on her side (flank) and her palms. His wife who was soaked in blood was heading
to her house.
Mr. Mohammed said “we
were overwhelmed by shock”. And added that “I asked my wife where are
the children?”. Mr. Mohammed’s wife told him that they were killed near the
Mosque. Mr. Mohammed hurriedly ran towards the Mosque. But when he arrived at
the Mosque, there was no one survivor left alive. “He found bodies of
massacred members of his family piled upon each other. And that included a
newly born child”. As he was relating this story, Mr. Mohammed was sobbing.
According to Mr.
Mohammed, his family members were taken away from their village and taken to another
village known as Chekorsa Selsaw and killed next to the Mosque located there.
Mr. Mohammed said that “at this place 42 individuals, including my family members,
have been massacred”. Mr. Mohammed was still crying while relating the following
about the loss he sustained.
“My eldest daughter
Semira Mohammed was killed along with her five children (6 family members); my
daughter Aminat Mohammed was killed along with her four children (5 family
members); my daughter Amet Mohammed (1 family member); Saada Mohammed (1 family
member), Fatima Mohammed was killed with her five children (6 family members)
and my daughter Mereyma Mohammed was killed along with her two children (3
family members) thereby making the total number of family members of Mr.
Mohammed massacred soar to a staggering figure of 22 persons)”. According to Mr. Mohammed children of his sister had been killed and six
other members of his family members who sustained injury are undergoing medical
treatment at the Nekemt and Gimbi hospitals.
Among his children
who had been killed figure his eldest daughter Mrs. Samira Mohammed who was 40
years of age and the youngest victim of massacre is the daughter of his sister
who was just four days-old (newly born baby). In the grave I dug on my own to
bury my children and grandchildren, sixty-one (61) people were buried. Mr.
Mohammed said that there are many Amharas who have lost all their family
members and remain alone now.
Mr. Mohammed said
that “we have not done any harm to anyone except tilling our land in order to
earn our living. We have been killed because we are Amharas” thereby
underscoring the fact that the attack (the massacre) was specifically directed
against members of the Amhara ethnic group. The house, store and property of Mr. Mohammed
had been set on fire and destroyed. Mr. Mohammed told the BBC reporters saying
that he is staying with the remaining family members who survived the massacre
in the part of the house that has survived the fire attack.
Mr. Mohammed said “I
am spitting out blood in grief and my brain is not functioning anymore”. He
added “No government authority or functionary has come towards them (the
survivors) to even ask what happened to them”. He said “This neglect by
the government has compounded or amplified the grief of the survivors”.
According to Mr. Mohammed, the area in which he lives is not
yet free from security risks and worries linger on or persist for the surviving
inhabitants of the area. Mr. Mohammed said “They have held us back from
leaving the area but what we want the government to do is help us get out of
here”. He added “How can we live in the place where we have buried our
beloved children and family members in our own backyards?” Mr. Mohammed
added that “The surviving women and children are leaving the area on foot”.
A local official,
who chose to remain anonymous, told to the BBC journalist saying that “most
of the people massacred on the 18th of June 2022 were pregnant
women, children and women”. This local official has confirmed to the BBC
the fact that “Mr. Mohammed Yusuf has lost twenty-two (22 family members) of
his children and grand-children”. The local official who was present at the
funeral confirmed to the BBC the fact that among members of Mr. Mohammed
Yusuf’s family members figured children who were 2 ½ years old, seven years old
and 10 years old.
The local official
told the BBC that he did not have prior knowledge in regard to the security
risks/problems obtaining in the area and said that the members of the armed
group (the Oromo Liberation Army) have been living in the adjoining desert for
more than three years.
“For more than a
month, we have witnessed the movement of many armed men (members of the Oromo
Liberation Army otherwise dubbed Shene by the government). It was reported that
these armed men were traveling to Dembidolo (a region located in Western
Wellega). But as of May 2022, we do not have any information about them” added the unnamed official.
The official said “We
do not have contact with the district administrators. As the roads are closed,
we cannot travel to the administrative office of the district even when we are
called to come there and participate in meetings. It is only when government
security forces come to our areas that we can move about to conduct our work”
thereby underscoring the security risks and problems obtaining in the
area.
“On Friday the 17th
of June 2022, security forces (belonging to the Oromo Regional government
administering the Oromo region) left the area, just a day before the massacre
was perpetrated. When we asked why the government security forces were withdrawn
from the area, we were not told the exact reason for their pull out or
withdrawal. Subsequent to their withdrawal, we were in a state of fear
(apprehension) and suspicion” told the local
official to the BBC.
The Amhara
association, based in USA, has stated that many Amhara inhabitants have lost
all or most of their family members and added that Mr. Mohammed who lives in
the Chekorsa locality of Wellega (Western Ethiopia) has lost 31 family members.
With regard to the number of victims of the massacre, the Ethiopian government
has put the number of those killed just to 338 individuals whereas the Amhara
Association, based in USA, has put the number of those massacred so far as
being close to 600 individuals.
Eye witnesses,
survivors of the massacre and the Ethiopian government whom BBC has talked to, have
blamed the Oromo Liberation Army (belonging to the Oromo Liberation Front)
otherwise dubbed Shene by the government as being responsible for the massacre.
The Oromo Liberation Army on its part has blamed the Ethiopian government as being
the culprit or the perpetrator of the massacre.
The Human Rights
Commission of the United Nations (UN) has stated that many houses were burned down
and more than 2000 people have been uprooted and displaced following the
killings of hundreds of people, most of those killed being women and children. Following
the attack (massacre), the UN Commission for Human Rights and other political
organizations have demanded a speedy, independent and a detailed inquiry into
the massacre. The Ethiopian parliament has instructed the Ethiopian Human
Rights Commission (which is a governmental body) to conduct an investigation about
the horrendous human rights violations perpetrated on innocent citizens in
Western Wellega and Gambela and report back to the parliament. It has also been
reported that United Nation’s Human Rights Commission would investigate the
massacre perpetrated in Western Wellega.
----------------------End of the Translated Text -------------------------
Note from the
translator:
This report was
compiled by BBC’s Amharic Service. It has bearing on the recent massacre
perpetrated against innocent Amhara civilians living in Western Wellega
(Western Ethiopia). In order to reach a wider public, I have translated it into
English. Please help in spreading the word about this horrendous genocide which
is still unfolding with increased intensity and fervor as witness the genocide
that followed at Kelem (Western Wellega) on the 3rd of July 2022 claiming
at least 400 lives of innocent Amhara civilians, just two weeks after the
massacre at Tole on the 18th of June 2022. Since Abiy Ahmed has been
ensconced into power, Wellega has been the frequent site of Amhara carnage. The
massacre has all the hallmarks of genocide as it has targeted members of a
particular ethnic group (Amharas) who have been subjected to a barrage of
systematic and incessant campaign of state-sponsored demonization,
dehumanization thereby singling out members of the Amhara ethnic group
dispersed in all nooks and corners of Ethiopia, particularly in the newly
carved ethnic homelands of Oromia, Benishangul, Metekel, Southern region, etc for
a gruesome massacre on account of their ethnic identity. This has been
unfolding during the past 31 years. Bedeno, Arba Gugu, Metekel, Grua Ferda,
Benishangul, Tepi, Guliso, Eastern & Western Wellega, etc bear witness to
the horrendous atrocities committed against Amharas with the abatement, connivance
and authorship of the Ethiopian state be it the one led by the Tigrean People’s
Liberation Front (TPLF) from 1991 to 2018 or the one led by the Orommuma ultra-nationalist/fascist
party of Abiy Ahmed (from 2018 till now) donned and masquerading as the “prosperity”
party.
The words or
statements in parenthesis in this translated report have been added by me the
translator to highlight some of the texts that need more elaboration for
readers who may not be conversant with the reality of Ethiopia.
