Parties in Ethiopia conflict agree to cease hostilities

Redwan Hussien Rameto (L), Representative of the Ethiopian government, and Getachew Reda (R), Representative of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), exchange documents after signing a peace agreement between the two parties, Nov 2, 2022.

The parties in the conflict in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray have agreed to cease hostilities, a dramatic diplomatic breakthrough two years into a war that has killed thousands, displaced millions and left hundreds of thousands facing famine.

 

The war, which broke out in November 2020, pits regional forces from Tigray against Ethiopia's federal army and its allies, who include forces from other regions and from neighbouring Eritrea.

 

The deal would allow for the restoration of humanitarian aid to Tigray, according to African Union mediator Olusegun Obasanjo, who welcomed representatives from the government and the Tigray forces to a signing ceremony on Wednesday in the South African capital Pretoria.

On October 25, the formal peace negotiations in Pretoria started.

 

African Union Horn of Africa envoy and former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo speaks during a press conference in Pretoria, South Africa [Phill Magakoe/AFP]

Former Nigerian president Obasanjo, who has been in charge of the African Union's mediation team, declared that a high-level African Union panel will oversee and monitor the agreement's implementation. He applauded the procedure for being an African response to an African issue.

 

According to Reuters, Ethiopian government representative Redwan Hussien, who is Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's National Security Adviser, said all parties should be true to the letter and spirit of the agreement.

 

In response, Tigray delegate Getachew Reda, a spokesman for the regional authorities, spoke of the wide scale death and destruction in the region and said it was his hope and expectation that both parties would honour their commitments.

 

“It is now for all of us to honor this agreement,” said the lead negotiator for Ethiopia’s government, Redwan Hussein.

 

Tigray’s fighters hailed the deal and said they had made “concessions.”

 

“We are ready to implement and expedite this agreement,” said the head of their delegation, Getachew Reda.

 

“In order to address the pains of our people, we have made concessions because we have to build trust.”

 

“Ultimately, the fact that we have reached a point where we have now signed an agreement speaks volumes about the readiness on the part of the two sides to lay the past behind them to chart a new path of peace,” said Reda.

 

The conflict has at times spilled out of Tigray into the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar.

 

Renewedconflict in this unseen war — hidden behind a government siege which has severed communications in the region and mainly unreported because journalists are largely locked out — has left 5.2m people urgently needing emergency aid across a territory the size of Switzerland.

 

Artillery barrages, drone strikes, and pitched battles have pulled in neighbouringcountries and have reportedly involved hundreds of thousands of combatants. In recent weeks, according to UN observers, hundreds of civilians have died and as many as 500,000 people have fled their homes.

 

The stakes for the civilians of the region are very high and while the African Union is desperately trying to organised peace talks — negotiations were supposed to take place last week only to be cancelled — as each of the warring parties has been accused of war crimes; of using starvation as a weapon of war, and sexual slavery to subjugate women.

 

This is a conflict which has worsened with every day that passes and the international community now needs to work together to stop this conflict with a humanitarian nightmare facing this part of the horn of Africa.

Read more detail here

 

With Reuters and Aljazeera