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Zmeselo
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Spurious Allegations of Rape Weaponized in Abject Disinformation Campaign

Post by Zmeselo » 11 Apr 2021, 21:49



Spurious Allegations of Rape Weaponized in Abject Disinformation Campaign

By: Bana Negusse

https://shabait.com/2021/04/10/spurious ... -campaign/

GENERAL

Apr 10, 2021



Following the TPLF’s pre-emptive, massive and reckless attacks on Ethiopia’s Northern Command in early November last year, there have been myriad humanitarian challenges. But, another defining feature of the tragic situation has been the relentless spread of disinformation. We have been inundated, with a seemingly endless stream of sordid reports and allegations of lurid crimes. Among the most prominent – and especially gruesome – allegations that have been disseminated have been those related to rape and sexual violence, including by Eritrean soldiers.

At the outset, rape and all forms of sexual violence are deplorable, horrific acts that have absolutely no place in any society. They are totally unacceptable and must always be rejected and denounced, in the strongest terms. That said, however, because they are such grave violations and since they have serious consequences and implications, it is imperative that we not only take all claims or allegations seriously and treat them with utmost concern but also subject them to rigorous scrutiny. The allegations about Eritrea are utterly false, which closer consideration makes quite clear.

First off, anyone with even minimal understanding of, or knowledge about, Eritrea would know that the allegations that are being feverishly spread are at complete odds with the country’s history, culture, and norms.

Sexual violence, in all its manifestations, is – and always has been – illicit, intolerable, and totally abhorred in Eritrean society. The country’s Customary Laws – which date back to the 15th Century – included provisions for social ostracism and harsh penalties, mainly aimed at preserving the dignity of victims, in accordance with the respective indigenous laws.

Furthermore, during Eritrea’s long struggle for independence, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) gave special attention to egalitarian, popular democratic principles and ideals, with a particular focus on women’s and gender-related issues. Thus, it enacted new laws in 1978 – while still in the field – that abolished forced marriages, bride prices, child marriages, dowries, etc. This was especially significant, because the liberation movement was attracting a huge number of female freedom fighters.

Subsequently, after winning its independence in 1991, Eritrea established a detailed legal framework, with strict enforcement and punitive measures, against sexual violence, including rape; seduction of young people into sexual intercourse; sex trafficking and prostitution; pornography; adultery; and incest.

These legal measures are part and parcel of the country’s strong and far-reaching commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women, in all aspects of life and society. It is worth noting, as well, that Eritrea’s efforts in this regard have, according to the African Development Bank,
gone a long way towards achieving gender equality.
Second, there are a number of other critical points that are being completely overlooked, if not willfully suppressed. For one, it is undeniable that for many years, sexual violence has not been uncommon or rare in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. During the past few years (and even far prior to that), numerous local and mainstream media, including the BBC, as well as countless women’s groups and organizations, frequently highlighted how the region was
unfriendly to women,
how misogyny was common, and that sexual violence was rampant and often went unpunished.

What is more, empirical findings from a large number of peer-reviewed academic studies conducted in the Tigray Region have established that rape and sexual violence, which comprise only one part of the larger issue of gender-based violence (GBV), have long been significant problems in the area.

For instance, in a cross-sectional study by Galu et al., examining sexual violence suffered by female administrative staff at Mekelle University, researchers found that out of 356 respondents, about half (180) had experienced sexual violence, with 34.3% of respondents suffering sexual violence in the workplace. Importantly, actual rates of violence were quite likely higher since victims tend to underreport. According to the study, the most common perpetrators of sexual violence were bosses, workmates, students, husbands, and boyfriends. It is worth noting, that this study was published in early 2020 – only some months before the current claims were raised.

The study’s findings were mirrored by those of an investigation of GBV in other places of Tigray Region, which was also published in early 2020. Specifically, using data collected from a sample of 1253 women from the seven administrative zones in the Region, as well as information gathered from focus group discussions and in-depth key informant interviews conducted with relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies, Gebre et al. identified 21 forms of GBV suffered by women in Tigray. Out of these various forms of GBV, some of the most prevalent included: unwanted kissing, forced sex (i.e., rape); strangulation; slapping and kicking; improper sexual comments; compelling women to engage in sex in exchange for something; detaining women against their will; removing or stripping women’s clothes, and disfiguring women’s bodies.

Such was the level of gender-based violence in the region that one of the researchers’ key final recommendations was that,
the regional government has to look into a new way of thinking and reacting to gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women.
Notably, in 2017, another cross-sectional study on sexual violence in Tigray was published, this time focusing on the magnitude, complications, and predictors of rape among gynecologic outpatient department visitors in the region. The study, which included 918 gynecologic outpatient department visitors from all hospitals in the Tigray region, found that about 13% of visitors were rape victims.

While the study had a number of significant and noteworthy findings, two, in particular, stand out. One is the especially young age of many victims. Some were as young as eight years old, while teenagers were among the most likely to be victims of rape. Second is the particularly brutal, violent nature of the rapes. Specifically, a large percentage of victims suffered serious extra genital-[deleted] injuries, while many victims also contracted sexually transmitted infections.

The themes of young victims and egregious violence are echoed in an incident described within a 2016 UN study titled, Shelters for Women and Girls Who are Survivors of Violence in Ethiopia. According to the report,
…there was an incident in Tigray…where a 13-year-old girl was subjected to sexual violence that resulted in the amputation of both of her legs. Not only was the girl subjected to early marriage but also to domestic violence, a common manifestation of [violence against women and girls] in these societies.
Another noteworthy finding from the report, is that there was a high demand for shelters in Tigray Region.

It is important to understand, the influence of socio-cultural and traditional attitudes. Community perceptions about women, as well as longstanding gender relations in the community and the family play an important role in determining the way women are valued, treated, and subjected to violence.

Although due to space constraints only a few studies are outlined here, their findings and conclusions are highly representative of the numerous other studies that have been conducted in Tigray Region. Overall, the large body of empirical work focusing on the region incontrovertibly demonstrates that rape and sexual violence against women have long been prevalent and serious societal issues. In the event, while there is a need for caution against sweeping generalizations that may be misconstrued as ethnic stigmatization or profiling, the problem must be diagnosed properly and exhaustively in the search for lasting remedies.

A third extremely relevant point surrounding the allegations – albeit one that has continued to be overlooked and suppressed – is that shortly after its defeat and retreat, the TPLF released thousands of criminals – some estimates put the number at well over 10,000 – from prison. This was a deliberate move carried out alongside its other acts of mass destruction (such as destroying roads, airports, and telecommunications facilities) in order to sow chaos and promote instability, which the TPLF hoped would pose problems for local authorities and slow the advance of federal forces. It is noteworthy that many of the criminals who were released had been incarcerated for theft, serious violence, and sexual-related crimes. In light of these facts and circumstances, it is not unreasonable to expect or believe that if there was indeed a surge in crimes in recent months, such as rape and sexual violence, these may be correlated with TPLF’s sudden release of thousands of criminals.

There are other aspects of the allegations, that are impossible to take seriously. For instance, some have claimed that,
rape is being used as a weapon
in order to
make victims HIV positive.
However, a simple cross-checking of the basic facts illustrates the logical fallacy of this outrageous claim.

HIV prevalence in Eritrea – which hovered at around 4% in the early 1990s – has been reduced significantly in the past decades as a result of comprehensive and aggressive government health policy, intensive community-based public awareness campaigns, sensitization programs in schools and youth clubs, interventions by religious groups, as well as the un-inhibitive use of condoms. These integrated programs have reduced HIV infection prevalence to 0.36%, while new infection rates stand at 0.2%. In stark contrast, the comparative current figure in urban areas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia is approximately 4.2%. It is also worth keeping in mind, that HIV prevalence is higher in women than men. Within this overall context, the claims about “spreading HIV” are simply absurd.

Overall, it ought to be quite clear to any reasonable, objective, observer that the sordid allegations that continue to be peddled about Eritrea are preposterous and utterly false.

The simple fact is that they are part of a frantic, last-ditch, propaganda campaign by the TPLF and its enablers to obscure the TPLF’s high crimes and culpability in instigating the conflict; and, to scapegoat Eritrean and Ethiopian governments while extending support, and ultimately provide a lifeline, to whatever remains of the largely defunct TPLF Clique.

Zmeselo
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Re: Spurious Allegations of Rape Weaponized in Abject Disinformation Campaign

Post by Zmeselo » 11 Apr 2021, 22:23



Ethiopia’s Government and the TPLF Leadership Are Not Morally Equivalent


By Hailemariam Desalegn

https://africanviews.net/government-and ... quivalent/

April 12, 2021

Most Ethiopia analysts or so-called experts on the Horn of Africa are busy these days preaching the need for an all-inclusive national dialogue. They’re also calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

These seemingly benign calls are at face value noble and well-meaning. After all, calling for negotiated peace has become the textbook proposal for resolving conflicts, wherever they arise. I truly believe that most people recommending this approach are well-intentioned outsiders who are merely echoing the conventional wisdom of how one should resolve conflicts in Africa.

The problem is that such blanket propositions often don’t work. Indeed, Ethiopia’s neighbour South Sudan is a case in point; it is the archetypal example of how such situations tend to be viewed and handled by the international community. When armed conflict within the ruling party of South Sudan broke out after independence, the peace dialogue that followed resulted solely in a power-sharing arrangement, neglecting proper accountability for the mass killings that had occurred.

The key problem in the international community’s initial approach to South Sudan—and now to Ethiopia, which I led as prime minister from 2012 to 2018—is the assumption of moral equivalence, which leads foreign governments to adopt an attitude of false balance and bothsidesism. Facts and details regarding the true nature of conflicts and the forces igniting and driving them are frequently lost in international efforts to broker peace deals that often crumble as soon as they have been signed.

I confess, a TPLF-dominated coalition ruled Ethiopia shrewdly for 27 years. After being forced to give up the reins of power due to popular protests against our economic and political mismanagement—which I was a part of—the TPLF leadership designed and is now executing a strategy meant to capitalize on the propensity of the international community to fall into its default mode of bothsidesism and calls for a negotiated settlement. The TPLF’s leaders are savvy operators who know how susceptible the international community is to such manipulation.

One major component of this formula was to trigger an armed confrontation with the federal government so that the TPLF’s current leaders would be able to secure immunity for their past and present misdeeds and a power-sharing scheme through an internationally brokered deal. Such an agreement would enable the TPLF leadership to exercise influence that exceeds the limited support it enjoys in a country with a population of 110 million. This strategy is contingent upon three premises.

The first premise is the tendency of the international community to ignore complex political and moral realities and call for superficial dialogues that will invariably end up in power-sharing agreements in which rogue actors are rewarded for instigating violence.

The second premise for this strategy is the belief within the TPLF leadership, very often reinforced by the opinion of external analysts and so-called experts, that it is an invincible force that could withstand or even defeat the Ethiopian National Defense Force, as if other Ethiopians are inferior to its members. The fact is all Ethiopians are battle-hardened, not just those in the TPLF. The conventional wisdom is that the TPLF leadership could ensure that any military confrontation with the federal government will be a long, drawn-out, and protracted affair. The TPLF leadership and its army are actually locked in from all sides and will have limited capacity to resist the national army. This borderline-mythical sense that the TPLF leadership is invincible only reinforces its brinkmanship and deadly provocations.

The third factor behind the TPLF leadership’s arrogance is its assumption that, due to the seeds of discord and division it has been sowing within the Ethiopian body politic and the army for decades, it could easily prevail in an armed confrontation against the federal government. Prompted by such miscalculation, the party has now triggered an armed confrontation with the federal government.

The TPLF leadership’s illusions about its invincibility and military prowess are now being dispelled rather quickly. The group’s despicable acts against the Northern Command—attacking its bases and seizing military equipment while allegedly ethnically profiling non-Tigrayan members of the national army and committing heinous acts against them—have strengthened the resolve of the federal government and many Ethiopians to bring criminal elements within the TPLF to justice.

The only thing going according to plan for the TPLF leadership seems to be the chorus of international personalities and actors calling for a dialogue between the federal government and TPLF leaders. As well-meaning as many of the voices calling for negotiations are, they also seem to ignore the Machiavellian and deadly machinations of the remnants of the old TPLF regime and are shying away from blaming them for destabilizing the country.

As well-meaning as many of the voices calling for negotiations are, they also seem to ignore the Machiavellian and deadly machinations of the remnants of the old TPLF regime and are shying away from blaming them for destabilizing the country.


If the TPLF leadership is guaranteed the impunity it desires through an internationally brokered deal, the cause for justice and sustainable peace will be severely harmed. Above all, it creates a precedent for other groupings within the Ethiopian federation to learn the wrong lesson: that violence pays off.

The federal government’s military operations should be completed as quickly as possible and in a manner that minimizes the humanitarian cost of the campaign and brings TPLF leaders to justice while protecting civilians. In the meantime, those who are advocating dialogue with the TPLF leadership should carefully consider the full implications of what they are calling for, as they will be opening a Pandora’s box that other ethnic-based groupings are ready to emulate. Those calling for talks should understand that the very prospect of negotiating with the TPLF’s current leadership is an error—as a matter of both principle and prudence.

In the past few days, the true nature of the TPLF leadership has become clear. A senior spokesperson has publicly admitted that the leadership planned and executed an attack against the Northern Command, massacring those members of the army who resisted, in what he referred to as “anticipatory self-defense.” The alleged heinous crimes the TPLF leadership has committed against civilian populations in places like Mai-Kadra—which have been reported by Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/ ... ray-state/ and should be verified by an independent body—would, if confirmed, demonstrate its genocidal desperation.

The rocket strike against the Eritrean capital, Asmara—carried out in a last-ditch attempt to internationalize the conflict—also shows that the TPLF leadership is a threat to the peace and security of the broader region.

Ethiopians should not be expected to embrace such a sinister and dangerous party in the guise of a so-called all-inclusive dialogue. The TPLF leadership, as it stands, is nothing more than a criminal enterprise that should not be included in any dialogue meant to chart the future of Ethiopia.

The TPLF leadership, as it stands, is nothing more than a criminal enterprise that should not be included in any dialogue meant to chart the future of Ethiopia.


Peace-loving members of the TPLF party and the people of the Tigray region at large, along with other Ethiopians, are the true owners of a democratic Ethiopia.

For its part, the federal government must seek to avoid any civilian casualties and protect all civilians affected by the current conflict. Access to humanitarian assistance must be allowed in Tigray. There are also allegations of ethnic profiling of Tigrayans in some corners of federal government entities, and the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed should investigate these charges as quickly as possible. If verified, this is a dangerous development and should be condemned in no uncertain terms, and the perpetrators should be brought to justice.

Ethiopia should be a place where the constitution and the rule of law prevail so democratization can progress rather than letting our beloved country slide into chaos.

Zmeselo
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Posts: 33606
Joined: 30 Jul 2010, 20:43

Re: Spurious Allegations of Rape Weaponized in Abject Disinformation Campaign

Post by Zmeselo » 11 Apr 2021, 22:48





______________________






Rape in Tigrai: TPLF propaganda uses a historical plague to denigrate its enemies
https://www.africanmedias.com/rape-in-t ... aSszPoj6g8

Zmeselo
Senior Member+
Posts: 33606
Joined: 30 Jul 2010, 20:43

Re: Spurious Allegations of Rape Weaponized in Abject Disinformation Campaign

Post by Zmeselo » 11 Apr 2021, 23:08




Pantsir Air Defence Combat Vehicle

Africa and South America, Aircraft and Anti-Aircraft
Ethiopia Strengthens Air Defences with High End Russian Hardware - Pantsir Combat Vehicles and More

https://militarywatchmagazine.com/artic ... s-and-more

March-19th-2019

Footage released on Ethiopian national television has shown that the country is deploying Russian manufactured Pantsir S1 air defence combat vehicles, as part of a broader military modernisation program. The short range air defence system is highly mobile, and is also capable of engaging ground targets such as infantry and light armoured vehicles - deploying a combination of autocannons and missiles. The weapons platform entered service in the Russian armed forces in 2012, and represents by far the most of Ethiopia’s ground based air defence assets - with the country's armed forces otherwise relying on modernised Vietnam War era assets. These include the S-75 long range surface to air missile system, in service since 1957, and the complementary short ranged S-125 which entered service in 1961 - the former which has been uniquely modified by Ethiopian forces to deploy from mobile launch vehicles.


Ethiopian S-75 Mobile Missile Batteries

Whether Ethiopia’s Pantsir air defence combat vehicles will be supplemented by a complementary longer ranged platform remains to be seen. While a platform such as the S-400, or even the S-300PMU-2, likely remains above the country’s current defence budget - particularly given the lack of an imminent threat - acquisition of a powerful but shorter ranged system such as the BuK-M2 or even the BuK-M3 remains possible. With Ethiopia having frequently been threatened by neighbouring Egypt with airstrikes on its dam infrastructure, the Pantsir is likely to be deployed to defend these positions should its armed forces perceive this threat to be restored - making such a strike far more difficult for a potential aggressor. According to a statement by the Russian Defence Ministry in mid 2018, the Pantsir air defence systems had a 100% efficiency in the Syrian theatre - and were responsible for seriously blunting the effects of Western missiles strikes against the country. Against enemy aircraft equipped with standoff munitions, the Pantsir is most likely to be used to intercept enemy attacks rather than to engage enemy aircraft directly - as these aircraft will in most cases deploy missiles for attack from beyond its range as repeatedly demonstrated in the Syrian theatre against Israeli and Western attacks.



Until the acquisition of the Pantsir, the defence of Ethiopian airspace relied overwhelmingly on the country’s sizeable Air Force - which deploys the second largest fleet of high end heavy air superiority fighters in Africa other than Algeria. This includes a fleet of 18 Su-27 Flankers armed with R-27 air to air missiles, and a further 18 MiG-23 swept wing fighters https://militarywatchmagazine.com/artic ... -air-force with the same armament. The Su-27 is currently heavier than anything in the Egyptian fleet, and was key to providing an advantage over neighbouring Eritrea’s MiG-29 fleet during their two year conflict in the 1990s (My note: it must be added, that foreign mercenary pilots operated them). Another means for Ethiopia to seriously enhance its air defences would be to modernise its Su-27 fleet - possibly contracting Russian assistance to upgrade the aircraft to the Su-27SM2 standard. https://militarywatchmagazine.com/artic ... y-fighters This would provide them with '4+ generation' capabilities - including state of the art avionics and engines and an Irbis-E radar and integration of high end technologies from the Russian Su-35. Acquisition of more advanced air to air missiles such as the R-27ER and the latest R-77 variants would also go a long way in this regard, providing the aircraft with a far longer engagement range than anything currently in the Egyptian fleet or those of any neighbouring countries.

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