It is a rare testimony, that of the former chief of staff of the Tigray administration during the war, the interim government of the province appointed by the Ethiopian federal authorities during the military operations aimed at dislodging the rebel authorities of the TPLF. Gebremeskel Kassa now lives in exile, having fled his country. His story is that of a young Ethiopian of Tigrayan origin, enlisted by the federal administration and drawn into the nightmare of a fratricidal war.
It could have been the mundane story of a brilliant young student pursuing a career in administration. But fate decided otherwise for Gebremeskel Kassa, born in Tigray in 1986. A graduate in archaeology, having risen through the ranks of the University of Aksum and then the administration of the capital Addis Ababa, he had the misfortune to be contemporary with a civil war in his native country.
But Gebremeskel Kassa says he did not want to contribute to hatred between the peoples of Ethiopia. He refused to be drafted into Tigray’s ruling party, after ruling the country for 17 years, the TPLF. For him, the standoff that the latter had engaged with the federal authorities in 2020 was dangerous, too dangerous. He therefore joined the party of the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the Prosperity Party, on behalf of the Tigrayans, to assert their interests without risking confrontation.
But very quickly, within the Party, the nationalists, in particular Amharas, pushed for war, followed by the Prime Minister, who nevertheless won the Nobel Peace Prize, he said. Yet Gebremeskel Kassa does not give up the role he has given himself: once war is declared, he agrees to go to Tigray to, he thinks, restore civil order, while military operations are still in progress. And that’s when his nightmare begins.
A war decided upstream
Gebremeskel Kassa confided in Léonard Vincent at length from his place of exile. He recounted his engagement, preparations for war under pressure from Amhara members of the Prime Minister’s party. And he spoke of his difficult arrival, by plane, in Tigray to administer the so-called territories “ released “, a few weeks after the start of the war, after having been turned back for the first time, under threat.
It was November 28, 2020. We arrived in Shire early in the morning. We then saw thousands of Eritrean soldiers in the town. They were destroying all kinds of infrastructure. We then contacted the Ethiopian army command to find out what was happening, and who these soldiers were. They told us to stay calm. We told them that it was enemy troops who were destroying public and private infrastructure, raping young girls and women, looting, and all this in broad daylight.
Gebremeskel Kassa “Crossing Tigray Hell”
The former chief of staff of the Tigray administration also reveals that, contrary to what the Ethiopian government repeats, the war against the Tigrayans was decided for a long time when it broke out on November 4, 2020. Himself the learned during a stormy meeting of the Prosperity Party, ten days before the outbreak of hostilities.
The Amhara members of the Prosperity Party exerted very strong pressure on the meeting and on the Prime Minister. They demanded that military action be taken against the TPLF, as had been done against the Somali Regional State some time earlier.
Gebremeskel Kassa “The meeting that announces the war”
“The Ethiopian federal army participated in war crimes”
Gebremeskel Kassa recounts in particular his arrival in Tigray at the start of the war, his impotence as a civil administrator in the face of the military, his discovery crimes committed by the Eritrean army and the Ethiopian army, which some soldiers were tormented by the situation, he said.
I know there were some soldiers who were very sad and angry with the Ethiopian government. They told me that they were supposed to uphold the law, but their orders were not to come into conflict with the Eritreans.
Gebremeskel Kassa “The passive Ethiopian army and accomplice in crimes”