Impossible Minds Fuelling Extreme Inhumanity: Abiy Ahmed and His Thug’s Continued  Depraved Cruelty and Callousness 

Bruke Lemma, PhD 

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over  that by the good people.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. 

It is incredibly difficult to comprehend the extreme inhumanity, the depraved cruelty, and the  callousness that has been unfolding in Ethiopia over the last five years. It’s almost  inconceivable that there are individuals who could perpetuate this level of brutality, capable of  descending to such a level and perpetrating these acts day in and day out.  

These minds fuelling the extreme inhumanities we have been observing are impossible to  comprehend, impossible to fathom, but we are inescapably confronted by them each day. They  have left and continue to leave trails of havoc, chaos, and destruction throughout the country,  committing unspeakable acts that defy any attempts at description. 

Abiy Ahmed’s atrocities, including his increasingly delusional nature and his almost complete  disconnection from reality, giving the appearance of someone totally unhinged, out of his mind,  have been recounted by many, including myself. His continued stupefying lack of empathy for  his victims and his unsettling senselessness have also been highlighted in these articles. 

So, why write more? His transgressions continue to grow and expand; there are no signs of  them diminishing. In fact, they are becoming even more egregious and breathtaking with each  passing day, leaving us all to wonder when this nightmare will finally come to an end. We hope  it ends soon; his victims have endured more than what is humanly possible. It’s high time the  world comes to their aid, stands firm against the madman, and alleviates their sufferings. 

We must continue to write to ensure the world’s attention remains on these victims, as it often  easily gets distracted, moving on to the next crisis and the next set of victims without providing  true assistance to these ones. This leaves them at the mercy of a madman who is completely  out of his mind. Anyone who believes that the madman will suddenly regain sanity and start  doing the right thing is equally as delusional as the madman himself. 

This madman, Abiy Ahmed, has been directly responsible for the deaths and widespread  destruction impacting hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Ethiopians. Adding to this  tragic toll, over five million people have been internally displaced due to the wars and conflicts  that the tyrant and his Oromuma hooligans have relentlessly incited throughout the country,  prominent among these being the wars in the Tigray, Oromia and the Amhara regions. 

These conflicts have multiple objectives, including the ethnic cleansing of the Amharas from  the Oromia and other regions, surreptitiously advancing the Oromuma expansionist agenda,  which involves claiming land and other resources from other ethnic groups in the country and  providing cover for the accumulation of wealth and power by the Oromo elites and more. 

In particular, the war in the Amhara region was initiated to suppress and prevent resistance  against the severe oppressions imposed on the Amhara people everywhere in the country by  Abiy Ahmed and his Oromuma hooligans.

Thus, a brutal all-out war is currently being waged against the Amhara people, who have  consistently been the favoured targets of oppression and sustained assault by ethno-extremists,  including both Abiy Ahmed and Oromuma hooligans now and, earlier, the odious TPLF. These  two cowards share the same mindless ‘ideology’ and an insatiable greed for power and wealth. 

They have always lived in perpetual fear of the Amharas, unable to believe they had gained the  upper hand. Consequently, they have been relentlessly oppressing the Amharas for decades,  always wary of the Amharas’ potential to rise up and demand their rightful place in the country.  This includes their demands for freedom, equality, and their human rights, in general. 

Indeed, these fears have been proven justified, as the Amharas, after enduring immense  hardship and suffering, have risen up and are no longer tolerating mistreatment silently.  They’ve had enough. Abiy Ahmed and his hooligans now find themselves in a difficult position,  precisely due to their severe lack of intelligence and wisdom in finding a constructive way out.  

As a result, they continue along their accustomed path of unleashing depraved cruelty,  callousness, and brutality, but this approach is no longer effective. They can no longer silence  the voices of the Amhara people, and their inevitable defeat becomes increasingly apparent  with each passing day. However, this realization only seems to fuel their extreme inhumanity,  highlighting their mindlessness and moral bankruptcy. 

When Abiy Ahmed marched into the Amhara region and cold-bloodedly initiated the war, he  boasted that he would subdue the Amhara people in just two weeks. However, the resolute  resistance of the Amhara people, specifically, their sons and daughters who make up the Fanos,  a group of dedicated resistance fighters, has shattered his delusions.  

The war has now been ongoing for about six months, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that  it is not the Fanos who are being defeated. Instead, it is Abiy Ahmed’s army that is facing being  trounced by the Fanos, who have extremely limited resources and are armed mostly with  weapons that they were able to capture from the army. In response to their mounting losses and  growing frustration, Abiy Ahmed’s army has resorted to extreme brutality and inhumanity,  targeting and killing countless unarmed civilians, and committing a host of other atrocities. 

Meanwhile, the situation in the rest of the country is dire and deteriorating at an alarming rate.  The economy is in extreme disarray, the country’s international credit rating has been  downgraded, unemployment is skyrocketing, and there are no investments in the nation due to  the widespread lack of peace across most regions, among other reasons. Inflation is reaching  unprecedented levels, rendering even the most basic necessities unaffordable for a significant  portion of the population.  

Moreover, the country is now unable to pay regular salaries to public service workers and  pensioners in expanding parts of the nation, leading to the closure of schools and the shutdown  of an increasing number of healthcare facilities. This failure to pay salaries and pensions has  left workers, pensioners, and their families vulnerable to hunger and even death from untreated  chronic illnesses, as they cannot afford to seek treatment for their conditions. 

However, these dire economic circumstances and financial constraints don’t seem to apply  when it comes to Abiy Ahmed’s own priorities, such as constructing a lavish palace for himself  and continuously acquiring drones, heavy weapons, and ammunition, almost all of which are  currently being deployed in the Amhara region. These resources are used to carry out indiscriminate killings of unarmed civilians, including women, children, the elderly, and the  infirm in that region. 

Under Abiy Ahmed’s leadership, the country has now become one of the most corrupt and  violent nations in the world, offering almost no services to its citizenry, and is driven solely by  the purpose of waging war – a war on its own people. At times, it even threatens its neighbours  with war, although it’s nothing more than bluster, as Abiy Ahmed lacks the means to carry it  out. Some neighbouring nations have abandoned diplomatic language and started referring to  him in public as the ‘madman of Ethiopia,’ a description that, unfortunately, holds true. 

I have written several articles about this ‘madman of Ethiopia,’ detailing how he bungles and  brutalizes the nation, with the Amhara people being his primary target. It appears that his  objective of bringing pain and suffering to them keeps him sleepless at night, as he constantly  devises new and improved ways to make them suffer.  

We all have borne witness to the heart-wrenching suffering of the Amhara people – a mother  losing her entire family, women and children falling victim to Abiy Ahmed’s drones, grief stricken survivors moving among the dead as if they themselves are dead, and a woman, driven  to the brink of complete despair and hopelessness, pleading for help because Abiy Ahmed’s  Oromuma hooligans have demolished her house on the outskirts of the capital, leaving her and  her children with nowhere to go, and many more such tragedies. 

In the face of all these tragedies, the only recourse we have is to continue writing and appealing  to the world for assistance for the victims. However, it’s incredibly challenging to find the right  words to describe the stomach-churning and extreme inhumanity of Abiy Ahmed’s so-called  administration, which is now filled with functionally illiterate, corrupt, and greedy ethno extremists. Conveying the true urgency of the situation and the desperation of the people who  are enduring the relentless violence being inflicted on them by Abiy Ahmed and his mercenary  army is no easy task.  

This is an army that is meant to protect the nation but is instead attacking and killing its own  citizens. Moreover, the world is currently witnessing inhumanities occurring in various places  simultaneously, and Abiy Ahmed is exploiting these situations to commit even worse crimes,  using the distraction of the global community. Despite these immense challenges and more, we  must persist in raising awareness and advocating for those in need. 

In the midst of these heartbreaking events, I am greatly encouraged by the remarkable  discipline and restraint exhibited by the Fanos who have been battling Abiy Ahmed’s army.  While the national army has descended into complete criminality, including committing sexual  violence, robberies, and looting, among other crimes, the Fanos have remained untarnished by  any such accusations.  

In the over six months since Abiy Ahmed cold-bloodily declared war on the region, they have  steadfastly refrained from engaging in any criminal activities whatsoever. They have protected  civilians, both locals and foreigners, tourists, and others, safeguarding their lives and  properties. The Fanos have shown great mercy, even to the captured soldiers, treating them  with kindness and generosity instead of resorting to rough justice.  

In contrast, the national army has been involved in summary executions. While they have not  captured any actual Fanos so far, they have executed those suspected of being associated with them without any due process. The Fanos have taken thousands of soldiers as captives, yet they  have not executed or harmed a single one.  

This is indeed heart-warming and highly encouraging. They can serve as an example of  resistance, not only in Ethiopia but throughout the world. Their actions remind us of the  importance of holding onto our humanity, even in the face of the brutality of others, as without  it, everything is lost. 

The Ethiopian army has become utterly tarnished by its actions in the Amhara region, and it is  unlikely to regain the respect of the Ethiopian people. It will need to be completely  reconstituted once Abiy Ahmed is removed from power.  

The Fanos, with their exceptional discipline and unparalleled moral stature, could play a crucial  role in the formation of the new army that should be established following Abiy Ahmed’s  removal. They can be joined by others from different regions of the country who have not been  involved in the criminal activities of the current army. 

Meanwhile, the world must stand firmly against Abiy Ahmed and his disgraced army. Every  individual responsible for the killing of civilians, including Abiy Ahmed, must face justice and  be held accountable for their crimes. It is essential to make an example of them to send a clear  message that the world will not tolerate such brutalities and extreme inhumanity perpetrated  against defenceless civilians.  

Urgent action is also needed to impose an arms embargo on the country because there is a  likelihood that these atrocities will continue – the killing of unarmed civilians, including  women, children, the elderly, and the infirm, which has persisted for the last six months.  

The administration has not only been responsible for the current war in the Amhara region but  has also been complicit in facilitating crimes against humanity for five years, targeting the  Amhara and other people based on their religion and ethnicity. It’s high time to put an end to  Abiy Ahmed’s reign, and the world must take actions stronger than diplomatically couched  statements, which he simply ignores, to stop him and prevent further bloodshed.

Editor’s note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com

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