ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቅ ከምቲ ልማዱ ንነዊሕ ግዜ ካብ መራኸቢ ብዙሃን ርሒቑ ምስ ጸንሐ፡ ብ17 ለካቲት 2021  ምስተን ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘለዋ ናይ ብሕቲ ንብረቱ ዝኾና ሚድያታት ክልተ ሰዓታት ዝወሰደ ቃለ መሓትት ኣካይዱ። ነቲ ኣቐዲሙ ኣዳልዩ ዝሃቦም ሕቶታት ዝሓተትዎ እቶም ልሙዳት ጋዜጠኛታቱ ሱሌማን ዑስማን ዓበን ጳውሎስ ነታባይን እዮም። እዚኣቶም ከምቶም መልእኽቲ ኢሳያስ ናብ ወጻኢ ኣብ ምምልላስ ሓንሳብ ምስተጸምዱ ዘይቅየሩ ዑስማን ሳልሕን የማነ ገብረኣብን ዘይትክኡ ሓተቲ ኢሳያስ ስለ ዝኾኑ፡ ቃለ መሓትት ኣሎ ምስተባህለ ንሳቶም ከም ዝመጹ ዘይገመተ ኣይነበረን።

ኢሳያስ ኣብዚ ቃለመጠይቑ  ዋላኳ ዞባዊ መልክዕ ከትሕዞ እንተፈተነ ብኢትዮጵያዊ ዛዕባታት እዩ ጀሚሩ። ኣብ ኣመዓባብላ እዚ ኣብ ትግራይ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ውግእ ካብቲ ኢትዮጵያዊ ገዛኢ ሰልፊ ብልጽግና ዝብሎ ብዝመልከዐ ኣወቂቡ ኣቕሪብዎ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ (ህወሓት) ጸላዊ ኣካል ናይ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ኣብ ዝነበረሉ ግዜ፡ ብሓፈሻ ብዛዕባ ብዙሓት ጉዳያት ዝያዳ ከኣ ብዛዕባ ትሕዝቶ  ሕገመንግስቲ ምዒዱስ ሰማዒ ከም ዝሰኣነ ገሊጹ። ነቲ ኢትዮጵያ ንዝያዳ 20 ዓመታት ዝተመርሓትሉ ሕገመንግስቲ ከኣ “ናይ ነታጒ ምቕባር ፖለቲካ መጻወቲ” ኢልዎ። ኣብዚ እውን እቲ ቃና ኣገላልጻኡ ካብቲ ንተመኩሮ ህወሓት ኣትሪሮም ዝነቕፉ ኣካላት ዝብልዎ እንተዘይገዲዱ ዝፍለ ኣይነበረን። እቲ ኣዝዩ ዝገርምን ዘተዓዛዝብን ከኣ ኢሳያስ ብናይ እንዳማቱ ሕገመንስቲ ዝወራዘ ዘሎ ትሕዝቶኡ ብዘየገድስ ንኤርትራ ብዘይ ሕገመንግስቲ ይገዝኣ ኣብ ዝሃለወሉ እዋን ምዃኑ እዩ። ኣብ ጉዳይ ኢትዮጵያ ክዛረብ እንከሎ  ሃዲእካ ብምሕሳብ፡ ቀዳምነታት ሰሪዕካ ብምስራሕ…. ወዘተ ክተሓዙ ዝግበኦም ጉዳያት ከም ዝነበሩ እውን ጠቒሱ። “ክሳብ ክንዲ'ዚ ዝርዳእን ሓላይን ካብ ኮነ ደኣ ኣብ ኢርትራ ከምኡ ዘይገብር?” ዝብል ሓታታይ እንተዝረክብ እንታይ ምመለሰ እንድዒ። ምስዚ ኩሉ ግና፡ በዚ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ተኸሲቱ ዘሎ ዞባዊ ናይ ምዃን ሰፊሕ ዕድል ዘለዎ ቅልውላው ስግኣት ከም ዘለዎ ኣይሓብአን። ነብሱ ካብቲ ጉዳይ ከርሕቕ  ብዘምስል ከኣ ደጋጊሙ ናይዚ ቅልውላው ዋናታት ናይ ምርሓቕ ምልክታት እውን ኣርእዩ።

ካብቲ ቀንዲ ዕላማታትን ትሕዝቶን ናይዚ ቃለ መጠይቑ ሓደ፡ ንሓቂ ሓቢእካ ነቲ ዝተፈላለዩ ኣህጉራዊ ትካላትን ሃገራትን፡ ኤርትራ ካብ ጉዳይ ኢትዮጵያ ብዘይቅድመ-ኩነት ብህጹጽ ሰራዊታ ክትስሕብ ዘቕርብዎ ዘለዉ መጠንቀቕታት ኣቕጣጫኡ ንምስሓት እዩ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ከምቲ ልሙድ ብተግባር ብዘይስነ ናይ ቃላት ተስፋ ኣብ ስልጣን ናይ ምቕጻል ኣሽካዕላል ተልእኮ ዘለዎ ምዃኑ ርዱእ እዩ። እቲ ኣብ ክንዲ ብኤርትራዊ ጉዳይ ዝጅምር ንዘይኤርትራዊ ዛዕባ ምቕዳሙ ከኣ ሓድሽ’ኳ እንተዘይኮነ ዘገርም እዩ። ከምዚ ምግባሩ በቲ ሓደ ወገን ካብቲ ብቐጥታ ዝምልከቶ ኤርትራዊ ባይታ ንደገ ብዝጥምት ዘይኮነ፡ ካብ ደገ ናብ ኤርትራ ብዝምዕብል ፍታሕ ናይ ምምጻእ ቀይናን ሃቐነ ከም ዘለዎ የርኢ። በቲ ካልእ ወገን ከኣ በቲ ክሳብ ሕጂ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ ዝተዛረቦ ዘይግብራዊ ባዶ ተስፋታት “ሰማዒ ኣይረክብን እየ” ኢሉ ኣገባብ ምቕያር  እውን ይመስል። በዚ ይኹን በቲ ቃለመሓትት ኢሳያስ፡ ኣብ ህዝቢ ኤርትራን እዋናዊ ሕቶታቱን ተገዳስነት ከም ዘየብሉ ዘመልክት እዩ።

ኣብቲ ውሑድ ደቓይቕ ሂቡ ዝተዛረበሉ ኤርትራዊ ዘቤታዊ ዛዕባታት ዘቕረቦ ሓሳባት፡ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ብዙሕ ግዜ ዝበሎን ኣብ ክንዲ ፍታሕ ዝሕብር፡ ነቲ ህዝቢ ዝፈልጦን ፍታሕ ዝጽበየሉን ጸገማት’ዩ ቃላት እንዳቀያየረ ደጋጊምዎ። ንኣብነት ብጉዳይ ኮቪድ-19ን ምክልኻሉን ኣብ ዝምልከት ከብርህ እንከሎ፡ ብትሑት ተገዳስነት፡ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣዝዩ ብሩህ ክነሱ “ጥዕና ናይ ምሕላው ዓቕምና ዜሮ እዩ፡ ካብዚ ዜሮ ኢና ከኣ ክንጅምር” ኢሉ። ብዛዕባ መጻኢ መፍትሒ ክዛረብ እነከሎ ከኣ “መሳጢ ፖሊሲ ኣለና፡ ግና ከኣ ናይ ምትግባሩ ዓቕሚ የብልናን” ይብሎ። እዚ ንሰማዒኡ “እሞ ኣይትብከ እንድዩ ዘብክየኒ ዘሎ” ዘብል እምበር መፍትሒ ዘምጽእ ኣይኮነን። ነቲ ህዝብና ብጉልባብዚ ተላጋቢ ሕማም ኮረና ስለ ዝተዓጽወ ዝወርዶ ዘሎ ሕሱም ስእነት ኩሉ ዓይነት ቀረባት ስለ ዘይተሰመዖ ከኣ “ብሰንኪ ሕማም ኮረና ዘጋጠመ ቁጠባዊ ለውጢ የለን” ክብሎ ኣይሓፈረን። ከምቲ ልሙድ ምትላሉ ከኣ “ቁጠባና ዝዓብየሉ ኩነታት ንምፍጣር ጽላት ብጽላት ንመዝንን ቀዳምነታትና ንሰርዕ ኣለና” ይብል እሞ “ብሚኒስትሪ ንግዲ ዝምእከል ኣካል ተመዚዙ ኣብዚ መዳይዚ ይሰርሕ ኣሎ” ኢሉ። ዘገርም እዩ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ካብቲ ቀደም “ፖሊሲ ጥሙር ሕርሻ”  ዝበሃል ዝነበረ እሞ ዝፈሸለ  ጀሚርካ ክንደይ ሓይሊ ዕማማት ተመስሪተን ብዘይፍረ ከም ዝፈረሳ ንዝፈልጥ ህዝብስ ሎሚ እውን ብኸምዚ ዓይነት “መወዳእታ ዘየብሉ ናይ ቃላት ተስፋ” ክሽፍጦ ምፍታኑ ናይ ጥዕና እዩ ክትብሎ ዘጸግም እዩ።

ኢሳያስ ነዚ ቃለ መጠይቕዚ ክህብ እዩ ምስ ተባህለ፡ ዝተፈላለዩ ኣካላት ነናቶም ግምት ነይርዎም። መብዛሕትኡ ኤርትራዊ ካብ ናይ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ተመኩሮኡ ነቒሉ ካብ ኢሳያስ ተስፋ ስለ ዝቖረጸ፡  “ሓድሽ ነገር ኣየምጽእን እዩ” ዝብል ግምት ነይርዎ። ገለ ወገናት ግና ምስዚ ዝረአ ዘሎ ንኤርትራ ኣዝዩ ዝጸሉ ኢትዮጵያውን ዞባውን ምዕባለን ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ዝተሳተፈሉ ውግእ ኣብ ትግራይ ይካየድ ምስ ምህላዉን “ብዛዕባኡ ገለ ይብል ይኸውን” ዝብል ትጽቢት ዝነበሮም እውን ነይሮም። ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ኣብ ውግእ ትግራይ ኣትዩ ምህላዉ ብብዙሓት ዓለም ለኻዊ ትካላት፡ ብመራሕቲ ጸለውቲ ሃገራት፡ ብላዕለዎት ወተሃደራውን ሲቪላውን ሰብ መዚ ኢትዮጵያን  ሓለፍቲ ግዝያዊ ምምሕዳር ክልል ትግራይን ብዓብይኡ ከኣ ብህዝቢ ኤርትራ መረጋገጺ ዝወሃበሉ ዘሎ እዩ።

ስለዚ ቅድም እውን ብዛዕባቲ ኢድ ኣእታውነት ብወገን ኤርትራ ድምጺ ክስማዕ ትጽቢት ካብ ነበረ፡ ብዓብይኡ ኢሳያስ ኣብ ዘካይዶ ቃለ መጠይቕ ኣይክዝለልን እዩ ኢሎም ዝግምቱ ብዙሓት ነይሮም። ኢሳያስ ሆየ ግና ቀንዲ ደጋፊ ናይቲ ኣብቲ ውግእ ተዓዊተ ዝብል ዘሎ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ምዃኑ’ኳ በቲ “ኣብ ጉዳይ ኢትዮጵያ ግቡእና ንገብር ኣለና” ዝበሎ’ኳ እንተተኣመነ፡ ብዛዕባ ግደ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ኣብቲ ውግእ ግና ብንጹር ዋላ ሓንቲ ኣይበለን። ጓስይዎ ምሕላፉ ምናልባት ክሓብኦ ደልዩ እንተኾይኑ ከምቲ “ድሕሪ ማይ ናብ በዓቲ” ወይ “ድሕሪ ጌጋ ምኽሪ ይርከብ ድሕሪ ጥራጥ እግሪ ይእከብ” ዝበሃል  እዩ። ብዘይጥርጥር ግና ናይ ኢሳያስ ስቕታ ኣብቲ ውግእ ኣትዩ ይመውት፡ ይቖስልን ከም ወራርን ሰራቕን ይኽሰስን ንዘሎ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ዘለዎ ንዕቀት ብንጹር ዘርኢ እዩ።

እምበኣር ህዝብና  ካብ ኢሳያስን ካብቲ ንሱ ዝመርሖ ዘሎ ጉጅለን ፍታሕ ክረክብ “ዘይነበሮን ዘይጠፈኦን” ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ዝጽበዮ የብሉን። እዚ ናይ ሎሚ ቃለ መጠይቕ ከኣ ከምቲ ልሙድ ናብ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዘመሓላልፎ መልእኽቲ ኣለዎ። እቲ መልእኽቲ ከኣ ኢሳያስ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ዘለዎ ክቱር ንዕቀት ዘርእን ብመወዳእታ ዘየብሉ ናይ ቃላት ተስፋ ክቕሽሽን እምበር ፍታሕ ከምጽእ ዘይተዓደለ ምዃኑ እዩ።

"Bodies with gunshot wounds lay in the streets for days in Ethiopia’s holiest city. At night, residents listened in horror as hyenas fed on the corpses of people they knew. But they were forbidden from burying their dead by the invading Eritrean soldiers. Those memories haunt a deacon at the country’s most sacred Ethiopian Orthodox church in Axum, where local faithful believe the ancient Ark of the Covenant is housed."

Source: Associated Press

‘Horrible’: Witnesses recall massacre in Ethiopian holy city

By CARA ANNA

An elderly woman who fled to the city of Axum in the Tigray region of Ethiopia to seek safety sits with her head bandaged after being wounded during an attack on the city, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. She later died of her wounds. As Ethiopia’s Tigray region slowly resumes telephone service after three months of conflict, witnesses gave The Associated Press a detailed account of what might be its deadliest massacre, at the sacred Ethiopian Orthodox church in Axum. (AP Photo)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Bodies with gunshot wounds lay in the streets for days in Ethiopia’s holiest city. At night, residents listened in horror as hyenas fed on the corpses of people they knew. But they were forbidden from burying their dead by the invading Eritrean soldiers.

Those memories haunt a deacon at the country’s most sacred Ethiopian Orthodox church in Axum, where local faithful believe the ancient Ark of the Covenant is housed. As Ethiopia’s Tigray region slowly resumes telephone service after three months of conflict, the deacon and other witnesses gave The Associated Press a detailed account of what might be its deadliest massacre.

For weeks, rumors circulated that something ghastly had occurred at the Church of St. Mary of Zion in late November, with estimates of several hundred people killed. But with Tigray cut off from the world and journalists blocked from entering, little could be verified as Ethiopian and allied fighters pursued the Tigray region’s fugitive leaders.

The deacon, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he remains in Axum, said he helped count the bodies — or what was left after hyenas fed. He gathered victims’ identity cards and assisted with burials in mass graves.

He believes some 800 people were killed that weekend at the church and around the city, and that thousands in Axum have died in all. The killing continues: On the day he spoke to the AP last week he said he had buried three people.

“If we go to the rural areas, the situation is much worse,” the deacon said.

The atrocities of the Tigray conflict have occurred in the shadows. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for making peace with neighboring Eritrea, announced the fighting as the world focused on the U.S. election. He accused Tigray’s regional forces, whose leaders dominated Ethiopia for nearly three decades before he took office, of attacking the Ethiopian military. Tigray’s leaders called it self-defense after months of tensions.

While the world clamors for access to Tigray to investigate suspected atrocities on all sides and deliver aid to millions of hungry people, the prime minister has rejected outside “interference.” He declared victory in late November and said no civilians had been killed. His government denies the presence of thousands of soldiers from Eritrea, long an enemy of the Tigray leaders.

Ethiopia’s narrative, however, has crumbled as witnesses like the deacon emerge. The official overseeing Tigray’s state of emergency, Redwan Hussein, didn’t respond to questions.

Axum, with its ancient ruins and churches, holds major significance for the Ethiopian Orthodox faithful, who believe that the Ark of the Covenant, built to hold the tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, is located there.

“If you attack Axum, you attack first of all the identity of Orthodox Tigrayans but also of all Ethiopian Orthodox Christians,” said Wolbert Smidt, an ethnohistorian who specializes in the region. “Axum itself is regarded as a church in the local tradition, ‘Axum Zion.’”

In a normal year, thousands of people would have gathered at the Zion church in late November to celebrate the day Ethiopians believe the Ark of the Covenant was brought there after it disappeared from Jerusalem in ancient times.

Instead, the church had become a refuge for people who fled the fighting elsewhere in Tigray. They sheltered there as worship services were underway two days before the anniversary.

Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers had arrived in Axum more than a week earlier, with heavy bombardment. But on Nov. 28 the Eritrean soldiers returned in force to hunt down members of the local militia who had mobilized against them in Axum and nearby communities.

The deacon recalled soldiers bursting into the church, cornering and dragging out worshippers and shooting at those who fled.

“I escaped by chance with a priest,” he said. “As we entered the street, we could hear gunfire all over.” They kept running, stumbling over the dead and wounded along with others trying to find places to hide.

Most of the hundreds of victims were killed that day, he said, but the shooting and looting continued the following day.

“They started to kill people who were moving from church to home or home to home, simply because they were on the street,” another witness, visiting university lecturer Getu Mak, told the AP. “It was a horrible act to see.” He watched the fighting from his hotel room, then ventured out as it eased.

“On every corner, almost, there was a body,” he said. “People were crying in every home.”

Another witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said soldiers killed a man at his home near the Zion church. “How can I tell you? So many dead,” said the man, who has since escaped to the Tigray capital, Mekele.

After the killings in Axum came an uneasy period with soldiers roaming the streets and families searching for loved ones. At night, hyenas descended from nearby hills.

The city began to smell of death as some bodies went untouched for days.

“I saw a horse cart carrying around 20 bodies to the church, but Eritrean soldiers stopped them and told people to throw them back on the street,” said Getu, the university lecturer.

Finally, when the soldiers left the city to pursue other fighters, residents mobilized to bury the bodies, the deacon said.

“We could not do a formal burial,” he said. “We buried them en masse” in graves near the Zion church and others.

Some of the dead were among the hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray displaced by the conflict and not known to Axum residents. Their identity cards were collected in churches, where they await the discovery of loved ones.

The deacon said residents believe the Eritrean soldiers were taking revenge for the two-decade border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea that played out nearby and ended after Abiy became prime minister. Some of the soldiers told residents they had been instructed to kill people as young as 12, he said.

Another witness, a 39-year-old who gave only his first name, Mhretab, and escaped weeks ago to the United States, asserted that Ethiopian federal police did nothing to rein in the Eritrean soldiers.

“I said to them, ’Listen, you’re Ethiopian, they’re destroying Ethiopian cities. How is this possible?‴ Mhretab recalled.

”They said, ‘What can we do? This shouldn’t have happened from the beginning. This is from above,’” indicating that it had been decided by senior officials, he said.

He said he ferried bodies to a mass grave by the Zion church and estimated that he saw 300 to 400 there.

The deacon believes that the Eritrean soldiers, in their hunt for Tigray fighters, have killed thousands more people in villages outside Axum. “When they fight and lose, they take revenge on the farmers and kill everyone they can find,” he said. “This is what we’ve seen in the past three months.”

Getu echoed that belief, citing his uncle, who survived such a rural confrontation.

The deacon has not gone to the villages outside Axum. His work remains with his church, where services continue even as he says the Tigray conflict is as fierce as ever.

“We’re also protecting the church,” he said. “Even now, I’m talking to you from there. We are not armed. What we do is mostly watching. And, of course, praying that God protects us.”