I've read the report by the Scottish nurse when it came out. It's quite
graphic and shocking. But don't forget that hers was also a biased report
because it doesn't even mention a word about the atrocities committed by
the OLF, whose members include your professor. Any atrocities,
irrespective of who does it, should be condemned vehemently. If anyone
thinks Eritreans are party to any scheme that either PERSECUTES or adds
to the misery of the Oromo people, has to rethink his understanding of
the Eritrean psyche. Even when an entire generation of Eritreans was
stripped of its identity, humilated, tortured, maimed and forced to leave its
country, it never occurred to any that Eritreans would be magnanimous
enough to bury the past and rid themselves of any vengeful sentiments
towards their Ethiopian oppressors. To an Eritrean, whose family member
died at the hands of Ethiopian barbarism, it's inconceivable that another
human being should be subjected to the same treatment.
Thus, I seriously invite you to exercise wisdom in your judgment when it
comes to assessing the present role of Eritrean troops in Ethiopia.
Eritrea and Ethiopia are and will be two inseparable faces of the Horn of
Africa coin. Both governments have mutual strategic interests that span
economy and security. There're hundreds of thousand of Eritreans living
in Ethiopia; similarly, but less Ethiopians live in Eritrea.
It's Eritrea's business to uphold peace and security in both countries as
long as both consent. This strategic alliance should not be condemned because
there's the Oromo problem in Ethiopia. If this problem is exacerbated by
the presence of Eritrean troops in Ethiopia, then definitely there's room
for concern. Facts on the ground do not at all indicate a systematic
persecution of the Oromo people by the EPRDF with the complicity of Asmara.
If anything, the Oromo people have entered a new era where they can fully
exercise their freedom to the extent of disengaging from the Federal
Ethiopian state.
amanuel