
Statement from the Ethio-251 editorial team on the escalation of persecution of journalists to assassination attempts by the Prosperity Party regime
Thursday, May 30, 2024
From the time Ethio-251 was established in Tikimit 2013 EC (October - November 2020) as a media organization it has stood for the creation of a politically conscious Amhara society aware of over a half century of persecution of the Amhara people. We have worked with a special focus to identify the factors, both on a local and on an international level, which have created the existential threat posed against the Amhara people, and to determine ways of mitigating these threats.
We at Ethio-251 media firmly believe that the Amhara people are at a critical juncture in a struggle for self-preservation which will determine our fate as a people moving forward, and hence have continued our work as a media organization while in exile under uncomfortable circumstances.
Not only does our media prepare daily news updates, news analysis, and political agendas, but we have also provided direct coverage of the war for survival including in the form of video footage from the frontlines in all Amhara territories. We have not subscribed to any small-scale, narrow or special-interest agenda in this endeavor. Our allegiance is only to the cause of the Amhara people.
On the media side not only have we served as a voice for the Amhara people but we have also taken measures to strategically expose the crimes of the regime. Over the last six months alone, our Youtube channel has been closed down 46 times, having been a target of the regime’s campaign of silencing against the press. In this campaign against the press, on December 6th three of Ethio-251’s channels were shut down by the Abiy Ahmed regime. Across these three channels we have lost over half a million subscribers. Ethio-251 employs more than 18 personnel and has stood resilient against the regime’s campaign to silence the press and we have continued to carry out our work on the media front with fortitude but despite this we have encountered threats to our personal security, going beyond media silencing.
Two months ago international media agency Reuters in its investigative reporting revealed the presence of a secret committee established by the Oromia Regional Government comprising top regional officials in its membership, which has carried out extrajudicial killings and unlawful arrests.
The killer squad called “Koree Nageenyaa” is meant to serve the will of the Abiy Ahmed regime in order to realize an Oromo Empire, and this killer squad has now expanded its network to kill opposition figures in Amhara Region and foreign countries targeting Amhara diaspora leaders, journalists and social activists.
The fascist regime led by Abiy Ahmed has closed our YouTube channel more than 46 times and has now deployed the Koree Nageenyaa killer squad to carry out physical attacks against us even here in our place of asylum for the following reasons:
For our leading role in the media front in support of the Amhara resistance.
For providing daily war reporting from all four Amhara territories to the public.
For exposing the war crimes of the Abiy Ahmed regime’s armed forces, and the unrelenting looting carried out by the regime's generals.
For our sympathetic stance for the Fano which we consider to be the sole and legitimate defenders of the Amhara people.
Overall the killer squad has been deployed against us crossing national borders because we have been producing media programming which has focused on identifying the parties with enmity towards the Amhara people and the nature of their attacks in order to create awareness among the public.
Therefore the Ethio-251 editorial team would like to outline the following truths.
We have received and verified information that we have become targets of the “Koree Nageenyaa” killer squad which has been deployed against us in our country of asylum.
The Ethiopian embassy, which is supposed to safeguard the rights of citizens, has become a coordinating body for the Koree Nageenyaa to target us because we have been a voice for our people in our professional capacity.
The Ethiopian Embassy in Uganda through its military attaché Major General Kumsa Shanqo has organized a surveillance team against us which has hindered our freedom of movement.
The fascist regime which does not respect international laws, principles and moral standards has deployed a killer squad to target us for our work as journalists despite us being in political asylum. We have been able to verify this based on reliable sources and by witnessing the surveillance, which we would like to relay to the greater Amhara people, supporters of the Amhara resistance, the international community and organizations working in the fields of human rights and protection of the press.
We at Ethio-251 media are proud to be among those who have taken a leading role in standing up to the fascist regime which has displayed the utmost contempt and hostility towards the Amhara people. However the racist regime has used abductions and killings as a political strategy by deploying its killer squad against us while we are in political asylum, which has temporarily hindered our media work.
It is with deep regret that we say we have been forced to temporarily suspend our media activities out of concern for our personal security. More than anything it is disappointing to have to pause our activities at this decisive period while in political asylum, even if it is only for a few days to secure our safety.
We are determined to fulfill our duty in the media field in memory of all those who have continued to face detention and persecution, and therefore we will take all necessary precautions to ensure our security and continue our work without deterrence. We have a duty to chronicle the resistance and heroic feats of our Fano freedom fighters, and beyond this we have a duty through our media work to expose the war crimes being committed by the armed forces of the fascist regime of Abiy Ahmed and to be a voice for our people. We will take measures to ensure our safety against the killer squad sent across national borders by the regime, as we are in the midst of creating a politically conscious and aware Amhara society that will eventually create a new system which ensures the security and due citizenship for the Amhara people.
Finally we are political refugees abiding by the laws and customs in the country where we have taken asylum. However regarding security concerns we face in our capacity as journalists we would like to inform the following parties of our circumstances and hope they can provide us some assistance.
For the attention of:
International Amhara organizations
International human rights defenders and organizations
Comments