Amhara Association of Nebraska (AAN)
Lincoln, NE 68528
May 16, 2024
The Honorable Ervin J. Massinga
US Ambassador to Ethiopia
Entoto Street, P.O. Box 1014
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Your Excellency, Ambassador Massinga,
The Amhara Association of Nebraska read a transcript of your policy deliverance speech on a
variety of situational issues unfolding in Ethiopia on May 15, 2024, at the American Gibbi
Center in Addis Ababa. Your excellency disclosed human rights violations, particularly
extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and conflict-related sexual
violence, without mentioning the perpetrators.
What caught AAN attention most was your message “to those fighting in Amhara” and “to those
that call themselves the Fano” with what seems like a warning notation that their “rejection of
dialogue does not serve” them well. What is most troubling to members of AAN is your
excellency’s informed remark that “many in Amhara are passionate that their cause is just; if so,
you should make those arguments through dialogue and not violence.”
First, we thank your excellency for acknowledging human rights violations in Ethiopia under the
premiership of Abiy Ahmed, who time and again is only concerned about cooking data regarding
developmental success in all branches of his government, supported by documentary films and
camouflaged narratives. The reality is that nowhere in Ethiopia is safe to live and work. It is
common knowledge and practice that governments can detain citizens for wrongdoing and
protect civilian lives, economic assets, hospitals, and schools from antisocial entities. As you
know, the Fanos don’t have the air power and purpose to bomb civilians, mosques, churches,
monasteries, schools, hospitals, or any other cultural, religious, or economic infrastructure.
Mr. Ambassador, Fano’s defensive war against Abiy Ahmed’s anti-Amhara war is just war, and
under no circumstances, fighting for freedom and self-defense could be labeled as “violence.”
Civilian Amhara people can no longer tolerate being butchered by knives and having their
kidneys and livers feasted upon by OLA cannibals. Furthermore, Amhara people walk the walk
with Fano and are united and ready to deter and destroy anti-Amhara forces, be it the Abiy
Ahmed killing squad (Koree Nageenyaa) or the military, OLF, or TPLF.
Nine months ago, Abiy Ahmed declared a curfew and established a military command post in the
Amhara region with the purpose of disarming the few Fano who were protecting fellow Amharas
from genocide.
Now the Fanos are in millions, trained and equipped with state-of-the art military weapons that
the Fanos daily confiscate from the deserting, fleeing, and surrendering Abiy Ahmed army. Fano
controls and administers over 80% of the Amhara region and is ready to advance to Addis Ababa
anytime soon to topple down the blood-drenched Abiy government.
Mr. Ambassador, please be informed that all the Amhara regions where the Fanos currently
administer are safe to live and work in, and all government establishments such as banks and
administrative organs are protected from Abiy Ahmed’s corrupt soldiers and OLF bandits, as
well as from Abiy’s well trained and funded killing squad, the Koree Nageenyaa. Koree
Nageenyaa Squad is the one that conducts arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and
extrajudicial killings under the direction and orders passed to them from Abiy Ahmed or the
Oromia region president Shimelis Abdissa.
On the other hand, members of the Fano fighting force and leadership are composed of people
from all walks of life, consisting of peasants, engineers, medical doctors, ranking military
fighters, lawyers, policymakers, etc. The Abiy Ahmed army has not captured a single Fano
fighter in its nine months of fighting experience in the Amhara region. On the contrary, Fanos
win every battle they fight, capture, and treat every prisoner of war (POW) according to the
Geneva Convention regarding POWs.
In sum, Fanos are fighting just wars, and they are well educated about the just war doctrine: the
laws of war (when war is permissible) and the laws in war (how wars are fought).
We, members of AAN, are saddened by the US inaction to stop the Amhara genocide,
displacement, and ethnic cleansing, perpetrated by the Abiy Ahmed government.
We, members of AAN, believe the Biden government has made the following mistakes:
- Taking sides with the TPLF, OLF, and the Abiy government against all odds and labeling
Amhara Fano responsible for all problems - Pretoria’s peace agreement to disarm Amhara Fano at the expense of Amhara genocide,
displacement, and ethnic cleansing - Lobbing for the return of historical Amhara provinces (Wolkait and Raya) to the TPLF
- Failing to understand Amhara cultural and historical significance in the makeup and
preservation of Ethiopia as an independent country and the freedom of its people from
outside enemies, homegrown traitors, and mercenaries. - Failing to invite Amhara representatives (FANO) in all TPLF, OLF, and Abiy government
negotiations facilitated by the US Department of State
Respectfully,
Asefa Zebene (Dr.)
Chairman of AAN