The Woyane regime since its declaration of total war on Eritrea has been repeating lies and fabrications to mislead the Ethiopian people as well as the international public opinion. Those lies have been baseless allegations made by the senior figures and leaders of the TPLF - with the purpose of covering up their gross violations against Eritrea , people and land. These can be summarized as follows:
Allegation of Eritrea's degradation of Tigray peopleThe psychological background from which the Woyane leaders are proceeding and which constitutes and underlies their relations with the Ethiopian people and even with the people of Eritrea are the erroneous and misconceived beliefs deeply -seated in their subconscious that : "The Eritreans look down on us". As an illustration for this, we quote what was said by one of the theorists of the TPLF , Abai Tsehaye in an interview with the Woyane radio in July 1998 : " The EPLF used to look at the TPLF as a subordinate organization that should follow its orders . When there was any Tigrayan sign of rejection , there was anger on the part of the E PLF. They didn't want us to be independent . They didn't want our organization to be independent and liberated from their tutelage, and still they don't believe in an equitable relationship between us and them ." He went on to add: " They - Eritreans - only think about their interests totally ignoring ours. They don't care about our principles , and when matters reach a critical and unbearable point between us and them , they seek to create problems for us. At one stage , they bet on the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Party (EPRP) thinking that it would grant them independence. We were patient regarding this stand of theirs. But when they failed to consolidate their relation with that party , they returned to us humiliated. We as an organization had the right to establish any political relationship with any one else whatever as well as we have our right to have our independent political line and our independent military strategy. This, however , didn't seem to please the EPLF." Also he made an even more graver insinuation saying: " They are inimical to the Ethiopian people , especially the people of Tigray. They look at the Tigray people as good for nothing but to work and serve . They are wishing that the Tigray people be their main source of manpower. They believe that the people of Ethiopia are stupid and can be exploited in the manner they like." He arrogantly continued his lying : " They don't wish any good to the people of Tigray . They don't want them to own factories or to have 24 hours electricity service etc.."
However, Mr. Abai Tsehaye , member of the TPLF politburo, didn't say the truth about the relationship of the EPLF and the Woyane - TPLF . The EPLF had never been anti TPLFor the people of Tigray who have close links with the people of Eritrea as well as having common economic interests.
On the contrary, the EPLF had been the main organization which supported the TPLF. It provided Woyane with sanctuary, training , arms and financing . It provided the TPLF with men who sacrificed their lives in the process of consolidating brotherly cooperation with the Ethiopian people in general and the Tigray people in particular. This Eritrean support surely was made for the realization of the joint objectives of the Eritrean and Ethiopian peoples and not, as Mr. Abai Tsehaye alleged, for imposing guardianship on the people of Tigray and their political organizations including the TPLF .
As to the allegation that the EPLF didn't observe the interests of the TPLF or respect its principles , again Mr. Abai Tsehaye is distorting the truth .
What principles and interests is he speaking about ? Eritrea rejected resorting to arms for resolving differences between Woyane and other Ethiopian organizations (EPRP, Oromo Liberation Front) and particularly with the Tigray organizations (Tigray Liberation Front , Tigray People Liberation Front - General Committee ). As to this stand of the EPLF , MR. Abai was correct . The EPLF in principle rejected resorting to violent means for resolving secondary contradictions be it among the Ethiopian revolution's factions or the Tigray factions .
Regarding the EPLF betting on the EPRP for the realization of Eritrean independence , in fact Eritrea didn't bet on the EPRP or the TPLF for that matter. National self-determination remains a fundamental Eritrean right at all costs. The Eritrean revolution stood on the pillars of the legitimacy of the Eritrean cause , its justice, depending totally on the support of the Ertrean people for achieving national independence and social progress . It is our national pride that our people through self-reliance were able to score the historic victory and establish an independent state which is internationally recognized .
On the other hand , Eritrea had never looked at the people of Tigray as a source of manpower or wished them ill. All these were allegations on Mr. Abai's part as a coverup for the failures of Woyane's policies in effecting the development desired by the Tigray people six years after Woyane's assumption of power in Ethiopia.
Reality is that Eritrea since independence has been treating Tigrayans as a neighbourly people with historical and cultural ties with Eritrea , and accordingly safeguarded their human rights and protected them from exploitation and allowed them to live and work and enjoy education and other social services and peaceful stay in Eritrea like other Eritrean citizens.
This is truely demonstrated in the fact that Eritrea has upheld and emphasized the rights of all the Ethiopians particularly the Tigrayans living in Eritrea. In a reverse stand , the Woyane regime violated the human rights of Erireans and Ethiopians of Eritrean descent living in Ethiopia. It detained and tortured many of them and expelled according to a systematic plan up to now over 56 thousand of them and confiscated their property and evicted them under the most harsh conditions, across the battle frontlines , including children, women and old people. All were persecuted in this manner under the allegation that they were members and "spies" of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ ).
The leaders of Woyane thought that these human rights violations against the Erirtreans and their mass expulsions from Ethiopia plus the closing down of the Eritrean diplomatic mission in Addis Ababa would work as a means of pressure against the Eritrean government and people while simultaneously enable them to probe the possibility of putting an end to the Eritrean human presence in Ethiopia which assumed permanent settlement since the beginning of the reign of Emperor Haileselassie and definitely since Eritrea was federated with the Ethiopian empire in the early fifties.
The Woyane regime went all the way long to do great damage to the relations of the two countries on many levels. No one in Eritrea expected that the Woyane regime would wage a full-scale war on Eritrea under pretexts of border claims.
Previously many tasks in the fields of mutual cooperation had been carried out. The citizens of the two states moved freely between the two countries without having to pass through the complications of having passports and visas etc. And also the citizens of both states were enabled to live and work in one another's country forgetting all the impacts of the past and legacy of tragedies and suffering. Accordingly, for seven years (1991-1997), the bilateral relations were transformed into constructive, warm and fruitful political, economic and cultural ties.
The normalization of relations between the two countries, helped the new-born Eritrean state to confront the urgent economic, political and social issues and problems which resulted from the occupation and colonial legacy and presence in different forms in Eritrea. Among the tasks that were tackled and resolved by the Eritrean Provisional Government were:
This had been a positive episode in the Eritrean-Ethiopian bilateral relations. But the present TPLF-led Ethiopian regime resorted to other negative acts. It totally ignored the realities of history, geographical proximity and common cultural and historical links. It insisted on hindering and rendering ineffectual the efforts of the Eritrean and Ethiopian peoples to break away from the shackles of backwardness, poverty and famines.
It created the present border dispute with Eritrea and transformed it from a simple problem which could have been resolved through peaceful and legal methods to a difference that led to war and plunge the peoples of Ethiopia in a devastating conflict. The Woyane regime instigated hostilities and hate campaigns against Eritreans as mentioned above. And it tried to incite enmity between the Eritrean and Tigray peoples by misrepresenting facts and alleging that Eritrea launched aggression against Ethiopia. It started the aggression against Eritrea and unashamedly lied that Eritrea did so. In fact Eritrea has no ambitions in the lands of Ethiopia or any other neighbouring country. Eritrea's only concern, since its independence, is to implement and carry out its development programs and attain the welfare of its people in a melieu of peace, security and stability. Besides, Eritrea knows well that because of its strategic and important location overlooking the Horn of Africa and the Red sea, it has been targeted in the past and even in its contemporary history. Because of this it comprehends and realizes the cost of wars, conflicts and the destruction from which it suffered for long.
Proceeding from the pretext of alleging the ownership of some Eritrean lands, the Woyane regime declared war on Eritrea, occupied some Eritrean territories by force, created Eritrean organizations anti to the national government of Eritrea, violated the human rights of Eritrean citizens living in Ethiopia and confiscated their property and deported them en mass All these are Woyane's practices and actions which are aimed at jeopardizing and curbing the Eritrean national political orientation and subjugating the people of Eritrea