Notices by Zecharias Zelalem (zekuzelalem@dair-community.social), page 3

THREAD: This is Naima, an Ethiopian migrant. Intent on a better life, she travelled to Libya hoping to board one of those dangerous boats to cross the Mediterranean with. Instead, she was kidnapped by Libyan human traffickers, who have enslaved her. They sent this photo and disturbing footage of her being tortured to her family, demanding a ransom of $6,000 for her life.

The images went viral last week. Libya is a hub of trafficker brutality, murder and extortion. Know more.

Read the US State Department's official communique released today.

It's not going to provide immediate respite for victims of the ongoing civil war, with war crimes being carried out by both factions. But it's an avenue for potential future accountability, and it's official documented recognition of the suffering using the proper term for it. For a long neglected corner of the world, it's harder for perpetrators and their supporters to whitewash it now.
https://www.state.gov/genocide-determination-in-sudan-and-imposing-accountability-measures/

Landmark day: the US government has officially designated atrocities carried out by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan as genocide.

It's additional acknowledgment of the extent of the suffering of victims of ethnic cleansing, sexual violence and mass murder. The decision comes with an additional sanctions regime targeting RSF owned businesses & its head General Dagalo.

Question: will the US take action to reel the UAE, the RSF's biggest sponsor in?

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2025/1/7/us-says-sudans-rsf-committed-genocide-announces-sanctions-on-leaders

@lienrag Memorandum of Understanding.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Ethiopia–Somaliland_memorandum_of_understanding

In the Horn of Africa, 2024 began with the shock news of Ethiopia announcing a controversial MoU, bringing its ties with Somalia to their lowest point in decades.

In 2025, the two states appear willing to put that behind them. Ethiopian officials have traveled and met with their Mogadishu based counterparts. Both want to "strengthen ties."

While a lot surrounding the Ankara detente remains unanswered, this further diminishes the chances of conflict.

Which is good.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vr4pqn2ego

NYT: "Trump Falsely Suggested New Orleans Suspect Was an Immigrant."

Rewind back to January 2017:
Fox News tweet (later deleted) hours after Canadian born, white supremacist Alexandre Bissonette carries out Quebec mosque massacre of 7 African Muslims:

"Suspect in Quebec mosque terror attack was of Moroccan origin, reports show."

The US right ringing in 2025 the same way it did 2017.

With some good old fashioned xenophobia.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/01/us/politics/trump-new-orleans.html?smid=url-share

The destruction of the Al Najashy mosque was part of a campaign of systemic targeting of religious and cultural heritage sites across Tigray, during a genocide that claimed the lives of half a million people from 2020-2022.

I followed up in mid 2021, with a story documenting the devastation of churches and mosques across the region for the Globe and Mail. Tigray is home to numerous ancient sites deeply cherished in Christianity and Islam.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-in-tigrays-war-ancient-christian-and-muslim-houses-of-worship-risk/

The destruction at the mosque occurred during the first month of the war. Because the Ethiopian government severed Tigray wide communications, it also managed to successfully cover up the mosque's destruction for about a month. Then, photographs like the one on the right, were smuggled out of the region.

The Prophet had sent his companions and some of the first Muslims to Ethiopia for safety from persecution in Mecca. They worshipped here.

Very happy to see the Al Najashy mosque in Ethiopia's Tigray region, one of the oldest mosques ever built, under repair. My friend and fellow journalist Abdulrazaq Hassan photographed here, visited the site. In 2020, Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers shelled and looted the mosque, killing civilians who tried to stop the pillaging. The government of Turkiye is funding the repairs.

My story on the mosque's destruction from January 2021, for Middle East Eye.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ethiopia-tigray-nejashi-mosque-conflict-damage

@LaNaehForaday Ugh😩 ...at this point, would saying so be jinxing us all? *shudders*

@ohmu Cheers! More to come, although I'd love to put together more threads about peace and dialogue than war. Fingers crossed, happy 2025!

@mgrinder it says something when people care enough to take the time to learn about our corner of the world. It's a driving factor for most of us, thank you very much!

@morachbeag 🙏🏾🙏🏾

@boby_biq Amen! And I know and appreciate you everyday trust me💛 happy new year!!!!

More peace, less human suffering, less genocide in 2025. I can still hope. We can all yearn for better.

All the best to you and yours in the new year fedifam!

✌🏿

@pvanheus very kind of you Peter, thanks for taking the time and valuing our work🙏🏾 hope your Christmas was enjoyable as well and wishing you a wonderful 2025!

Newspaper print version of my story in the Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper from December 20th. Enjoying physical print before it inevitably dies off permanently everywhere. May it survive through 2025!

Hope Christmas was enjoyable fedifam! Wishing you all a wonderful remaining holiday period!

@ohmu thank you! Yeah, I began receiving tips about this almost three months ago. I remember visiting the stadium in 2019. It was beautiful and inspired so much hope for sports development. Sigh.

Eyewitness account from a highschool student:

“My aunt, uncle, cousin and I saw people screaming with horrific injuries like amputations. We ran towards the forest with many other people to try and escape the range of the bombs. We stayed hidden for a few hours. I believe people were killed, but I didn’t stay long enough to find out.”

The Amhara Association of America told me it documented at least one death and numerous injuries in the village that day.

-ZZ.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-ethiopian-soccer-stadium-becomes-artillery-site-as-amhara-war-persists

With this range, the howitzers could hit numerous rebel held villages from the stadium in Woldia city. Among them, the village of Kalim 12km away, which relatives of victims tell us was hit on November 11th 2024, killing five people.

NASA Firms fire data also appears to show a number of suspicious blazes in villages, corresponding to the dates eyewitnesses gave us for artillery barrages on their homes. While fire data cannot confirm anything on its own, it can give further weight to claims.