Criminal Impunity: Genesis of the TPLF Initiated Conflict in Tigray
On November 15, 2020, at 11:55 AM, Senait Mebrahtu tweeted (in Amharic), “From now on, if you don’t cease what you are doing, I will release a video of you being abused in prison and put you to shame forever.” This tweet was directed at the renowned, award-winning Ethiopian journalist and human rights activist Reeyot Alemu. Reeyot was a prisoner of conscience for five years under the TPLF-led government of Ethiopia. Senait is an active member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that held power in Ethiopia for twenty-seven years until it was ousted by a popular uprising in 2018.
That same day, the spokesperson for the TPLF—now the ruling party in the Tigray region—appeared on a regional TV station and threatened to launch rockets into neighboring Eritrea and other targets within Ethiopia, just hours before attacks were carried out on two airports in the Amhara regional state.
There are striking similarities between the two threats: both serve as evidence of criminal intent by the very individuals who issued them, regardless of the public’s awareness. That unawareness, however, was rooted in a deep-seated sense of entitlement to criminal impunity—an impunity long enjoyed by members of the TPLF. It is this mindset that emboldened a former prison torturer to threaten her victims with the release of abuse footage, and a regional government spokesperson to boast about missile capabilities and openly threaten to target the entire Eastern African region.
Torture as a Thing of Pride
Both the tweet and the televised interview glaringly highlight a reality most Ethiopians know all too well—and that many foreigners may not: the TPLF’s entrenched sense of being above the law and its disturbing romance with criminal impunity.
Senait Mebrahtu is not only a card-carrying member of the TPLF, but—just three years ago—was one of the torturers operating in the many prisons and underground dungeons across Ethiopia under TPLF rule. These facilities were used to cripple, shame, and silence opponents. According to firsthand accounts from torture survivors, Senait was among the most sadistic perpetrators. The catalog of horrors included sodomy, amputation, fingernail removal, flogging, and urination on victims. Survivors reported that acts such as “pulling genitals with pliers and flogging while tied to poles were daily occurrences.” Senait, they say, used sexually sadistic acts to humiliate her victims, including verbal abuse and urinating on them while they were in chains.
And now, this very torturer lives freely in Tigray—bold enough to threaten one of her former victims, journalist Reeyot Alemu, with releasing video footage recorded during acts of torture, in an attempt to silence her.
To many outside observers, it may seem unbelievable that a known torturer would publicly threaten victims and still walk free. But this absurdity lies at the heart of the conflict in Tigray. For the past two years, any attempt to bring such criminals to justice has been mischaracterized as an attack on their ethnicity.
Criminals Playing the Ethnic Card to Escape Justice
The last two years in Ethiopia have seen a constant struggle between those pushing for national progress and those nostalgic for the era of unchecked power held by a few over millions.
In any other country, such criminals would have faced public outrage and imprisonment. Instead, former torturers mocked the forgiving gesture of a nation that offered them a second chance. In Tigray, where many of these individuals have taken refuge, they rebranded themselves as “untouchable” and “holy.” Criticizing or even questioning them is twisted into an affront to ethnic identity.
Two years ago, when federal police issued arrest warrants for some of these criminals hiding in Mekelle, the Tigray regional police arrested the federal officers who arrived to serve the warrants. TPLF leadership portrayed the federal government’s pursuit of justice for thousands of torture victims as an attack on the Tigrayan people. This logic is as absurd as Nazi generals claiming that the Nuremberg Trials were anti-German. These individuals—who once wielded power for personal gain while neglecting the people of Tigray—now seek refuge behind the mask of ethnicity as justice approaches.
Today, the former head of Ethiopia’s intelligence agency and central committee member of the TPLF, who oversaw extrajudicial killings and atrocities like those Senait boasts about, is defended simply because of his ethnicity.
Torturers as Heroes
In most societies, such criminals would be imprisoned or at least live in shame. But in Ethiopia, ethnic politics—what might be called “ethnic apartheid”—has enabled them to avoid justice altogether. These individuals can freely threaten their former victims using footage recorded during acts of torture. It’s akin to Nazi officers threatening Auschwitz survivors with video evidence of their suffering to keep them silent. No Nazi would have dared brag about such crimes—because justice would have found them. But in Ethiopia, torturers from just three years ago walk freely, even celebrated as heroes.
A prime example is the "We Are Getachew Assefa" campaign launched by TPLF youth, defending the former intelligence chief wanted for crimes against humanity. Immersed in a culture of impunity, these former leaders now add insult to injury—threatening Ethiopia with rockets and violence.
At the heart of the Tigray conflict is the defense of this criminal impunity—of figures like Senait and Getachew Reda, who consider themselves not only above the law but also expect the world to forget the brutal, repressive regime they upheld just a few years ago. They frame their desire to regain power as a legitimate political cause—when, in truth, it is a desperate effort to escape justice.
Romancing Terrorism While Demanding Negotiation
What the world may glean from headlines is that a renegade regional government ambushed Ethiopia’s Northern Command, looted weapons, and threatened missile strikes on the capital and neighboring countries—and then followed through on those threats. To many outside observers, it seems inconceivable that a political party would attack a national army and demand to be restored to power. But to Ethiopians, this is a familiar playbook—the TPLF’s impunity over the past 27 years.
The global narrative may frame the TPLF’s defiance as a political disagreement or as resistance to authoritarianism. But Ethiopians know that the core TPLF leadership shows no remorse for the atrocities it committed. Instead, it seeks to delegitimize the current government and stage sham regional elections as a way to reclaim power—with no accountability.
The world may have heard about the massacre in Mai Kadra, where TPLF's Samri killing squad slaughtered, hanged, burned, and beheaded more than 600 ethnic Amharas and so-called “Welkait” people. But Ethiopians know this was only one of many brutal acts—part of a broader campaign of ethnic cleansing and terror designed to intimidate the country into surrendering power.
The world may see only the TPLF’s digital propaganda and its global network of agents. Ethiopians see clearly what the TPLF is: a treasonous, terrorist mafia organization.
The world may hear calls for negotiation and assume both sides are equal. But Ethiopians know that negotiating with terrorists who rejected the country’s forgiveness would mean sacrificing the future of peace in East Africa.
Freedom for Tigray—from the TPLF mafia rule!
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This is it I applaud you.