OPEN LETTER

An Open Letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ambassador Ervin Massinga

On the subversion of the Amhara self-defence movement, the mandate of the AFNM/AFS (“Tsimedo”) platform, and the threat to the life of Eskinder Nega

By Dr. Sosena Tadesse

Published 30 October 2026

From: Dr. Sosena Tadesse

To:

• The Honorable Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, United States Department of State
• Ambassador Ervin Massinga, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia
• Members of the International Diplomatic Corps, Human Rights Organizations, and Policy Makers

Date: October 27, 2026

Subject: Diplomatic Notice: The Subversion of the Amhara Self-Defense Movement, the Illegitimacy of the Foreign-Backed “AFNM/AFS” Proxy Platform, and the Imminent Threat to the Life of Eskinder Nega

Dear Secretary Rubio, Ambassador Massinga, and Esteemed Diplomats,

I am writing this open letter as an Amhara scholar and human rights advocate to bring to your immediate attention critical political and security developments in Ethiopia. Specifically, this notice addresses the systematic hijacking of the Amhara people’s existential self-defense struggle by external proxy platforms, the complete lack of mandate of the entity known as AFNM / AFS (“Tsimedo”), and the severe, immediate threat to the life of veteran human rights defender and political leader Eskinder Nega.

Since the world has already attested to journalist Eskinder’s stature as a great man who has fought for justice, equality, and democracy, I will not waste time describing his heroism. Following nearly seven years of wrongful imprisonment and persecution by the TPLF-led EPRDF regime, Secretary Marco Rubio previously advocated on Eskinder Nega’s behalf and met with him in Washington, D.C., stating:

“After advocating on his behalf, I was honored to meet with Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega, who is finally free after being wrongly imprisoned for almost 7 years. His case is a reminder of why we must continue to advocate for #humanrights worldwide #ExpressionNOToppression.”

1. Four Years of Enduring Sacrifice and the Subversion of Resistance Structures

Eskinder Nega is an iconic figure of contemporary Ethiopian political history. Having dedicated three decades to nonviolent democratic advocacy, he fearlessly exposed systemic governance failures and documented identity-based atrocities against the Amhara population. Over the past four years, he has endured extreme physical hardship in the field, standing alongside rural communities to resist state-sponsored mass atrocities and genocide.

The current armed conflict escalated when the Prosperity Party regime implemented a policy attempting to disarm the Amhara Special Forces and local Fano self-defense units while leaving the armed structures of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) intact. Amhara self-defense forces rejected this discriminatory mandate, stating clearly: “We will not disarm while the anti-Amhara TPLF forces—who waged a brutal genocide against our people—remain fully armed.” Systemic discrimination and unchecked massacres further catalyzed a region-wide popular uprising.

To establish institutional cohesion, Eskinder founded the Amhara Popular Front (APF) and was subsequently elected by a strong democratic mandate to lead the Amhara Fano Popular Organization (AFPO/አፋሕድ) for over 19 months. However, political operatives linked to former ANDM/TPLF networks systematically subverted these principled structures. They ultimately forced the dissolution of AFPO to construct AFNM (አፋብን)—an entity transformed into a proxy tool serving external regional agendas and political brokers.

2. Documentary Evidence of Subversion: Eskinder Nega’s Official Declarations

The subversion of the Amhara struggle is formally documented through Eskinder Nega’s official statements:

• August 24, 2026 (Official Interview with Deutsche Welle / DW):

Eskinder publicly rejected unrepresentative coalitions, stating: “The ‘Tsimedo‘ alliance being formed without the knowledge or consent of the broader Fano membership is completely unacceptable.”

He further warned of imminent physical danger, revealing: “I am facing repeated assassination attempts from state military forces as well as armed militants who currently prefer to remain unnamed.”

• September 22, 2026 (Message Following Zemene Kasse’s Tigrai TV Announcement):

Following Zemene Kasse’s September 20 broadcast on Tigrai TV announcing the formation of the “Alliance for Survival,” Eskinder exposed that AFNM leadership—without member knowledge or consent—aligned with armed groups hostile to the Amhara population (specifically the TPLF, OLF-Shene, and the Gumuz Liberation Movement). He stressed: “These entities have been documented by independent international human rights bodies as primary perpetrators of identity-based mass atrocities against Amhara civilians over the past eight years, carrying severe legal and moral accountability.”

• October 27, 2026 (Formal Resignation Letter to the AFNM Politburo):

In his formal resignation letter, Eskinder exposed the 30-year structural network that orchestrated this takeover:

“The TPLF-aligned ANDM/TPLF network has built a pervasive presence across government, the economy, media, and the diaspora over thirty years. Unlike other groups, this faction sought to directly control Fano from its inception. When that failed, they spent years systematically hijacking emerging Fano structures across the Amhara region. Their hijacking eventually succeeded… Although it remained toothless during three decades of TPLF rule, it has now positioned itself as the primary political and public relations engine within AFNM.”

3. AFNM / AFS (“Tsimedo”): An Unrepresentative Proxy Platform

The platform claiming to represent the Amhara resistance—AFNM / AFS (Tsimedo)—holds zero political, legal, or moral mandate from the Amhara people.

• Reversal of Ground Realities and Territorial Integrity: AFNM/AFS actively seeks to dismantle the self-determination and administrative realities re-established in historic Amhara domains—including Wolkait, Tegede, Telemte, Humera, Korem, Alamata, Waja, Mehoni, and occupied Raya territories. During Ambassador Massinga’s official visit to Wolkait, he directly observed the established administrative realities and the firm resolve of the local Amhara population. The expansionist TPLF seeks these ancestral lands solely to construct a ‘Greater Tigray’ and dismantle Amhara existence; AFNM/AFS attempts to surrender these lands back to facilitate that expansion.
• Collusion with Perpetrators of Atrocities: By aligning with entities responsible for documented massacres of Amhara civilians, the AFS leadership has betrayed the sacrifices of victims and martyrs. As Eskinder Nega observed, this arrangement represents “the ox partnering with its butcher.”

4. Categorical Rejection of Aviation Terrorism and Extremism

The authentic Amhara popular resistance operates strictly within the framework of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and legitimate self-defense principles. We categorically condemn and distance the Amhara cause from rogue agitators affiliated with the AFS network who incite attacks against civil aviation (including commercial Ethiopian Airlines flights) or critical national infrastructure.

Such incitements constitute international aviation terrorism under the 1971 Montreal Convention. As Secretary Rubio correctly identified, extreme attacks targeting capital infrastructure and civilian transport are the work of terrorist and separatist elements—not the principled, popular self-defense movement of the Amhara people.

5. Immediate Life Threat to Eskinder Nega and Pattern of Internal Assassinations

Eskinder Nega is currently under effective political captivity by internal saboteurs and faces an immediate threat of physical assassination. This TPLF-aligned faction has an established history of orchestrating internal betrayals and targeted liquidations of principled leaders loyal to the Amhara cause—most notably the tragic assassination of Arbegna Kefyalew Desse. Eskinder’s refusal to compromise the Amhara cause to foreign proxy interests has made him the primary target of this same network.

Diplomatic Call to Action

• Urgent Intervention for Eskinder Nega’s Physical Safety: We urge the U.S. Department of State, Ambassador Ervin Massinga, and international human rights bodies (including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch) to urgently monitor Eskinder Nega’s status and demand his immediate physical protection.
• Formal Rejection of Unrepresentative Proxies: We request that the United States Government and international diplomatic partners formally reject AFNM/AFS, recognizing them as foreign-backed proxy entities operating contrary to the stability of the Horn of Africa.
• Acknowledgment of Public Rejection on the Ground: International observers must take note of widespread public demonstrations across the Amhara region, particularly in Gojjam, where citizens have explicitly denounced AFS forces—publicly marking photographs of figures like Zemene Kasse, Debretsion Gebremichael, and Kumsa Diba (Jaal Marroo) with large red ‘X’s to signal total public repudiation.
• Adherence to Ground Realities and Atrocity Accountability: Any sustainable peace framework in the Horn of Africa must respect the sacrifices of the Amhara people, differentiate authentic Fano self-defense units from unrepresentative proxy coalitions, demand strict accountability for anti-Amhara genocide, and respect the established administrative realities in Wolkait, Tegede, Telemte, Humera, Korem, Alamata, Waja, Mehoni, and Raya.

Sincerely,

Dr. Sosena Tadesse

Advocate for Human Rights and the Amhara Survival Struggle

— The Ethiopian Tribune —