WHO Director General should respect vow to political neutrality: Ann Garrison

Addis Ababa, April 14, 2022 (FBC) – World Health Organization (WHO), Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom should respect his vow of political neutrality regarding the humanitarian crisis in Northern Ethiopia, independent American journalist Ann Garrison said.

Talking with ENA, Ann Garrison said that when Dr Tedros took the position at the WHO, swearing in to political neutrality.

According to her, various UN charters, including WHO documents, demand neutrality.

However, Dr, Tedros constantly said that the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is in Tigray, his home state, saying even it’s worse than in Ukraine.

‘‘I have never heard him mention the crisis in the neighboring Amhara and Afar Region, as if there is no crisis there,’’ Garrison  pointed out.

She further stated that Dr, Tedros should not be using his position. I have seen the Amhara Region and the suffering of the people as the result of the TPLF war in that region, it is horrible, she said.

People in the internally displaced people (IDP) camps in Sekota are without enough food and water, she said.

Recalling her recent visit to Amhara region, Garrison  noted: ‘‘one in three IDP camps have mattresses to sleep on and there were no sanitation facilities that I could see when I visited the Amhara region.’’

It doesn’t make any sense that the WHO General Director keeps constantly insisting that all the pain and crying are in Tigray, she said.

‘‘I think his arguments are to justify external intervention, whether it’s intervention with sanctions or military interventions. Now after I saw the Amhara Region, I believe he is actively lobbying for sanctions against Ethiopia.’’

Regarding the mass graves in the Wolkait region uncovered by University of Gondar, Garrison said if the human rights organizations were meant for their purpose, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International should have been concerned by the report the university of Gondar has released, she said.

According to the research uncovered by the team of a research group from Gonder University of Gondar, twelve mass graves have been uncovered in Wolkait , in which the TPLF had killed and tortured about 59,000 people.

The uncovering of the research by University of Gondar would have been headlines around the world, but so far none outside Ethiopia, she lamented.

It is to be recalled that the Government of Ethiopia has been reiterating that WHO Director General Tedros has ruined the reputation of WHO, without saying a word about civilian atrocities committed in Amhara and Afar regions by terrorist TPLF and sufferings of IDPs as a result of lack of humanitarian assistance to them.

The whole world must recognize that Tedros Adhanom has lied to the international community by just serving the terrorist group in breach of his WHO mandate.