Seyoum Mesfin

Seyoum Mesfin Gebredingel (Tigrinya: ሰዩም መስፍን, säyumə mesefənə, Tigrinya pronunciation: [säyumə mesefənə] (listen);[1] 25 January 1949 – 13 January 2021) was an Ethiopian politician and diplomat. He was Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 until September 2010 and worked as Ethiopia's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. The circumstances of Seyoum's death, during the Tigray War, were disputed: Ethiopian authorities stated that Seyoum was killed while refusing to surrender,[2] while Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) stated that he was first taken to Senafe in Eritrea before being returned to Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) control and extrajudicially executed.[3]

Seyoum Mesfin
ሰዩም መስፍን
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
1991–2010
Preceded byTesfaye Tadesse
Succeeded byHailemariam Desalegn
Ambassador of Ethiopia to the People's Republic of China
In office
15 February 2011 – 19 August 2017
Personal details
Born25 January 1949
Adigrat, Ethiopia
Died13 January 2021(2021-01-13) (aged 71)
Political partyEPRDF
Other political
affiliations		TPLF
Alma mater
This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by his given name, Seyoum, and not as Mesfin Gebredingel.

Early life and education

Seyoum was born on 25 January 1949 in Tigray, Ethiopia, as Ambaye Mesfin. He later changed from Ambaye to Seyoum as a nom de guerre.[4] He attended Agazi Secondary School in Adigrat and Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute from which he received a diploma in industrial chemistry in 1971. He studied international law at the University of Amsterdam. In May 2010, he was awarded a doctorate of letters from Great Lakes University of Kisumu in Kenya.[5]

Career

Political career

He was one of the founders of the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF).[6] Seyoum served as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in the 1980s.[7] He was a member of the Marxist–Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) and composed songs to honor the organization.[8] On 23 March 2013, Seyoum resigned from the TPLF Central Committee at its 11th meeting.[9]

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Seyoum was the Ethiopian minister of foreign affairs for nearly 20 years, from 1991 until he was replaced after the 2010 parliamentary election. He was also an executive member of the Central Committee of the EPRDF.[10] He was influential in the Eritrean Ethiopian war and on 18 June 2000, Seyoum Mesfin, and his Eritrean counterpart, Haile Woldetensae, signed a peace agreement ending the war.[11] On 28 December 2004, Mesfin made a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on the policy in the region, in particular the relationship of Ethiopia to Eritrea and Somalia.[12] In 2007, Seyoum indicated that Eritrea had breached the agreements that ended its war and Ethiopia might end all or part of those agreements.[13] He was also a member of the House of Peoples' Representatives, representing Adigrat.[14]

Ambassador to China

After leaving the government in 2010, Seyoum was appointed Ambassador to China.[15] He visited Singapore in December 2012 to potentially set up an Ethio-Singapore Special Economy Zone and expand cooperation in aviation.[16]

In 2015, Seyoum was the chief mediator of South Sudan's IGAD-mediated peace talks. He urged both sides to end hostilities and form a transitional government.[17] He launched the think tank Center for Research, Dialogue & Cooperation (CRDC), a part of the Ministry of Education, on 12 April 2016.[18]

Seyoum was also chief executive officer of the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray from 2000 until early 2009.[19] Seyoum served as the Chairman for ten years until 2011 and was a member of the management board of Ethiopian Airlines.[20][21]

Family and personal life

Seyoum was married and had four children - three sons and one daughter.[7] As of 14 January 2021, after Seyoum had been killed by the ENDF, Seyoum's wife and one of his sons were on bail after having been arrested, according to Alex de Waal.[22]

Death

According to the Ethiopian government, Seyoum was killed in action in the ongoing Tigray War by the military under the command of Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of Ethiopia on 13 January 2021.[23] Two other TPLF officials were killed with him. The Ethiopian government alleged that the group refused to surrender. Five further TPLF officials were captured.[2] On 15 January, the Tigray government stated that the veterans (including Seyoum) were captured in Mekelle and then killed, instead of being killed at the war front. The other two veteran Tigrayans killed are Asmelash Woldeselassie, who was blind, and Abay Tsehaye, who had a heart surgery some months earlier.[24]

Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) stated that in pictures of Seyoum, Asmelash and Abaye posted on Facebook by Transitional Government of Tigray administrator Mulu Nega, the three appeared to have been executed, with Seyoum shot in the forehead.[25] EEPA also stated that Seyoum, Asmelash and Abaye had been taken from their houses to Senafe in Eritrea, mistreated in Senafe, returned to the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), and extrajudicially executed.[3] Mulugeta Gebrehiwot, former EPRDF member and founder of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, stated on 27 January 2021 that Seyoum and his companions had been found in a village with no army protection, caught by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) and executed. He described the ENDF and Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) as killing "whomever they find" during the Tigray War.[26]

An obituary for Seyoum Mesfin, describing him as a "peacemaker and patriot", was published by Alex de Waal. De Waal called for an "immediate high-level international investigation" into the killings of Seyoum, Asmelash and Abay.[22]

References
  1. "How do you say SEYOUM MESFIN?". VOA Pronunciation Guide. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  2. "Ethiopia says ex-foreign minister killed by military after refusing to surrender". Thomson Reuters. 14 January 2021.
  3. "Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 59 – 18 January 2021" (PDF). EEPA. 18 January 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  4. "Seyoum Mesfin (1949–2021)". Ethiopia Observer. 16 January 2021. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  5. "MFA Press Statement Presentation of Credentials Ceremony 18 April 2012". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  6. Berhe 2008, p. 40
  7. "Seyoum Mesfin Foreign Minister". Ethiopian Embassy. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  8. Berhe 2008, p. 219
  9. Tekle, Tesfa-Alem (22 March 2013). "Senior members resign from Ethiopia's ruling party". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  10. "List of Central Members of EPRDF". Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  11. Makhubu (January 2000). "Ethiopia and Eritrea. A step in the right direction". Conflict Trends. 2000 (2): 14–15.
  12. "STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. SEYOUM MESFIN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA AT THE 59TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY". Ethiopian Embassy. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  13. Jopson, Barney (26 September 2007). "Risk grows of Horn of Africa conflict". The Financial Times. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  14. "House of Peoples' Representatives of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia". Ethiopian Parliament. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  15. "A five-year exit plan". Africa Confidential. 52 (3). 4 February 2011. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  16. "Ethiopia: Ambassador Seyoum Visits Singapore". AllAfrica. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  17. "Seyoum Mesfin Hopes South Sudanese Peace Talks Reaches Turning Point". The Reporter. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  18. "Ethiopia: A Brand New Think-Tank, Re-Christianized From Its Original". AllAfrica. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  19. "First Lady Makes it to EFFORT's Helm". Addis Fortune. March 2009. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  20. Bekele, Kaleyesus (11 January 2011). "Addisu Legesse replaces Seyoum Mesfin as Ethiopian board chairman". The Reporter. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  21. "Executive Profile: Seyoum Mesfin". Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  22. de Waal, Alex (14 January 2021). "In Memoriam: Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopian Peacemaker and Patriot". Tufts University. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  23. "አቶ ስዩም መስፍን ፣አቶ አስመላሽ ወልደስላሴና አቶ አባይ ፀሃዬ ተደመሰሱ". Welcome to Fana Broadcasting Corporate S.C. 13 January 2021.
  24. መግለፂ መንግስቲ ትግራይን ዕለታዊ ዜናን DW International 7 ጥሪ 2013
  25. "Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 58 – 17 January 2021" (PDF). EEPA. 17 January 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  26. de Waal, Alex; Gebrehiwot Berhe, Mulugeta (27 January 2021). "Transcript – Call between Mulugeta Gebrehiwot and Alex de Waal 27 January 2021" (PDF). World Peace Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.

Other references
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