Ethiopian Red Cross Society President’s Call: “Please Stop Killing Us!”
Last week, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) laid to rest Honelign Fentahun, a dedicated humanitarian program coordinator in North Gondar, Amhara Region.
Honelign was abducted with two colleagues and endured brutal torture before losing his life. Yesterday, ERCS President Abera Tola Gada visited Honelign’s grieving family — his wife and three young children, ages six, four, and two — and pledged ongoing support from the Red Cross family. “We are impartial and neutral humanitarians — mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters — committed only to saving lives. Any attack on humanitarian workers is an attack on humanity itself.”
ERCS deeply thanks the international community for standing in solidarity and calls on all armed forces to stop targeting humanitarian workers.
May Honelign’s soul rest in peace, and may his children grow up in a compassionate community.
Here is the full statement by the president:
Statement By President of Ethiopian Red Cross Society
Please Stop Killing Us!
Last week, we laid our colleague Honelign Fentahun to rest — a father, a husband, and a dedicated humanitarian who devoted his life to serving others under the Red Cross Emblem. Honelign, who worked as a humanitarian program coordinator in North Gondar Zone, Amhara Region, was abducted together with two of his colleagues. While his colleagues were released, Honelign endured brutal torture and lost his life in pain.
Yesterday, we visited his grieving family. We saw the faces of his three children: Bemnet, only six years old; Bisrat, four years old; and Dagim, not yet two. We saw their mother, broken with grief. These children will grow up without father — denied his love, his guidance, his protection. Nothing can restore what they have lost.
As a father myself, my heart broken. I could not control my tears when I looked at these children and imagined their future without their father’s presence. No child deserves to be denied the love and care of a parent in this way.
On behalf of ERCS, we offered a modest financial contribution to the family and assured them that they will not be left alone in this pain. The Ethiopian Red Cross Society will continue to stand with them — especially with the children — to ensure they are supported as part of our Red Cross family.
For years now, our Red Cross family has carried unbearable sorrow. Many of our volunteers, members, and staff — men and women who dedicate themselves only to saving lives and alleviating suffering — have been killed, wounded, abducted, or traumatized. Honelign’s death is another painful reminder of the risks faced by humanitarian workers in Ethiopia and beyond.
We stand and express our empathy with Honelign’s family and all those who have paid the ultimate price for humanity. We are deeply grateful to the international community — the IFRC, ICRC, PNSs, UN agencies, Diplomatic communities, Donors, media, and many others — who have stood in solidarity with us, condemned this act and called for the protection of humanitarian workers.
To All Armed Forces: Please Stop Killing Us!
We are impartial and neutral humanitarian. We are mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons — ordinary citizens committed only to helping the most vulnerable. Any attack on a humanitarian worker is an attack on humanity itself.
As the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, we will not stop Saving Lives. We will not give up on our mission of Serving Humanity. But we ask, from the depths of our grief, let us do our work. Let our staff and volunteers live. Let families stay whole.
May Honelign’s soul rest in peace. May his children grow up in a community where compassion is stronger than cruelty.
Abera Tola Gada.