Twenty years after its independence, Eritrea’s prisons are filled with thousands of political prisoners, locked up without ever being charged with a crime, many of whom are never heard from again, Amnesty International said in a report released today. Twenty years of independence but still no freedom details how throughout …

The recent trend, in the opposition block, on the contestation of Awate’s Eritrean symbolism is epic. The imagery of an afro-nilotic hero on a horse back, with a bandolier diagonally crossing his protruded chest, with a dangling sword in a holder, proudly slinging a simonova rifle , as if, projecting …

The Official Letter, written in the Name of the Voice of the Kunama People, and sent to both;“EDA-KIDAN’s“ and “ENCDC-BAYTO’s“ Leaderships:   The Leaderships and the Leaders of the The Voice of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance, (EDA), Kunama People, Addis-Ababa, (Ethiopia) November 23, 2012   Honourable ladies and gentlemen, in the …

Here is a clip that shows  the mighty Israeli army terrorizing civilians who have become aliens in their own land. Here is technology at work, tax dollars at work bombing Gaza indiscriminately. This is the story of an elephant complaining of a cub. Indeed CRY FREEDOM! And here is the similarity …

“The church must be the guide and the critic of the State and never its tool.” writes Dr Martin Luther King Jr, outraged by the silence of many churches regarding racial injustice of his time. The church, or any religious institution for that matter, should not hope to earn favors …

Melles Zenawi the Ethiopian Prime Minister was snatched by death on August 20, 2012 at the age of 57; he is survived by three children.  The Ethiopian government has announced that a state funeral ceremony will be held on the 2nd of September. Over the years I have met Melles repeatedly, …

A popular beer advertisement in my Country goes like this: “My name is Joe and I am Canadian!” Molson, the company that produces the beer “Molson Canadian” has cleverly crafted a commercial that can appeal to many Canadians. This is the sort of nationalism I can drink for, hypothetically speaking …

I wish I could discuss the contents of this letter with you in person; unfortunately, that is now impossible because of your untimely death. Dear Prime Minister, in 1991 soon after your triumphant arrival inAddis Ababa, I watched you debate the question ofEritrea’s independence with Professors Endrias Eshete and Mesfin …

Statement from the Council of Ministers of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Aug 21, 2012) Honorable Peoples and Friends of Ethiopia; The Council of Ministers of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with deep sorrow and grief, regrets to inform the Peoples of Ethiopia that, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, …

Appearing on Al Jazeera’s “Behind The News”, Mohammed Taha Tewekel, an Eritrean regional political analyst, called for reviewing of the 1929 agreements between the United Kingdom and its colonies regarding the River Nile. Furthermore, argued Tewekel, the agreement signed between the Lower Nile countries of  Egypt and Sudan in 1959 …

Indeed, the Eritrean Youth Conference in Ethiopia is extraordinary, but what inspired me to write today is Dr. Mohamed Kher Omer’s facebook message to Kiros Yohannes and others  concerning the conference. I want to thank Dr. Mohamed Kheir Omer for his advice, his valuable information and his continuous articles at awate.com. …

We are in big trouble! At first shot, this may look like stating the obvious. But, I am referring to something probably much more serious than you think. It hits directly at the centre. It raises questions about the very existence of Eritrea as a nation and the survival of its …

Eritrea’s ambassador to Israel, Tesfamariam Tekeste Debbas, was invited by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, to testify about the presence of tens of thousands of Eritreans in Israel. The Eritreans, mostly youth, have escaped the dictatorship that the regime the ambassador serves has created in Eritrea: indefinite conscription, labor camps, and …

I am livid – absolutely livid, in fact!!  The reason for my anger has to do mainly with the last three comments made by S. Temelso, Y. Kahsai and A. Hidrat in response to my article of June 30, 2012 (www.awate.com) in which the Eritrean people are labeled as cowards, …

Long ago in our youth, when we were intoxicated with Marxist thinking, we were made to believe that the masses were the true drivers of history and not individual leaders.  The latter were seen not as ordinary mortals but as the hand, the very embodiment of history, of society, of …

Preface This is a serious attempt to first describe and explain the present situation in Eritrea and the nature of its political leadership.  It then tries to suggest some simple but effective solutions which may have far reaching consequences for the future of the country and the region within a …

Introduction: The following proposal has been prepared after countless consultations with many Eritrean activists who were also thinking of similar initiatives. The proposal was prepared with national concerns and legitimate issues that fall within the sphere of civil action; and it has avoided issues that are supposed to be the …

The US Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor has issued yet another devastating report on the Isaias Afwerki administration.  Below is the executive summary as well as a link to the entire report at the State Department website. Executive Summary The Government of Eritrea is an …

Eritrea—which was once an Italian colony, a British protectorate, and briefly an autonomous region before it was reduced to a mere province of Ethiopia—became in 1993 an independent nation-state, redefining post-colonial African map, hopefully not setting a dangerous precedence. The history of over thirty years of bloody armed struggle had …