Category Archives: Pencil

If Eritrea was a democratic republic and all the fronts, movements, groups were political parties, the Eritrean people would have voted “No Confidence” on every single one of them. Eritrea’s self-imposed ruling party, the PFDJ, spent an entire decade in a futile effort to get the world to pay attention … more

There are many tragedies in recent history—9/11, Somalia, the mess in the Congo—that could have been foreseen by smart people but weren’t.  Such failure to predict what is predictable is called “failure of imagination.” And this could happen in Eritrea. The State of Eritrea is giving warning signs that it is … more

September 1, 1961 is the day that 14 poorly-armed Eritreans led by Hamid Idris Awate engaged the Ethiopian army in battle and forced its withdrawal from Mt. Adal, Eritrea. The 14 Eritreans were the entirety of the Eritrean Liberation Army (ELA) of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), which had been … more

The Eritrean People’s Democratic Party or EPDP (the one which is led by Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar) is having its organizational congress as we write this. Instead of sending the customary, the politically correct and mostly empty “congratulatory telegram”, we think it would be more meaningful to the party, to its … more

When Isaias Afwerki is finally removed from power, he will, like his sole friend Moammer Gaddaffi, have no friends to shed tears for him. This is because Isaias Afwerki has, in 20 long years, exhausted the patience of the world with his embarrassing behaviour. The recent undated press release which appeared … more

On December 23, 2009, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Eritrea over “its role in Somalia” and  its“refusal to withdraw troops following conflict with Djibouti.”  This may be a good time to remind all that only Qaddaffi was opposed to the sanctions.  The UNSC Resolution 1907 “stipulates arms embargo, … more

Addis Abeba, 2002. The Eritrean alliance of opposition organizations is discussing the fate of the Eritrean Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council (ELF-RC), which had been split into two wings. One wing, led by the late Seyoum Ogbamichael, stages a walk-out: subsequently, in the bitterness and recriminations that ensue after the split, the … more

This website has been observing and reporting on the state of Eritrean opposition for the last ten years.  In our view, the event with the most impact on the development in Eritrean opposition over the last ten years happened this year in Addis Abeba:  the convening of the National Congress … more

At long last, the coming together of Eritreans to discuss ways and means of bringing about democratic change in Eritrea, a dream that had been conceptualized for over a decade, is finally here. Dubbed the National Conference for Democratic Change (NCDC), the convention started on July 30 and will resume … more

19 years ago today (May 24th), Eritrean freedom fighters liberated Eritrea from Ethiopian occupation. The Eritrean people, who had been waging a struggle for liberation since 1961, when the Ethiopian government of Haile Selassie was in its last stages of flouting the Eritrea-Ethiopia Federation of 1952, breathed a sigh of … more

When it comes to the UNSC’s decision to impose targeted sanctions on the Eritrean regime, there are two narratives being presented. One, advanced by the supporters and apologists for the regime, is that the Eritrean government is being targeted because it threatens the world order with its “good example”: a domestic … more

The United Nations is an imperfect institution with imprecise tools. It celebrates the dignity of man and the universality of rights; yet it says that five superpower countries—US, Russian Federation, UK, France and China—have rights that supercede those of the rest of the world. It is a club where friendship … more

Shortly after September 11, 2001, every tyrant in the world wanted to cash-in on the justified rage of the United States and tried to align himself with the United States and to classify his political opponents as “terrorists.”  At the forefront of this campaign was the Eritrean regime and its … more

On October 29th, Gedab News reported about the November 9-10 conference on aligning EU and US policies towards Eritrea.  We entitled the piece  ”Engagement and Exclusion: US, EU & Eritrea.”  The piece was almost entirely about the EU and US and almost in passing mentioned the Eritreans who will be attending.  Some thought … more