Mr. Yemane’s message to his party members in Seattle was simple. It goes something like this: Eritrea has now won its independence. The Orthodox Church has also become “independent.” Therefore, it does not need to have any relationship with the Coptic Orthodox Church. Mr. Yemane goes on to announce the governments most egregious restrictions over doctrinal and worship matters by declaring that the Eritrean Orthodox Church, which has remained under the government’s complete control, no longer recognizes a tabot from Egypt. The tabot is a facsimile of the arc of the covenant without which an Orthodox Church cannot be consecrated. This is now the Eritrean government’s promulgation (policy) on the tabot, as clearly enunciated by Mr. Yamane.

Does the government of Eritrea’s tabot policy also make all the tabots in the Orthodox Church’s in Eritrea change their tabots. I am not sure he realizes that nearly 90% of the Orthodox Churches in Eritrea have tabots consecrated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church prior to the country’s independence. Pray tell, Mr. Yamane, are all these tabots to be considered illegal based on the new tabot policy of the Eritrean government?

What is sad for Orthodox Christians in Eritrea is that this is not the first time that non-Orthodox officials of the ruling party have so brazenly appointed themselves as spokespersons for the Eritrean Orthodox Church and intruded in its ecclesiastical affairs. Mr. Yemane, it should be noted, is a convert in his youth to a small evangelical church (Faith Mission), now declared illegal by the government he represents. Mr. Ali Abdu, the former information minister who has recently defected, Mr Tsehaye Fasil, a Lutheran and who until recent times served the government at the Embassy in Washington DC, Ms. Sophia Tesfamariam, a Roman Catholic, and Dr. Gideon Asmerom, a Seventh Day Adventist (the latter two being unofficial spokespersons to the government of Eritrea) have all committed similar acts of behaving as if they could, with impunity, speak for the Orthodox Church at one time or another.

Using the logic of “Eritrea-is-now-independent”, is the government now going to force the Orthodox Church to eliminate any mention of the Coptic Church and our historic Alexandrian Church Fathers and saints from our liturgy (qdassie)? Will the ruling regime now proceed to provide the Eritrean Orthodox Church with its own list of saints that are “approved”  by the ruling party? Just as importantly, using the same argument to its logical conclusion, will Mr. Yemane’s government now put the same maniacal intrusion into the Catholic Church’s historic relationship with the Vatican?

The government has already committed the following flagrant abuses against the Orthodox Church: (1) deposed the church’s canonical patriarch, H.H. Abune Antonios, kept him under detention for the past seven years, and placed a false-patriarch on the patriarchal throne (2) Imprisoned numerous clergies of the churches (3) forcibly conscripted priests, monks and deacons  into the army in their thousands, and (4) isolated the Eritrean Orthodox Church from all the Churches that are in communion with it – the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the See of St. Mark.

The government Mr. Yemane represents now takes its abuse of the Eritrean Orthodox Church by forcing it to severe its historic link and identity, as well as its apostolic chain of succession to the See of St. Mark (menbere markos). By doing so, it expects to gut and erase the heart and soul of our Orthodox existence and heritage?

Eritrea’s independence, for which scores of thousands of Orthodox Christians, as did so many from other Eritrean faith communities, have paid the ultimate price is barely twenty years old. During this brief period of existence, Eritrea has known only one president. The Orthodox Church’s heritage and link to the Coptic Church and the See of St. Mark (menbere markos), on the other hand, has had a 1700 year-long-and-deep relations. In fact, until the 1950s, the Coptic and Eritrean/Ethiopian Orthodox people existed under a single Holy Synod. We have had the same 116 patriarchs since St. Mark, our first patriarch.

It is, therefore, with the above in mind that:

I call on all followers of Eritrean Orthodox Church to stand firm and united to resolutely resist the Government of Eritrea’s yet another egregious intrusion into the ecclesiastical affairs of the church. The defense of our faith and church today becomes the duty of every Orthodox.

I call on all the clergy of the Eritrean Orthodox Church to take a bold and united stand and say “Enough!” to the government’s total control and manipulation of the church for its own political ends.

I also call on all friends of the Eritrean Orthodox Church – Eritreans and non-Eritreans – to stand in solidarity with the church in captivity during this trying period.

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne” – Psalms 97:2

The news was first reported by www.tewahdo.org, a US-based website.

Enthroned as Eritrea’s third patriarch after his election in 2004, Patriarch (“Abune”) Antonios, 86, who has been under house arrest since 2005, was dethroned by Eritrea’s ruling party in 2007 following a 2-year campaign that severely limited and encroached on his authority.

In what appears to be a rare show of unity, the letter carried twenty-nine signatures from all parts of the world.

In an unprecedented  interference in the internal affairs of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church and in violation of church norms, the government imposed a new Patriarch, Abune Dioskoros, despite failing to receive the approval of Pope Shenouda of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

The letter sent by the priests from the Archdioceses of North America and Europe to the UN Secretary General and other entities also called for “the release of those imprisoned because of their religious faith.”

According to a recent report by Amnesty International, there are 10,000 prisoners in Eritrea.

The signatories appealed for help on behalf of the thousands of refugees “who are fleeing the scourge in their homeland are falling prey to the worst form of human trafficking, degradation and modern day slavery.”

//END
awate.com
inform. inspire. embolden. reconcile.

We have problems. How severe and why? There are Eritreans whom, when we are in righteous fury, we call PFDJistas, Hgdefites, Isaiasists.   Their answer is: Eritrea is, given every challenge that was thrown at it, doing relatively well. Whatever deficiencies exist are due to (a) the war and the no-war-no-peace policy waged upon it by Ethiopia and tolerated/supported by the US and UN; (b) the fact that it is a new country; (c) human error. Every country in the world has its “national security” citizens who, particularly during and immediately following a war, are willing to give the government extended and indefinite powers to “secure the nation.” Our version—lets call them the “9/18 Movement”—are no different. They see the same horror we see, and their families are affected by the same horrors our families are, they just have a different interpretation as to what its cause is and how to stop it from happening.

Some things, kids, you only understand in hindsight. Our problem is a bit older than 1998 (the Eritrea-Ethiopia border war). Some would say it goes all the way back to 1961—and you have read their reasoning—but most of those wounds we inflicted on ourselves during Ghedli were not mortal. Our problem goes back to shortly after May 24, 1991; it was exacerbated in February 16, 1994; it went downhill in May 1995, it hit a rock on September 18, 2001, it hit a wall in May 2002 and it has fallen off the rails (hopefully not in irreversible path) on January 20, 2013.

In short, our problem has been caused by good old fashioned “the winner takes it all” mentality—one that tells the loser “nedeka my wredela.”  As much as we like to flatter ourselves, this is a common malady that affects most new nations–especially in Africa.   National politics is an ecosystem: each decision, each behavior has a domino effect.  But let’s not feel bad: dictators are professionals in power politics, we the people are amateurs.  We had a late start: but we have numbers on our side and it will continue to grow.

Eritrean Principles
Isaias Afwerki’s biggest failure is his unwillingness to manage Eritrea’s diversity. And please note that diversity doesn’t just refer to religion and region only; it also refers to tradition, culture, and political ideology. Back in the day, there was consensus view that Eritrea would be a secular, democratic country governed on the basis of power devolution to localities.   Secular, democratic, decentralization all had explicit meanings so all the mystification of “what do you mean by secular?” “what do you mean by democracy?” “what do you mean by decentralization?” had not been invented yet.

By secular, what was meant was that the country would not have an official religion and government and religious institutions would not interfere in the affairs of each other. By democratic what was really meant was the so-called Western democracy: one based on individual rights and civil liberties (freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of worship (except for Jehovah’s Witnesses, sadly, according to our Fronts.)  The much-maligned Ghedli insisted on putting this commitment on paper, in black and white.  And by “decentralization”, what was meant was the principle of “that which is close to the people is the institution which governs best.” Each region was supposed to be practically self-governing with the central government doing only the things that central governments should do (national defense, monetary/fiscal policy, foreign affairs.)

The leadership of Isaias Afwerki has completely bungled it all—deliberately. Let’s look at each one individually.

(a) Weeks After May 24, 1991
Shortly after Eritrea’s independence, the winner (EPLF) invited the losers (ELF-RC) to a meeting to negotiate the terms of their participation in the nation’s affairs. The ELF-RC, like any political organization looking for leverage, disclosed this fact to a reporter who published the news. An irate Isaias Afwerki cancelled the meeting (the invitees had to fly back) and instituted the policy of “you are free to enter as individuals but not as a party.” Just to underline the point, he said (on June 20, no less) that, henceforth, there would be no political party jockeying in Eritrea. (ny wdbat Hashewye…)

Now, let’s look at the domino effect. When the ELF was booted out of Eritrea in 1981, the cause of “national, secular, democratic, decentralized” (let’s call it NSDD for short) governance had a huge setback because at least half of NSDD governance advocates in Eritrea were members/sympathizers of the ELF. When the EPLF now denied political space in Eritrea to an ELF offshoot (ELF-RC), it was further setback to NSDD constituency. Put differently, it empowered those who were critics of NSDD. And there was no bigger critic of that than the Eritrean Islamic Jihad movement.

In the same manner that critics of Western Democracy criticize democracy, the Eritrean Islamists called “secularism” a Western construct. In fact, they said, secularism was something that came about in reaction to specific Church practices in Western Europe. Since that does not apply to Eritrea, they argued, and since secularism is something that slowly evolved in Western Europe, it is unreasonable to expect traditional and religious Eritreans to completely divorce their religion from how they want to be governed. The EIJM, and its various iterations, is, politically, much less significant than it was in the 1990s. But, the net effect of the ideology it represented is negative: it scared some Eritrean Christians into running to the bosom of Isaias Afwerki and the autocracy he represented; it alienated a significant number of Eritrean Muslims from Eritrea. There is fairly large Eritrean Muslim society in the Diaspora who are, by every strict definition, “selefists”—practicing Islam in a manner completely alien to Eritrea—and their withdrawal from Eritrea and embracing a culture that has nothing to do with Eritrea is at least indirectly attributable to Isaias Afwerki’s decision to humiliate the NSDD.  If you think this is an overstatement, consider what is the logic of Eritrea insisting that “all stakeholders” be involved in the decision-making process of Somalia?  Isn’t the argument that, if you don’t, you radicalize a segment of your population?  Same holds true anywhere–including Eritrea.

(b) February 16, 1994
In 1994, between February 10 and 16, the EPLF had a party congress in Nakfa where it emerged as PFDJ. Not only was that the last congress of the EPLF, it was also the first and last congress of the PFDJ. The sole purpose of that congress appears to have been (a) to demote Ramadan Mohammed Nur (wink wink, he resigned) and (b) to introduce the “National Charter.”

The 1994 charter essentially reversed the promises of EPLF’s 1987 congress (and that of the congresses of the ELF, who were no longer allowed to enter Eritrea—a land they spent half their lives bleeding for.) Whereas the 1987 congress was explicit in its vision of Eritrea’s individual rights, the National Charter made rights as a “Hafash” issue—that individual rights are subservient to “national” rights and duties. Those of you who read the Charter’s “Building a Democratic Political System” should not have been surprised when President Isaias Afwerki told Al Jazeera that political parties may not exist in Eritrea for three to four decades because the charter says: “Our understanding of democracy should emphasize its content rather than its external manifestations. In the context of our society, democracy is dependent not on the number of political parties and on regular elections, but on the actual participation of people in the decision-making process at community and national level…. equating of democracy to the number of political parties and…organized elections… is wrong and dangerous.” So, whatever the PFDJ is doing now, is EXACTLY what it said it would do in 1994 when we the people were in a slumber.

When a ruling party is telling you that you shouldn’t even consider organizing yourself and presenting an alternative view to the people—which is the essence of democracy—isn’t it chopping off yet another constituency of NSDD? And what alternative is there other than to be radicalized and practice exiled politics? This was yet another chipping away at the Eritrean constituency which supported a Nationalist Secular Democratic and Decentralized government.

(c) May 19, 1995
Power decentralization was seen within the context of Eritrea’s traditional provinces: Hamasien, Serraye, Sahel, Senhit, Semhar etc. The idea was that each of these provinces would be semi-autonomous: the central (Asmara) government would be limited to doing only those things that a central government can do: protecting the borders, and instituting fiscal and monetary policy. Everything else was supposed to be run by local government. The exact opposite happened. First, the provinces were re-drawn—under the guise of defeating “regionalism”, solving old disputes, and facilitating national macroeconomic policy. And, ironically, the two things that a central government should do—protecting national sovereignty and having a sane fiscal and monetary policy—were completely bungled. The mismanagement of these two central government responsibilities (commissions on introduction of Nakfa currency, commission on Eritrea-Ethiopia border) is what led to the Eritrea-Ethiopia border war. Second, the re-drawing of the maps was supplemented by two proclamations—land policy and macroeconomic policy—that essentially allowed the central government to expropriate any piece of land and to give it to whomever it wanted.  That’s how  you have a fine recipe for disaster.

The consequences? Well, for every person who admires this infrastructure and that microdam in Eritrea, there is at least one nursing a wound for losing land. And those who no longer want to depend on the kindness of future leaders to respect the principle of decentralization are now either calling for a federal system (not once entertained during the armed struggle) or calling for the right of “self-determination up to and including secession.” The emergence of political organizations (specifically advocates for Eritrean Kunama and Eritrean Afar) should be seen within this light.

(d) September 18, 2001
All the criticisms against the Eritrean government up until 2001 could be easily dismissed—and they were—as the grievances of people who have only vague knowledge of post-independent Eritrea because they had been exiled for too long. Then came September 18, 2001, the case of the “G-15.”  Here were government insiders—people who held senior posts of foreign minister, defense minister and veterans of the front—calling for reforming the ruling party. The whisper campaign against them was brutal: those from Akeleguzay were accused of being regionalist; the Muslims were accused of favoring Muslims and corruptions—and these was directed at veterans of the EPLF! When they were given the same “winner takes it all, loser gets nothing” treatment, when they were implausibly accused of being regionalist, then, that too chopped away at the NSDD constituency.

(e) May 2002
Some people think that “secularism” simply means that religious institutions should not have supremacy over the state. That’s only half a definition: it also means that the government cannot impose religion on the people. But that’s exactly what the Eritrean government did in May 2002. It said that the only religions licensed to operate in Eritrea are Islam (Sunni Islam, no Shia allowed), the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of Eritrea.

This means, in plain language, that the State has told Eritreans who do not worship at these mosques and churches that they either have to give up their religion, break the law and worship secretly, or leave the country.  More stakeholders alienated.

(f) January 20, 2013
We will come to learn that the “Forto incident,” dismissed by the PFDJ and some in the opposition, is a huge deal. The whisper campaigns have tagged it as a Muslim movement. And, indeed, some of the bigger names of those arrested or left the regime—Abdella Jaber, Ahmed Haj Ali, Mustapha Nurhussein, Ali Abdu are Muslims. All these individuals have friends within the party and, as happened with the G-15 movement of 2001, many more whose names we do not know have been arrested or have—or will soon—abandon the regime. Just like many of the individuals mentioned above were empowered when the G-15 were arrested, a new group—gathered from the large pool of the once-frozen and passed-on—will be thawed and promoted and they won’t ask the one question that all job-applicants are encouraged to ask: “what happened to my predecessor?”  But the party base continues to shrink.

Conclusions

May 24, 1991 is worth celebrating because it enabled Eritreans to have the political autonomy to decide our fate. However, like almost every African country which was once colonized and got its independence, we Eritreans have completely bungled our post-independence governance. Those we call Hgdefites will always be with us—even when we have a new government–because every nation has its “national security” lobby who are always reminding the citizens how “soft” they are and how the government is spoiling them with too many rights and not demanding enough duties from them.

Although very many awful things were done during the Armed Struggle—not the least of which was the civil war—almost all Eritreans were willing to deal with those issues in an Eritrea that delivered on the promises made during the Armed Struggle: a country that was governed on the basis of secular, democratic, decentralized system. The PFDJ took measures to mystify democracy (just as South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki mystified AIDS) and in the process Eritrea sustained a heavy loss and lost opportunities (just as Mbeki’s decision caused the premature death of 365,000 South Africans.)

The denial of political space to Eritrean parties radicalized them with some justifying armed struggle.  Others, they just dropped out. The government’s decision to nationalize land, to redraw borders, radicalized those who want the powers of the central government to be restricted. The continuous purging of its own members has given the party a continuously shrinking base, and a recycled (freeze, thaw, freeze again, thaw again) senior personnel who are anything but motivated.  Their only motivation is fear: fear of punishment.

Some of these decisions were made after “studies” and some even have the imprint of a national assembly (such as the re-drawing of the provinces.) Some have popular support—seriously, how many Eritreans are protesting for the rights of Jehovahs Witnesses? All these decisions are completely rational—if your objective is to empower one man, the head of state, and to reduce everybody else to a subject.  That is, they were done methodically and deliberately.   And, if we the subjects want to become citizens, our mission is clear: to call for, and work for, deliberately and methodically, the reversal of all these decisions. If we win, we will become citizens. If Isaias Afwerki wins, he will linger on, and his fate will be that of every African Big Man: clinging to power, relying on an ever-shrinking base, and making promises and prophesies that he can’t deliver on.

Happy Independence Day, Eritrea, and welcome to Africa.

salyounis@gmail.com

EPLF fully basked in the glory but perceived the situation quite differently from the populace. In its eyes, the victory proved its superiority. By “freeing Eritrea”, it also believed it has earned the right to dominate Eritrea and subjugate Eritreans. It therefore started imposing its will almost immediately and in its brutal hands, Eritreans became virtual slaves.  Politically, diplomatically, economically and by almost every societal yardstick, Eritrea started to waste away and the downward slide continues to this day with no end in sight.  So it is natural for Eritreans to cry in frustration as I did back in November 2010:

“What is independence worth to me if I find myself hungrier, angrier, and less free after decades under its wing?  Keep the flag to yourself sir and just give me the freedom I demand and keep me safe!  Then perhaps we can talk about the independence you brought.” (A critical look at the EPLF/PFDJ/GOE Saga)

Such expressions of dismay are fine I think as long as they remain directed at the real culprit (the regime) and as long as we keep the distinction clear in our minds between independence on the one hand and its abuse or misuse in the other by those entrusted to safeguard it.  But the moment we start extrapolating from this into thinking that the struggle for independence itself was to blame, we are falling into shaebia’s “we are him, he is us – nhna nsu” mindless world.

Of all the heinous crimes Shabia inflicted on our people in the 22 years it has been ruling, one of the worst was this association it planted in the minds of Eritreans between itself and gedli and between itself and Eritreans.  This has been drilled on the national psyche so constantly that some Eritreans have become incapable of untangling the crimes of the regime from Eritrea or Eritrean history.  The unconscious thinking goes: if independence was the goal of gedli and the murderous shabeia represents gedli, then the entire gedli enterprise must have been a useless undertaking.

This is of course totally absurd and tells us more about the effectiveness of Shaebia’s propaganda than anything else.  Contrary to Shaebia pontification, neither Shaebia nor ELF would have been able to win a single battle let alone independence without the active and full participation of Eritrean people of all ranks. In other words, Independence was a collective achievement in which the country as a whole took part.  Whatever the private inclination of individuals and whatever mistakes/crimes were committed by ELF or EPLF during the grim struggle for independence, it is the spirit of Eritreans that steadfastly remained on the path (or that kept returning to it) that finally led to independence.

It is undoubtedly true that we have seen nothing but misery and suffering since independence but that does not take away anything from the intrinsic value of independence.   If a child is holding an ice cream cone in its hands and another child snatches it away, does that diminish the value or sweetness of the ice cream?   Of course not!  Similarly, irrespective of whether a devilish jinni or an angelic being ended up popping out of the independence bottle, its historicity and significance as an important milestone in Eritrean history should always be recognized and valued. Just as a boxer who won over an opponent should not minimize his victory just because he now faces a new opponent, Eritreans should never undermine their significant victory over occupation just because they now face a home-grown tyrant.  (Note that I am referring here to “victory over occupation” not advocating gloating over or against Ethiopians.)

The motivation to struggle for independence springs from a lofty inner drive and is a purely human characteristic and can be regarded as an advanced trait even within the human species.  No other creature can reach this level of altruistic sophistication.  Imagine explaining to a chimpanzee why colossal sacrifices would be justifiable in the quest for freedom! One hopes, however, that humans at least can appreciate these sentiments in others even if they themselves are unable to conceptualize or experience it.

Independence thus – as a victory over occupation – is a grand achievement but it is not something we can put on the scale to measure against the sacrifices it demanded. Eritrean people as a whole were willing to pay whatever price independence demanded and 22 years ago, the goal was achieved when Eritrea became a nation.  Two years later on May 28, 1993, Eritrea became the 182^nd member of the United Nations.

What is odd about the Eritrean condition 22 years after independence is the fact that despite the exponential growth in the number of Eritreans that oppose the regime, a corresponding increase in the morale and spirit of the resistance movement did not occur. Enthusiasm and confidence remains low or unchanged.

Napoleon famously remarked that “an army marches on its stomach”.  An army can also be said to march on its attitudes.  A resistance movement cannot achieve much without a high dose of confidence, enthusiasm, and belief in its ability to succeed.  In the case of Eritrea, the opposition’s lack of confidence has its origins in shaebia’s vicious, cruel, and sustained propaganda against it which the latter unfortunately seems to have internalized over the years so much so that the regime need not do anything anymore because the opposition is doing a marvelous job all by itself.  One almost never hears positive or hopeful thoughts from within the opposition or from without while an avalanche of negativity is constantly hurled at it from all sides.  Is it any wonder then that the opposition has not made great strides forward in the two plus decades of captivity?

This erosion of self-esteem has emboldened and made it easy for the predators-in-waiting to pounce upon the weak, the defeated and demoralized Eritreans and to further strip them of whatever faith is left in them about themselves and their country. Softened by many years of defeatist mentality, the demoralized are no match to the subtle manipulations of the smooth talking pretenders and end up succumbing.  To their dazed minds, they will even appear free thinking bold individuals and the more boldly and freely they attack Eritrea and Eritreans, the more heroic they will seem in their eyes.

To stop such marauders in their tracks, we need to stop the endless pessimism and seek instead ways of strengthening the resistance.  The Forto uprising failed but it showed possibilities and it proved that people could rise and revolt even under extremely difficult conditions. Just as in individuals, it is positive reinforcement and encouragement that leads to reform and improvement not constant nagging, wrangling or cynicism.

I am not one to advocate national arrogance.  In fact, I have written critically against such tendencies fostered by EPLF/PFDJ.  But I am also not for bashing Eritreans and their history either.  Though we should fully acknowledge faults and crimes committed during revolutionary Gedli era, we run the risk of overstating them if we constantly focus on the less than savory aspects of our history.  If we go back in history, what country can boast of a totally clean history? How many revolutions can we name that remained clean throughout their duration? We can find dark spots in almost every country we minutely examine as some Eritreans are doing with respect to Eritrea.

Take the US history for example (the country we so admire today).  Someone could assert that it was foundationally evil from its inception to this day by citing how the country was established by wiping out indigenous people and how it continued to traffic in slave labor for centuries and how even the founders were slave holders.  Racism, income inequality, crime, corruption in Government and a lot of other examples may be given. But such characterization would be skewed and very unfair to the US history and its people.  Wouldn’t it?

A similar cool-headed understanding of the Eritrea’s condition is needed if we are to have a comprehensive understanding of Eritrea and its people.  As a people, we found ourselves in some difficult circumstances that history weaved around us and we continue to strive within those limited parameters. Considering our cultural, educational, and civilizational level, I think we can even pat ourselves in the back.

There were a lot of bad Eritreans for sure but the vast majority has always been decent and good though they may have been misled, powerless or confused at various times in our history.  This is true not only about Eritreans but is an axiom about humans that most sociologists and psychologists would attest to and to a certain extent provable by crime statistics that shows that they are committed by a tiny minority of people.  So, let us reclaim faith in ourselves and let us resist all attempts to make us loathe ourselves as a people.   If we are to defeat the dictatorship, attitude change is an absolute must!  If we can’t come up with our own, let us adapt Jesse Jackson’s “Keep hope alive!” or better yet, Obama’s “Yes we can!”

Ismailomar10@gmail.com

Eritrea has become a new sovereign state in the Horn of Africa ever since the ultimate victory sealed on the 24^th of May 1991. This milestone is the result of heavy sacrifices paid by Eritreans from all walks of life over a long period of time. Eritrea’s history for self-determination struggle is full of heroism and self-reliance; recounting that history is certainly beyond the scope of a single article. Every year on the 24^th of May, Eritreans celebrate independence day to pay respect to those heroic patriots who paid with their lives for their country’s full sovereignty. The national pride Eritrea’s independence brought about cannot be disputed, as it is overwhelmingly endorsed by a YES vote for independence in the 1993 referendum, both inside Eritrea and by the Diaspora communities. That is the desire of the Eritrean people who had given the opportunity to decide, and by voting yes, Eritreans fulfilled the will of their national martyrs.

In the mist of all this great success, of course, today the majority of Eritreans - except PFDJ diehards - commiserate with the Eritrean people for the sad situation the country is in. Some commiserate independence day silently and others publicly, by voicing their rejection of the dictatorial regime ruling Eritrea with an iron fist. It has become a common practice by the Eritrean Diaspora (especially in the West and recently in Egypt and Israel) to organise peaceful rallies coinciding with Eritrean independence day. These demonstrations are held to express rage against the PFDJ regime which denied the Eritrean people a normal life.

Tribute to Eritrean Armed Struggle Martyrs

As a mark of respect to our martyrs, I will share with you two of their successful stories; the battle of Mashalet in 1975 and Elabred in 1978. This is not to be selective, but briefly describing two of the many battles can demonstrate the level of bravery and steadfastness displayed by Eritrean freedom fighters. Mashalet is about half way between Keren and Af’abet. The battle had adverse effect on life in Keren. The Derge regime was determined to take back the then Sahel Province, which was almost a liberated zone by 1975-76. The liberation movements were equally determined in denying the Derge regime from reoccupying liberated areas in the Sahel Province.

The ELF & EPLF jointly fought the occupying army, and after a month of fierce fighting, the Ethiopian regime gave up its hope to reinforce its presence in Sahel. The spirit of cooperation and good-willingness on the part of the freedom fighters prevailed over the belligerence of the aggressors. Unfortunately, as Eritreans know, such cooperation between the two main fronts (ELF & EPLF) was a very rare occurrence in the history of Eritrean armed struggle for national liberation. On the contrary, conspiracy to weaken one another was practiced more often than not. The period of the armed struggle would have been shortened had the exemplary cooperation of Mashalet battle was taken as a role model.

Upon arrival in Keren, the defeated and frustrated Ethiopian army attempted to terrorise the population in the town. I vividly remember the army entered Keren around noon, and continuously fired bullets in the air for not less than two hours on the way to its barracks. I can’t recall if there were civilian casualties in the terrifying two-hour ordeal. Once the terror campaign passed, life in that defiant town continued as usual. The army wasted its ammunition in futile attempt to intimidate the general populace of Keren.

In the battle of Elabred in 1978, the EPLF fighters heroically attempted to defend the recapturing of Keren by the advancing a large contingent of Ethiopian soldiers equipped with sophisticated weaponry and heavy arsenal. I have personal memory of the battle, which I would like to share, not because being involved in it in anyway, but accidentally caught up. It was around 3pm Keren local time. The generally accepted news was the Ethiopian army entered Adi Tekelezan and is fast advancing towards Keren along the Asmara-Keren route. A fierce fighting was also raging around Aderde to defend Keren from the Ethiopian army that came through Barka. There was an ominous atmosphere in Keren in fear of how the army will treat the population of Keren. The best thing to do was evacuating the town and flee in a direction, believed to be safe. Amid the gloom and doom, my mother quickly decided to dispatch my cousin and I to her home village, Halibmentel to get two donkeys to help with carrying loads. We walked so fast (sometimes running) to reach Halibmentel covering 12km in about 1 hour. Under normal circumstance, the trip takes 11/2 – 2 hours, depending on the speed of the walker.

Upon arrival, we discovered most of Halibmentel’s residents abandoned the village. Luckily, we met my elder uncle when he was about to leave Halibmentel. We told him why we were there. The news in Halibmentel was even more gloom. My uncle informed us another contingent of Ethiopian soldiers sent from Massawa was about to enter Elabred. EPLF defence line quickly moved from the outskirts of Adi Tekelezan to Elabred. It was too late to go back to Keren, said my uncle. So we joined the villagers in their march to a safe place, which happened to be a long valley extending between a chain of tall mountains[1], about 7-10km north-west of Halibmentel. I wished a mobile phone technology existed back then to reassure my mother I was safe.

At dusk, the battle of Elabred started; it was a fierce fighting that the sound of heavy artilleries can be heard from our shelter. At times, large artillery shells landed near us, not sure whether they were airstrikes or fired from large guns. To give you an idea, Halibmentel is about 13km from Elabred and we were located about 7km north-west of Halimentel. The EPLF emerged victorious from the battle so much so in a matter of hours its fighters completely destroyed the enemy army that entered Elabred. However, it was not without heavy sacrifices. For reasons not known to me, the EPLF sustained numerous injuries in that battle they had to move the injured combatants in broad daylight, risking airstrikes. Indeed, airstrikes hit large vehicles that were transporting the injured EPLF fighters at the centre of Halibmentel. Many of them were killed instantly.

On the second day, the villagers (residents of Halibmentel) were called up to help moving the injured fighters. They set out at sunset for Elabred, moved the injured fighters all night and returned to us in the morning. According to them, they counted 20 tanks which were completely destroyed. They brought the good news Elabred was under EPLF control, and the defence line moved further south towards Adi Tekelezan. The disabled tanks and heavy armours were left there for a long time; anyone travelled between Asmara and Keren in peacetime can draw a conclusion a battle was fought in Elabred. Despite the victory, the EPLF had to withdraw from Elabred because the Ethiopian soldiers already entered Keren from the west gate. The EPLF fighters who were stationed in Elabred hurriedly bypassed Keren to defend the next town, Af’abet. This is a brief description of Elabred battle in 1978.[2] The EPLF controlled Keren for a year and four months. I re-united with my family a week after Keren was re-taken by the Ethiopian army.

The message from the first part of this article is on the day of independence, Eritreans need to reflect back on their proud armed struggle history. Eritreans need to remember the brilliant heroic stories of our martyrs, which we have many of them. We need to put our disagreements aside on this day, as it defines the destiny of our nation. But at the same time, we should continue fighting to free the Eritrean people from the grip of the authoritarian regime which is humiliating our people day in day out, and decide to change the present course of events by acting collectively to reverse the current dire situation.

What Went Wrong Post-Independence?

In the immediate years of liberation and independence, the majority of Eritreans were relishing in the spirit of freedom. They were expecting political freedom and the prospect of development of their country. Unfortunately, that dream faded away quickly; and on the contrary, Eritreans at home and abroad faced with a different reality, characterised by a complete absence of what independence meant to them. It is imperative to ask what went wrong following the independence of Eritrea? The answer to this question is not difficult for an observer familiar with the nature of the regime that assumed absolute power in Eritrea and the weakness of the Eritrean opposition camp. Knowing these two factors, it takes little scrutiny to work out why Eritrea currently is in a terrible mess.

Sequences of dreadful events led to the current ill-situation in Eritrea. Some examples are given in this article, which represent only the tip of the iceberg. The prevailing situation in Eritrea – among other authors – is best narrated by Dr. Bereket Hebte Selassie, in his book entitled, ‘WOUNDED NATION’. Many commentators including editorial editions of the Eritrean opposition political organisations and Eritrean ‘independent’ media outlets wrote analyses on the occasion of Eritrea’s 20^th independence to commiserate 20 years of repression. All these commentators branded any ‘development’ claims by the Eritrean regime as mere propaganda. Some examples can be accessed in these links: Noor; Dr Woldeab; Awate Team 1, 2, 3; Ande, Bohashem. There is no need to reinvent the wheel by repeating what has already been written either by these authors or others.

No one in his/her right frame of mind can argue against the fact that today’s Eritrea is far from the spirit of a free nation, which the main responsibility for the failure rests with the Eritrean regime. Opposition groups also share some degree of responsibility for the long-suffering of the Eritrean people. They are always blamed for their ineffectiveness in fighting the Eritrean regime; the fact that the regime has continued abusing the Eritrean people for 22 years unhindered and without any formidable challenge put the opposition in a difficult position to escape the blame. The opposition groups have spent all this long time squabbling about issues less pertain to the dire situation in Eritrea. However, the reference of blame is not only directed at the organised opposition political groups and civic societies, but also at independent individuals (particularly the intellectuals) and more so at the silent majority. In short, except the few who are whole-heartedly committed to fight the tyrannical regime in Eritrea, the majority of us who claim to be pro- peace, justice and democracy have not done enough to stand up to the regime’s malpractices and put an end to the suffering of the Eritrean people at home.

Let me draw a relevant point which I listened on BBC report on the occasion of South Sudan independence on 9 July 2011. A BBC reporter asked a Kenyan army General who played a key mediating role in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement reached between the Sudanese government and Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM). The question was why is it a rebel group that deliver the ultimate victory assumes absolute power and denies others space for any meaningful political participation? The General did not give a direct answer to the question and instead said, at this stage, there are no forces contending for power with the SPLM, hence the ruling party will enjoy a honeymoon for 10 years. After that, the SPLM will seriously be challenged, added the General. Time will tell if the Kenyan General is right or wrong in the case of South Sudan. However, it hasn’t happened in the case of Eritrea for 22 years. Then, isn’t it true to say the Eritrean opposition has not mounted serious challenges (as the Kenyan General is contemplating for South Sudan) to force the Eritrean regime to change its belligerent behaviour and listen to the demands of the people?

To be fair, let us now look at what have been ‘achieved’ during the last 22 years of ‘independence’? According to the Eritrean regime media propaganda and staunch supporters, the answer is a lot. That is not true! According to the opponents of the regime, the answer is none. That is inaccurate assessment either! The truth of the matter is a modest progress has been made in some areas (e.g. infrastructure, agriculture, potable water facilities, health clinics, etc.). It is difficult to utterly deny these achievements. However, the means by which this progress has been made is morally questionable and unacceptable to any decent human being. Development at the expense of human dignity and freedom should be rejected. Could Eritrea has been in a better position politically, economically & socially had all Eritreans given equal opportunity to freely participate in politics and rebuild their war shattered country? Certainly yes!

For me, the important issue is not about whether progress has been recorded or not in many areas of life. My argument against the regime’s failure to take the country in the right course stems from its appalling human rights record- primarily extra-judicial killings, incommunicado imprisonment and youth exploitation. PFDJ crimes against the Eritrean people are numerous; some are committed directly at the hands of its ruthless security apparatus and others indirectly by forcing Eritreans, especially the youth, to take desperate measures. Since PFDJ took power in Eritrea, a sizable number of Eritreans horrifically killed and many others disappeared under mysterious circumstances. These crimes brought so much agony to the victims’ families in particular and to the populace in general. The first wave of terror began well before the liberation of Eritrea when people shot dead in the streets of the Capital city and in other towns and villages accused of being enemy collaborators. That was an early sign of what to come in ‘independent’ Eritrea – extrajudicial killings and violation of the rule of law – which are not supposed to be practiced by the peoples’ ‘liberators’.

The very saddening and troubling issue about Eritrea is the country has been emptied of its youth. The dire situation of Eritrean youth is well captured in a solidarity statement issued by Melbourne Rally Organising Committee:

“Eritrean youth at home are living without hope and future, and a necessary question to be asked is, what kind of citizens are they going to be? Eritrea is going to have a generation of unskilled and untrained youth. Under such conditions, the future is bleak and very frightening to contemplate. In March 2011, nearly 400 Eritreans tragically lost their lives after a boat in which they were travelling capsized in the Mediterranean Sea and almost all of them drowned and perished in a very tragic circumstance. The death of these innocent people – including children and women –demonstrates how desperate Eritreans are at home. They are daring to embark on a high risky mission to reach Italy in search of a better life in Europe. They were compelled to embark on a treacherous high risky journey escaping oppression and gloom future at home. The relentless hardship Eritrean youth are enduring at home is unprecedented. Similar tragic incidents happened in the past and will happen in the future, so long as Eritreans are facing relentless hardship in their home country and escaping Eritrea in droves to neighbouring countries and beyond.”[3]

Finally, I will demonstrate the level of the crimes committed by PFDJ using a tragic story of Aisha. Her story is not unique, but represents one of the typical PFDJ’s inhumane treatment, which its consequence doesn’t spare even children. Her mother passed away after giving birth to baby Aisha in 1988, possibly due to post-maternity complication. This little girl had lived for five years without the badly needed care of a mother. Another tragedy struck Aisha in 1993 when her father was abducted at night from his home for unknown reasons. Now 25 years old, Aisha has lived most of her life without the badly needed caring of both parents. Is that fair for a little girl to go through such agonizing experience in ‘independent’ Eritrea? Not at all! How many Aisha are there in Eritrea? Many, for sure. What does the future hold for the children of disappeared parents? Sawa and its attendant adversities, certainly not a bright future as long as the Eritrean regime continues on its repressive policies.

The petition, which was organized by the ENCDC, was signed by hundreds of Eritreans who live in Australia.

Adam Bandt, who is the deputy of the Australian Greens party, was the first member of his party to win in the general election.  The 2010 victory over the Labor Party, a blowout, is an election that the Eritrean community in Melbourne contributed to.

The ENCDC, also referred by its Tigrinya and Arabic names as “Bayto” and “Mejlis” respectively, is a 127-member body which was elected in Awasa, Ethiopia in November 2011, after Diaspora Eritreans delegated representatives to hold a congress.  Its next conference is expected to be held in November of this year.

MP Adam Brandt’s speech follows:

“I rise today to speak to a petition recently handed to me by representatives of the Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change. The petition contains several hundred signatures, many from my electorate of Melbourne, and raises a number of disturbing claims of human rights violations, including forced labour,
arbitrary detention and restrictions on freedoms of speech.

“As to forced labour, the petition raises the particularly disturbing claim that Australian companies can operate
in Eritrea without being required to positively verify that slave or forced labour is not being used. The petitioners also claim that freedom of speech is being dramatically restricted and that Eritrea is the world’s worst jailor of journalists. There are also disturbing claims that a two per cent tax is continuing to be levied on Eritreans in diaspora, something which has been condemned by the US and Australia. In 2009 the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions against Eritrea; however, the petitioners call on the Australian government to add Eritrea to the countries currently named in the autonomous sanction list. I have written to the Minister for Foreign Affairs to draw these claims to his attention, and I thank him for responding. It is clear that there is a strong movement from Eritrean Australians for human rights, peace and freedom in Eritrea.

“I thank the Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change for drawing these matters to my attention. I draw the petition to the parliament’s attention and I hope that the Australian government will meet with the council to discuss their requests.”

-//-
awate.com
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Some people find themselves in a storm and struggle to get out; others search for a storm and get into it knowingly. Eritrea’s history is full of both kinds of people; this column, the Fertile Womb, celebrates Eritreans who volunteered themselves for the sake of the people. They pushed a wheel and the train started to move on- it continued to move on, consuming lives, witnessing sacrifices, recording bravery and creating heroes, until it arrived at its final destination in 1991, with the gallant fighters of the Eritrean liberation forces entering Asmara victoriously. Eritrea entered into the unknown era under a liberation organization and the struggle was renewed, this time for the dignity of the citizen, the acknowledgement of past sacrifices and for the establishment of a just, free, prosperous and democratic society. Many of those who helped initiate the struggle, Eritreans now in their 70s, are dying off, many in exile and with them their unrecorded histories, forever lost. This, then, is the story of one man, a patriot, a breathing history, a brick in the foundation of Eritrea: Adem Melekin.

Today, I write this edition to mourn Adem Melekin (affectionately known as Am, or uncle, Adem) whose body was buried in Australia today (Friday morning May 17, 2013). Yes, the man I called “a brick in the foundation of Eritrea” has died in Melbourne, Australia. Today, one of the pages of our history is turned, leaving behind memories and distinct examples of toil and dedication for the sake of Eritrea.

Adam Melekin died expressing his love for Eritrea, even as he breathed his last breath. Eritrea lost one of its fathers; the Eritrean community in Australia lost one of its towering figures. It lost a face that a smile never left.

Looking back at the prospects for Eritrea, I would like to present to you what Am Melekin told me when I interviewed him in 2005.

“Change, should come from inside Eritrea, even if that requires imprisonment and death. People should defy and struggle…If one wants to achieve political gains, then it should be by targeting the senior heads of the system, from inside Eritrea and not an all-out military confrontation from the outside.”

Qtestion: But why isn’t there defiance inside Eritrea?

“Most of the officers – I have talked to many of them while in Eritrea- have spent decades in the struggle and upon the independence of Eritrea, they arrived penniless and without a skill. With meager resources, some managed to establish a home. Now, they have families and children and they are not willing to spend what is left of their lives on another struggle. They complain that their lives were wasted and they have no guarantees for their living. Does the opposition have guarantees, financial and security guarantees, for these people so that they can do something?”[ii]

I saw Am Melekin for the last time in January 2013 and we parted hoping to meet again, “You have to come again to Australia, there is a lot I want to talk to you about,” he told me. Now I feel guilty, I should have spent more time with him; I had no idea he would leave this soon… Am Melekin was 85 years old, but he looked much younger than his age. His healthy looks, jolly personality and attitude cheated me into believing he will live longer, I thought he would cheat death for a long time. He didn’t. When the time comes, there is no escape. But again, when the time comes, those who leave behind them a clean history stay alive in the memories of their people. Am Adem Melekin lives forever.

Am Adem was “old-school”. Old school in his attire, his spirit and easygoing personality. Elegant, smiling and superb conversationalist. He doesn’t say a word until he infects those who meet him with his smile. Once you relax and smile, he starts to talk. The two times I met him in town, and the one last time I sat with him for a long time at a wedding party, were invaluable to me, and I wish I had more of that. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. The son of Halhal died in Australia; that has become the fate of Eritreans. May Allah reward him for his sacrifice.

My condolences to his family, particularly to his son Salah, my childhood friend. My condolences to the Eritrean Australian community for the great loss. May what we all miss in Am Adem be carried on in the character of the elders of Melbourne. May his spirit of patriotism dwell in all of us.

negarit@awate.com

For a glimpse of the late Adem Melekin’s history, please see the entire interview on the links below.

For over a century, successive regimes in the Horn of Africa, have served their respective populace the Tantalus cup of freedom and prosperity. It has become a vicious cycle; a never-ending season of conflicts which has rendered many much worse off than they were a half century ago. Seyoum Haregot’s family is a case in point.

 Revolutions, coup d’état and large-scale interstate and civil wars have proven to be the ill winds that blew nobody good. Even the so-called successful wars and revolutions could declare nothing but cadmean victory. Something has gone terribly wrong; and it is incumbent upon all of us who hail from the Horn of Africa to seek understanding and make sense of what seems utterly senseless. We need to know our past because, in the words of Alexis De Tocqueville, the author of the famous book, Democracy in America, “When the past does not illuminate the future, the human mind wonders in the dark.”

Seyoum Haregot’s book is a great addition to the mushrooming literature of Ethiopian, Eritrean and the Horn of African history. It is the result of a manuscript the author wrote and a diary he kept while in detention at the Menelik II Palace, in Addis Ababa, from April 26, 1974 until September 11, 1982. The first-hand account of the events which have shaped modern Eritrea and Ethiopia, in particular and the Horn of Africa in general, is bound to make the book a vade mecum to the 20^th century history of the region. The book is impressively rich in details; in fact, it is the author’s tour de force. Sometimes, it reads like a legal brief and could be unappealing to the uninitiated and less enthusiastic reader. The key is not allow the writing style prevent you from partaking in the bonfire of first-hand account of modern history that has the greatest impact in the lives of many. It is undoubtedly a gem of information.

From the onset, the author underscores his sole interest in writing the book is “to report objectively my [his] experiences in the government,” and it is “neither a stricture of nor a eulogy for the Government of Haile Selassie I.” It is only fair that I also reciprocate the gesture and mention, in advance that my knowledge of Ethiopian history does not allow me to judge whether he has succeeded in his stated mission or not, but, I can safely say that, in the subject where I am much more informed—Eritrean history—he has left out a lot to be desired. His omission can speak volumes to many people.

Seyoum: The Prodigal Son who never returned.

Many Eritreans of Seyoum’s generation have to navigate the unchartered territories of multiple national identities. A significant part of them have learned to straddle between Eritrean and Ethiopian identities while firmly rooting themselves in the former. A majority, however, have categorically rejected the Ethiopian identity and these are the heroes who fought the liberation struggle. A few, however, enthusiastically embraced an Ethiopian and an Amhara identity and marrying an Amhara with a “blue blood” was presumably the down-payment they had to make in order to gain an access to the corridors and climb the echelons of power. Seyoum was the personification of the last category. There were few who married for love; and most of the women were not from the royal family or nobility.

 It is hard not to be conscious of the fact that the late Seyoum had spent the best years of his life “serving Emperor Haile Selassie” and his last years serving a vulgar version of Haile Selassie—Isaias Afeworki. It is uncanny how the two rulers have much in common; the latter only being boorish, crude and a Philistine beyond redemption. Inadvertently or not, the author does not say much about Isaias Afeworki, although, it is not hard to tell his disappointment with the state of affairs under the dictator’s rule. In a telling sentence, this is what he had to say upon his visit to Eritrea:

“I went back to Eritrea, in a quest of the ‘Holy Grail’. I even invested some of my savings to help in that search, but alas the Holy Grail kept on vanishing beyond the horizon! I hope it will not again be necessary to use guns in the continued search for the Grail.” (pg. 109)

Typical of the evident contradictions in his life where on one hand, he portrays himself as an Eritrean nationalist who had written his position on Eritrea “in the hearts and minds of many [Eritreans] whom I [he] helped,” and, on the other, one who had proudly served the Ethiopian cause by lobbying foreign governments to stop supporting the Eritrean Liberation Fronts. Nowhere does Seyoum show remorse for being on the wrong side of Eritrean history. In fact, he neither apologizes for standing against his own fellow-Eritreans during the struggle nor for his new Ethiopian/Amara identity which was imposed at the expense of our own; but seems to take particular delight in parading the list of the two or three close female relatives with the name “Ethiopia” in the preface of the book. Let me put this in perspective: when Seyoum first met Emperor Haile Selassie someone had to do the translation for him since he, like the overwhelming majority of Eritreans, didn’t know an iota of Amharic.

“I went to Belgrade and told President Tito that despite Ethiopia’s support of the Arabs at the United Nations, these countries provide material and financial support to liberation fronts in Ethiopia. I conveyed the Ethiopian Government’s request to intercede on our behalf and put pressure on the Arab countries to stop supporting liberation fronts.” (pg. 179)

 In the Eritrea of Isaias Afeworki that has gone rogue, it is, of course, the resumes of turn-coats, people of questionable backgrounds and those who have successfully made virtue of selfishness and feathering their nests that matter the most. (In a language the late Seyoum would have appreciated, let me say: Exhibit A: Yoftahe Dimetros and Dr. Amare Tekle. I rest my case.)

True to the adage of “wedi dumu kem qedemu” or is it “zeyHafr dumu Hailemariam shmu” [Incidentally the latter saying is attributed to the grandfather of Yoftahe Dimetros who allegedly violated his monastic oath by fathering the notorious Dimetros from a nun.], the author rationalizes Isaias’s refusal to implement the ratified 1997 constitution on the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia. “Under these circumstances, President Isaias felt it would be difficult to implement the Constitution.” He conveniently forgets the border war was started almost a year after the ratification of the constitution. In September 2001, the author was one of the six former members of the Constitutional Commission who wrote an open letter to Dr. Bereket Habte Selassie accusing their “errant colleague” of “impropriety”, making “self-serving claims”, “molestation of the truth” and “egregious pretensions.”

The open letter was replete with outright falsehood, exaggerations, half-truths without any proper context, and, most of all, malice. The fact is Dr. Bereket wrote the original draft in English and Zemehret Yohanness was responsible for translating it into Tigrinya. The final version had a couple of new clauses written in Tigrinya; and it is these additions that Seyoum had the undeserved honor of translating them into English; and this, in a convoluted higdefite world, denies Dr. Bereket the honor of being the principal author of the Constitution. Seyoum, however, seems to modify his earlier position in the open letter, and, in this book has tried to reflect the truth as often told by Dr. Bereket. Hallelujah! And in the words of the Seyoum Haregot, “sometimes there is sanity even among devils.”

“Dr. Bereket left Eritrea after the Constitution was ratified, but before its publication in the official Gazette. I finalized the English version, and its publication in the official Gazette followed.” (Pg. 110)

This is a far cry from what the ignoble six had said in September 2001. The ignoble six were: Dr. Amare Tekle, W/ro Amna Hassen Naib, Ato Musa Hassen Naib, Dr. Seyoum Haregot, w/ro Zahra Omar Jabir and the Joseph Goebbels of the Tigrinya speaking Dergue, ato Zemehret Yohannes. (Source: dehai.org)

“A propos, you have declared that the original Draft of the Constitution was in English. We are aware only of the Tigrinya text. It was in fact for this reason that we requested one of our colleagues to translate it into English. If you had an English text why was it necessary to have the Tigrinya text translated?”

Of all people, Seyoum should have been more sensitive to politically motivated character assassinations and accusations. In his blind loyalty to the defunct regime and naiveté which, even, in his later years, has obviously not outgrown, he had refused an opportunity to escape to Djibouti because he was concerned his move would be misconstrued as admission of “wrong doing”; but, more importantly, he did not want to separate from his family. (I can certainly respect him for the latter.) Instead, he chose to remain and face the music. Consequently, he was unjustly forced to spend eight and half years of his life in prison on false and trumped up charges that were initially approved by the very emperor—who happens to be his wife’s grandfather and one whom he served with devotion and loyalty.

The emperor had reluctantly accepted the resignation of Aklilu’s cabinet the day before their arrest, but on this infamous day of betrayal, it was presented as “desertion”; and, hence, an offense which accordingly elicited the indignation and wrath of the emperor and his coterie of nobles who had their own hidden agenda. With a twinge of remorse, Seyoum recalls, “At Goffa Sefer, we [they] were prisoners of the Emperor and Endalkachew Mekonnen, prisoners of the very regime we [they] had long served.” (Pg. 277) In a face to face meeting with the emperor which turned out to be his last day of freedom, Aklilu Habtewold, (based on the book, it is very hard not to like this guy. He was suave, debonair and a consummate diplomat.) in a prophetic utterance, vented out to the Emperor:

“If our imprisonment, even our death, can save both Your Imperial Majesty and Ethiopia, we are ready to sacrifice ourselves, but let me assure you it will not stop there. All of you who are here will be joining us.” (Pg. 275)

Sadly, many of Seyoum’s fellow cabinet ministers and other high-ranking government officials and prominent church leaders including His Holiness Abune Theophilos, the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Tewahdo Orthodox Church were later brutally executed by the savage, Menghistu Hailemariam. (It is a shame we, Ethiopians and Eritreans, let this brute die of natural death without being duly prosecuted for all the crimes he committed against humanity.) After so much personal loss and the horrific experience he went through, one would have expected Seyoum to be a man who would tirelessly crusade for justice and freedom and champion the cause of political prisoners. But, not surprisingly, he reverted to his earlier selfish state of only looking out for himself and his interests; even if that meant being on the wrong side of justice and history. Seyoum had shamelessly sold his humanity to the devil. He could not even sympathize with Eritreans who had become victims of similar circumstances as him. There was no compassion or sympathy, for instance when he mentioned Salih Kekia, a former Eritrean minister who is now languishing in PFDJ’s dungeons and, even worse, presumed dead by many. Kekia was one of the young Eritrean students who had returned to Asmera in protest and who were later persuaded by the likes of Haregot Abbai, Seyoum’s father and Tesfayohnnes Berhe to return to Baherdar, Ethiopia, and resume their studies.

“Among the group, I distinctly remember Salih Kekia, who became Minister of Communications and Transport in the Government of Eritrea, and who is currently under detention with other former ministers, known as the “Group of 15” or “G 15.” (pg. 108)

Not worthy enough to stoop down and untie the strap of their sandals.

Seyoum characterized, perhaps nonchalantly, the principled and honorable stand of Dr. Assefaw Tekeste, a veteran tegadalay who brilliantly served the EPLF as the chief medical doctor as “disillusioned with EPLF policies.” For the record, Dr. Assefaw accuses the current leadership in Eritrea of betraying the principles which made the EPLF great; and bitterly laments how the organizational culture that unleashed unprecedented creativity and innovation during the liberation struggle was quickly and unwisely abandoned to serve the political ambitions of one man. Dr. Assefaw is one of the few credible and qualified Eritreans to accuse the regime of highjacking EPLF’s values because it was the underground hospitals and medical facilities which were the crown jewel of Eritrean pride.

The many innuendos and explicit accusations the author makes against Dr. Bereket also seem to emanate from a man who has not outgrown his childhood and school rivalry at the Evangelical School in Asmera where Dr. Bereket was a stellar student; a record which became a prelude to an even more impressive career. It is amazing how far he has gone to hit a man below the belt who was one of his best men at his wedding. To portray him as an ungrateful, subservient and dangerously ambitious man, he had unleashed all the arsenals of falsehood and defamation. “Dr. Bereket Habteselassie was the prima donna of the Enquiry Commission. He clearly relished his new role in the Dergue.” (Pg. 284) Even worse, he uses and quotes the notorious butcher of Addis Ababa, Meghistu Hailemariam, as a credible source of authority in tarnishing the reputation of Dr. Bereket. I hope Seyoum does not repeat a similar mistake of quoting Satan when he “gives an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)

Dr. Bereket’s anti-establishment’s views were known to many Eritreans and Ethiopians who knew him; he was part of the new intelligentsia who were openly and secretly advocating revolutionary change. Seyoum, on the other hand is known among many Eritreans for his Amara-philia who tied the knot with a member of the Royal Family—against the advice of some Eritrean friends—to perpetuate the status quo and expedite his meteoric rise to power. The young World Bank lawyer Bereket who had been imbued with anti-establishment, revolutionary, democratic, socialist and liberal views had tacitly consented to his like-minded friends to not start the revolution without him. When the long-awaited revolution took place and his best friend, General Aman Andom, a man of courage and definitely worthy of his military title, was at the top of the leadership, it is only expected for somebody of the caliber of Dr. Bereket to lend a hand and be part of the revolution. This is the Bereket I personally know; a man who is now in his sunset years, but with a fire still in his belly who would talk till the wee hours of the night about the great ideas which have inspired many revolutions throughout the world. And, yes, he has inherited the oratory skills that his late father, Qeshi Habte Selassie, was known for throughout Karneshim and my own neck of the wood, DeqeTeshim, and beyond.

It is true that Dr. Bereket had asked the Prime Minister Aklilu and Getahun Tessema for their assistance to join the World Bank in Washington DC., but not while he was in Harar. Dr. Bereket was relieved from Harar two years prior to the request, thanks to the efforts of Bitweded Zewde Gebrehiwet. Dr. Bereket’s main motivation for requesting the assistance was to provide his sick daughter the treatment she desperately needed. Aklilu could not even make an exception on humanitarian grounds and had to slam the door in Dr. Bereket’s face. It was the intervention of Abebe Kebede that made it possible for Dr. Bereket to join the World Bank. There was no cause for Dr. Bereket to write “a letter to Tsehafe Aklilu,” let alone, to “thanking him profusely.”

It is also true and Dr. Bereket’s first memoir, “The Crown and the Pen” has beautifully depicted how some ELF fighters played a role in his escape from Ethiopia to Eritrea. Immediately, upon his arrival in Eritrea, however, he participated in the peoples’ mediation efforts that spontaneously erupted when the conflict between the two warring groups—ELF and EPLF— reached an alarming height. This is the civil war that took the lives of many heroes such as Israel Mesghina, the son of the prominent Asmera lawyer, the late aboy Mesghina Gebrezghi.

Dr. Bereket never joined any organization before the mediation efforts and it is wrong for Seyoum Haregot to say, “There he joined ELF, only later to switch to EPLF.” Seyoum was in prison during this time and had no first-hand information about these events. But, what can you expect from a man who had used Menghistu Hailemariam as a credible source to defame his own compatriot and an old friend. Anything will do when one is not guided by the truth and a strong sense of justice and fairness. Dr. Bereket has gone on record of choosing the EPLF over the ELF for its organizational skills and for the greater likelihood that it can accomplish its stated goals; and time has proven him right. He never joined the ELF and “Jebha Aba’y” has never claimed the good doctor as one of its own.

 The Eritrean people in their collective wisdom have an effective litmus test of knowing who has done his share of the public good and it is a simple question: What have you done for us? Drs. Bereket and Dr. Assefaw have proudly served their country and people and the cause of freedom, justice and kbri ade abo; and they are still standing tall. Seyoum is not worthy enough to stoop down and untie the strap of the sandals of these towering Eritreans who had given a life-time of service to the Eritrean cause. Zgebere wey negerelu wey gebrelu and I hope I’ve done a bit of negerelu in this article, at least, about these two great Eritreans whom I have the honor of knowing. I’m proud and appreciative of their records; but, more importantly, I’m even prouder to call them comrades in the ongoing struggle for justice and freedom. By the same token, if I were an Ethiopian, I would have said the same thing about Seyoum Haregot. The Ethiopians owe the late Seyoum this much deserved and well-earned accolade.

Haregot Abbai: Asmera’s Favorite Son.

Seyoum’s father, Haregot Abbai, was Asmera’s favorite son. As mayor, businessman, community and church leader and philanthropist, his name is still remembered with awe and reverence by most people who knew him. Asmera’s love for its beloved son was conspicuously displayed on the day, aboy Haregot was arrested—July 13, 1974.

“On the day he was arrested, the tabot (Ark of Covenant) of the Asmara St. Mary Church (with all its priests) were out and all businesses were closed as protest, and citizens of Asmara came out to protest.” (Pg. 279)

Aboy Haregot had the same love towards Asmera and its residents. In a uniquely Eritrean way, he expressed his love for his city and ancestral village by wishing everything good he encountered for Asmera. In a moving passage, shortly after the execution of his father in Addis Ababa, Seyoum penned down a sentence that captures the love of Asmera most Eritreans are infected with. (Both father and son were detained at the same prison. Hard not to feel their pain.)

“After they took my father, there was a heavy rain in Addis Ababa, and I thought that if my father were here he would have asked, ‘Could there be the same kind of rain in Asmera too?” (Pg. 301) [i]

The native son of Arbate-Asmera was as successful and influential in his private as he was in his public life. His “home was imbued with the sense of hard work, achievement, including academic excellence, and that nothing is permanent. Devotion to religion, beauty and gentleness gave tonality to our [their] lives.” (Pg.XXII) When Seyoum was young, aboy Haregot used to advise him, “if you want peace of mind, you must always try to find solutions to what is bothering your mind, and don’t let your emotions dictate your actions.” It is an advice all Eritreans in general and the youth in particular need to heed.

Seyoum briefly writes about the history of his hometown, Arbate Asmera and he is, so far, the only one I know and recall who has given an approximate date of when the place was named “Asmera.” “One day, in the thirteenth century, eight hundred years ago, their wives conspired to force their husbands to unite the endas [Gheza Asmaa, Gheza Sirinsir, Gheza Shilele and Gheza Guretom] and establish a ‘United Arabaate Asmera’ in the vicinity of what is today St. Mary Church.” (Pg. XXI) He does not tell how he arrives on this date, but it does not contradict with the information available in the Tewahdo church records—reservoir of a rich heritage. Beginning in the thirteenth century and onwards, Asmera was emerging as the second most important trade center in the highlands and the home of a great church that frequently attracted such luminaries as Abba Eswostatewos and Abba Indrias. Saint Eswostatewos died in exile in Armenia on September 15^th, 1352.

It rejoices my heart to learn that Aboy Haregot was finally put to rest in his hometown of Asmera. After a decade and half, his body was exhumed. In a passage reminiscent of the Biblical Israelites carrying Jacob’s remains out of Egypt to Canaan, the Haregot boys (‘Atsmom yKhber) brought their father home and paid a precious tribute to our tradition of honoring the dead and the coveted honor of being buried in one’s hometown. (This is the honor the cruel regime in Asmara is denying veteran Tegadelti—bonafide heroes—who have given a life-time service to their country and people.)

“My late brother, Ato Fessahaie, himself a detainee of the Dergue, joined the search and identified my father’s remains by his shoes and other items. My father’s remains were brought to Asmara and buried at St Mary’s Church in the family burial place. St Mary is the Church of our ancestors, and he was one of its administrators.” (Pg. 302)

I hope to see one day an institution of City Management and Urban Planning at the University of Asmera, named in honor of Haregot Abbai, mayor extraordinaire. (Meqaberka yrHab)

The over-all theme of the book:

 The main theme of the book is to explore how “The bureaucratic empire was inaugurated with the creation of ministries staffed with trained, salaried civil servants at the national and local levels. The bureaucratic empire was the major success of his [Haile Selassie’] regime while the attempt to modernize the Kibre Neguest was the primary failure.” (Pg. 113) Authority under the Kibre Neguest was “maintained by tradition, religion and naked power.” The author argues Haile Selassie successfully arranged the bureaucracy by “skillfully combining centralization and modernization.” He installed the bureaucratic empire with the help of “the educated elite and the middle class”. This change came about at the expense of the traditional nobility. Ironically, it was the former in collaboration with the army that “brought down the emperor and ended the Kibre Neguest.”

Aside from the rich details and first-hand accounts that tantalizingly adorn the book, it is the story of a nation, perhaps the greatest in Africa that has miserably failed to live up to peoples’ expectations. The author dissects the anatomy of social forces that contributed to the downfall of the monarchy and the rise of the military junta. But beneath the plethora of information, a clear pattern emerges which sheds light on the problems which afflicted Ethiopia and by extension, the Horn of Africa. Strangely, the author’s own life mirrors that of the government of Ethiopia. It is hard not to notice that both of them lacked an authentic voice and were, for the most part, guided by self-serving political expediency. There was no fundamental sense of who and what they are and a vision of where they need to go and this has haunted them both and is responsible for their tragic downfall and irrelevancy. What a travesty for a Harvard educated lawyer to spend his life serving an emperor (Haileselassie) who was and a petty tyrant (Isaias) who is above the law.

Ethiopia under Haile Selassie was swinging all over the international political spectrum like a crazy pendulum. There was no marked difference in the way Haile Selassie conducted his foreign and domestic policies. He was more interested in appearing a statesman and powerful than actually being one; and a lot of energy was spent in his showmanship. A focus on short-term political benefits by catering to multiple and often competing interests and responding to emergencies which ruled out any chance the country could have to charter a long-term path of development specifically tailored for it. Unlike the Japanese who early on figured out what they want and where they need to take their country, the Ethiopian leaders (feudal lords) were totally clueless. The Japanese formulated a long-term plan of modernizing their country by identifying the industries which would assure them lasting success; and the students who were sent for studies abroad had to strictly follow the criteria laid out by the government. Japan is the only country besides Ethiopia which has the proud distinction of winning a war against a Western/European power. Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 and the first Italo-Ethiopian war of 1885-1866.

“These efforts [educational] were supplemented by sending students to foreign countries to pursue higher education. However, education was pursued without any rational basis, students left to choose the subject they wished to study without considering its functional link to the socio-economic policies of the Government. There was no harmonized Program of study relevant to the needs of the country.” (Pg. 223)

Accidental Lessons Eritreans must take from this book:

For Eritreans, there is a cautionary tale of how Ethiopia had dealt with its border problems with Somalia and the Sudan. In short, “adhering to principles” and “doing the right thing” meant nothing to Ethiopia; the only game it was interested in was winning, through either chicanery that masqueraded as diplomacy or brute force. Ethiopia invoked the sanctity of treaties in its conflict with Somalia while rejecting Somali’s position as a dangerous legal precedent. It then shamelessly invoked the same Somali’s position in its conflict with the Sudan; and Seyoum was tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the Sudan will never have the contested territories whether it wins ownership of it through arbitration or other legal and political means. Does this sound familiar? It should; and we need to take notes.

Ethiopia had effectively used Ethiopian Afars to change the political situation in Djibouti. In order to defeat the idea of a Greater Somalia, it made so many strange bedfellows: Kenya, France and others. In contravention of the OAU (Organization of African Unity) charter, Ethiopia was ready and willing to let the French’s rule continue in Djibouti in its desire to defeat the idea of a Greater Somalia which it perceived as its greatest regional threat. Addis Ababa is the home of the OAU and Haile Selassie is its most illustrious Founding Father.[ii]

And who can forget the Ethiopian financed shiftas who terrorized many good Eritreans in the 1940s and early 1950s. In the second half of the 1950s, Ethiopia which “had been grooming its own candidate, Bitweded Asfaha Woldemichael, an Eritrean who was the Deputy Representative of the Emperor in Eritrea,” put the final nail in the coffin of the UN approved Federation while the Unionists “were determined to make Federation a viable arrangement under which Eritrea could operate, if not independently, at least autonomously, as anticipated under the Federal Act.” One must appreciate the likes of Tedla Bairu who in remorse took the ultimate action and redeemed himself by joining the Eritrean revolution. To err is human, but to acknowledge mistakes and take corrective action accordingly is a sign of greatness. Eritreans were not totally wrong when they sung: ati men kedinki zAleba: Tedla Bairu do eyelen sni Tseba. The Prodigal Son, Tedla, surely came home.

In the footsteps of his father, Herui Tedla Bairu, while a student in London, rejected the promise of a “junior” ministerial position and subsequently joined the Eritrean revolution; while the late Seyoum dashed to “adi amhara” and left no stone unturned to get a high government position. Some Eritreans advocated andnet; Seyoum lived it.

The original “andnet”, although understandable, was wrong, but the new born-again “andenetism” is annoyingly stupid. The latter-day andnet are the intellectual “Rashaida and Bedouin thugs” who are trying to exploit us in our moment of weakness and despair. But these momentary headaches can be tolerated for the greater good of freedom of expression.

“But the Eritrean Liberation Front, with the defection of Dejazmach Tedla Bairu, the former Secretary of the Unionist party and the first Chief Executive of the Government of Eritrea, has started to attract young Christian Eritreans of the Highlands, particularly those in the Haile Selassie University in Addis Ababa and the University of Asmara.” (Pg.180)

 Reading the book, one fearfully comes to the conclusion that Ethiopia is primarily guided by winning and the culture of “zemecha” and the motto “To the victor goes the spoilage.” To the chagrin of many of us, the late Meles and the current regime in Ethiopia have and are religiously following a long tradition of Ethiopian diplomacy that skillfully pays lip service to legality and morality. Might has always been the ultimate right to the Ethiopian rulers; and right is, and ought only to be, according to Ethiopian modern history, the slave of might, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey it.[iii]

One definite thing a reader will learn from reading the book is the inevitability of the revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy. Many people, foreigners and Ethiopians alike, had seen the handwriting on the wall and all had warned the emperor. But even the emperor who had “the wisdom to heed the voices counseling” was blinded by the calm before the storm.

Conclusion:

The book offers a wealth of information and insights that would enhance readers’ understanding of the gigantic and historic problems confronting the countries of the Horn of Africa. Any serious student of the Horn of Africa must read it. I’m glad that Seyoum had taken the time to write it and could hardly wait for his next autobiographical book, “From Arbate Asmara to Harvard Square” which will be released at the end of the year.

May Seyoum rest in peace.

The book can be purchased from the publisher, Red Sea Press or Amazon:

1)      http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com/servlet/StoreFront
2)       http://www.amazon.com/Bureaucratic-Empire-Serving-Emperor-Selassie/dp/1569023638/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367884238&sr=1-1&keywords=seyoum+haregot

Semere T Habtemariam is a culumnist at Awate.com; author of “Hearts like Birds” and the forthcoming book on the History and Faith of the Tewahdo Orthodox Church of Ethiopia and Eritrea. He can be reached at weriz@yahoo.com or via https://www.facebook.com/semere.habtemariam?ref=tn_tnmn

A man I know had a relative held hostage in Sinai and he has been collecting money to pay the ransom. When I asked him why he veiled that information from me; he was very disturbed that I know about it. He had a reason: “The family decided to avoid media attention.” That was half-true.

I found out that he and his relatives collected and paid $35,000 to the captors to release the young man. Incidentally, they transferred the ransom money to a person who lives in Asmara and facilitates such transactions under the supposedly eagle eyes of the PFDJ.

It is understandable why they kept the incident secret until the hostage is freed (half the truth); but the ex-hostage is now safe and lives in Europe.

Here is the second half (the lie). Two of the relatives expressed their worries that if word goes out, “It will embarrass our government and it is shameful for Eritrea.” They pressured the other relatives to keep everything secret. I urged and encouraged the man to talk to no avail.

The broker of the deal in Asmara certainly shaved his commission off the transferred the money. He might not have paid the 2% tax to the regime; probably the PFDJ has a controlling share of the illicit trade that the broker manages. Right now, he is probably closing another such deal sitting on a sidewalk cafe in Asmara and devouring a beer.

Many Eritreans have paid ransom money; most of them live in Europe and America, and they are quite. Only a minuscule number have shared the vital information with police authorities and relevant entities. Eritreans who hide the identities of the contacts and brokers are aiding and abetting the criminals. Their quietness helps the criminals flourish.

Importance of Diaries

During the years that proceeded WWII, the Jews were at their weakest. They were down. They were hunted door to door, their properties open for anyone to grab, their lives wasted at whim, and their labor forcefully extracted.

Last week I watched a 2010 movie, The Diaries Of Anne Frank. It is an adaptation of a book (itself a translation from the Dutch original), entitled, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. There are several movie adaptations of the book, but I think the 2010 movie is probably the best, certainly better than the 1980 version.

I discovered that the book is a mandatory reading at some American schools and I encourage everyone to either to watch the movie or read the book. Doing both is even better. You can find the translation of the book in many languages.

I didn’t find any new information in the movie about the barbarity of the Nazis; humanity already knows enough about it. What attracted my attention is the fact that Eritreans do not have a culture of writing diaries and memoirs. We have a lot to tell, but our contribution in documenting our experiences is abysmally embarrassing.

When Anne Frank and her family were hiding from the Nazis, the only connection they had to the outside world was a radio broadcast from the UK.  The broadcasted messages urged Jews to write diaries; that is what Anne Frank did. She left behind an amazing document of great historical and literary significance.

Anne Frank, her family (with the exception of her father), and those who lived in the apartment with her, died in the Nazi concentration camps. But the casual diary the young girl left immortalized their stories. The movies that I watched is a 2010 production, almost seventy years after the diaries was written. Almost seventy years after Anne Frank died. It is in this light that I bring the topic today.

Now let us imagine our future. An Eritrean student who will be born in 2032 goes to college in 2050. He or she visits the library (Yes, libraries will still be around in 2050, with more electronic gadgets) to write his thesis on what his great-grandfather (doing slave labor in the nineties) or his grandfather (who was in Sawa, or doing slave labor somewhere in Eritrea in 2013) went through. What do you think the student will find? A detailed description of events in Eritrea like that of Anne Frank? Very little. One-liners that go for news and opinion on social media? Nope. No professor will accept that. Unfortunately, our student of the future will not find much.

My point: we need to develop the habit of writing diaries, articles, blogs, etc.

I know that some people have a lot to say; but they are intimidated by public writing. Internet forums and social media, if used properly, are good training and practicing ground for young and novice writers. They can develop their own voice and style and learn how to engage the public… and at the same time enrich the Eritrean literature.

Literature cannot be built with one-liners just as history cannot be written in the form of disconnected crosswords puzzle. This is important because the selective cooking of Eritrean history in the PFDJ kitchen has badly damaged our nation. This should not be repeated in the future. We do not want future Eritreans to depend on stitched forgeries to learn their history, just like what is happening right now to the gullible. The onslaught is evident. Some people are vomiting their prejudices and creating a crafted history to fit their narrow interests and primordial prejudices. And they are good at writing the end of the story without bothering about its beginning. And…

When Eritrea is down….

When it is down, every wicked person runs with a rusty knife to skin it alive. When you are down…even the coward of cowards wields a knife. As the Tigrinya saying goes, Z’wedeqe B’Eray,  kara y’bezhho. A fallen bull attracts more knives; stubbing and slicing anything becomes a favorite pastime. And that is why we observe a lot of knife wielding. But Eritreans have been there; that stubborn bull never dies. It is a phoenix. It will rise again.

Thanks to the PFDJ, our country has acquired a bad image. Its people are humiliated. They are impoverished. They are intimidated, materially incapacitated, morally damaged. Our self-esteem is at risk. We have become a joke of those who are no better than we are. We have become a laughing stock of the political lepers. Gone are the days when we were known as bold and resilient people; now we are left only with good feet to flee our country. Our people have become the goose that lays golden eggs for all sorts of criminals, from Eritrea, through Sudan to Sinai and beyond.

We are down because of the PFDJ betrayed us. Now the wicked are gloating at our miseries. Gleefully enjoying our sufferings. Looking at us with contempt, a smirk in their faces. We have been there. We have been there and we sprung back with vengeance. Undoubtedly, the sneering lots will learn a lesson. When we are down, we celebrate even the smallest achievements. That is how we begin and that is how we regain our bold nature. But it would be nice if the ENCDC regains some of it, for a change.

Arbi Harnnet

When we are down, projects like Arbi Harenet reminds us that the bull is not yet down. It is simply having a headache. It is rising again. It has firmly planted three hooves in the ground; the fourth will be up anytime; and its horns are as sharp as ever!

We should direct our focus to the cities, town and streets of Eritrea. The rest of the forces are catalysts that should help; what matters is what happens inside Eritrea. The signs are clear for those who want to see; the pessimists are unable to see anything uplifting, anything inspiring, or anything emboldening. They do not even see the half-empty glass; they see the stained, dirty coaster on which the glass sits.

Yes. A fallen bull invites knives, a camel too. Amazingly, a camel sits only when you lightly hit its knees with a stick or a rope. But remember, the Eritrean camel is capable of biting off anything that crosses the line. Eritreans have a line and they will keep it with determination. Those who have given up on Eritrea, please stick to your adopted identities and save the beleaguered Eritreans your condescension and your paternalist gestures.

Fighting the PFDJ Komsomol

The derg effectively used Kebele structure to control the life of the population: distribution of ration, allocation of housing, policing, and many other activities. But that is not why the Derg found it effective. The derg structured Kebele as a security devise with a focus on spying, and protecting the power and authority of the regime.

The PFDJ has not come up with anything new. Why should it when it can inherit the effective derg apparatus that serves the purpose? In fact, the PFDJ reorganized kebele in a stricter form and energized it. It gave it a new impetus of tyrannical powers. Now kebele controls the lives of the people more than it did during the derg era. The effective derg structure is subduing the resolve of Eritreans. It has rendered them docile.

The derg did not create kebele as many think. It copied it from the Soviets system. In fact, the translation of The Soviet Union would be The Kebele Union. Soviet means Kebele. Gaddafi’s Libya also had its own copy of the Soviets, Ljjan Shaabiya, popular committees.

The PFDJ also copied another system from the Soviet Union: the YPFDJ. The ruling communist party of the Soviet Union had a youth branch called Komsomol; the structure and organizational level of the YPFDJ within the ruling party, is identical to the Komsomol (except the Soviet youth limited membership to the 14-28 age group.) It is also similar to the sister entity of the Komosmol, The Communist Youth League of China.

It is ironic that most information that I get about the YPFDJ (pictures of meetings, festivals and other events) is courtesy of people opposed to the PFDJ. They obsessively copy everything the YPFDJ publishes and paste it for the rest of us to see. Sometimes they add silly comments and stale jokes to the copied contents. Worst, they add ugly layman Photoshop rendering of the images and their amateurish alteration. If one is tempted to do that, I suggest thinking about how to better present an intelligent rebuttal or expose. Most of the Photoshop rendering out there actually invites derision and ridicule. I am sure you can come with tons of such examples on facebook; including a photoshopped image of a cloud made to look like a horse. Then someone posts it with a comment: “Say Subhan Allah and Like or share it.” And we are supposed to marvel at a fake image! I wish people stopped posting annoying images and postings.

Embarking on a fight against the PFDJ requires well thought of messages. For example: I have seen mediocre images where the faces of people are pasted on the head of monkeys. I have seen un-proportionally super-super sized heads attached to small bodies. I have seen so many ugly and mediocre rendering that damages the image of the resistance. There are also many copyright violation, or the willful posting and altering of content without mentioning their sources, even as a courtesy…. I urge those who do not have artistic skills to stay away from publishing their mediocre images and instead spend their time getting art classes (or Photoshop lessons). Stick to what you do best.

Notwithstanding the annoyance of what I mentioned above, I am sure the intentions are good. Unfortunately those who post such items think they are fighting the PFDJ and its satellites. They are not. In fact they are inviting apathy to what the anti-tyranny camp does. Nothing comes from a post or an image that reflects immaturity. It weakens the resistance in general and makes it look an undertaking by middle school students. Stick to what you love with passion and improve on it. If you are not skilled on something, keep away from it.

Twenty years of independence but still no freedom details how throughout the past two decades government critics, journalists and people practising an unregistered religion, as well as people trying to leave the country or avoid indefinite conscription into national service have been detained without charge in unimaginably atrocious conditions.

“The government has systematically used arbitrary arrest and detention without charge to crush all opposition, to silence all dissent, and to punish anyone who refuses to comply with the repressive restrictions it places on people’s lives,” said Claire Beston, Amnesty International’s Eritrea researcher.

“Twenty years on from the euphoric celebrations of independence, Eritrea is one of the most repressive, secretive and inaccessible countries in the world.”

Amnesty International believes that at least 10,000 political prisoners have been imprisoned by the government of President Isaias Afewerki, who has ruled since the country’s independence in 1993. With no known exception, not a single political prisoner has ever been charged with a crime or tried, had access to a lawyer or been brought before a judge or a judicial officer to assess the legality and necessity of the detention.

In the vast majority of cases, the prisoners’ families are not informed of their whereabouts, and often never hear from their relative again after they are arrested. Torture – for punishment, interrogation and coercion -  is widespread. Practitioners of unregistered religions are tortured to force them to recant their faith.

Amnesty International has received many reports of deaths in detention, as a result of torture, appalling conditions or suicide. These include accounts of prisoners dying of treatable diseases such as malaria and illnesses caused by excessive heat.

There is an extensive network of detention facilities in Eritrea – some are well known, others are secret. But the extreme opaqueness around detention procedures in the country means the exact number is unknown.

Numerous detention centres use underground cells and metal shipping containers to house prisoners. Many of these prisons are in desert and other locations and experience extremes of high and low temperatures that are magnified by underground conditions and metal container walls. All are overcrowded and unclean; food and drinking water are scarce.

One former detainee held in an underground cell in Wi’a military camp told Amnesty International: “We couldn’t lie down [in the underground cell]. It’s best to be standing because if you lie down, your skin remains stuck to the floor. The floor is terribly hot.”

Another who was held in a detention centre in Barentu said:“The room was about 2.5 metres by 3 metres and we were 33 people. It is very, very hot. The door is closed, the ceiling is low, about 2 metres. The temperature was about 50 degrees. A boy, about 17 years old, was about to die. We were not permitted to speak, but we banged the door. They [the guards] told us they would kill all of us if we did not stop shouting. We couldn’t do anything to help him.”

On the 20th anniversary of its independence Eritrea is a country in which human rights are systematically violated. There is no independent media, no opposition political parties, no civil society. Only four religions are recognized by the government.

Amnesty International is calling on President Isaias Afewerki to immediately release all prisoners of conscience arrested for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, opinion, association, religion or belief, or their identity as family members of people who have fled the country.

The Eritrean authorities must also charge anyone suspected of a recognizable crime and promptly give them a fair trial or else immediately release them. Family members must be informed of their relatives’ whereabouts.

“These arbitrary arrests and detentions are illustrative of the absolute intolerance the Eritrean authorities have for dissent of any kind as a result of which thousands of political prisoners are languishing in terrible conditions. This has to end,” said Claire Beston

The full report (pdf, 54 pages) is available here:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR64/001/2013/en/64b58cdf-a431-499c-9830-f4d66542c8da/afr640012013en.pdf