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Review: Herui Tedla Bairu’s Book
Title: Eritrea and Ethiopia: A front row look at issues of conflict and the potential for a peaceful resolution. Author: Herui Tedla Bairu Publisher: RSP: The Red Sea Press: www.redseapress.com Year: 2016 ISBN: 978-1-5690243-0-0 Pages: 308 A lucky encounter got me to talk to Mrs. Mehret Bairu. Not entirely sure about the exact time, but…
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Grassroots view: The Discourse of Martyrdom and Sovereignty (P2)
In Part I tried to show two separate narratives or discourses around martyrdom, sovereignty, and nationalism as represented by the dominant Party-State versus the grassroots or popular views. I also argued the Party-State’s intense propaganda that the population have been subjected to on its own, cannot explain why the majority of the communities, at least…
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Neither Free, Nor Fair: Just “Playing The Game”
[We are working behind the scenes reviving the Tigrinya and Arabic sections of awate.com as well as reinstating the missing date from the archives. Until then, we present you this archived edition of The Pencil dated May 22, 2004. Awate Team] Two years ago, almost to the day, UN’s IRIN interviewed Mr. Yemane Gebreab, PFDJ’s…
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ENCDC To Hold Its Congress In Addis Ababa
After it stayed stuck in an impasse for almost four years, the Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change (ENCDC) said it will hold its second congress in December 2016. Fifteen opposition organizations are committed to holding the second congress. The Hawassa congress where the ENCDC was elected, was the largest Eritrean congress after independence of…
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Did Gov of Eritrea Really Dodge UN Accountability?
Since June 8, when the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Human Rights in Eritrea filed a report concluding that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity” have been committed and are still being committed in Eritrea, there have been questions on how the UN’s Human Rights Council (HRC) would deal with the report.…
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Grassroots View: The Discourse of Martyrdom and Sovereignty
Introductory note: This article is based on my contribution to a panel discussion on the 14th of May 2016 organized to mark the Eritrean Martyrs Memorial Day. By way of introduction let me share with you the following brief anecdote. On reading the email posting announcing the event, a friend of mine suggested that I was…
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The Genesis Of Eritrea’s Slavery Project
This an article from the archives. It was first published by the Awate Team on October 23, 2007. Many developments took place in the last decade since the article appeared, but the deteriorating situation was clearly evident since then. On this occasion we would like to acknowledge Ambassador Adhanom Gebremariam the first person to write extensively…
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Human Rights Council Advances Eritrea Case To Security Council
In its June 8 report, the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Human Rights in Eritrea had made recommendations to eight parties: (1) the State of Eritrea; (2) the UN’s Human Rights Council (HRC); (3) the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights; (4) the UN’s General Assembly; (5) the UN’s Security Council, (6) the African Union;…
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Dutch Parliament Targets PFDJ and Company
Two hours ago the Dutch National Parliament tabled a resolution proposal that seems to target the activities of the sole ruling party in Eritrea, the PFDJ, and its Dutch and European affiliates. Most of the clandestine activities of the PFDJ in the Western countries is handled by the young PFDJ (YPFDJ), a youth Diaspora clone…
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Bronwyn Burton And Nevsun’s Gift
In replying to the questions of the French journalist and writer, Léonard Vincent, Nevsun resources admitted to offering a monetary “contribution to the Atlantic Council last year because [it was] impressed by their ongoing constructive work on Eritrea.” Mr. Vincent has asked whether Nevsun Resources, a Canadian mining company, has sponsored Ms. Bronwyn Bruton’s Atlantic…
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In Geneva, Eritreans Give Voice To Voiceless Compatriots
Last year in June, after Eritreans held the largest rally in the history of Eritrea’s opposition forces, there were questions if it was a one-time incident that could not be repeated and what would happen in June 2016. On June 23rd, Eritreans calling for end to impunity in Eritrea gave a resounding answer: it will…
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Tagging Isaias Afwerki: The Paranoid Dictator
When searching for a list of the world’s worst known dictators, Google returns clusters of 10, 13, 20, 25, 100 with repeated names including Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Kim Il Sung, Idi Amin Dada, Mengistu Hailemarian, Haileselassie, Robert Mugabe, Muammar Gaddafi, Kim John Il, Bashar Al-Assad, Fidel Castro, etc. Isaias Afwerki is rarely listed…
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Asmara to Geneva: A 25-Years Journey
Clarance Darrow, the famous civil libertarian wrote, “No other offense has ever been visited with such severe penalties as seeking to help the oppressed.” He also said, “True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.” Eritrean patriots would attest to that; they have been facing injustice in their own land for…
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Jebena Presents Grafted Skin
A few days ago a loyal friend of awate.com sent us a link to a song that was recently released. An unusual piece of music by Amanuel Yohannes. It’s a song without any interruptions of brass instruments. A few days later, Amanuel Hidrat posted the song on the awate.com discussion forum. Immediately, Semere Tesfai transcribed…
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Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea: Report Summary
On June 8, 2016, the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea issued a 94-page report of its findings to the UN’s Human Rights Council. The Commission was mandated last year by the UN’s Human Rights Council (Resolution A/HRC/29/L.23) to investigate if the crimes perpetrated by senior officials of the Government of Eritrea, and…
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“Deserters”, Combatants Triggered Eritrea-Ethiopia Battle
Gedab News has received credible information that the shoot-out between Eritrean and Ethiopian border-patrol soldiers of last weekend was triggered when some of Eritrea’s conscripted soldiers crossed the border to Ethiopia, were shot at by Eritrean soldiers, and members of armed Eritrean opposition groups hosted by Ethiopia returned fire. Here’s the timeline: (a) On Saturday…
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Yet Another Eritrea-Ethiopia Military Clash
Multiple sources have reported that there was a military clash between Eritrea and Ethiopia along their common border. The clash occurred shortly after midnight on Sunday morning and each side appears to be calling up re-enforcement. There has been confirmation of the clash from both governments. The Ethiopian government blamed the Eritrean government for instigating…
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June in Geneva: The Next Political Battle
Mike Smith, Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, previewed his case against members of the Government of Eritrea by reading a statement supporting the Commission’s case that Eritrean officials are guilty of crimes against humanity. This was followed by a rebuttal from Yemane Gebreab, Director of Political Affairs of Eritrea’s…
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Eritrean Officials Accused of Crime Against Humanity
In a press conference it held today in Geneva, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea (COI) presented its report accusing the Eritrean government and ruling party officials of committing crimes against humanity. The presentation was made by Mike Smith, the chairman of the commission; the two other members of the commission, Sheila Keetharuth and Victor…
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Living In The Cracks Of Fringe Politics
Eritrea is in one dark corner. While the level and pattern of our experiences might be unique to us, the consequences (the pain and loss) are virtually the same. We have had our fair share of colonial subjugation, occupation, and segregation. At the same time, as in many other societies, we have had unrelenting internal…
