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A Leaked Speech For The First Anniversary Of Lampedusa
Gedab News has received a leaked copy of the speech that has been prepared by the Eritrean regime to be delivered at the planned event to commemorate the first anniversary of the tragedy of October, 3, 2013. On that day, 366 Eritreans perished at sea a few kilometers off the coast of the island of…
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Eritrea: The Fall of Dictatorship And Consolidation Of Democracy
I wrote my introductory remarks (Part 1 of this series) on this topic before reading Saleh Y’s latest piece. Saleh’s article was published on August 30th, mine on 9/3 but I actually sent it on 9/1. So I have not read his article when I wrote my introductory remarks. Curiously, I decided to write on…
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Eritrean Police Lectures Religious Leaders (Select Comments)
On September 20, 2014, The state-owned Eri-TV, the only Television station beaming from Asmara, Eritrea, showed the Commander of the Eritrean Police Force, Col. Mehari Tsegai, giving a lecture to a gathering of “religious leaders.” The reports stated that the “meeting [was] conducted in the Central region’s administration Hall in which over 150 religious leaders…
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Reflection: Burying The Oldest And The youngest
[quote style=”4″ author=”Negarit“]At 90, Ustaz Oaman was the oldest; at 10, Hanan was the youngest. They both died a few days apart.[/quote] Ustaz Osman died at his home in San Francisco and was buried on August 30, 2014; Hannan died at the San Francisco Children’s Hospital and was buried on September 9, 2014. We lost…
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Eritrea Hands The Djiboutian Soldier Over To Qatar
Awate.com – Gedab News: Over six-weeks after his arrest, and one week after the Arab League condemnation, the Eritrean regime handed the Djiboutian soldier it detained to the Qatari contingent which monitors the demilitarized zone between the two countries. The soldier, Master Corporal Ahmed Abdullal Kamil, was detained from the demilitarized zone as he accompanied…
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As Expected, Arhe’s SDP Wins Swedish Elections
Sweden’s the left-leaning Social Democratic party (SDP) won the Swedish elections, capturing 31.3% of the votes, and Eritrea-born Swedish MP Arhe Hamednaca, a member of SDP, expressed his satisfaction with the election results. The incumbent conservative Moderate Party led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt came second in the 2014 election wining 22.2% of the votes. Fredrik Reinfeldt announced his resignation…
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Aster & Sherifo: My Parents Who Have Disappeared for 13 Years
My name is Ibrahim Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo. I am the son of two veteran fighters of the Eritrean revolution – Aster Fissehatsion and Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo. Both of my parents were former combatants but now Prisoners of Conscience. Their stories and misfortunes are in the public domain. Amnesty International, Human Rights watch and other institutions…
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Is Sweden Now Relevant to The Eritrean Regime?
In an interview conducted by the Swedish journalist Donald Boström in 2009, Isaias Afwerki considered Sweden insignificant and questioned: “Why should I think of Sweden? Why should I waste my time thinking of Sweden?” Last week, the Swedish government expelled Tekle Mengistu, the chief diplomat at the Eritrean embassy in Stockholm giving him 48 hours…
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Isaias Arrives In Cairo To An Arab League Condemnation
In a press release issued on Sept. 7, 2014, the League of Arab States meeting, held at the level of Arab foreign ministers condemned Eritrea for “the kidnapping of a Djiboutian soldier from the demilitarized zone” on the border between Eritrea and Djibouti. The Arab League “demanded the State of Eritrea to release [the soldier]…
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Eritrea: Ahmed Sheikh Feres’ Death Kept Secret For Four Years
[A few days ago, Eritreans discovered the death of Ahmed Sheikh Feres, an octogenarian who died in the Eritrean regime’s prison where he was kept without charges since May 2007. News finally came out that he actually died four years ago but the regime didn’t announce this until last week. Ahmed Sheikh Feres is a…
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Awate.com’s Performance According To Google Analytics
Over the last few years, google Analytics has improved so much that managing and studying the statistics has become a task on its own. Though we looked at it lightly for many years, we never used it extensively due to access and other technical problems that we encountered. But since March of this year, when…
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Democratization And Transition: Introductory Remarks (Part 1)
The struggle for liberty and justice did not start on September 1, 1961. The date marks the beginning of the armed struggle for independence from Ethiopia. Nor did the struggle end on Independence Day (May 24, 1991). Nor will it end when the dictatorship falls. The search for liberty and justice is an ongoing process…
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An Axe That Breaks Down: YG’S Diagnostic Fallacy
[quote style=”4″ author=”Anton Chekhov“]Don’t invent Suffering you have never experienced, and don’t paint Pictures you have never seen[/quote] Franz Kafka was quoted by the crusading noble laureate for literature, Nadine Gordimer, calling literature as “an ax to break up the frozen sea within us.” Writers and authors have the ability to break taboos within a…
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Why Democratic Coup Is The Best Option For Eritrea
Over the past several months, I have been posting disjointed pieces at the Awate Forum and on my Facebook page that are my vision for transition in Eritrea. This edition of Alnahda is an attempt to consolidate my view for bloodless (or minimum bloodshed) transition in Eritrea. I. An Arguable Premise Eritrea is car stuck…
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Exile and Exodus from Eritrea
A Personal Testimony and Reflections on a Brutal National Service and Political Repression The following is an annotated text of a speech made in a public seminar in Hanover, Germany, on June 5; organized by an Amnesty International working group on Eritrea and the roots of human exodus from the country. It is more a…
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Cadres For Holy Men; Containers for Churches
The warm sun enticed basking; it was a spring morning. I was sitting in one of the street cafes in Bole Street , Addis Ababa. There were more shoeshine boys than patrons around. Across the street was another cafe frequented by ferenjiaized Ethiopians and Eritreans showing off. But not my cafe where most of the clientele…
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Book Launch: The Hidden Party
Book: The Hidden Party Language: Tigrinya Paperback, nonfiction, 281 pages Publisher: Negarit Media Finally, Tsegu F. Bahta’s book, the Hidden party, is out and has reached distribution points. A list of distribution associates and their contact addresses is given below. Tsegu’s book cover displays an image of Nakfa, the town that saw the fiercest battles…
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ካህናት ተዛሪቦም፤ ምቕልቃል ሓርነታዊ ቲዮሎጂ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዶኾን ይኸውን?
“ኣቱም ኣቦይ ቀሺ’የ፤ ዓገብ እንዶ ኣይትብሉየ ” (ሓደ ዛንታ፡ ገጽ 25) ብፕሮፈሰር ግርማይ ነጋሽ መእተዊ እዚ ሓተታ’ዚ እቲ ኣብ ወርሒ ግንቦት 2014 ብካቶሊካውያን ኣቡናት ኤርትራ ዝቐረበ “ሓውኻ ኣበይ ኣሎ?” ዝብል ጽሑፍ ዘንቀሎ ኢዩ። እዚ ብኣርባዕተ ዓበይቲ ካህናት እታ ቤተ-ክርስትያን ዝተዳላወ ኣገዳሲ ጽሑፍ’ዚ ብመገዲ ኢንተርነትን ካልኦት መራኸቢታትን ኣብ ኤርትራን ምሉእ ዓለምን ተዘርጊሑ፡ ኣርእስቲ ክትዕን ዕላልን ኮይኑ…
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AlJazeera: The Tragedy of The Eritrean Refugees In Sudan
[The following is the translation of the Arabic text report by AlJazeera that accompanied the video report. Awate.com bears responsibility for any errors in translation] From the frying pan into the fire: The Tragedy of The Eritrean Refugees In Sudan A Report of the episode by AlJazeera.net They left their country because of war and…
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Eritean Fiat Seicento And Ethiopian Volkswagen
Fiat Seicento (and Cinquecento) was a cute Italian car whose old version is now antique. Driving schools loved it and favored it to any other car. Asmara had a considerable number of the car, Keren had one owned by Alamin, the famous driving trainer. Later on, Alamin trained my friend Yacob and made him a…
