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WiA: Testimony of University of Asmara Students
This article was originally published by awate.com on September 12, 2005. It is awate.com’s translation (from English) of a testimony provided to Elsa Chyrum, an Eritrean human rights activist, executive director of Eritrean Human Rights Concern (EHRC), by a persons who chose to remain anonymous. This is part of a series of testimonies she has…
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Port Sudan: Body of Organ Harvesting Victim Found
On a news item it carried on March 7, 2014, the Sudanese website alrakoba.net stated that “Sudanese police announced that it found a body of a mentally sick young person [identified by some people] at the Thewra neighborhood of Port Sudan.” Several organs were harvested from the body before it was discarded on the street.…
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Gulf States v Qatar: Isaias In the Middle
General Sisi’s overthrow of Mohammed Mursi’s government in Egypt has re-aligned Arab politics with many Gulf States in support of Sisi, while Qatar is fiercely opposed. Consequently, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirate (UAE) and Bahrain have withdrawn their ambassadors from Doha, Qatar. In the middle, manipulating or being manipulated, is Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.…
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Isaias Resumes Pilgrimage To Qatar
After his last trip to Qatar in April 2013, the Eritrean president, Isaias Afwerki, arrived today in Doha, Qatar. Since his visit last year, a follow up trip had been postponed three times by the Qataris. Unlike other heads of states, Isaias was not received at the airport by the Emir of Qatar but by…
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He Doesn’t Hate you; He despises You
My mother was in her late teens when she came to our village as a young bride. She has an incredible memory and recalls events with great details. Over the years, that has given me the opportunity to develop intimate portraits of all the giants and dwarfs who made our village life truly idyllic—where small…
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Eritrean Airlines: An Eritrean Story
If there is one entity that symbolizes Eritrea, it must be Eritrean Airlines. It is its metaphor for something that one has much expectation for but one that repeatedly, continuously and predictably fails because it never learns from its failures. Like a flag, an airline is a symbol: it stands for some kind of autonomous…
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From Moscow With Lies: Yemane Gebreab Interview
Yemane Gebreab, presidential adviser and director of Eritrea’s ruling (and sole legal) party was part of an Eritrean delegation–headed by Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh–that conducted a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister, S. Lavrov. In their joint press conference following the meeting, the Russian Foreign Minister indicated that he had discussed the relationship between Eritrea…
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Haile Sellasie’s Cannabis
A green, yellow and red headband/wrist band is the symbol of Rastafarians who worship the late feudal king, Haile Sellassie of Ethiopia, whose name (and title) before he was throned was Ras Tefferi. When King Minelik died in 1913, his grandson Lij Eyassu became the king, but Tefferi didn’t accept that. Three years later Tefferi…
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Inquest Into The Lampedusa Migrant Boat Disaster
The tragic boat accident of October 3, 2013, which claimed the lives of 366 young Eritreans off the coast of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa,has been coming for a long time. Warning signs, in the form of human skeleton, have been piling up in the Mediterranean Sea bed for years. Fed up with the prospect…
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The Engagement Party
In mid-December 2013, Hank Cohen argued that it was time for the US to rethink its policy towards Eritrea and there was over-reaction everywhere. Some in the opposition were alarmed by this, and some in the Isaiasist camp were thrilled: The argument in itself is not surprising, particularly given the publication where Cohen’s…
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Medrekh: Another Winter Project
Another new “winter project” is upon us; Medrekh is its name. To its credit, Medrekh has introduced another obscure term to the Eritrean Diaspora politics: Monocracy. I hold the PFDJ tyranny is not mono; it is being played in stereo. I have a long held belief that any thought of reforming the regime is as…
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The Eritrean Opposition & Its Upcoming Congress
The Eritrean opposition organizations including the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA), which has been shedding member organizations since 2011, have agreed to come under one umbrella. Since August 2013, the opposition groups were engaged in discussion in a dialogue forum created for the purpose. On January 29, 2014 the EDA issued an initiative calling for an…
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Sudanese Source: Isaias Seeking Reconciliation With Ethiopia
Sudan’s president, Omar Al-Bashir, is the closest and, probably, the only friend that the Eritrean president, Isaias Afwerki, has. The leaders of the neighboring states, both shunned by regional and international governments, find solace in each other’s company. Now, according to our diplomatic sources in Sudan, Al-Bashir’s long-standing proposal to normalize relations between Eritrea and…
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UPR: Eritrean Regime’s Abuses Reviewed
Summary presented by “Rodab” at Awate Forum: On the hot seat @ the UPR gathering. Nations from around the world are taking our regime to task. The following are some of the challenging questions (the complete list is at the UPR website): The Netherlands Can the government of Eritrea indicate how it will improve the…
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Eritrea: The Suppression of God
Collected thoughts here and unfinished ideas there; quoted materials saved somewhere in the hard drive or somewhere in some thumb drives long abandoned. The mind furiously searches for those items whose time has come for developing into one readable note or perhaps into one piece worth contemplating for. Ismail Omer Ali’s and Amnauel Hidrat’s recent…
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Awate Video of the Month: “Breaking News!”
If you are drinking, put it down, and if you watch this while drinking something, you will certainly spurt it out and make a mess. If you are in a library, don’t watch it: you will laugh so hard that you will be booted out. If you watch videos while driving, don’t watch this one:…
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Unfiltered Notes: The Day After
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” — MLK I remember the face of one compassionate Italian mayor – full of sadness for people she didn’t know – clearly showing her deeper humanity. This was last October when the world mourned the Lampadusa tragedy where over 360 Eritreans…
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To Salt Lake City And Back
(I have a habit of writing a light report whenever I travel to an interesting place; this is my overdue report of the trip that took me from Sacramento to Salt Lake City through Los Angelos, and back home through Las Vegas.) Mention Utah, the LDS Church comes to mind; but Utah is diverse and…
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Eritreans Demonstrate In Front of Israeli Embassies
Eritreans in major cities around the world demonstrated today in front of Israeli embassies and consulates on behalf of all African refugees and asylum seekers. According to one of the organizers, “the demonstration was a grassroots movement that began with an idea to bring awareness of the plight of our people in Tel Aviv.” She…
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Badme: An Eritrean Opposition Deathbed
[Editor’s note: we received a clarification from Semere. Comments are now reactivated. We will explain the issue soon.] There’s no nice way to say this. The anti EPLF/PFDJ opposition that was led by the Ghedli generation for over three decades is laying on its deathbed waiting the inevitable. And there is nothing that could save…
