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Mr. Yemane Gebreab: Hands off the Eritrean Orthodox Church!
Mr. Yemane Gebreab, a high official of the ruling party in Eritrea and who often speaks on the government’s behalf, is touring three US cities – Seattle, Atlanta and Washington DC. As was seen in the meeting he held for party members in Seattle on Saturday, May 18, 2013, his main target again is none…
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Archdiocese of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church Appeals to the UN
The Archdiocese of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church in Diaspora sent a letter of appeal on May 24 to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for “the immediate release of His Holiness Patriarch Antonios from prison” and that he be provided “with the necessary medical care.” The news was first reported by www.tewahdo.org, a US-based website.…
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Eritrea, Africa: The Last Big Man Standing
[As I write this, I haven’t heard Isaias Afwerki’s speech. If history is a guide, he will blame his predecessor for the mess who, in turn, will blame his predecessor all the way back to whoever has been presiding over Eritrea since 1991. Oh, wait, he is his own predecessor. Never mind: did you enjoy…
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Eritrean conditions: Reflections On Independence Day
May 24, 1991. Independence Day! The memory may have faded but few will forget the joy they felt when they first witnessed or heard about the triumphant march of battle-weary EPLF soldiers into the streets of Asmara. Across the board, Eritreans were ecstatically happy and the dancing and celebration would continue for several days. Even…
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Eritrea’s Independence: Celebrate Or Commiserate?
Overview: – There are two parts to this article. First, brief description of two battles heroically fought during the Eritrean armed struggle for national liberation. The purpose of doing so is to commemorate those brave Eritreans who paid the ultimate sacrifice for Eritrea’s full sovereignty. Second, how the hard-gained and long-awaited independence and the dream…
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MP Adam Bandt Presents Eritreans Peitition to Australian House
On May 15, Mr. Adam Bandt, an Australian Member of Parliament (MP), addressed a petition that was presented to the Australian house of representatives by the Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change (ENCDC.) By addressing the petition, the MP brought to the attention of the Australian House “the human rights violations, including forced labour, arbitrary…
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Adem Melekin: Eulogy To A Patriot
About eight years ago, I interviewed a man many, including myself, consider a giant in the struggle for Eritrean independence. This is what I wrote in the introduction to the interview that was published on April 11, 2005:[i] Some people find themselves in a storm and struggle to get out; others search for a storm…
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Seyoum Haregot’s New Book: A Critique
The Bureaucratic Empire Serving Emperor Haile Selassie Red Sea Press 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…
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When You Are Down…
To the unaware, the horrible stories about life in Eritrea would seem mere exaggerations; those who have no idea about the cruelty of the PFDJ rule would be tempted to brush it off. But the stories are just the tip of a huge pile of more harrowing tales. A man I know had a relative…
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AI: Twenty Years of Independence but still No Freedom
Twenty years after its independence, Eritrea’s prisons are filled with thousands of political prisoners, locked up without ever being charged with a crime, many of whom are never heard from again, Amnesty International said in a report released today. Twenty years of independence but still no freedom details how throughout the past two decades government…
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‘Eritrean Unity’: As Power Over Life
The Unconscious Eritreans We are the worst of the worst; ask any fellow. The global biopolitics has put us in the worst of 1%. Imagine any human parameter of normative value, at a global scale, and line individual values in a curve, and you observe Eritreans falling under the lowest 1% of this normal curve…
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Yosief’s Circular Journey In Search Of Ethiopia
Yosief’s Circular Journey in search of Ethiopia: an identity Crisis or just plain mischief? When I suggested ignoring Yosief Ghebrehiwet in my last article[1], I had no idea that he had already netted quite a few disciples or that his views were spreading. Since then, I learned from many quarters including from comments on my…
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The Report Card On Eritrea’s Turtle Economy
What is the role of governments? That is: when should a government’s coercive power be used? The answer is on a continuum: on the one side is a classic libertarian view which argues that the only time a government’s coercive power should be used is to protect the private property of citizens (Locke) and/or to…
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Human Trafficking & the Single Focus on Its Inhumane Aspects
Since 2001, Eritreans have added new words to their exile vocabulary. They have new words for new destinations and new graveyards: Lampedusa, Italy. Calais, France. Almeria, Spain. Tel Aviv, Israel. They have new entry points to further destinations: the Tijuana-San Diego border. The Quebec-Vermont border. The Buffalo-Ontario border. They have traveled to countries no Eritrean…
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Evaluating The Performance Of The ENCDC
Evaluation of the work of Eritrean National Democratic Council (ENCDC) up to the second regular meeting Eritreans for Democracy, Justice and Equality (EDJE) Introduction: The ENCDC represents the last link in a long chain of developments achieved in the course of the Eritrean Opposition’s struggle to improve its mechanisms and capabilities. It was the culmination…
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Wise Barber, Ravens And Machiato…
Usually, I report to my readers immediately after I return from a travel or an event. This edition of Negarit was delayed a lot, first due to the pressures of making up for lost time, then attending to stuff as result of the server breakdown that had to be fixed (archives still in the process).…
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Djibouti and Isaias Afwerki’s Secret Visit To Qatar
Barring any last-minute changes, Isaias Afwerki is paying an unpublicized visit to Qatar on Tuesday to meet with its Emir to discuss the stalled Eritrea-Djibouti border agreement. According to our sources, Djibouti’s president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, who was also invited, has indicated that he will not show up unless Qatar provides assurances that Isaias Afwerki…
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Ghosts Of The Horn!
Many of those who will read this and who have read the few that I wrote before are justified in wondering why any Eritrean in his/her right mind would be skipping all the catastrophes that Eritreans are facing and be fixated with unsexy, irrelevant and off-date issues. There are a lot of Eritreans who are…
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Eritrea and Syria: Doha Pulls On Isaias Afwerki’s Leash
The League of Arab States, which has officially offered the Syrian seat to the opposition coalition (“National Coalition”), held a ceremony at the Syrian embassy in Doha, Qatar to mark the event and participating in the ceremonies was Eritrean Ambassador to Qatar, Ali Ibrahim Al-Uqud. Eritrea is not a member of the Arab League, nor…
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Cry my beloved country
Responding to the Scenario of ICG, is it ever possible to start, “a reconciliation with non-reconcilable devil”? The International Crises Group(ICG) is telling us that it is probable. But how credible, one might ask them! Let us see the scenario that our friends at the ICG are trying to draw to save the naked Emperor. See “Africa Report N°200,…
