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Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence. The means used are not important; to alienate human beings from their own decision-making is to change them into objects.[1]

Recently I had a chance to read Paulo Freire's classical work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which mainly deals with Oppressor-Oppressed relationship. To larger extent, I found Freire’s work mirrored in present day Eritrea. In his work, Freire addressed the engagement between the oppressor and the oppressed and the means used to that end. Here I have tried to relate a fraction of his work to the Eritrean context.

While reading Pedagogy of the Oppressed I was contemplating on the difficulty through which the Eritrean people are passing through. We all are aware that in their struggle to become free subjects and build a democratic country, Eritreans fought long and hard. Their long suffering came to an end when the protracted and bitter thirty years of armed struggle concluded in triumph, independence of Eritrea. Never in their dreams would Eritreans imagined that a government in an independent Eritrea will be so oppressive like the one that we are witnessing at the moment. A quarter a century after independence they have to accept the bitter truth that their once hailed revolutionary leaders, on whom they have full trust, failed them and turned to be their oppressors.

Changing Poles

According to Freire it is habitual for the oppressed to wage a struggle to resolve the contradiction in which they are caught. The Oppressor-Oppressed contradiction will be resolved by the emergence of a new man: neither oppressor nor oppressed but man in the process of liberation.[2] Likewise, while under Ethiopian occupation and domination, Eritreans felt oppressed and opted to struggle to restore their freedom. The Eritrean struggle for independence was a palpable expression of this phenomenon. The aim of independence should not be replicating former oppressors; rather it ought be redressing past wounds and building a democratic country. In Eritrean case we missed the emergence of the new man.

Freire insisted that if the aim of the oppressed is to become fully human, they will not achieve their goal by merely reversing the terms of the contradiction, by simply changing poles. …the moment the new regime hardens into a dominating 'bureaucracy' the humanist dimension of the struggle is lost and it is no longer possible to speak of liberation. The authentic solution of the oppressor-oppressed contradiction does not lie in a mere reversal of position, in moving from one pole to the other. Nor does it lie in the replacement of the former oppressors with new ones who continue to subjugate the oppressed - all in the name of their liberation.[3] This is what the Eritrean experience demonstrates, a situation in which former leaders of liberation struggle – side-lining promises of the revolution - turned into current oppressors. They simply, as Freire put it, change poles - from being formerly oppressed into current oppressors. Hence the humanist dimension of the Eritrean struggle is completely lost.

It is habitual that in their unrestrained eagerness to dominate and control the people, oppressors become anti-dialogical and developed the conviction that it is possible for them to transform the society into obedient citizens or objects. In doing so they have to conquer and manipulate them. Let’s briefly look how Conquest and Manipulation employed in Eritrea to the end of controlling people.

Conquest

One of the attribute of anti-dialogical action is the necessity for conquest. Freire highlighted that, in dealing with the people, the anti-dialogical oppressor endeavours at conquering them by every means, from the toughest to the most refined, from the most repressive to the most solicitous. The conqueror imposes his objectives on the vanquished, and makes of them his possession. Anti-dialogue is necessary to the oppressor as a means of further oppression - not only economic, but cultural: the vanquished are dispossessed of their word, their expressiveness, their culture. Further, once a situation of oppression has been initiated, anti-dialogue becomes indispensable to its preservation.[4] This is the main characteristics of the Eritrean government, headed by the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) – the sole legal party in Eritrea. Since its inception, it is anti-dialogical and used whatsoever method suitable to it to subjugate the people. Today, Eritrea is a country with no constitution, no parliament, no independent judicial system; and Eritreans have no right to express themselves, no right to vote, and no right to live a peaceful life in their own country. Every aspect of their life is under the strict scrutiny of the government. As key part of its conquest, the government monopolized the economy and created total dependency of the people on the regime. It is ironic Eritreans cannot get basic needs such as food and shelter and work freely if they are reluctant to abide by the oppressive rules of the government. The infamous and abusive National Service also used to control and dominate the Eritrean youth. Further showing its anti-dialogical nature the government always insists to the people - through its monopolized "mass media" - that all they have to do is carefully listen to the 'wise' guidelines of their 'visionary' government and act accordingly, making them mere objects, dispossessing their expressiveness and denying their own decision making.

This total conquest approach of the government serves the ends of control and obedience. In this phenomenon, the government imposed its own view of the world upon the people by curbing their expression and denying the right to have a say in their day-to-day life. It made every effort to mould the society to immerse the government's view point. As it is anti-dialogical the government always made a choice and the people are always expected to follow that choice.

In its conquest the government used every means, but habitually coercion. Hence, throughout the independence years many are arbitrarily killed, thousands are jailed, and hundreds of thousands fled the country. In such a way the government compelled Eritreans to develop a culture of silence and total obedience. Eritreans, as the UN commission of inquiry put it, are ruled by fear not by law. This was a direct result of the whole situation of economic, social and political dominance and conquest by the regime.

Manipulation

Manipulation, as another dimension of the theory of anti-dialogical action, is an instrument of conquest. Freire explains that by means of manipulation, the dominant elites try to conform the masses to their objectives. And the greater the political immaturity of these people (rural or urban) the more easily they can be manipulated by those who do not wish to lose their power. Furthermore, the oppressed are manipulated by series of myths.[5]

Alongside coercion, manipulation is one way of controlling mechanism in Eritrea. Eritreans are frequently advised that they are under constant attack from the ‘unjust’ world and should remain resolute and be vigilant to Western ‘conspiracy’ against their country. The government’s monotonous rhetoric is that the country is continually in danger and the people have always to endure their suffering which, according to it, is emanated from the ‘hostile’ neighbouring countries and international community. The people are told that their suffering and predicament is not the direct result of local oppression and failed government policies but effect of Western plotting against their nation. It is the habit of the Eritrean government that for every failure, it has to blame neighbouring countries and the United States.

Moreover, Eritreans are softened by dreamy promises that their country's economy is boosting with the mining boom and the country have promising economic prospects. All they have expected to do is just believe. Year in year out they are tired of listening to the government’s intangible and broken promises.

Freire further elaborates: manipulation, like the conquest whose objectives it serves, also attempts to anesthetize the people so they will not think. For if the people engaged in a process of critical thinking they become aware of things and that is considered by oppressive elites as a real threat to their dominance. The dominant elites are so well aware of this fact that they instinctively use all means, including physical violence, to keep the people from thinking.[6] Through its coercive measures, the Eritrean regime made critical awareness and response to government policies and actions an impossible. This is done in Eritrea in several ways, from closing the country's sole university [which was accused of producing ‘non-obedient’ and ‘sub nationalist’ students] to jailing senior leaders, journalists and critical citizens; to banning free press and freedom of expression; to imposing tight restriction on access to internet; to jamming opposition parties’ media outlets and other methods alike. According to the Eritrean government Eritreans need not to think but listen to the ‘noble’ words of their 'provident' government.

It is therefore evident to conclude that Conquest and Manipulation, as key components of an anti-dialogical action, are well exhibited in Eritrea and effectively utilized by the Eritrean regime as mechanisms of oppression.

Finally, it is worthy to remember that the aim of our struggle for independence was neither for conquest nor for manipulation. A liberation that lacks our reflective participation is turning us into objects, dehumanizes us and hindered our just cause of becoming free citizens. As individuals and as people, we need to strive for the restoration of our humanity and the restoration of our freedom. In our quarter a century suffering under PFDJ’s authoritarian rule, we have enough experience to understand the effects of oppression and the need for a genuine freedom. But we will not gain this freedom by chance but through our quest for it, through our recognition of the necessity to fight for it. We must also believe that freedom is acquired by conquest and not by gift. Hence, we should pursue it relentlessly, responsibly and win it back from the regime that conquered our lives and threatened our existence as a nation. It only by doing so we restore to our oppressors the humanity they had lost in oppressing us. As an oppressive group they can free neither us nor themselves.

[1]Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos, (New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd, 2005), p. 85.

[2]Freire, p. 56.

[3]Freire, pp. 56-57.

[4]Freire, p. 138.

[5]Freire, p. 147.

[6]Freire, p. 149.