Ciham Ali Abdu pictured just before the time of her arrest on December 8, 2012 when she was 15. (Photo: courtesy of the family)

WASHINGTON — 

Ciham Ali Abdu of Eritrea was 15 years old when she was arrested as she tried to cross the border into Sudan. Born in Los Angeles, California, she is the only American citizen imprisoned in Eritrea.

Her family, friends and the representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Asmara have had no news about her whereabouts or her health for the nearly four years she has been in prison.

Ciham is also a unique case. She is the daughter of Ali Abdu, the former minister of information of Eritrea who was one of the closest advisors to the country’s president, Isaias Afwerki. When he fled the country in December of 2012, it sent shockwaves across the nation since he was believed to be unfalteringly loyal to the regime.

Ali’s then 87-year-old father, Abdu Ahmed Younis, his brother Hassen Abdu Ahmed and Ciham were all arrested shortly after his departure and many believe they were punished as retribution for Ali’s decision to flee.

Last week, Ciham’s fate was one of the topics raised at a subcommittee hearing at the U.S. House of Representatives convened by the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee titled “Eritrea: A Neglected Regional Threat.”

Linda Thomas–Greenfield, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said the United States raises the issue of Ciham with Eritrean officials during joint meetings, but have received no information.

Eric Whitaker, the former Charge d’Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Asmara, said Eritrean officials do not acknowledge that Ciham is a U.S. citizen. “We’ve asked for consular access repeatedly and not been granted it. We are concerned regarding the case,” he said. “The answers we get are typically vague or note that such individual is an Eritrean citizen.”

Ciham left the United States when she was one or two years old, her uncle said. VOA contacted Eritrea’s Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel and he declined to comment. In Twitter comments about the hearings he dismissed the U.S. House proceedings as “perfunctory” and a “rehash” of old information.

Ciham’s uncle, Saleh Younis, said the family is desperate for news about her and their other imprisoned family members. He said this was the first time he had heard details about the U.S. embassy’s efforts to get information about Ciham and he is disappointed that they haven’t put more pressure on the Eritrean government.

He also noted that most people caught at the border trying to flee Eritrea are detained for several months or a maximum of two years, making it clear that Ciham is being held indefinitely as a punishment for her father’s actions. “It’s a country without rules, without a system,” Saleh said. “It’s a country where the president and his small clique do whatever they want to do. When we’re talking about human rights violations it’s not in the abstract that we’re talking about, it is these kinds of agonies people go through.”

Saleh is the editor of awate.com, an Eritrean news website that is opposed to the government and its policies.

Ali Abdu is currently in Australia where he is seeking asylum. In an affidavit submitted to the government in support of his case which has been widelyposted onlineAli said he is suffering from insomnia and heart pains and has suicidal thoughts. He said he fears for his family in Eritrea and fears that a member of the Eritrean diaspora could seek to harm him in Australia.

“The more I talk about my secrets the more I am worried and shivering about my safety because I know what crazy things the president can do to me. Even in Melbourne I am very recognizable and I fear that government supporters are following me,” he said. 

Chairman of the House Subcommittee, Chris Smith, Republican Representative from New Jersey, cited figures from a former U.S. ambassador indicating that about 48 Eritrean national employees of the embassy were arrested or detained between 2001 and 2010 and it is unclear how many remain in detention. Smith requested additional information relating to those employees and relating to Ciham.

Thomas-Greenfield said the embassy has asked for access and information relating to these cases. “We have had over the years our foreign service nationals harassed. Some arrested and some who are still currently being held by the government,” she said. “We never miss an opportunity to raise this with the government of Eritrea encouraging them to release the American citizen but also to release our employees who have been arrested and to discontinue the harassment of our employees.”

Source=http://www.voanews.com/a/fate-of-american-citizen-unknown-after-four-years-in-eritrean-prison/3514383.html

18 መስከረም 2011፡ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ፡ ነቲ ኣብ ኣመሪካ ብ11 መስከረም 2011 እተወስደ ናይ ራዕዲ ተግባር ዝፈጠሮ ሕንፍሽፍሽ ተጐልቢቡ፡ ዓለም ኣቓልቦኣ ኣብ ካልእ እንከሎ፡ ነቶም ቅዋም ኣብ ግብሪ ክውዕልን ግዝኣተ-ሕጊ ክነግስን ዝጠለቡ 15 ኣባላት ማእከላይ ባይቶ ህግዲፍን ነቲ ተረኽቦታት ዘቃልሑ ጋዜጠኛታትን ኣብ ቀይዲ ዘእተወላ ጸላም ዕለት ኢያ። ስርዓት ኢሳያስ፡ ነዚ ስጕምቲ’ዚ ክወስድ እንከሎ፡ ብሓደ እምኒ ብዙሓት ኣዕዋፍ ምቕታል ዝብል ምስላ ተተርኢሱ ምዃኑ ንምርዳእ ዘጸግም ኣይኰነን።

እቲ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ዝተባርዐ ናይ ዶብ ውግእ፡ ብውሳኔ ባይቶ ኤርትራ ወይ ካቢነ ኤርትራ ዘይኰነስ ብውሳኔ ፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስ ምንባሩ ሎሚ ናይ ኣደባባይ ምስጢር ኰይኑ ኢዩ። ኮሚሽን ዶባት ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን እንተዀነ እውን፡ ሓላፍነት ናይ ውግእ ምብራዕ ንስርዓት ኢሳያስ ኢዩ ኣሰኪምዎ። ከምኡ’ውን ስርዓት ኢሳያስ፡ ነቲ ብመንግስቲ ኣመሪካን ሩዋንዳን ይኹን ብሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ዝቐረበሉ ናይ ዕርቂ እማመ ተሓሲሙ፡ ኣብ ውግእ ምስ ተሳዕረ ኢዩ ነቲ ናይ ኣልጀርስ ዕርቂ ክቕበል ዝተገደደ። ነዚ ፍሽለት’ዚ ንምሽፋን ኢዩ እምበኣር ፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስ፡ ነቶም ናብ ስልጣን ዘብጽሕዎ ናይ ቃልሲ ብጾቱ ብኽሕደት ክኸሶም ዝወሰነ። ብዙሓት ግሩሃት እውን በዚ ኣበሃህላ’ዚ ተደናጊሮም ኢዮም።

ብኻልእ ሸነኽ፡ ነዞም ቅዋም ክትግበርን ግዝኣተ-ሕጊ ክነግስን ዝሓተቱ ብጾቱ፡ ውዒሎም ሓዲሮም ንስልጣነይ ሓደጋ ክዀኑ ኢዮም ካብ ዝብል ስግኣት ተበጊሱ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ ቀይዲ ከምዝኣትዉ ገይሩ። ኣብ ትሕቲ ቀይዲ ካብ ዝኣተዉሉ ዕለት ኣትሒዞም ክሳብ ሎሚ፡ 15 ዓመታት ማለት ኢዩ፡ ብዘይ ክስን ብዘይ ፍርድን ኣብ ማእሰርቲ ከምዝበልዩን ከምዝሞቱን ዝገብር ዘሎ ስርዓት ኢዩ። ቤተ-ሰቦም፡ ጠበቓታቶምን ናይ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ተጣበቕትን ክርእይዎምን ክረኽብዎምን እውን ኣይፈቅደን ኢዩ። ኣብ ርእስ’ዚ፡ ብሃይማኖታዊ ይኹን ፖለቲካዊ እምነቶም ኣብ ማእሰርቲ ዝርከቡ በሽሓት ዝቝጽሩ ኤርትራውያን ኣለዉ።

ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ በዚ ኣጋጣሚ’ዚ፡ ኵሎም ናይ ፖለቲካን ናይ ሕልናን እሱራት ብዘይ ውዓል ሕደር ክፍትሑ ይጽውዕ።

ኮሚሽን ሕቡራት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ፡ ንዘቕረቦ ጸብጻብ ደገፉን ናእዳኡን ይገልጽ። ባይቶ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ነዚ ሒዝዎ ዘሎ ዕማም ኣብ መፈጸምታኡ ንኸብጽሖ ከይተሓለለ ክሰርሕ ድማ ይምሕጸን።

እቶም ብዝተፈላለየ ምስምስ ምስ’ዚ ስርዓት’ዚ ዝተሓባበሩ ዘለዉ ኤርትራውያን ይኹኑ ወጻእተኛታት፡ ንውሳኔታቶም ዳግማይ ርእይቶ ክገብርሉን ኣብ ጐድኒ ጭቍን ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ደው ክብሉን ይጽውዕ።

ምልኪ ይደምሰስ፡ ፍትሒ ይንገስ

መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም

ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤ

17 መስከረም 2016

Schoolchildren flee tear gas in Nairobi after police break up a protest. Oxfam says lost tax revenues from offshore holdings cost Africa an estimated $14bn a year. Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

Corruption is the most neglected human rights violation of our time. It fuels injustice, inequality and depravation, and is a major catalyst for migration and terrorism.

In Africa, the social and political consequences of corruption rob nations of resources and potential, and drive inequality, resentment and radicalisation. Corruption cheats the continent’s governments of some $50bn (£38bn) annually, and stymies successful cities, sustainable economies and safe societies.

This corruption discourages donors and destroys investor confidence, strangling development, progress and prosperity.

Added to that, across the continent, sociopolitical dissatisfaction at corruption provides fertile ground for radicalisation, and some extremist organisations are adept at portraying Islamism as the solution to such injustice.

For example, corruption stimulates recruitment of young Nigerians into the ranks of Boko Haram. In a recent study, 70% of those interviewed in the state of Sokoto cited corruption as a factor driving radicalisation.

By understanding corruption’s full impact and seeing it through the eyes of its victims, we can create new weapons to combat it. This is worth considering as we approach the first-year review of the sustainable development goals. Among them is SDG 16, which aims to reduce bribery and corruption, develop accountable institutions, cut the flow of illicit money and weapons, and strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets.

There are some encouraging signs on the continent. When leaders from countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria and Tanzania highlight corruption as a major threat to their countries, then we might just be seeing the final days of impunity. The test now is whether they deliver on these fresh anti-corruption promises in credible ways that take account of human rights.

Human rights are enforced by international treaties, backed by judicial bodies with teeth such as the international criminal court, the international court of justice and regional bodies such as the African court on human and people’s rights. The UN security council and the African Union’s peace and security council can impose sanctions in response to violations of political, economic, social or cultural rights, or to deal with torture, genocide and war crimes. On top of that, countries and international bodies have an obligation to act when human rights are breached.

 

Yet there is no such obligation to act against endemic corruption. International agreements define various corrupt practices as a crime, but not corruption itself. Instead, it is passively defined as a technical flaw in governance, its horrors disguised in legalese. Corruption’s victims get little mention.

That’s why so little progress has been made by the UN convention against corruption (Uncac). This global agreement elevated anti-corruption action to the world stage. But Uncac relies on states for implementation, and – unlike global protocols governing human rights – there is no effective sanction for those in breach. An absence of enforcement creates space for corrupt officials and businesspeople to hide without fear of pursuit or prosecution. And there is little political will to change things.

We need to give Uncac muscle by joining the moral and legal dots between corruption, human rights abuses and international crimes. Acknowledging the negative human rights impact of corruption makes it imperative for African states to provide better protection to their citizens. Africans have the most at stake in getting anti-corruption efforts to work, because corruption disproportionately affects poor people.

A more rights-based approach to corruption is a good strategy for both African and European governments. It would mean greater political stability, and provide an environment for sustained social and economic development. This, in turn, would have a positive effect on the drivers of conflict, terrorism and migration.

The human rights community built an arsenal to protect people. Now anti-corruption activists need to do the same.

• Anton du Plessis is executive director of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa