ኣብ ከተማ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ብ23 ሰነ 2016 ኣብ ሰዓታት ቅድሚ ቀትሪ ልዕሊ ክልተ ሺሕ ኤርትራውያን ዝተሳተፍዎ ውዕዉዕ ሰላማዊ ሰልፊ ተኻይዱ። ነዚ ሰላማዊ ሰልፊ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት፡ ኣባላት ተቓወምቲ ፖለቲካዊ ውድባትን ኣብታ ከተማ ዝነብሩ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ኤርትራያንን ተሳቲፈምዎ።

ዕላማ ናይዚ፡ ኮሚተ ስደተኛታትን ወከልቲ ተቓወምቲ ፖለቲካዊ ውድባት ኤርትራን ብሓባር ዘዳለውዎ ሰልፊ፡ ንምስታፍ ኤርትራውያን ፖፕላር ኣብ ዝበሃል ከባቢ ኣብ ቅርዓት ገነት ሆቴል እዮም ክተኣኻኸቡ ኣርፊዶም። ድሕሪ እዚ “ኣብ ኤርትራ ባርነት የብቅዕ፡ ፍትሒ ንግዳያት ገበን ሰባኣዊ መሰል፡ ብናጽነት ኮሪዕና እንተ ሓርነት ስኢና፡ ደገፍና ንጸብጻብ መርማሪት ኮሚሽን ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ንገልጽ፡ ጸገምና ከብቅዕ ድምጽና ነስምዕ፡ ፍትሒ ንደሊ መዓስ ሕጂ፡ ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ተበራበር፡ መራሕቲ ህግደፍ ገበነኛታት እዮም … “ ወዘተ ዝብሉ ጭረሖታት ብዝተፈላለዩ ቋንቋታት እንዳስምዑ ናብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ኣምሪሖም።

ሰልፊ ኣብ ኣፍደገ ቤት ጽሕፈት ናይቲ ሕብረት ምስ በጸሐ ንነዊሕ ግዜ ዝተፈላለዩ ጭርሖታት ምስ ኣስመዓ፡ ዝተወሰኑ ሰባት ኣትዮም ዝተዳለወ መልእኽቲ ናብ ተወከልቲ እቲ ሕብረት ኣረኪቦም። ድሕሪዚ እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ቕማቕ ሃለዋት ዳህሲስ ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ኩነታት ኤርትራ ንክልወት ሓላፍነቱ ክፍጽም ዝጽውዕ መልእኽቲ ብቋንቋታት ዓረብን እንግሊዝን ኣብ ቅድሚ እቶም ተሳተፍቲ ተነቢቡ።

ብዘይካዚ ድሕሪ ሰልፊ ምኽያዱ፡ ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ናብ ኤምባስታት ዝተፈላለያ ጸለውቲ ሃገራት መልእኽቲ ክቐርብ መደብ ተታሒዙ ከም ዝነበረ ካብቶም ኣሰናዳእቲ ዝተረኽበ ሓበሬታ ገሊጹ።

እዚ ከምዚሉ እንከሎ ኣብተን ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ተዓቚበሙለን ዘለዉ መደበራት እውን ተመሳሳሊ ዕላማ ዘለዎ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍታት ተኻይዱ እዩ።

Talk about Eritrea is to be heard at every corner of the UN headquarters in Geneva these days. Wednesday, 22 June, was another long days for Eritreans attending the various sessions concerning their problems. Following informal meetings of the non-state actors with delegations of UN member states, Eritrean activists Wednesday organized a well-attended side event at which victims and witnesses of the wrong-doings of the Eritrean regime well told in great detail.

First to speak was young Hanna Petros Solomon, whose story shocked the audience and many had to follow Hanna in breaking to tears and lasting sobs. Hanna was a child when her father, a most senior member of the Eritrean government, was incarcerated on 18 September 2001 and her mother, Aster Yohannes arrested on 11 December 2001, leaving Hanna and her siblings at parentless home. Every word Hanna uttered was painful.

Exiled founder-editor of Setit, Aron Berhane, explained how the tyrannical regime suffocated freedom of expression from its very start. He reported that five journalists are presumed out of 30 journalists who were imprisoned during the last 16 years, while 50 Eritrean journalists had to flee the country.

Prisoner of conscience Helen Berhane was also at hand to tell how the regime fights all Eritrean religious denominations, with emphasis on the so-called unregistered churches like the Pentecostalists and Jehova's Witnesses.

A former judge, Abdalla Karar, witnessed that rule of law died in Eritrea not after the border war but from the start of Eritrea's independent existence. He said Eritrea is using for 25 years now an old Ethiopian constitution which was adapted to the new situation in 1991.

Former diplomat, Fathi Osman, congratulated the UN Commission of Inquiry for ignoring the 45,000 "protest messages" it received from Eritreans because the regime is used to forging such signatures from unwilling signatories. He said he was a personal witness (as regime diplomat in Saudi Arabia) in the signing of government petitions against UN sanctions by 500 school children below the age of 12 in Jeddah .

Head of the Djibouti Commission for Human Rights was also provided an opportunity to tell the suffering of his compatriots as prisoners of war in Eritrea, some 13 of whom are still not accounted for.

Ms Elsa Chyrum, one of the organizers of the interesting event, concluded with meeting by summarizing the process undergone and the prospects ahead of Eritrean activists and their friends. A similar Eritrean side-event is expected to be held on Friday, 24 June.

Eritrean Activists Discuss Way Forward with Amnesty International

Later in the afternoon on 22 June, fifteen Eritrean human rights and democracy activists were invited to the office of Amnesty International in Geneva and discussed the implications of the UN COI report, the ongoing discussions on the Eritrean case and how the final resolution on Eritrea by the UN Human Rights Council , which is expected to be adopted soon, could be promoted and implemented in the best way possible.

Frankfurt, Germany, and New York, USA

June 22, 2016

In an interview with Radio France International (RFI), on June 20^th, 2016, the Foreign Minister of Eritrea, Mr. Osman Saleh, announced that all prisoners, and particularly those high-ranking government officials and veterans of Eritrea’s liberation struggle (aka G15) and journalists of the private press, who were arrested on September 18, 2001 and in its immediate aftermath, “are all alive” and “in good hands”.

We have been gravely concerned about the fate of our fellow veterans, and for almost 15 years, we have not stopped seeking information about them, and based on our sources, we have come to believe that at least half of them are no longer alive. All attempts by family members to visit them have been denied.

Political prisoners in Eritrea are held incommunicado, and their family members don’t have the right of visitation; and it is virtually impossible to confirm their well-being and whereabouts. We are concerned this announcement might give false hope to family members, who have already heard the deaths of their loved ones from various sources. It would be a cruel act further aggravating their suffering.

We call upon the International Community to use this opportunity and encourage the regime in Eritrea to allow the ICRC to visit the prisoners and confirm their well-being and ensure that they are no longer denied their right of due-process of law. The Foreign Minister’s announcement will only have credence if the ICRC can corroborate it. In view of the Eritrean government’s proven record of denial of the facts, not to have the ICRC visit the prisoners to check if the Foreign Minister’s statement is true would amount to an acceptance of a patent lie, and the Asmara regime’s shameless attempts to deceive the international community, at a time when its image is irreparably damaged.

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* Mesfin Hagos served the government of Eritrea as Chief of Staff of the Defense Forces, Defense Minister of the GOE and Governor of the Southern Region, and Adhanom Ghebremariam, as Attorney General of the GOE, Governor of Seraye province and its Ambassador to Sweden and Nigeria. They are both members of the G15, the group of prominent veterans and government officials who advocated change and demanded the implementation of the ratified 1997 Constitution. Both escaped their imprisonment because they were outside the country on September 18, 2001, when their fellow members were arrested.