The Sarcasm, Denial and Lies of the Eritrean authorities: a personal account on the National service, the closure of the University of Asmara and the Scholarship program in South Africa
Written by Zekarias Ginbot……...in Part I, I described how the aspirations of the Eritrean people have been dashed by PFDJ over the last 20 years and how the national service has ended up becoming a modern day slavery. I believe the Ethio-Eritrean border war, commented on by readers of Part I, has been used by PFDJ as an excuse, but as to who started it is beyond the theme of my article for now. In Part II, I continue to reflect on my own experience while inside Eritrea including the closure of the University of Asmara.
Part II
By the end of year 2000, an opportunity came along for an overseas study for undergraduate and graduate programs. It was rumored that the Eritrean authorities had to spend the money given to the nation by UNDP. Not sure of the accuracy of that rumor but they decided to send students to South Africa for undergraduate and postgraduate programs. I was among those who got that opportunity. But then, we were asked to produce a 150,000 Nakfa guarantee for return after completing the intended study program. This created shock-waves. “…after years in school and then the national service, and now 150,000 Nakfa!” Students who came back from the war front lines found out that their government, the PFDJ, did not trust them despite the determination they showed in protecting the country with their lives. The memory of colleagues including fresh graduates, who died in the war, was very vivid at the time. But PFDJ officials and the likes, including Dr Wolde-ab Issak, did not bother about the effect of their policies on student moral and nationalism.
The return-guarantee requirement was later dropped for undisclosed reasons but it did left scars in our minds and on our families’ relationships. I know family relationships that are broken to this day as some members were not willing to risk money or property to guarantee their next of kin’s return from South Africa. I know how difficult decision it was for anyone involved given the unpredictability of PFDJ policies within the country and abroad. Under PFDJ, this scenario is similar to that of someone abandoning the national service from his/her military post and then his/her family member being arrested for it.
Many students were indeed sent to South Africa for a scholarship which was a remote controlled program by PFDJ. They managed it like what they do with their high school program in Sawa. When we departed from Eritrea, we were told what to study and there was no proper orientation. Some of us ended up in colleges and universities that did not provide the type of study we were assigned to. Many students were made to wait idle for 6 month, doing nothing, until another university was identified. Some of us were forced to join study programs we were not interested in and this created unnecessary stress. The worst of these was when students were told to finish their program of study on the originally prescribed time without considering problems the students were facing. As a result of these, some students were forced to return to Eritrea before completing their study program: wastage of money and precious time.
Things went from bad to worse when Mr Gerahtu Tesfamicael was assigned Eritrean ambassador to South Africa. Instead of trying to solve problems, he created more confusion among students. Innocent-looking Mr Gerahtu made personal friends among students to spy on student loyalties (looking innocent and making friends is his special talent). He managed to suspend stipend of many students. Some students who applied for entry visas to travel to Europe or America were abducted from their residences and deported back to Eritrea. This is something that one would not expect but PFDJ are good in doing evil. They managed to corrupt South African security personnel for their evil activities. It was also worth noting the request made by Eritrean authorities to the South African academic institutions not to issue student certificates and diplomas on completion of the study programs. Although some of those institutions refused such a request, others did not and the certificates and diplomas were actually sent back to Eritrea. That means some students were forced to return under the arrangement described.
There were many PFDJ sponsored propaganda meetings held during my two years M.Sc. program in South Africa, one of which was with Isayas Afeworki, the Eritrean president in Durban in July 2002. I was one of the students who asked the president about the deteriorating situation in our home country, concerning the national service in particular. The president was in the country for other purpose and an arrangement was made for the students to meet him. In my humble question, referring to the social effects of the national service on parents and participant’s own families, I indicated that the program could be handled better. After explaining how the program was run, the president told us that each national service participant was paid 1300 Nakfa per month. It was a white lie.
We, the students in the Durban meeting, knew that the president’s response to my question was a deception and sarcasm as most of us were members of the national service program before we came to South Africa. That meeting was also the occasion when we were told not to come back home if we chose to do so as the government could hire expats from Asian countries. It was a very discouraging message and it was a clear indication that the authorities were not interested to build the capacity of the nation. Last week, 13 years after our Durban meeting, I heard the president make sarcastic pronouncements about the constitution that was drafted and approved by the people and then shelved away by him. He tried to act as if he understands the importance of a constitution better than anybody else. All these things show how irresponsible and blatant liars president Isayas and his PFDJ clique were then and are today when they communicate with the people.
I take this opportunity to pay my tribute to my fellow student, Hussein Mohammed, who put forward a question to the president at the Durban meeting, and died later tragically. He asked the president about his father’s arrest and disappearance. He was polite in stating the question. I am sure anyone of us would ask the same question at the time if our parent was taken away by security personnel and disappear. He just wanted to know if the president knew about it and when his father would be brought to court if he did anything wrong. The president’s response was hostile and threatening. Although Hussein’s death was in a car accident, he suffered tremendously as a result of what followed. His stipend was suspended and he couldn’t continue to finish his study program. As for me, by then I had already completed my master’s program and was planning to return to Eritrea. Despite all the challenges I had gone through and the fact that the Eritrean president showed up his ugly personality in the meeting described above, I was still blindly optimistic about my country and returned back. I thought I would contribute and make a difference in the lives of my countrymen especially the young.
I returned to the University of Asmara at the end of 2002 and started to work as a lecturer. By then, my friends whom I left in Asmara working as journalists including Mattewos Habteab, Medhanie Haile and Yusuf Mohamed Ali were already imprisoned (and their fate remains unknown to this date). These men were brilliant, young and motivated new graduates from the University of Asmara and, like many other innocent Eritreans, they were taken away from the society because they believed in freedom. It was also the aftermath of the mass arrest of the University students. After their release from Wia, the students were traumatized and were not in a proper mental status to learn. I found the students calm and non-responsive. Under ideal and western-world standards, they should have been de-briefed and rehabilitated first (I do not know which type of world PFDJ belongs to!). I do not wish these type of cruelty to the sons and daughters of PFDJ supports so that their parents would see what PFDJ stands for but these are facts of everyday live in PFDJ’s Eritrea today.
Like any other staff at the university, despite the obvious challenges, I continued to carry-on teaching. The university was already under threat of closure. Some Eritrean expats from the diaspora who used to work for the university had left. Dr. Welde-ab Issak, the then president of the university, did not return from an overseas trip in 2004. Following this, the academic administration and the non-academic management offices became rivals; one reporting to the office of the minister of education and the other to the president’s office; one giving promotion to academic staff and the other withdrawing it. None of them bothered of the threat of closure of the university, the future of the staff or the students. Money of us felt helpless and PFDJ managed to fully infiltrate the university at all levels.
I did not know where Dr. Wolde-Ab Isaac has been since he left the University of Asmara. But last year, I found out that he was working for a certain US college in California, and as I expected, as an acting president. This power hungry person always goes for administrative posts despite his qualification in science. I do not mean this is a taboo but from my experience, Dr Wolde-ab does not have administrative qualities. He would be better suited for a military general than an academician or administrator. He was an arrogant person who did not have any relationship with his staff or the students and was better known for intimidation of staff at the University and demobilization of government employees without compensation in other government institutions.
While at the University of Asmara, Dr Wolde-ab did not care about academic issues. I don’t remember him chairing a discussion on academic issues during the time I worked as a lecturer but only PFDJ sponsored functions. Every time someone approaches him with a question, he does his best in belittling the individual by going into side issue instead of addressing the concerns raised. No one denies that he is an excellent orator but he uses his talent only to intimidate others. When I spoke about him to people who knew him while he was at the Uppsala University in Sweden, their response was, “…well, what do you expect from Wolde-ab”, no surprise at all.
Back to my personal issues: in 2004, I was offered an opportunity to pursue a PhD program at the University of Cape Town where I obtained my master’s degree before. But then the management at the University of Asmara refused to let me go. As we all know, the immigration office in Eritrea considers exit visa applications if accompanied by employer’s institutional letter of support. They use such kind of bureaucracy and tactics to legitimize their suppressive administration, and hence I could not get that letter. When I came back from South Africa at the end of 2002, I was called at the university’s management office to tell about my experience. I believe my honest communication at the time was taken out of context and above all, I was questioning the wisdom of the country’s president while in South Africa.
In 2006, after 4 years of working for the university, I was again refused permission to leave for a PhD scholarship. To make matters worse, the University was officially closed in September of that same year and the academic staff were told to report to the other colleges run by the military. We, the staff were required to sign a document to guarantee compliance with the working environment at the MaiNefhi College or at the other sister colleges. That signing included bringing a parent or a spouse to sign to guarantee compliance. It was a serious matter as we all knew the intension of the authorities. On top of all these non-academic and degrading procedures, the working environment became so bad and unbearable for the staff and the students who were brought there. It was under these circumstances that I was forced to leave my family and my country by taking a dangerous route into the Sudan.
January 05,2015
……..Part III will follow
Peace and Prosperity to the Eritrean people!!
ገዲም ተጋዳላይ ዓሊ ዓምር መሓመድ ሓሰበላ ብዝሓደሮ ሕማም ትማሊ ዕለት 3 ጥሪ 2015 ካብ'ዛ ዓለም ብሞት ተፈልዩና። ስውእ ዓሊ ዓምር፡ ብ1958 ኣብ ቃርዑበል (ዓንሰባ) ተወሊዱ። ብ1974 ድማ ኣብ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ተሰሊፉ። ኣብ ተሓኤ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ጽፍሕታት ተመዲቡ ተቓሊሱ። ኣብ ብሪገድ 77 መራሕ ሓይሊ ነይሩ። ብድሕሪኡ ናይ ሕክምና ትምህርቲ ወሲዱ ከም ሓኪም ኰይኑ ኣገልጊሉ። ኣብ መደበር ሸገራብ ድሕሪ ምስግጋሩ ድማ፡ ኣቦ መንበር ጨንፈር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ሸገራብን ከባቢኡን ኰይኑ ክሳብ መስዋእቱ ክቃለስ ጸኒሑ።
ኣብ ሰማንያታት ኣብ ምምስራት ቤት ትምህርቲ ወድሸሪፈይ ልሉይ ግደ ተጻዊቱ። ኣብ መደበር ስደተኛታት ሸገራብ ኣብ ዝነብረሉ ዝነበረ እዋን ድማ፡ ምስ ናይ ግዳም ናይ ረዲኤት ማሕበራት ከም ሓኪም፤ ከምኡ'ውን፡ ምስ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ከም ተርጓማይ ኰይኑ ብምስራሕ ንስደተኛታት ንብዙሕ ዓመታት ከገልግል ጸኒሑ። ስውእ ዓሊ ዓምር ኣቦ 8 ቆልዑ ኢዩ።
በዚ ኣጋጣሚ'ዚ መሪሕነትን መሰረታትን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ንስውእ መንግስተ-ሰማይ የዋርሶ፡ ንስደራ ቤቱን ድማ ጽንዓት ይሃቦም እናበለና ናይ ሓዘኖም ተኻፈልቲ ምዃና ንገልጽ።
ገዲም ተጋዳላይ ዓሊ ዓምር መሓመድ ሓሰበላ ብዝሓደሮ ሕማም ትማሊ ዕለት 3 ጥሪ 2015 ካብ'ዛ ዓለም ብሞት ተፈልዩና። ስውእ ዓሊ ዓምር፡ ብ1958 ኣብ ቃርዑበል (ዓንሰባ) ተወሊዱ። ብ1974 ድማ ኣብ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ተሰሊፉ። ኣብ ተሓኤ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ጽፍሕታት ተመዲቡ ተቓሊሱ። ኣብ ብሪገድ 77 መራሕ ሓይሊ ነይሩ። ብድሕሪኡ ናይ ሕክምና ትምህርቲ ወሲዱ ከም ሓኪም ኰይኑ ኣገልጊሉ። ኣብ መደበር ሸገራብ ድሕሪ ምስግጋሩ ድማ፡ ኣቦ መንበር ጨንፈር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ሸገራብን ከባቢኡን ኰይኑ ክሳብ መስዋእቱ ክቃለስ ጸኒሑ።
ኣብ ሰማንያታት ኣብ ምምስራት ቤት ትምህርቲ ወድሸሪፈይ ልሉይ ግደ ተጻዊቱ። ኣብ መደበር ስደተኛታት ሸገራብ ኣብ ዝነብረሉ ዝነበረ እዋን ድማ፡ ምስ ናይ ግዳም ናይ ረዲኤት ማሕበራት ከም ሓኪም፤ ከምኡ'ውን፡ ምስ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ከም ተርጓማይ ኰይኑ ብምስራሕ ንስደተኛታት ንብዙሕ ዓመታት ከገልግል ጸኒሑ። ስውእ ዓሊ ዓምር ኣቦ 8 ቆልዑ ኢዩ።
በዚ ኣጋጣሚ'ዚ መሪሕነትን መሰረታትን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ንስውእ መንግስተ-ሰማይ የዋርሶ፡ ንስደራ ቤቱን ድማ ጽንዓት ይሃቦም እናበለና ናይ ሓዘኖም ተኻፈልቲ ምዃና ንገልጽ።
ጸብጻብ ኣባዓዕላ ሓድሽ ዓመት - 2015- ኣብ ቤር ኤርያ ካሊፎርንያ
Written by ምንቅስቃስ ኤርትራውያን ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ - በይ ኤርያ፡ ካሊፎርንያኣብ ቤይ ኤርያ ካሊፎርንያ ዝነብሩ ኤርትራውያን ደለይቲ ለውጢ ንሓድሽ ዓመት ብኽብ ዝበለ ጽንብል ተቐቢሎማ። እቲ ናይ ምዝንጋዕ መደብ በቲ ኤርትራውያን ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ኣብ ቤይ ኤርያ ተባሂሉ ዝጽዋዕ ንኹሉም ኣብዚ ከባቢ ዝርከቡ ናይ ልወጢ ሓይልታት ሓቁፉ ዝንቀሳቀስ ዘሎ ማሕበር ዝተዳለወ መድብ ‘ዩ ነይሩ።
እቶም ካብ ሰዓት 9፡00 ድ. ቀ. ኣትሒዞም ኣብቲ ናይ ጽንብል ኣደራሽ ዝተረኽቡ ተሳተፍቲ በቲ ብወሓላሉ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ኤርትርውያን ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ተዳልዩ ዝቀረበሎም ጡዑም መኣዛ ዘለዎ መግብን ዝቀረበ መስተን ተሰንዮም ክዛነዩ ድሕሪ ምጽናሕ፡ እቲ መድረኽ ሓንቲ ካብ ኣባላት ቦርድ ማሕበር ዝኾነት ትዕግስቲ ካሕሳይ ብዘቕረበቶ ናይ እንቋዕ ድሓን መጻእኩም መግለጺ እዩ ብወግዒ ተጀሚሩ። ካብዚ ኣትሒዙ ከኣ እቲ ናይ ምዝንጋዕ መድብ በቶም ንምዕዋት እቲ መደብ ካብ ኤውሮጳን ዝተፈላለዩ ክልፈ ግዝእታት ኣመሪካን ዝመጹ ድምጻውያንን ሙዚቀኛታትን ብምውህሃድ ዘቕረብዎም ሙዚቃዊ ጣዕሚ ተጀሚሩ።
ነቲ ሰንይ ናይ ደስታ ምሸት ዕዉት ንምግባር ኣብ መድረኽ ዝተረኽቡ ድምጻውያንን ምዙቀኛታትን እዞም ዝስዕቡ እዮም ነይሮም ። እቲ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ኣብ ዘመናዊ ትልሂት ኤርትራ ዓቢ እጃም ዘበርከተ፡ ሕጂ ከኣ ሓደ ካብ ቀወምቲ ጋዜጠኛታት ድምጺ ራድዮ ኤረና ኮይኑ፡ ኣዳላዊ እታ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ሰንበት እትፈኖ ፍትውቲ “መድብ ሸኾሪናታት” ዝኾነ ዮናታን ሃብተ። እቶም ካብ ንእስነቶም ኣትሒዞም ንቃልሲ ሰውራ ኤርትራ ብስነጥበባዊ ዕዮኦምን ኩቡር ዕድመ ካብ ሂወቶምን ዝወፈዩ ድምጻዊት ቮሮኒካ ሰለሙን፡ ኦርጋኒስታታት ወዲ ኣፍሮን ኣልማዝን፡ ሳክስፎኒስት ጊዶወን ሃብቶም ። እቲ ብዘለዎ ናይ ጊታር ምልከት ካብ ለዛታት ኤርትራ ሓሊፉ ናይ ኢንግሊዝን ካልኦት ህርመታት ኣፍሪቃን ዝጻወት ባሃር ሙዚቀኛ ረዘነ ሃብተን፡ ከምኡ ውን እቲ ሓደ ካብ ወናማት ኤርትራውያን ስነጥበባውያን ኣብ ሰሜን ኣሜሪካ ብምዃን ኣብ ምኹስኻስ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ባህሊ ልዑል ኣበርክቶ ዝተጸወተ ድምጻዊ ምኪኤል ጎይቲኦምን እዮም ነይሮም።
ተሰተፍቲ እዚ ናይ ሓጎስ ምሸት በቲ ብኩቱር ውህደት ደረፍትን ምዙቀኛታትን ተሰንዮም ዝቀረብሎም ዝተፈላልዩ ጣዕሚ ዜምታት ትግርኛ፡ ዓረብ፡ ትግረ፡ ሳሆን እንዳ ተላህዩ ክብረትን ምትሕቑቛፍን ዝመልኦ ጽንብል ኣካይዶም። እቲ ካብ ዓመተ 2014 ናብ ዓመት 2015 ብሰላም ዘሰጋግረና ልዑል ፈጣሪ ፡ ንህርመት ልቢ ኤርትራውያን ሰሚዑ ፡ ንቃልሲ ኤርትራውያን ንቅድሚት ኣሰጉሙ፡ ንህዝብናን ሃገርና ካብዚ ዘለውዎ ከቢድ ኣደራዕ ንኸነናግፎም ፡ ክእለትን ብልሓትን ክህበና ብምምናይ ነዛ ድሮ ክልተ ማዓልቲ ኣልዒልናላ ዘለና ሓዳስ ዓመት ተቀቢሎማ።
እዚ ናይ ሎሚ ዓመት ጽንብል ካብቶም ናይ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ጽንብላት ፍልይ ዘብሎ ነገር እንተ ሃልዩ፡ እቲ መደብ ኣብ ውሽጢ ሓጺር ናይ ግዜ ሰሊዳ (2 ሰሙን) ተወጢኑ ዝተኻየደ ብምንባሩ እዩ። እዚ ዕዉት ኽኸውን ዝኸኣለ ከኣ ብዙሓት ካብ ኣባልት ነዚ መድብ ንምዕምዋት ፋይናንሳዊ ሓገዛት፡ መራላውን ናይ ግዜ ደገፍን ብምካያድ ክዕውትዎ ስለ ዝኻሉ እዩ። ብዘይካዚ እቶም ኣብ ሓጺር ግዜ ተሓቢሮም ኣውንታዊ መልሲ ብምሃብ ኣብ ቦትኦም ዝተረኽቡ ደረፍትን፡ ሙዚቀኛታትን ውን ኣዝዮም ክምጎሱ ዝግብኦም እዩ።
እቲ ብ ዶር መብራህቱ ተወልደ ዝቀረበ ሓጺር ናይ ማሕበር መደረ ውን ነዚ ዝሞጎሰን፡ እቲ ማሕበር ንኹሉ ዝጋጠሞ ብድሆታት ሰጊሩ ኣብዚ ኣቲናዮ ዘሎና ሓድሽ ዓመት ንኹሎም ኣብ በይ ኤርያ ዝርከቡ ኤርትራውያ ሓቑፉ፡ ናብቲ ኤርትራ ካብ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ሓራ ንምውጻእ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ህዝባዊ ቃልሲ ብዝሓየለ መዳይ ከም ዝሳተፉ ክገብር ኩሉ ምድላዋቱን ኣካይድኡን ኣጻፊፉ ከም ዘሎ ብምሕባር፡ ነቶም ኣብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራ ብምልኪ ዝሳቐዩ ዘለዉ ኤርትራውያን ፡ ከምኡ ውን ነቶም ካብ ኤርትራ ውጺኦም ኣብቲ ዘካይድዎ ናይ ስደት ጉዕዞ ዝብደሉን ዝጋፍዑን ዘለዎ ኤርትራውያን እንኮ ፍታሕ ምውዳቕ እቲ ኣብ ቅርዓት ሃገርና ነጊሱ ዘሎ ምልኪ ጥራሕ እዩ ድሕሪ ምባል፡ ኣብዚ እንጅምሮ ዘለና ሓድሽ ዓመት ሓድነትና ኣትሪርና ምልኪ ክንስዕር ብምዝኽኻር፡ ዓመተ 2015 ዓመተ ፍትሕን ሰላም ክትከውን ብምምናይ መደረኡ ዛዚሙ። ካብዚ ቀጺሉ እቶም ብዝቀረብሎም ሰነ-ጥበባዊያን ፍርያት እናተዘናግዑ ክሳብ ሰዓታት ወጋሕታ ዝተዛናዩ ተሳተፍቲ ንሓድሕዶም ርሑስ ሓድሽ ዓመት ብምምናይ ነናብ ቦቲኦም ተበጊሱሶም፡ እቲ ብሕጉስ መንፈስ ዝጀመረ ናይ ደስታ ምሸት ከኣ ሰዓት 2:30 ወጋሕታ ብሰላም ተዛዚሙ።
ዓመት 2015 ምልኪ ፈሪሱ ፡ ፍትሒ ዝነግሰሉ ዓመት ንኽኾነልና ተጊህና ንቃልሰ !
01 ጥሪ 2015
ምንቅስቃስ ኤርትራውያን ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ - በይ ኤርያ፡ ካሊፎርንያ
ምልካዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ነቲ ካብ ህዝቢ ዝቐርበሉ ዘሎ መጸዋዕታ ብምፍራሕ ነቲ ዘመሓላለፎ ናይ ታዕሊም መጸዋዕታ ሰሪዝዎ
Written by ፕሮጀክት ዓርቢ -ሓርነትምልካዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ነቲ ኩሎም ኣባላት ህዝባዊ ሰራዊት ዕለታዊ ናብርኦም ወንዚፎም ንዕለት 3 ጥሪ 2015 ናብ ዝተፈላለዩ መደበራት ታዕሊም ክወርዱ ዘመሓላልፎ መጸዋዕታ: ነቲ ካብ ህዝቢ ዝቐርበሉ ዘሎ ኣብያ ብምፍራሕ፡ ነቲ መጸዋዕታ ከምዝሰረዞ ኣብ ኣስመራ ዝርከቡ ኣባላትዓርቢ ሓርነት ሓቢሮም።
ከም ዝዝከር ምልካዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ነቶም ብኣስገዳድ ብረት ኣሕንጊጥዎም ዘለዎ ኤርትራውያን ኣቦታት ናብ መደበር ታዕሊም ክወርዱ ካብ ወርሒ ጥቅምቲ 2014 ኣትሒዙ ብተደጋጋሚ ጸዊዑ እዩ። እንተኾነ ግን እቲ ብሕሰም ዕለታዊ መነባብሮን ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን ተዋሪዱ ዘሎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ካብ ናይ ቃል ተቓውሞ ሰጊሩ ናብ ግብራዊ ተቓውሞ ብምስግጋር ነቲ ዝቐርብ ዘሎ ጻዊዒት ጸማም እዝኒ ብምሃብ ብተደጋጋሚ የበርዕኖ ከምዘሎ ዝሓበሩ ኣባላት ዓርቢ ሓርነት፡ እዚ ዘሎ ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞ ከምዚ ዘለዎ እንተድኣ ቀጺሉ ኣብዚ ሒዝናዮ ዘለና ሓድሽ ዓመት ኣብ ኤርትራ ምልኪ ዘይጽረገሉ ምኽንያት የሎን ብምባል፡ ህዝቢ ንሓርነታዊ መሰላቱ ንምውሓስ ቃልሱ ከደንፍዕ ኣዘካኺሮም።
ፕሮጀክት ዓርቢ ሓርነት፡ ብኣብ ኤርትራን ካብ ኤርትራ ወጻእን ዝርከቡ ኤርትራውያን ዝካየድ ፕሮጀክት ኮይኑ: ነቲ ኣብ ወጻእን ኣብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራን ዝካየድ ዘሎ ናይ ለውጢ ምንቅስቓስ ብምትእስሳር ኣብ ኤርትራ ዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ንምንጋስ ዝሰርሕ ፕሮጀክት‘ዩ።
2 ጥሪ 2015
ፕሮጀክት ዓርቢ-ሓርነት
Eritrea: Regime calls off new calls for military training
Written by Project Arbi Harnet(Asmara 02-01-2015) Freedom Friday (Arbi Harnet) activists in Asmara have this afternoon confirmed that the Eritrean regime has called off the announcements requiring many Asmara residents to report for training, tomorrow 3rd of January 2015.
The calls were issued with stern warning of severe repercussion for those who failed to report for training some three weeks ago. However sensing the determination to ignore these calls just like the previous calls in October authorities in the Central Region of the country have started spreading last minute messages about the postponement of the training.
The activists stated: ‘Asmara residents were determined to ignore these calls just like the three previous calls, but they [the regime] backtracked at the last minute and tonight nearly everyone, at least here in “zoba maekel” are aware that it has been called off, we don’t think they will ever pursue the plan again. If the challenge from the public is maintained at this level there is no reason why we won’t see the end of the regime in this new year’.
Three weeks ago all members of the Popular Army and members of the national service who have not registered were informed to report for training on the 3rd of January and sternly warned about repercussions of failing to report. It was feared that the regime will force people to go to “Gahtelay Military training Center”, renown for its inhospitable climate, where the elderly recruits of the Popular Army would have found impossible to cope with.
The repeated show of quiet resistance has become a norm in the Capital where there is a growing confidence and solidarity among residents, who have stood firm in their determination to resist forced militeraisation of the civilian population.
---end---
Notes
The Popular Army in Eritrea is made up of civilians over the age of fifty, who are required to get armed and trained and be on call for duties in their local area, including night patrols.
In 2014, Eritrea continued to be a scene of human disaster and a country under siege: from systematic state brutality, gross human rights violations and eliminations of any political dissent within the country to indefinite military conscription, which is forcing thousands of its youth to flee the country and becoming victims of human trafficking and organ harvesting enterprises.
According to UNHCR, in 2014 around 70 Eritreans arrived daily in the refugee camps in Northern Ethiopia. Currently, there are over 93,000 Eritrean refugees living in four camps in Northern Ethiopia: Shimelba, May Ayni, Adiharush, and Hitsats (established in 2013),including in two camps in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The country has lost a large number of its productive force (the youth) in 2014 more than the preceding year, entirely crippling Eritrea of its promising and future vision of its people. A country without a youth has no future. Eritrea saw its human and social capital bleeding to death under the predatory regime of a malignant narcissistic leader in 2014. In Eastern Sudan, the number of Eritrean refugees who arrived in 2014 totaled 10,700, an average of more than 1,000 a month.
In addition, the country saw its human suffering going from bad to worse, with a near collapsed economy, widespread poverty, and a health system that cannot deliver a semblance of basic services. There was hardly any family in Eritrea that has not been affected by the consequences of the violent repression of the PFDJ in 2014.
In 2014, the PFDJ regime continued to kill, abduct, torture, and imprison citizens, and committing extrajudicial executions and disappearances of hundreds of citizens, including holding hundreds of others incommunicado and in clandestine detentions across the country. Many of those arrested and held incommunicado in the crackdown of 2001 are reportedly died in prison,including members of the G15. Access to political, economic and social rights, and fundamental freedom to exercise own religion, culture and traditional norms/values continued to be violently repressed in 2014.
The Moral Courage of Eritrean Faith Leaders
Informed and morally courageous four Catholic priests authored a document “Where is Your Brother” that gained a groundswell of support from the Eritrean opposition and the public at large in 2014. “Where is Your Brother” is a document that captured the unprecedented scale of violent repression and terror of the PFDJ regime on Eritrean citizens, and how as a consequence of it, the country is sliding into a deeper social and political crisis.
The document opened a new public and political discourse regarding the gross human rights abuses by the PFDJ, and helped to lay a groundwork for Eritrean people inside and outside not to capitulate but to stand up, defend their rights, and hasten the transition of power to the people and salvage their country. The manifesto also revealed that it is a matter of time before both the opposition and the public indignation reaches a critical mass inside the country.
In a similar vein, in September 2014, the clergy of the Union of the Eritrean Orthodox monasteries put out another document declaring excommunication of the notorious individuals who have been running the Orthodox Church establishment for the last decade or so. The underlying message of both documents is that the long and disastrous road that the PFDJ took the country for the last two decades is being challenged by the people that have an ecclesiastic power on faith, moral, cultural, and social authority in our society. These are the two most important documents that delegitimized the political power of PFDJ in 2014 and broke the culture of conformity and fear of our people that the PFDJ uses to perpetuate its misrule of the country.
Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR), Bologna, and Frankfurt Festivals
In May 2014, the EMDHR and its partners organized one of the most important workshops of the year that brought together Eritrean scholars, experts, political organizations, and civil society groups. Under the themeof “Strategic Thinking on Political and Socioeconomic Crises in Eritrea: Implications, Scenarios and Responses”, participants presented a wide array of empirical study papers and explored the current state of affairs of Eritrea under the PFDJ misrule: from the lack of constitution/rule of law to economic and human crisis, from the destruction of Eritrea’s social fabric to the migration of the most skilled and productive force and its far-reaching impact on the health, unity, and development of our country, and to how we should formulate a transition to democracy as well as forge a strategy of bringing all the forces of change together in the fight against the PFDJ regime, be it inside Eritrea or abroad. In the same spirit, 
the Bologna festival, which was held under “the theme of Eritrean Solutions for Eritrean Problems” and the Frankfurt festival, which both brought large number of Eritreans together came out with a strong voice in support of the EMDHR workshop declaration, including adapting the resolutions of Bologna 2013 and establishing a task force charged to work on a number of areas on how to form a united national movement, dialogue and reconciliation and others.
Regionalism that Knows no Bounds
The politics of regionalism was one of the ugliest developments in 2014 that caught the attention of many Eritreans. Certain groups and personalities have been busy promoting regional politics in 2014 by claiming that the PFDJ regime is suppressing and/or targeting their region more than other region (s). The fact is there are stacks of evidence that the PFDJ regime is no less cruel or repressive to other regions in Eritrea, be it Barka, Seraye or Senhit…etc.
For PFDJ, all Eritrean regions are the same; there is no one region different from the rest of regions when it comes to the state of repression. Again, although it is a well known that the PFDJ regime applies the same method of repression against all those who oppose its regime regardless of any color of region, Muslim or Christian, unfortunately the wretched political situation of Eritrea is one factor that is serving as a perfect field for all sorts of divisions and factionalisms, especially for those few willing to subscribe to it. But those sowing the seeds of regionalism know that there is no particular region in Eritrea that is exclusively mistreated, systematically discriminated, killed or persecuted more than the rest of Eritrean regions by the dictatorial regime of Issais.
Yet, those who subscribe to such politics under the pretext of saving our region or my region are simply perpetuating PFDJ’s tyrannical politics, which would help it to further strengthen and tighten its iron grip on all Eritrean people. It also suggests that those who signed on to the regionalism politics are unable to rally a united force against the PFDJ regime; the easy path they found is to follow a downright sub national politics, which they believe is easy to dupe few apolitical and disillusioned Eritreans. The brute fact is that by involving in regionalism, they are not helping their region, but the regime of PFDJ that is making Eritrea increasingly divisive, oppressive, and bloodstained country, which their region will continue to bear the brunt of it like any other region in Eritrea.
The irony of all is this: if our regionalists (regional entrepreneurs) are accusing PFDJ of being a regionalist, one would ask why are they mimicking it and carbon copying it (PFDJ)? In fact, the pattern of imitation or emulation is interesting because the regionalists see the PFDJ as a regime that is ruling Eritrea by siding with or representing one region, and yet the regionalists themselves are aspiring for power of their region by marginalizing other regions.
More importantly, the point is, you see, Issais’ regime has squandered the accumulated social and political capital of Eritrea’s revolution. Now, instead of reclaiming our revolution, we are handing PFDJ more ammunition to use - regionalism which will enable it to extend its life span. They are writing a wrong history. Eritrea does not need sub national or identity politics; what it needs is democracy, strong institutions, and constitutional system of governance that provides rule of law and equal treatment for all of its citizens. And this means that we have to avoid polarization of Eritrean society on basis of region, ethnic, or religion. If we continue the discourse of regionalism politics, at the end of the day it won’t be only democracy and freedom that will be at risk in Eritrea. In the long term, it means creating an embittered and polarized generation too blinded by hatred and intolerance of one another, and that won’t fix what ails the state of Eritrea. EPDP believes this is the lesson we need to take away for 2015.
Women of Extraordinary Resilience
In 2014, many Eritrean Diaspora women have done remarkable job in championing the rightof Eritrean refugees around the world, advocating for political asylum and protection of Eritrean rights as refugees on their host countries, campaigning against the human trafficking and organ harvesting in the Sinai desert, and echoing the plight of Eritrean refugees in the halls of UN and in the European governments.
Many to mention, but the most inspirational women who made great strides as human rights activists against the gross human rights violation by the dictatorial regime of Issais Afeworki are Elsa Chyrum (Human Rights Concern Eritrea), Dr. Alganesh Fessaha (NGO Ghandi foundation), Meron Estefanos (Journalist and Activist), Sister Azezet Habtezgi Kidane ( Combonian Missionary Sisters), Salwa Nour (Activist in the Gulf States), and Selam Kidane (Activist and ‘Freedom Friday’ campaigner). All of them individually or collectively have made a significant contribution to the struggle for democracy, human rights and freedom in Eritrea in 2014. Elsa Chyrum staged hunger strike in the Djiboutian embassy mission in Geneva in March 2014 against the detention of 267 Eritrean refugees in Djibouti. The hunger strike finally led to the release of the 267 Eritrean detainees in Djibouti. Meron Estefanos coauthored “the Human Trafficking Cycle: Sinai and Beyond” in March 2014, which captures the gruesome account of Eritrean refugees at the hands of human traffickers. All these Eritrean women brought the struggle of democracy close to home in a very resilient and remarkable way in 2014.
A Tireless Defender of Eritrean Refugees
Father Mussie Zerai, an Eritrean Catholic priest in Switzerland, is another devoted Eritrean who fought gallantly in 2014 and the years before in saving many Eritrean refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. Father Mussie established a satellite mobile phone to reach out many Eritrean refugees detained in the Libya and other North African countries. This fearless and crusader for justice uses his satellite mobile phone to alert coast guards on behalf refugees stranded in a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea. His active involvement in the saving many lives of refugees has earned him recognition as one of the most devoted and tireless defender of Eritrean refugees.
The State of Stagnation
Eritrean political organizations remained in a state of stagnation in 2014 regarding pulling their resources together and mapping a united strategic roadmap against the dictatorial regime of Issais Afeworki. However, there were some efforts seemingly towards unity, for example, as in the case of the ‘Consultation Forum’ that brought leaders of the opposition forces together and deliberated on a number of issues, ranging from the misunderstanding and mutual mistrust that exists between the opposition forces to the uncompromising political culture and embracing political polarization to a combination of other weaknesses and failures in the opposition. But no concrete, joint, and/or workable agreement was reached that can be characterized as a turning point over the status quo. Individual groups in the opposition have also attempted to engage in a bilateral discussion on how to work together, but this too did not translate into any meaningful development. It seems the opposition has been caught again in a vicious cycle in 2014, maintaining the status quo and unable to transcend beyond the root cause that is holding it back from moving forward – trust deficit.
Lampedusa and Beyond
Lampedusa spurred a serious debate among Eritrean Diaspora in 2013. And the impact was a renaissance of spirit and reawakening, which eventually led to the establishment of multiple grass root movements across the globe. At the beginning, all those movements captured the hope and enthusiasm of Eritreans towards grass root movements unseen in the last two decades. And they have done a number of remarkable public engagements, major protests, and forums aimed at PFDJ regime, including a wave of protests in the PFDJ’s Diaspora gatherings and events that sometimes led to clashes with PFDJ supporters.
But the enthusiasm and tenacity that started in 2013 did not continue with the same weight in 2014. Although still struggling and functioning at some level, the scattered nature of its existence appeared to be part of the problem in 2014, meaning the lack of regional and international leadership that would enable the grass root movements to operate on the same page. But the second and major obstacle to the grass root movements in 2014 was the interference of some political organizations whose efforts were focused on modeling the grass root movements’ ideas and practices on their own image. This means more polarizations and disagreements between the various grass root movements across the globe. And this is the obstacle that the grass root movements need to tackle worldwide, and march beyond Lampedusa.
The Man Behind the Most Important Book in 2014
Ambassador Andebrhan Woldegiorgis published a book that provokes, illuminates, and narrates how the sad state of affairs of Eritrea came into being that overtime not only bankrupted and paralyzed the hopes and dreams of nation building process in the country, but also how the hegemony and dictatorship of PFDJ regime has exposed the country to unprecedented level of social and political crisis. Grounded on the history and experiences of the liberation era as well as on the crisis that took place in post independence Eritrea, Ambassador Andebrhan discusses the entire existence of the state, how it has been delegitimized by not allowing Eritrean citizens to participate in the political system of the country, and provides a framework on how to understand the situation Eritrea is in, as well as how address it.
EPDP Strides & Pushes in 2014
EPDP continued its strides and pushes in 2014 on the subject of national dialogue and building consensus between the forces of change in the Eritrean opposition on the principle of establishing a broad based alliance/coalition. In this respect, one that stands out is the formation of “Consultation Forum” in 2014. Although, it opened some space for honest discussion on the critical failures and weaknesses of the opposition, the forum did not translate into any practical step or into challenging the fragmented state of affairs of the opposition. Thus, the forum did not set conditions for concrete implementation of a broad based alliance, a regressive pattern that the opposition could not overcome. And if the current polarization and disunity continues unchanged among the Eritrean opposition forces, it is incumbent upon us all to redefine our strategy as we cannot justify the current stalemate of the opposition.
Yet, EPDP has registered a degree of strength and success in many fronts sometimes alone and sometimes with leaders of the Eritrean civil society organizations. In this context, EPDP reached out a number of international agencies and institutions in 2014 with aim of seeking a valuable support to our struggle against the repressive regime of Issais Afeworki. What EPDP did in all those contacts and diplomatic reach outs is scaling up the Eritrean people’s struggle for democracy in the international opinion on one side, and seeking diplomatic recognition of the Eritrean opposition forces as a whole that has been largely absent on the other side. EPDP also worked closely with a number of Eritrean civil society organizations in 2014, namely the EMDHR, Medrek, Bologna Forum organized by youth, and Cdrie on a number of important international and national issues such as the participation in the workshop of South African Development Community Council of Nongovernmental Organizations (SADC-CNGO) and others. Although EPDP maintained good relationship with the Eritrean civil society organizations in the previous years, the relation was more reenergized and reshaped in 2014 as part of fostering a unified struggle.
EPDP also continued holding a number of public meetings, and interactions with the Eritrean Diaspora across the globe in 2014: advocating the importance of united struggle, ways of embracing the social, cultural, and political unity of Eritrean society, promoting nonviolent struggle, understanding the significance of reconciliation and peace, the short and long term objectives of the struggle against the PFDJ regime, and our position on Ethiopia and other neighbors...etc. In the course of all those engagements, EPDP received numerous inputs and suggestions that are crucial to our struggle against the PFDJ and beyond.
Those who Passed Away in 2014
Many from the generation of our national liberation movement era passed away in 2014. EPDP salute them, and honor them for their life time dedication and contribution to the cause of freedom and democracy for their country. They gave their entire life to make Eritrea the land of free and the land of heroes. Their passing means a great loss for the justice and peace loving Eritrean people. Among those who passed away in 2014 are Ahmed Nassir, former ELF Chairman; Dr. Beyene, former member of ELF Revolutionary Council, Dr. Tewolde Tesfamariam (Wodi Vacaro), and Omer Jabir. These nationals were instrumental in sparking the Eritrean Nation Liberation Movement at a time when Ethiopia and its foreign enablers were conspiring to abort it. 
2014 was also a year where EPDP suffered a big loss of some of its gallant members who contributed to building and consolidating the party. Among them was the most vibrant, committed and unrelenting fighter Asghedom Wedi Bashai in USA, Ms. Mebrat Beyene in the Sudan and Zekarias (James) in Grmany.
What is the Way Forward for 2015?
Many, but one is challenging the status quo, and that is how to break the vicious cycle of division and polarization amongst the Eritrean opposition forces. Two decades of efforts to establish unity among Eritrean opposition forces did not materialize. This is a deep crisis and we need a radical solution. It is EPDP’s stand and many others that our unity cannot take place in abstract. The unity we seek to achieve must take place in a concrete ground. What does this mean? We have a system of tyranny and exploitation that we all need to challenge and confront: this includes all social groups in Eritrea as well as religious groups, the youth, the women, the civil society, and the political groups…etc. In essence, the central dynamic theme that binds us all together should not be to exist as opposition but to end the power of PFDJ regime. This requires both rethinking and redefining of our fight that takes unity as a foundation for democracy, freedom, and nation building. We must link the struggle with the internal resistance, including building a strategic road map/direction, and having a leadership that can understand the scope and depth of Eritrea’s crisis and is capable of raising the voices of the Eritrean people that would enable us to take our fight against the PFDJ to the next level.
In 2014, Eritrea continued to be a scene of human disaster and a country under siege: from systematic state brutality, gross human rights violations and eliminations of any political dissent within the country to indefinite military conscription, which is forcing thousands of its youth to flee the country and becoming victims of human trafficking and organ harvesting enterprises.
According to UNHCR, in 2014 around 70 Eritreans arrived daily in the refugee camps in Northern Ethiopia. Currently, there are over 93,000 Eritrean refugees living in four camps in Northern Ethiopia: Shimelba, May Ayni, Adiharush, and Hitsats (established in 2013),including in two camps in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The country has lost a large number of its productive force (the youth) in 2014 more than the preceding year, entirely crippling Eritrea of its promising and future vision of its people. A country without a youth has no future. Eritrea saw its human and social capital bleeding to death under the predatory regime of a malignant narcissistic leader in 2014. In Eastern Sudan, the number of Eritrean refugees who arrived in 2014 totaled 10,700, an average of more than 1,000 a month.
In addition, the country saw its human suffering going from bad to worse, with a near collapsed economy, widespread poverty, and a health system that cannot deliver a semblance of basic services. There was hardly any family in Eritrea that has not been affected by the consequences of the violent repression of the PFDJ in 2014.
In 2014, the PFDJ regime continued to kill, abduct, torture, and imprison citizens, and committing extrajudicial executions and disappearances of hundreds of citizens, including holding hundreds of others incommunicado and in clandestine detentions across the country. Many of those arrested and held incommunicado in the crackdown of 2001 are reportedly died in prison,including members of the G15. Access to political, economic and social rights, and fundamental freedom to exercise own religion, culture and traditional norms/values continued to be violently repressed in 2014.
The Moral Courage of Eritrean Faith Leaders
Informed and morally courageous four Catholic priests authored a document “Where is Your Brother” that gained a groundswell of support from the Eritrean opposition and the public at large in 2014. “Where is Your Brother” is a document that captured the unprecedented scale of violent repression and terror of the PFDJ regime on Eritrean citizens, and how as a consequence of it, the country is sliding into a deeper social and political crisis.
The document opened a new public and political discourse regarding the gross human rights abuses by the PFDJ, and helped to lay a groundwork for Eritrean people inside and outside not to capitulate but to stand up, defend their rights, and hasten the transition of power to the people and salvage their country. The manifesto also revealed that it is a matter of time before both the opposition and the public indignation reaches a critical mass inside the country.
In a similar vein, in September 2014, the clergy of the Union of the Eritrean Orthodox monasteries put out another document declaring excommunication of the notorious individuals who have been running the Orthodox Church establishment for the last decade or so. The underlying message of both documents is that the long and disastrous road that the PFDJ took the country for the last two decades is being challenged by the people that have an ecclesiastic power on faith, moral, cultural, and social authority in our society. These are the two most important documents that delegitimized the political power of PFDJ in 2014 and broke the culture of conformity and fear of our people that the PFDJ uses to perpetuate its misrule of the country.
Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR), Bologna, and Frankfurt Festivals
In May 2014, the EMDHR and its partners organized one of the most important workshops of the year that brought together Eritrean scholars, experts, political organizations, and civil society groups. Under the themeof “Strategic Thinking on Political and Socioeconomic Crises in Eritrea: Implications, Scenarios and Responses”, participants presented a wide array of empirical study papers and explored the current state of affairs of Eritrea under the PFDJ misrule: from the lack of constitution/rule of law to economic and human crisis, from the destruction of Eritrea’s social fabric to the migration of the most skilled and productive force and its far-reaching impact on the health, unity, and development of our country, and to how we should formulate a transition to democracy as well as forge a strategy of bringing all the forces of change together in the fight against the PFDJ regime, be it inside Eritrea or abroad. In the same spirit, the Bologna festival, which was held under “the theme of Eritrean Solutions for Eritrean Problems” and the Frankfurt festival, which both brought large number of Eritreans together came out with a strong voice in support of the EMDHR workshop declaration, including adapting the resolutions of Bologna 2013 and establishing a task force charged to work on a number of areas on how to form a united national movement, dialogue and reconciliation and others.
Regionalism that Knows no Bounds
The politics of regionalism was one of the ugliest developments in 2014 that caught the attention of many Eritreans. Certain groups and personalities have been busy promoting regional politics in 2014 by claiming that the PFDJ regime is suppressing and/or targeting their region more than other region (s). The fact is there are stacks of evidence that the PFDJ regime is no less cruel or repressive to other regions in Eritrea, be it Barka, Seraye or Senhit…etc.
For PFDJ, all Eritrean regions are the same; there is no one region different from the rest of regions when it comes to the state of repression. Again, although it is a well known that the PFDJ regime applies the same method of repression against all those who oppose its regime regardless of any color of region, Muslim or Christian, unfortunately the wretched political situation of Eritrea is one factor that is serving as a perfect field for all sorts of divisions and factionalisms, especially for those few willing to subscribe to it. But those sowing the seeds of regionalism know that there is no particular region in Eritrea that is exclusively mistreated, systematically discriminated, killed or persecuted more than the rest of Eritrean regions by the dictatorial regime of Issais.
Yet, those who subscribe to such politics under the pretext of saving our region or my region are simply perpetuating PFDJ’s tyrannical politics, which would help it to further strengthen and tighten its iron grip on all Eritrean people. It also suggests that those who signed on to the regionalism politics are unable to rally a united force against the PFDJ regime; the easy path they found is to follow a downright sub national politics, which they believe is easy to dupe few apolitical and disillusioned Eritreans. The brute fact is that by involving in regionalism, they are not helping their region, but the regime of PFDJ that is making Eritrea increasingly divisive, oppressive, and bloodstained country, which their region will continue to bear the brunt of it like any other region in Eritrea.
The irony of all is this: if our regionalists (regional entrepreneurs) are accusing PFDJ of being a regionalist, one would ask why are they mimicking it and carbon copying it (PFDJ)? In fact, the pattern of imitation or emulation is interesting because the regionalists see the PFDJ as a regime that is ruling Eritrea by siding with or representing one region, and yet the regionalists themselves are aspiring for power of their region by marginalizing other regions.
More importantly, the point is, you see, Issais’ regime has squandered the accumulated social and political capital of Eritrea’s revolution. Now, instead of reclaiming our revolution, we are handing PFDJ more ammunition to use - regionalism which will enable it to extend its life span. They are writing a wrong history. Eritrea does not need sub national or identity politics; what it needs is democracy, strong institutions, and constitutional system of governance that provides rule of law and equal treatment for all of its citizens. And this means that we have to avoid polarization of Eritrean society on basis of region, ethnic, or religion. If we continue the discourse of regionalism politics, at the end of the day it won’t be only democracy and freedom that will be at risk in Eritrea. In the long term, it means creating an embittered and polarized generation too blinded by hatred and intolerance of one another, and that won’t fix what ails the state of Eritrea. EPDP believes this is the lesson we need to take away for 2015.
Women of Extraordinary Resilience
In 2014, many Eritrean Diaspora women have done remarkable job in championing the rightof Eritrean refugees around the world, advocating for political asylum and protection of Eritrean rights as refugees on their host countries, campaigning against the human trafficking and organ harvesting in the Sinai desert, and echoing the plight of Eritrean refugees in the halls of UN and in the European governments.
Many to mention, but the most inspirational women who made great strides as human rights activists against the gross human rights violation by the dictatorial regime of Issais Afeworki are Elsa Chyrum (Human Rights Concern Eritrea), Dr. Alganesh Fessaha (NGO Ghandi foundation), Meron Estefanos (Journalist and Activist), Sister Azezet Habtezgi Kidane ( Combonian Missionary Sisters), Salwa Nour (Activist in the Gulf States), and Selam Kidane (Activist and ‘Freedom Friday’ campaigner). All of them individually or collectively have made a significant contribution to the struggle for democracy, human rights and freedom in Eritrea in 2014. Elsa Chyrum staged hunger strike in the Djiboutian embassy mission in Geneva in March 2014 against the detention of 267 Eritrean refugees in Djibouti. The hunger strike finally led to the release of the 267 Eritrean detainees in Djibouti. Meron Estefanos coauthored “the Human Trafficking Cycle: Sinai and Beyond” in March 2014, which captures the gruesome account of Eritrean refugees at the hands of human traffickers. All these Eritrean women brought the struggle of democracy close to home in a very resilient and remarkable way in 2014.
A Tireless Defender of Eritrean Refugees
Father Mussie Zerai, an Eritrean Catholic priest in Switzerland, is another devoted Eritrean who fought gallantly in 2014 and the years before in saving many Eritrean refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. Father Mussie established a satellite mobile phone to reach out many Eritrean refugees detained in the Libya and other North African countries. This fearless and crusader for justice uses his satellite mobile phone to alert coast guards on behalf refugees stranded in a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea. His active involvement in the saving many lives of refugees has earned him recognition as one of the most devoted and tireless defender of Eritrean refugees.
The State of Stagnation
Eritrean political organizations remained in a state of stagnation in 2014 regarding pulling their resources together and mapping a united strategic roadmap against the dictatorial regime of Issais Afeworki. However, there were some efforts seemingly towards unity, for example, as in the case of the ‘Consultation Forum’ that brought leaders of the opposition forces together and deliberated on a number of issues, ranging from the misunderstanding and mutual mistrust that exists between the opposition forces to the uncompromising political culture and embracing political polarization to a combination of other weaknesses and failures in the opposition. But no concrete, joint, and/or workable agreement was reached that can be characterized as a turning point over the status quo. Individual groups in the opposition have also attempted to engage in a bilateral discussion on how to work together, but this too did not translate into any meaningful development. It seems the opposition has been caught again in a vicious cycle in 2014, maintaining the status quo and unable to transcend beyond the root cause that is holding it back from moving forward – trust deficit.
Lampedusa and Beyond
Lampedusa spurred a serious debate among Eritrean Diaspora in 2013. And the impact was a renaissance of spirit and reawakening, which eventually led to the establishment of multiple grass root movements across the globe. At the beginning, all those movements captured the hope and enthusiasm of Eritreans towards grass root movements unseen in the last two decades. And they have done a number of remarkable public engagements, major protests, and forums aimed at PFDJ regime, including a wave of protests in the PFDJ’s Diaspora gatherings and events that sometimes led to clashes with PFDJ supporters.
But the enthusiasm and tenacity that started in 2013 did not continue with the same weight in 2014. Although still struggling and functioning at some level, the scattered nature of its existence appeared to be part of the problem in 2014, meaning the lack of regional and international leadership that would enable the grass root movements to operate on the same page. But the second and major obstacle to the grass root movements in 2014 was the interference of some political organizations whose efforts were focused on modeling the grass root movements’ ideas and practices on their own image. This means more polarizations and disagreements between the various grass root movements across the globe. And this is the obstacle that the grass root movements need to tackle worldwide, and march beyond Lampedusa.
The Man Behind the Most Important Book in 2014
Ambassador Andebrhan Woldegiorgis published a book that provokes, illuminates, and narrates how the sad state of affairs of Eritrea came into being that overtime not only bankrupted and paralyzed the hopes and dreams of nation building process in the country, but also how the hegemony and dictatorship of PFDJ regime has exposed the country to unprecedented level of social and political crisis. Grounded on the history and experiences of the liberation era as well as on the crisis that took place in post independence Eritrea, Ambassador Andebrhan discusses the entire existence of the state, how it has been delegitimized by not allowing Eritrean citizens to participate in the political system of the country, and provides a framework on how to understand the situation Eritrea is in, as well as how address it.
EPDP Strides & Pushes in 2014
EPDP continued its strides and pushes in 2014 on the subject of national dialogue and building consensus between the forces of change in the Eritrean opposition on the principle of establishing a broad based alliance/coalition. In this respect, one that stands out is the formation of “Consultation Forum” in 2014. Although, it opened some space for honest discussion on the critical failures and weaknesses of the opposition, the forum did not translate into any practical step or into challenging the fragmented state of affairs of the opposition. Thus, the forum did not set conditions for concrete implementation of a broad based alliance, a regressive pattern that the opposition could not overcome. And if the current polarization and disunity continues unchanged among the Eritrean opposition forces, it is incumbent upon us all to redefine our strategy as we cannot justify the current stalemate of the opposition.
Yet, EPDP has registered a degree of strength and success in many fronts sometimes alone and sometimes with leaders of the Eritrean civil society organizations. In this context, EPDP reached out a number of international agencies and institutions in 2014 with aim of seeking a valuable support to our struggle against the repressive regime of Issais Afeworki. What EPDP did in all those contacts and diplomatic reach outs is scaling up the Eritrean people’s struggle for democracy in the international opinion on one side, and seeking diplomatic recognition of the Eritrean opposition forces as a whole that has been largely absent on the other side. EPDP also worked closely with a number of Eritrean civil society organizations in 2014, namely the EMDHR, Medrek, Bologna Forum organized by youth, and Cdrie on a number of important international and national issues such as the participation in the workshop of South African Development Community Council of Nongovernmental Organizations (SADC-CNGO) and others. Although EPDP maintained good relationship with the Eritrean civil society organizations in the previous years, the relation was more reenergized and reshaped in 2014 as part of fostering a unified struggle.
EPDP also continued holding a number of public meetings, and interactions with the Eritrean Diaspora across the globe in 2014: advocating the importance of united struggle, ways of embracing the social, cultural, and political unity of Eritrean society, promoting nonviolent struggle, understanding the significance of reconciliation and peace, the short and long term objectives of the struggle against the PFDJ regime, and our position on Ethiopia and other neighbors...etc. In the course of all those engagements, EPDP received numerous inputs and suggestions that are crucial to our struggle against the PFDJ and beyond.
Those who Passed Away in 2014
Many from the generation of our national liberation movement era passed away in 2014. EPDP salute them, and honor them for their life time dedication and contribution to the cause of freedom and democracy for their country. They gave their entire life to make Eritrea the land of free and the land of heroes. Their passing means a great loss for the justice and peace loving Eritrean people. Among those who passed away in 2014 are Ahmed Nassir, former ELF Chairman; Dr. Beyene, former member of ELF Revolutionary Council, Dr. Tewolde Tesfamariam (Wodi Vacaro), and Omer Jabir. These nationals were instrumental in sparking the Eritrean Nation Liberation Movement at a time when Ethiopia and its foreign enablers were conspiring to abort it. 2014 was also a year where EPDP suffered a big loss of some of its gallant members who contributed to building and consolidating the party. Among them was the most vibrant, committed and unrelenting fighter Asghedom Wedi Bashai in USA, Ms. Mebrat Beyene in the Sudan and Zekarias (James) in Grmany.
What is the Way Forward for 2015?
Many, but one is challenging the status quo, and that is how to break the vicious cycle of division and polarization amongst the Eritrean opposition forces. Two decades of efforts to establish unity among Eritrean opposition forces did not materialize. This is a deep crisis and we need a radical solution. It is EPDP’s stand and many others that our unity cannot take place in abstract. The unity we seek to achieve must take place in a concrete ground. What does this mean? We have a system of tyranny and exploitation that we all need to challenge and confront: this includes all social groups in Eritrea as well as religious groups, the youth, the women, the civil society, and the political groups…etc. In essence, the central dynamic theme that binds us all together should not be to exist as opposition but to end the power of PFDJ regime. This requires both rethinking and redefining of our fight that takes unity as a foundation for democracy, freedom, and nation building. We must link the struggle with the internal resistance, including building a strategic road map/direction, and having a leadership that can understand the scope and depth of Eritrea’s crisis and is capable of raising the voices of the Eritrean people that would enable us to take our fight against the PFDJ to the next level.
ካብ ን ናብ ምስ ረአኹም ቁሩብ ድንግር ኢልኩም ትኾኑ፡ የግዳስ ካብ ረቡዕ ናብ ሓሙስ ከብ ታሕሳስ ናብ ጥሪ ካብ 2014 ናብ 2015 አብቀዓና ማለተይ እየ። አብታ ሰዓት አብታ ደቒቕ አብታ ናይ ቋሕ ሰም ካሊኢት ዘመን ተቐይሩ ክንብል ኢና። ደሓን ይእተው እዞም ምዕራባውያን ነቲ ሰዓት፡ መዓልቲ፡ ወርሕን ዓመተ ምህረትን ዝገበሩልና እምበር ንሕናስ ስጋብ ሎሚ ዘመነ ደርቡሽ፡ ዘመነ አንበጣ፡ ዘመነ አካሒዳ፡ ዘመነ ዓደየ ዓደየ ንብል ምስ ሃለና:: ነዚ ዘለናዮ ዘመን ከአ ርግጸኛ እየ ዘመነ ጣልማይ ምስ ተበህለ ኔሩ። እወ ዘመነ ህዝብና ብደቁ ዝተጠልመሉ፡ ስውእ ብህሉው ዝተጠልመሉ፡ ወዲ መሬት ብንሕና ንሱ ዝተጠለምሉ፡ ደላይ ፍትሒ ብንሕናን ንስኹምን ዝተጠልመሉ፡ ምእመናን ብመራሕቲ ሃይማኖቶም ዝተጠልምሉ፡ ኮታስ ሓው ብሓው ዝተጠልመሉ መወዳእታ ዘይብሉ ጥልመት ዝረአናሉ ዘመን።
ስለዝኾነ እየ ድማ ካብ ን ናብ ኢለ ከቐምጦ ዝመረጽኩ። እታ ካልኢት ብ ካልኢት፡ ደቒቕ ብ ደቒቕ፡ ሰዓት ብ ሰዓት መዓልቲ ብመዓልቲ፡ ወርሒ ብ ወርሒ ዓመተ ብ ዓመት እዩ ክቕየር እምበር እንታይ እዩ ክፍይድ እንተብልካስ እንድዒ እዩ እቲ መልሲ። እቲ ተንኮል፡ ሓሶት፡ ክፍአት፡ ጸለመ፡ ቅንኢ ኮታስ ገግናዩ ምቕጻሉ አይተርፎን እዩ። ህዝብና ትርጉም ናይ ጊዜ ካብ ዝሓኮ ንባዕሉ ነዊሕ ጊዜ ኮይኑ ንረኽቦ። ሰዓት ክልተ ዝቖጸርካዮ ሙሁር ዶክቶር ማዕርግ ዘለዎ ሰዓት ሰለስተ መጺኡ፡ ንሓደ ሰዓት አጸብዩካ ክንሱ ይቕረታ ከማን አይብለካን እንታይ ደአ ቀልቲፍካ ትመጽእ አይመሰልንን ኢሉ ነቲ ጥፍአቱ ተመሊሱ ቀልጢፍካ ክትመጽእ አይነበረካን ብዝዓይነቱ ንዓኻ የሰክመካ። ወይ ጊዜ ትብል ተገሪምካ። እወ ሕማቕ ጊዜ ዘመነ ጣልማይ ወዲ ገዛውትኻ፡ ወዲ ትምህርትኻ እቲ ብህይወትካ ከማን እትብጀወሉ መተዓቢትኻስ ንስኻ ኢኻ እምበር ዘይቀበጽካዮ ንሱ ደአ አብ ገዛውትኹም ዘይነበረ፡ አብ ቤት ትምህርትኹም ዘይትፈልጥዎ መሻርኽቲ መማኽርቲ ገይሩ እዩ። ወይ ሰብ ደቀይ ለካስ እምበአር ከምዚ ኸአ አሎ እዩ ትብል ከይፈተኻ።
አብ ከምዚ ዝበለ ዶራን ዘመን እምበአር ኮይኑ ሓደ ንፍትሒ ከናድያ ድርብ ቃልሲ ክገብር ይግደድ። ነዞም ድርብ ቃልሲ ዘካይዱ እምበአር ህግደፍ ብአልማማ ተቓወምቲ ይብሎም። እቶም ህዝቢ ኤርትራ 4-5 ሚሊዮን ምዃኑ ዝረስዑ ካልአይ ገጽ ናይቲ ሰልዲ ድማ ናይ ተቓወምቲ ተቓወምቲ፡ ጸገንቲ ክብሉ ይስምዑ። አብ ርብሒት አሉታ ምስ አሉታ ተራቢሑ አወንታ ውጽኢት ከም ዝህብ ድማ ንኽልተ ተቓወምቲ ቃላት አራጺምካ ደላይቲ ፍትሒ ዝብል ስም ክትህቦም ትግደድ። ኤርትራ ጽባሕ ንኽትህሉን፡ ስርዓተ ሕጊ ንኽህልዋን እዞም ደለይቲ ፍትሒ አዝዮም አገደስቲ እዮም። እዞም ደለይቲ ፍትሒ መን እዮም? ደቂ ምንታይ ብሄር፡ አውራጃ ወይ ሃይማኖት እዮም እንተተባሂሉ መልሱ ደቂ ኩሉ ብሄር ደቂ ኩሉ አውራጃ ደቂ ኩሉ ሃይማኖት ኮይኖም ንስለ ሓንቲ ፍትሒ ደው ዝብሉ እዮም። እንተ እቶም አብ ኢዶም ዘላ ፍትሒ ጓዕጺጾም ካብ ኣፍ ህግደፍ ፍትሒ ክምንዝዑ ዝህቅኑ፡ ቅድሚ ህዝባዊ አኼባ ብሚስጥራዊ ምትአኽኻብ ህዝባዊ ምርጫ ወዲኦም ዝመጹ ጸያቒቶታት፡ አብ ክፋእን ጽልእን ዝስስኑ አብ ቁም ነገር ዝስወሩ አምሰሉታት ብምንም መለክዒ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ክኾኑ አይክእሉን እዮም።
ሓንቲ ሃይማኖት፡ ብሄር ኮነ አውራጃ ዓብላሊ ቁጽሪ ዘይነቕሑ መጣቓዕቲ ወይ ፍትሒ ዘይርድኦም ተቓወምቲ ክህልዋ ይኽእል። እንተዘየልቦ ንሕና ዝበዛሕና ደለይቲ ፍትሒ አለውና ኢሉ ክንየት ዝኽእል ማንም ሃይማኖት፡ ብሄር ኮነ አውራጃ የልቦን። ደላይ ፍትሒ ካብ ብሱል ጥረ ምስ ልቦንኡ ዘሎ ሃገራዊ ምዃኑ አይንረስዕ። እንተዘየልቦ አብ ከባቢኻ ወይ አውራጃኻ መሰል ደቂ ሰባት (Human Rights) ዝምህራ ዩኒቨርሲቲታት ወይ ኮሌጃት ዘለዋኻ ይመስል አነ እየ ልዕሊ ሰበይ ንመሰለይ ዝቃለስ ዘለኹ ኢልካ እንታይነት መሰል፡ ፍትሕን ዲሞራስን ዘይፈልጡ ዓሳክር ብሓይሊ ሕሹኽሹኽ ምእካብ ጊዜያዊ ጓንጓ ሕሳባት፡ ጠጃኢ ውዲት መስመር ጥፍአት ሩዋንዳን ሶማሊያን ምዃኑ ዘይምርሳዕ።
ንሓደ ዓርከይ እንታይ ኮይኖም እዮም እዞም ንሕና ንሱ ነዚ አረመኔ ኢሰያስ ዝድግፉ፡ ሃገር እዳጠፍኤት ቁሩብ አይሓስቡን ዲዮም ምስ በልክዎ ዝሃበኒ መልሲ አግሪሙለይ። መዓስ ይድግፉ ኮይኖም በለኒ፡ እንታይ ደአ ምስ በልክዎ ነታ ናይ ቀዳሞት ምስላ “ካብ ዘይትፈልጦ መልአኽሲ፡ ትፈልጦ ሰይጣን” ⷅይር አቢሉ “ካብ ዘይትፈልጦ ሰይጣንሲ፡ ትፈልጦ ሰይጣን” ኢዩ ነገሩ በለኒ። ቁሩብ ዝን ድሕሪ ምባል እንታይ ይብለኒ ምህላው ተረድአኒ። ሓቁ እዩ እቶም አብ ናይ ህግደፍ ዳንኬራ ከይዶም እስክትሽም ዝብሉ ከማን ስርዓት ኢሰያስ ክልወጥ ይደልዩ እዮም። እንታይ ደአ ነቲ ደቂሶም ፈቲኖሞ ዘይሰለጦም ሕልሚ ሕጂ ደቂሰ ክቕጽሎ እየ ዝብል አብ ርእሲ ሕልሞም ተደሪቡ ይሓልም ንዘሎ ሓድሽ ሓላሚ ይትረፍካ እዮም ዝብሉዎ ዘለው፡ ከምዝመስለኒ ነገራቱ አብ ርእሲ ዋጣ ዘውጠጢ ነየውጠጢ ብዝዓይነቱ።
እዚ ኩሉ ስጊንጢር እኮ ፍትሒ ንምድላይ እዩ እምበር ከምቶም ረጎድቲ ቆርበት እንተንኽውንሲ ኤርትራ በቲ ኢልካ በቲ ፍትሒ ከውርደላ እዩ ኢልካ ትርንኪሉ ለጥ ምባል ይከአል ኔሩ። የግዳስ ሕልና ዝብልዎ ዘየደቅስ ኩርኳሕ አሎ። ስለዛ መሬት ስለ ህዝባ ቀትሪ ብጸሃይ ለይቲ ብወርሒ ንክትሓስብ ዝገብረካ። እዚ ከምዚ ኢሉ እንከሎ ቃልስና አብዛ ዝሓለፈት ዓመት ከመይ ኔሩ እንድሕር ኢልና ዳርጋ ጭርጭር ዓበደ ተቐይሩ እዩ ጸኒሑ። ሰባት ብስም ፍትሒ የዋጽአና’ዩ አብ ዝበልዎ ድፋዓት ክሕብኡ፡ እቶም ዝተረፉ ድማ ነታ ሚስጥራዊት መሕቢኢት ድፋዕ እንታይነታ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክሕብሩ ድሮ ዓመት ኮይኑ። እዚ ኩሉ ሃልኪ እኮ ነታ ለውጢ ንምግባትን ስልጣን ህዝቢ ንምጭባጥን ዝግበር ከንቱ ሃቐነ’ዩ እምበር ቅንዕና እንተዝህሉ እዚ ኩሉ ፋሕ ብትን አይምሃለወን።
ከምቲ ካብ ዘመነ ሉቃስ ናብ ዘመነ ማርቆስ ዝብሎ መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ንሕና ድማ ካብ ዘመነ ሓሶትን ምስሉይነትን ናብ ዘመነ ሓቀኛ ቃልሲ እንሰጋገረሉ እዋን ይግበረልና እዩ ዘብል። አብ ዝሓለፈ ዓመት ክንደይ አእዛንና ዝሓርከኸ ጽውጽዋያት ኢና ሰሚዕና። አብ ዝሓለፈ ወርሒ ግንቦት ንኢሰያስን፡ ክልተ የማነ ማለት ማንኪን ቻርሊን ንፊሊጶስ ሓዊሱ አብ ውሽጢ ሰለስተ ወርሒ ዘቃብጽ ሓይሊ ተፈጢሩ ሽታትኡ አጥፊኡ። ንኢሰያስ ዝቐተለ ሓሙሽተ ሚልዮና ንበዓል ማንኪ ቻርሊ ድማ ከክልተ ሚእትን ሓምሳን ሽሕ ተገሚቶም ኔሮም አብቲ ዝወጸ ጨረታ። እታ ዝዓበየት ሽልማት ግና ንኢሰያስ ዝቐተለ አብ ባጤራ ኤርትራ ስእሉ ንዘንተ እለት ክነብር እዩ ትብል ነበረት። መቸም ዘይንሰምዖ የብልናን፡ ገና ነቲ ናይ መጻኢ ባጤራ ዘመሓድሩ ናይ ገንዘብ ሚኒስተር ድሮ ተሽይሞም አለው ማለት ዲዩ?
እዚ ጥራይ አይነበረን ህውተታ ሎሚ ዓመት። አብ አስመራ ክንደይ ሚስጥራውያን ጋዜጣታት ክዝርግሓ ምጅማረን ሰሚዕና። ምናልባት አይተ ኢሰያስ ነጻ ፕረስ አዚዞም ከይኮኑ ትብል እሞ፡ ንምንታይ ደአ አዳለውቲ ጋዜጣታት መታን እተን ዝተሃገራ ናይ ቀደም ጋዜጣታት ክዝከራ ምእንታን ነዘን ናይ ሕጂ ሰቲት፡ ቀስተ ደመና፡ አድማስ፡ መቓልሕ ዘይብሉወን ትብል። ልዕሊ ኩሉ እዘን ጋዜጣትታ ብኸመይ ይዝርግሓ አዝዩ ይጨንቀካ። ግና ጥርጣረታት አሎ ነዘን ጋዜጣትታ እትሸይጥ ህዝቢ ዝርእያ ካብ ህግደፍ ስውርቲ ሽሑር (Magic) ዘለዋ አንዳ መጻሕፍቲ ወይ ኪዮስኪ አብ ከባቢ ማርካቶ ወይ ባር ሮያል ተኸፊታ ከይትኸውን፡፡ ልክዕ ከም ብከኒና ምሕዋይ አቢዩዎ መርፍእ እንዶ አዙዙለይ ዝበለ ሕሙም፡ ነቶም ጋዜጣ አይጠቕመናን ዝበሉ’ውን መጽሔት ተዳልያትሎም አላ። አየ እወ ህውተታ ቃልሲ ናተይ እዩ አብ ኩሉ አለኹ ንምባል። እንድሕር ህዝብና ራድዮ ክሰምዕ ዝኽእል ኮይኑ እሞ ራድዮ ኤረና፡ መድረኽ፡ አሰና: EYSCን ስምረትን ዝአመሰላ በብሰዓቱ በብመዓልቱ ካብ ሓደጋ ወጻኢ ዝስምዓ ካብ ሃለዋ ንምንታይ ንህዝቢ ናብ ሓደጋ ዘእትው ምዝርጋሕ ጋዜጣታት ተደልየ ?
እንታይከ ዘየስመዓትና 2014 ዓ.ም። ሰበር ዜና አብ ሕምብርቲ ህግደፍ አብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራ ኮማንዶ አለውና ዝብል’ውን ሰሚዕና። አብ ውሽጢ ዓዲ ዘሎ ህዝብና ርዒዱን ሕልንኡን ዓሪቡዎ እዩ፡ ስለዝኾነ ለውጢ ከምጽእ አይክእል እዩ፡ ኮይኑ ተሪፉ ለውጢ ካብ ደገ ሰራዊት ፈጢርካ ብሓገዝ ጎረባብቲ እዩ ዝከአል ኢልካ ክልተ ዓመት ድሕሪ ምግዓር እዞም ኮማንዶ ደአ ካበይ ቦቖሉ ትብል? ዶስ እተን ቆረብትን ሰገድትን በዓል ዓባየይ አባ ሓጎይን እዮም ኮማንዶ ተቐይሮም? እቲ ዘገርም እቲ ሰበር ዜናስ ሓደ ምስቀተልና ዘይምኾነልና። አብዛ ብናይ እዝኒ ኩትሻ አዕለቕሊቓ ዘላ ሃገር ካን ሓደ ንመወዓውዒ ቃልስና ዝኸውን ዝቕንጸል ሃሱስ ሲኢኖም? ይፍታሓላ ኢልና ክንሓልፎ። ሓደ እዋን አብ ተሰነይ ፓንፍለት ተዘርጊሑ ዝሰምዓ ወዲ ተሰነይ፡ ናብ ገዝኡ ደዊሉ ገለ ዶ ናይ ፖለቲካ ጹሑፋት ተዘርጊሑ ክብል ንንእሽቶይ ሓፍቱ ምስ ሓተታ፡ መዓስ ክትብል ቁልቁል ዝአፉ ንሕትኡ ብ ሕቶ መለሰትሉ። ወዲ አግሪሙሉ ዝብሎ ምስ ጠፍኦ እዚ ፓንፍሌት ንግሆ ተደርቢዩ ክኸውን ይኽእል እዩ፡ ሽዑኡ እቶም ብንግህኡ ካብ ተሰነይ ናብ ከሰላ ስግረ ዶብ ዝጠፍኡ ዝነበሩ አልዒሎሞ ንከሰልኦም ተመርቂፎም ክኾኑ ይኽእሉ ድሕሪ ምባል፡ ሓሻካ ፓንፍሌት ካብ ስደት አትዩ ብዘይ ዕረፍቲ ናብ ስደት ተመሊሱ ብምባል ንነብሱ አጸናኒዕዋ ንብለኩም።
ጸሓፋይ ንኹውንነት ሃገርን ህዝብን እዩ ከምቲ ዘለዎ ከንጸባርቕ ዝግብኦ። ጸሓፍቲ ህግደፍ ንኽውንነትና ገዲፎም ንዘየሎ ነገር ክውርቑ ዓመታት ዘይኮነስ ዳርጋ ርብዒ ዘመን ኮይኑ። ንሕና እውን ንኽውንነትና ከምቲ ዝድለ ከነንጸባርቕ አይጸናሕናን። እዚ ሕጂ እንርእዮ ዘለና ጉልባቡ ዝቐልዔ ፈተነ ዕልዋ አብ ሓቅነትን ቅንዕናን ተቃለስቲ ንሓርነትን ተጣበቕቲ ሰብአዊ መሰላትን ድማ ውጽኢት ናይዚ ጥውጥዋይ መንገዲ እዩ። እስኪ ደሓን ይመሓየሽ ይኸውን ክበሃል እቲ መንሽሮ ሕብረተሰብ ቢኢስዎ እምበር ክፍወስ አይረአናን። ካብ ከምዚ ዝዓይነቱ ንቃልስና ዘየርብሕ ንመጻኢና ከጸልምት ዝኽእል ዉዲት ዕበጦ ዕበጦ ንወጻሉ መቐይሮ ዘመን ይግበረልና። መንገዲ ሓቂ እንዳፈለጥና ብውልቃዊ ዝና ወይ ምሕዝነት ተደሪኽና ሓቂ ምስ እንረግጻ ተመሊሳ ከምዛ ናይ ህግደፍ ጌራ ጽባሕ ከምእትረግጸና አይንረስዕ። እቲ ትማሊ ትማሊ ንህግደፍ ብሓደ እግሩ ጠልጠል ክብል ዝገበርናዮ እኮ ስንቅና ሓቀኛ ቃልሲ ስለዝነበርዩ። በንጻሩ ሕጂ ኮር ተገልበጥ ኮይኑ ህግደፍ ሕጂ ትንፋስ ክመልስ ንርእዮ አለና። እቲ ዶረና ትኪ ነቲ ከባቢ ዋላ እንተዓብዓቦ እታ ናብ ሰማይ እትዓርግ እታ ሮኬት እምበር እቲ ዶሮና ወይ ትኪ አይኮነን። እምበአርከስ ኩነታትና ገምጊምና እዛ ትመጽእ ዓመት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንኹሉ መስገደላት ብትብዓት ሰጊሩ ናይ ሰላምን ራህዋን አየር ዘስተንፍሰላ ዓመት መታን ክትከውን ወዓል ሕደር ዘይበሃሎ ሓቀኛ ቃልሲ ጥራይ እዩ እቲ እንኮ ፍታሕ። ሓቀኛ ቃልሲ ምስ እነካይድ፡ ቃልሲ ናይ ህዝቢ ምዃኑ ፈሊጥና ካብ ንግበታ ንምክብባር፡ ካብ ንስልጣን ንስርዓተ ሕጊ፡ ካብ ንዱሑር ምትእኽኻብ ንሃገራዊ ጽላል እንድሕር ተማእዚዝና ክንዕወት ኢና። እንተዘየልቦ ዓመት መጸ ንሕና ክንትስፎ፡ ቁጽሪ ብ ቁጽሪ ክቀያየር ኢሰያስ ድማ ብአብርሃም ክትካእ እዩ።
ሩሑስ ሓድሽ ዓመት ይግበረልና።
ሰሎሙን ገብረእየሱስ
ኦክላንድ - ካሊፎርንያ
ብፍስሃየ ሓጎስ
ጻድቕ ክመስል ሓፋሽ ኣታሊሉ
ኣብ ጕዕዞ ሰውራ ተደጒሉ
ንየዋሃን ጀጋኑ ኣዳህሊሉ
ንዝፈለጥዎ ኣሲሩ ቀንጺሉ
ኣብ ኮረቻ ስልጣን ኩድጭ ኢሉ
ኢሳያስ ዝብልዎ ድያብሎስ ባዕሉ
ንህዝብና ጨቍኑ ዓቕሉ ኣጽቢብሉ።
ንሰላሳ ዓመታት ተጋዲልና
ብሓያል ኒሕ ሃገራዊ ሕልና
ንመሰል ማዕርነት ተቓሊስና
ሃገራዊ ልዑላውነትና ጨቢጥና
ድሕሪ 24 ዓመታት ናጽነት ሃገርና
እስከ ነብስና ንሕተት ከመይ ኣሎና?
ግዳያት ስደትን ውርደትን ኰንና
ኣብ ምሉእ ዓለም ተዘሪእና ተበቲንና።
ነቲ ግዙፍ ሓይሊ መግዛእቲ
ብሃገራዊ ኒሕ ማእለያ ዘይብሉ መስዋእቲ
ጽምእን ጥሜትን ተጻዊሩ ሰፊሩ በረኻ በዓቲ
ቆራጽ ኤርትራዊ ዘጽነተ ጸላእቲ
ዋና ሃገሩ ዝዀነ ታሪኽ ተዓዋቲ።
ባህላውን ፖሊቲካውን ብዙሕነትና
ማሕበራዊ መበቆል ብዘገምታ ምዕብልና
ሃገራዊ ጸጋታትና እዩ ሃብትና
ሓደ’ኳ እዩ ሕብሪ ዓይንና
ሓደ እዩ’ውን ሕብሪ ቆርበትና
እንታ’ዩ ዝፈላልየና ወረ እንታይ ወረደና
ኣሳኒና ሓድነትና ኣትሪርና
ክንነብር ብልዕልና ሕጊ እናተመሓደርና
ሽግርና ንፍታሕ ድያብሎስ ኣልጊስና።
ፍልልያት ዝጽሕትሩ ኣሕዋትና
ዝግዕሩ እናበሉ ኣነ’ባ ንሕና
በጃኹም መዓድዎም ይተኣረሙልና
ኤርትራውነት ይኹን መዐቀኒና
ሃገራውነት ይኹን መምዘኒና
መፍቶ ድያብሎስ ኣይትግበሩና።
ብመግዛእቲ ጥልያን ዶባታ ዝተቐርጸ ኤርትራ
ካብ ጫፍ ቃሮራ ክሳብ ዱሜራ
ኵሉ ዝብህጎ ቀይሕ ባሕራ
ምንኣስ ሮማ ከተማኣ ኣስመራ
ብመስዋእቲ ደቃ ተሓሪራ
ብማዕረ ትብጽሓና ንዅልና ዜጋታታ ብሓበራ።
ሃገራዊ ቅዋም፣ ሓንጻጽን ወሳንን ባይቶ ዘይብላ
ደሞክራስያዊ ምርጫታት ዘይካየደላ
ፖሊቲካውን ሰብኣውን ሓርነታት ዝተሓረመላ
ስርዓት ሞናርኪ’ድዩ ምልኪ ህላላ
ድያብሎሳዊ ውልቀ-ገዛኢ ዝዕንድረላ
እንታይ ንጽበ፣ ተለዓሉ’ባ ተለዓላ።
ሃገር ብዘይ እንኮ ዩኒቨርሲቲ
ብዘይ ትካላት ምርምር መጽናዕቲ
ሓንጎል ሰባት’ኮ እዩ ዝልዓለ ሃብቲ
ብስነፍልጠት ዝምህዝ ዝሃንጽ ተበላሓቲ
ምህዞ ድያብሎስ ግን ኣብያተ ማእሰርቲ።
ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ተለዓል ተበራበር
ፍልልያት ወግድ ሓድነትካ ይትረር
ቀላጽምካ ይሕበር ሓሳብካ ይስመር
ሰውራዊ ተቓላሳይ ኢኻ ናጽነት ይመስክር
ፍትሕን ዲሞክራስን ከተንግስ ድገም ተኣምር።
ካብ ዝሓለፈ ተሞክሮ ተማሂርና
ንሓድሽ ዓመት ብሓድሽ መንፈስ ተዳሊና
ድያብሎስ ነልግስ ብዅሉ ዓቕምና
ንህነጽ ፍትሓዊትን ደሞክራስያዊትን ኤርትራና
ሰላም፣ ራህዋን ብልጽግናን ዝሰፈና።
ፍስሃየ ሓጎስ
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EPDP Radio Demtsi Harnnet Jan 1, 2015
Written by EPDP Radio Demtsi Harnnet
Demtsi Harenet from Sweden: 27-12-2014
Written by Demtsi Harenet - Sweden
بيان تضامن مع الصحفيين الإرتريين في معتقلات نظام أسمرا / Free all the prisons of conscience in Eritrea, Now!!
Written by Interested Eritreansفي الوقت الذي يحتفل فيه العالم بأعياد الكريسماس ورأس السنة الميلادية يقبع العشرات من الصحفيين والصحفيات والكتاب والفنانين والتشكيليين الإرتريين في زنازين النظام التي لا تُعرف أماكنها منذ أكثر من ( 13) عاما.
ففي سبتمبر 2001 شنت السلطات الأمنية بأسمرا حملة إعتقالات واسعة في صفوف الصحفيين طالت جميع رؤساء تحرير ومحرري ( 8 ) صحف مستقلة أُغلقت جميعها ومنعت من الصدور، فوئدت الحريات الصحفية على قلتها.
وقد تم إنهاء هامش الحرية الذي كان متاحاً، لتوضع بذلك نهاية لسلسلة من الإجراءات التي ظلت تتخذها الأجهزة الأمنية التابعة للنظام الديكتاتوري الذي يحكم البلاد منذ الاستقلال دون تفويض او إنتخابات. لتدخل البلاد بعد هذا القرار التعسفي في مرحلة جديدة، لا صوت يعلو فيها فوق صوت النظام وأجهزته الإعلامية. ولتحتل البلاد مكانها ضمن الثلاثي الجهنمي في العام ، وليس "مكانها بين الأمم " التي تسعى لإسعاد إنسانها.
إن المئات من أبناء الشعب الإرتري يناضلون بعناد وشجاعة من أجل أن تسود الحياة الحرة الكريمة، ويتمتع المواطن الإرتري بالحقوق التي تضعه في مصاف الشعوب الأخرى في حين لا تزال في ذات الوقت وسائل وممارسات النظام مستمرة في البطش والتعسف على مرأى ومسمع من المجتمع الدولي دون أي حراك من العالم الحر.
إننا إذ نعبر عن عميق تضامننا مع زملاء أعزّة تغيبهم السلطات الإرترية في المعتقلات، فقط بتهمة ممارسة حقهم المهني والوطني، فإننا نناشد قوى المجتمعات الخيّرة والمحبة للسلم والحريات لأن تكف عن سياسة الصمت والتجاهل إزاء الإنتهاكات الجسيمة التي يدفع ثمنها المواطنون الارتريون باهظا.
التوقيعات :
| 1/ محمد طه القدال - شاعر - السودان | 2/ عبدالله محمود هيابو صحفي في عدوليس ــ هولندا |
| 3/ أمال علي صحفية بريطانيا | 4/ ابوبكر كهال راوائي ــ النيرويج |
| 5/ يوسف بوليسي صحفي ــ سويسرا | 6/ ابوبكر فريتاي صحفي إريتري ــ إثيوبيا |
| 7/ فيصل الباقر صحفي وناشط حقوقي | 8/ ياسين محمد عبدالله رئيس مركز سويرا لحقوق الانسان ــ لندن |
| 9/ درة محمد مختار قمبو . صحفية ــ الخرطوم | 10ـ محمد محمود الشيخ " مدني " شاعر تركيا |
| 11/ شوقي عبد العظيم صحفيــ الخرطوم | 12/ فتحي عثمان كاتب ــ باريس |
| 13/ احمد يونس صحفي مراسل صحيفة الشرق الأوسط ــ الخرطوم. | 14/ علاء الدين محمود صحفي سوداني الخرطوم |
| 15/ صلاح الزين صحفي ــ بريطانيا | 16/خالد عبده صحفي ــ السويد |
| 17/ عبد المنعم أبو إدريس صحفي سوداني مراسل وكالة الصحافة الفرنسية ــ الخرطوم | 18/ فيصل محمد صالح صحفي واستاذ جامعي ــ الخرطوم |
| 19/ عبد العزيز بركه ساكن روائي ــ النمسا | 20/ مصعب محمد علي سوداني رئيس القسم الثقافي بصحيفة المستقلة ــ الخرطوم |
| 21/ إبراهيم ميرغني رئيس القسم السياسي بصحيفة الميدان ـ الخرطوم | 22/ كمال كرار مدير تحرير صحيفة الميدان ــ الخرطوم |
| 23/ أسامة حسن عبدالحي صحفي بالميدن ــ الخرطوم | 24/ عادل إبراهيم " كلر " صحفي بالميدان ــ الخرطوم |
| 25/ عبدالرحمن فاروق قاص و محرر في صحيفة "نسق" الإلكترونية | 26/ أمانئيل براخي ناشط مدني كوبنهاجن – الدنمارك |
| 27/ علي هندي صحفي ومحلل سياسي ــ لندن | 28/ الفاتح عبد الله الحاج مصمم غرافيك ــ تركيا |
| 29/. هناء الزين ياسين صحفية في إس بي إس ــ ملبورن | 30/ تهاني عباس ناشطة مدنية ونسوية ــ الخرطوم |
| 31/ امانئيل قرماي صحفي ــ باريس | 32/ احمد محمد رئيس بمجلة مجلة سرديات ــ الخرطوم |
| 33 / عبد الرازق كرار كاتب ـ كمبيرا | 34/ احمد ابراهيم احمد عثمان "زروق" صحفي في إس بي إس ــ ملبورن |
| 35/ مصطفى لسداي صحفي ــ السويد | 36/ معاوية البلال صحفي ــ ملبورن |
| 37/ خالد عثمان رئيس تحرير صحفية المهاجر ـ ملبورن | 38/ صلاح أبوراي كاتب لندن |
| 39/ صداح سليمان الكناني صحفي ــ الدوحة |
/40صالح جوهر (قاضي) موقع عواتي – أمريكا ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ 41/ جمال همــد صحفي في عدوليس ـ ملبورن 42برهاني تولدي صحفي آيرلاند |
Free all the prisons of conscience in Eritrea, Now!!
While the world is busy celebrating Christmas and new year's eve tens of Eritrean journalists and artists are languishing in prisons for more than 13 years without any clue on their presence and whereabouts.
In a notorious security raid in September 2001, Eight chief editors of free press dailies and other 20 journalists were rounded up and taken to unknown places. This last move which was preceded by harassment and terror killed the nascent press freedom and the right of free speech in newly born Eritrea.
Strangulation of free press by unelected government in Asmara for more than a decade has placed Eritrea at the bottom of the international list of countries which ban free press.
As we express our bold solidarity with our colleagues who committed no other crime than practicing their undeniable professional and national rights and simply ended up in dungeon, we appeal to all peace-loving peoples and organization to stand up for their moral responsibilities towards the atrocities committed by Asmara regime against the Eritrean people every day.
We call all peace loving nations to remember and act in favor our colleagues who are deprived for more than 13 years of enjoying these festivities with their beloved.
Free all the prisons of conscience in Eritrea, Now!!
| 1. Mohamed Taha Algaddel – Poet | 2. Tahani Abbas – HR Activist – Sudan |
| 3. Abdulrahman Farouk- Journalist | 4. Mussab .M.Ali- journalist |
| 5. Mohamed Madani – poet- Sudan | 6. Fathi Osman Writer – France |
| 7. Abubakar Fretay – Journalist | 8. Fathi Elhaj- Graphic designer- Turkey |
| 9. Abdulahi Mahmoud - Journalist | 10. Yaseen .M.abdalah journalist and HR Activist |
| 11. Ahmed Younis - Journalist | 12. Faisal Elbagir- Journalist |
| 13. Ahmed Ibrahim Osman-Journalist- Australia | 14. Hana Yassin – Journalist - Australia |
| 15. Sadah Suleman Alkenaney – Journalist –Doha | 16. Abdu Alrazig Karar – Journalist – Canberra |
| 17. Abubaker Hamed Kahal – Novelist – Norway |
Salah Abo Ray Civicactivis 18. – UK |
| 19. Shawgi Abd alazim – Journalist – Sudan | 20. Addel Colour – Journalist – Sudan |
| 21. Ibrahim Mergane – Journalist – Sudan | 22. Khaled Osman – Journalist – Australia |
| 23. Faisal Mohamed Salih – Journalist – Sudan | 24. Maawea Al balal - Journalist – Australia |
| 25. Mustafa Lasday – Journalist - Australia | 26. Ahmed Mohamed – Journalist – Sudan |
| 27. Abda Alaziz Baraka Saken – Novelist – Austria | 28. Abd Almonem Abo Idrees – Sudan – AFP |
| 29. Emaneel Barakhee – HR Activist - Denmark | 30. Khaled Abdo – Journalist – Sweden |
| 31. Kamal Karar – Journalist – Sudan | 32. Ali Hindi – Journalist – UK |
| 33. Doura Mohamed Mokhtar Gamboo – Journalist – Sudan | 34. Saleh Gadee – Journalist – USA |
| 35. Osama Abd al haey – Journalist – Sudan | 36. Amanuel Ghirmay – Journalist – France |
| 37. Salah Alzien – Journalist – UK | 38. Aladin Mahmoud – Journalist – Sudan |
| 39. Yousif Polisee – Journalist – Switzerland |
40. Amal Ali – Journalist – UK 41. Jamal Humed Journalist Australia Berhane Tewelde, Journalist - 42. |
EPDP Information Office
The 20 November issue of Le Matin, a daily French newspaper in Switzerland, carried a small item on Abba/Father Mussie Zerai entitled “Miraculous: This Priest Saves Lives from a distance by his mobile phone”, in which the writer believed the Eritrean priest is a yet little known hero who is viewed by some people as a potential future candidate for Nobel Prize for Peace.
A quick translation of the item goes like this:
“His name may, for sure, mean nothing to you (the reader). Yet, this Eritrean priest who lives in Erlinsbach (Swiss Canton of Solothurn), and viewed by some people as a future Nobel Peace Prize winner, is a hero. Since 2003, through repeatedly sending his mobile telephone number to all directions, he has saved thousands of lives of migrants lost between Africa and Italy by informing coast guards about their situation. These contributions give him the legitimacy to have enjoined recently at law court to Europe to come out of its ‘logic of militarized fortress’”.
Fr/Abba Mussie Zerai is currently assigned to Switzerland by the Eritrean Catholic Church in Asmara to serve the community of believers by a hectic shuttle in visiting 13 urban centres in Switzerland. On top of this, he is always on the phone communicating with Eritrean refugees in distress – both at sea, those in North Africa and others facing acute problems while inside Europe.
A googled piece also reads as follows him:
“Father Mussie Zerai has been working with refugees and emigrants to Europe since 1995. Though not an ordained priest by then, he dedicated his life to helping the refugees entering Europe by boat from North Africa. He uses satellite phone, which makes his contacts with the refugees easier; as he can access them directly in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea as they make dangerous attempts of crossing into Europe.
In desperation, many emigrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean in rickety wooden boats or inflatables. Many of the refugees run away from the Libyan detention centres, known as Kufra, where they undergo a lot of torture. Unfortunately many of the victims who contacted Fr. Mussie lost their lives while in detention centres”.
