22 June 2015, 10:45 UTC

Every year the Bay Area Eritrean democratic forces remember Martyrs Day with candle lights and prayers. This year was not different. On Saturday June 20, 2015, the Bay Area Eritreans for Democratic Change (aka DaEro) hosted Martyrs Day in a special way; members experience or memories about our Martyrs, invited former fighters to give their reflection and how do the local opposition build an energetic opposition and focus in toppling the sitting dictator.

The Board of Bay Area Eritreans for Democratic Change (BAEDC) opened the meeting with silence of prayer in memory of our Martyrs and delivering a message from the leadership. Then, the Board opened the stage for the audience to share their first hand experience with Martyrs in the battle field. Many attendees shared the bravery and selfless sacrifices our Martyrs showed on the last minute of their precious life. They fought and sacrifice their lives to better Eritrea and the Eritrean people. Memories were shared from attendees about gallant sacrifices that was given in Asmara and Massawa. One attendee shared the sacrifice that was given by civilians and most of them women from the dungeons of the enemy. A truck driver at the Badme war shared his eye-witness on masses of Martyrs by the roadside that remained engraved in his memory. An incredible eye-witness was shared by a young woman about martyrdom in the Revolutionary School in Sahel. The care takers of the children were very caring and loving and gave their lives while protecting them from Ethiopian fighter jets. The graphic story of the event was echoed into the audience’s faces and dark cloud of sadness loomed in the hall. All members who shared their firsthand eye-witness said they could not erase the graphic pictures of those moments from their memory.

The audience shared many stories of firsthand experience with martyrs. The meeting acknowledged that story of martyrs is endless, but the cause of their martyrdom didn’t materialize yet. Their sacrifice was not to hand the free land to a monster dictator, but for its children to enjoy the fruit of liberty together. The Martyrs are crying from their graves to carry their cause of martyrdom to end, and audience responded they will. With this, the first part of the meeting came to conclusion.

The second part of the meeting was to discuss about creating a healthy working relationship within the pro-democracy forces and individuals. The Board asked what they can do to better and advance the vision of the BAEDC. The audience discussed this topic with openness. They appreciated the Board’s work so far, and encouraged them to continue on the same trend. Some of the suggestions that came were; to reach out, to conduct more members engaging events, diner events every month or so, etc. Reminders also came to the attendees; not to live in past grudges, to focus on toppling the dictator, to put the horse before the cart, to say sorry to each other, to think about positive things and not consume in negative staff against each other, etc. Some mentioned of the round sitting arrangement contributed to communal effort and facing each other allowed attendees to dialogue fact to face. An approach we Eritreans would benefit from.

In conclusion, the meeting chemistry was weighted towards new and young members. It carried very healthy spirited discussions, and members were very determined to make BAEDC work and advance it to a higher level of struggle. The Board assured members that there will be more members engaging meeting to establish more bonding and trust.

Our Martyrs Dream will Live!

Bay Area Eritrean for Democratic Change (BAEDC)

ኣብ ባህልና ከም ሓደ ካብ መለለዪታትና ኮይኑ ዝቐርብ ኣሰራርሓ ጸጉሪ ርእሲ እዩ። እዚ ንክልቲኡ ጾታ ዝምልከት ኮይኑ ኣብ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ዝያዳ ሰፊሕ ዝርዝር ኣለዎ። ናይ ወዲ ተባዕታይ ኣሰራርሓ ጸጉሪ ጎተናን ዓሊባበን ኣብ ዝብሉ ዝተወሰነ እዩ። እዚ ከም ሓደ ባህላዊ መለለዪ ኢለ ኣስፊረዮ ዘለኹ ንኣሰራርሓ ጸጉሪ ዝምልከት ዛዕባ፡ ከባቢ፡ ጾታ፡ ዕድመን ኣጋጣምን መሰረት ገይሩ ዝፈላለ ምዃኑ ድማ ከይጠቕስኩዎ ክሓልፍ ኣይደልን። ከምቲ ዝበልኩዎ እዚ ኣሰራርሓ ጸጉሪ ርእሲ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ፡ ብፍላይ ኣብ ከበሳታት ኤርትራ ጋመ፡ ሳዱላ፡ ሽብላሎ፡ ኣልባሶ፡ ግልብጭን ድርምምን ዝብሉ ኣስማት ኣለዉዎ። ኣብ ካልእ ከባቢታትና ድማ ዝተፈልየ ኣስማት ከም ዝህልዎ እግምት። ብመንጽር ኣሰራርሓ ጸጉሪ ምስ ኣጋጣምታት ዘለዎ ዝምድና ግልብጭን ኣልባሶን ኣብ ናይ ሓጐስ ግዜ ክዝውተሩ እንከለዉ፡ ድርምም ድማ ኣደታትና ናይ ቀረባ ቤተሰብ ክሞተን እንከሎ ዝስረሐኦ ናይ ሓዘን መግለጺ እዩ። ኣብ ገለ ከባቢታት ኣደታት ብፍላይ ምስ ሞት በዓል ቤተን ጸጉረን ይላጽየኦ እሞ ንሓያሎ ዓመታት ካብ ኩሉ እዚ ዝጠቐስኩዎ ኣገባብ ኣሰራርሓ ጸጉሪ ርእሲ ዝሕረማሉ ኣጋጣሚ ኣሎ።

ሓንቲ ኣደ ተደርሚማ እንተርኢኻያ እሞ ድማ ምስኡ ጥራይ ክሳዳ እንተኾይና ሓዘንተኛ ንምዃና ካልእ ተወሳኺ መግለጺ ኣየድልየካን። ምናልባት ግና ዝርዝር ኩነታት ናይቲ ናብዚ ሓዘን ዘብቀዓ ንምፍላጥ ጥራይ ክትሓታ ትኽእል። ኣደታት ሓዘነን ንምግላጽ ንዝተወሰነ ግዜ እየን ዝድርመማ። ደሓር ከከም ቅርበት ናይቲ ዝሞተን ዘመድ፡ በዓል ቤት፡ ሓው፡ ሓብቲ ወይ ውላድ ተራእዩ ድሕሪ ዝተወሰነ እዋን ብቐረበን ትይድበሳ። ካብቲ ናይ ምድባሰን ምልክት ሓደ ድማ ድርምመን ተፈቲሑ ጸጉሪ ርእሰን ብኻልእ ኣገባብ ምቑናኑ’ዩ። ኣብቲ ግዜ ምድባስ ከዓ “በሊ እዚ ናይ ሓዘንኪ ወሰን ይግበረልኪ” ይበሃላ’ሞ ንሳተን ድማ “ኣሜን” ኢለን ንደበስተን የመስግና። ሓዘን እንተደኣ ተደጋጊምወን ግና እቲ ድርምም እውን ብድርምሙ ይቕጽል።

ብመንጽር እዚ ኤርትራዊት ኣደ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ብሰንኪ ተተኻኻኢ ሓዘን ወትሩ ምስ ብድርምምታ እያ ትነብር ዘላ። ኤርትራዊት ኣደ ኣብ ግዜ ቃልሲ ምእንቲ ነጻነት ብዝተፈላለዩ ግፍዕታት ቤተሰባ ይሞቱ ስለ ዝነበሩ፡ ክትርመም’ያ ጸኒሓ። ናጽነት ኮይኑ፡ ብዝተወሰነ መልክዑ’ውን እንተኾነ ኣስማት ስዉኣት ምስ ተነግረ፡ ውላ”ኳ በቲ ሳላ መስዋእቶም ዝተረኽበ ዓወት ሓዘና ውሒጣ ተደዓዒሳ ክትቀርብ እንተፈተነት፡ ከስዐ ኣደ ስለ ዝኾና፡ ነቲደጋዊ ምልክት ገዲፍካ፡ ብውሽጣ ካብ ሓዘን ዓዲ ኣይወዓለትን። እቲ ንደገ ከይወጽእ ትዓግቶ ዝነበረት ንብዓታ ከዓ ንውሽጢ ካብ ምፍሳስ ኣየዕረፈን። ዋላ’ኳ “ከምኡ ደስ ስለ ዝበለኒ እየ” ዝብል ምኽንያታት እንተሃበት፡ ድርምማ ኣይተረፈን። ሓደ ተስፋ ግና ነይሩዋ። ሓዘናን ድርምማን ኣብኡ ከብቅዕ። እንተኾነ ብሰንኪ ዘይህዱእ ፖሊሲ ጉጀለ ህግደፍ ሓዘና ኣይተደረተን። ድርምማ ከዓ ኣይተፈትሐን። ናይ ግድን ኣብ ዘይነበረ ውግኣት ምስ ሱዳን፡ ምስ የመን፡ ምስ ጅቡቲ፡ ብዓብይኡ ድማ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ኣብ ዝተኻየደ ውግኣት ብዝተሰወኡ፡ በዓል ቤታ፡ ውላዳ ኣሕዋታ ሓዘና ተድጊሱ፡ ድርምማ ድማ መሊሱ ጸኒዑ። ዋሕዚ ንብዓታ ኣይዛረየን። ኣቦ እውን ይሓዝን እዩ’ሞ ግና እቲ ሓዘን ኣብታ ናይ ልውሃት ኣብነት ዝኾነት ኣደ ከም ዝገድድ ዝሰሓት ኣይኮነን።

ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ንሳ ባዕላ እታ ኤርትራዊት ኣደ እያ “ስለምንታይ ወትሩ ይድርመም?” ኢላ ክትሓትት ዝግበኣ። ናይዚ ሕቶኣ መልስን ናይቲ ዘይዛሪ ሓዘና ጠንቅን ምስ ፈለጠት ከዓ ንሳ እያ ነቲ ሕቶ ኣብ ምምላስ ኮነ ነቲ ጠንቂ ኣብ ምውጋድ መሪሕ ግደ ከተበርክት ዝግበኣ። እዚ ናይ ኣደታት “ወትሩ ድርምም” ናይ ሓዘንን እህህን ግዜ፡ ኣደታት ነንሕድሕደን ብዝደባበሰኦ’ሞ መሊሱ ብዝድገስ ኣገባብ ኣይኮነን ዝፍታሕ። እቲ ፍታሕስ ነቲ ጠንቂ “ወትሩ ድርምም” ንሓዋሩ ከምዘይምለስ ምውጋዱ እዩ። ወጽዓ ኣደታት ማለት ብሓፈሻ ናይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ወጽዓ ኣብ ኩሉ ምዕራፋት ቃልሲ ኣዝዩ ዝኸበደን ድርብን እዩ። ኣብቲ ነዚ ከቢድ ወጽዓ ናብ መሰረቱ ዝደልደለ ራህዋ ንምቕያሩ ዝግበር ቃልሲኸ ማዕሪኡዶ ኣሎ እጃመን? ንዝብል ሕቶ ኣብ ምምላስ ግና እቲ ክኸውን ዝግበኦ “እወ መሪሕ እየን” ዝብል እዩ። “ብተግባርከ ከምኡዶ ኣሎ?” ንዝብል ግና ኣፍካ መሊእካ እወ እትብሎ ኣይኮነን። ዝያዳ ብብሩህ ንምግላጹ ተሳትፎአን ኣብዚ ነካይዶ ዘለና ናይ ለውጢ ቃልሲ ትሕቲ ግምትና እዩ።

ብዙሓት ፖለቲካዊ ውድባትን ሰልፍታትን፡ ከምኡ ኣውን ማሕበራት ካብ ዘቕርብዎ ስኽፍታታት ሓደ ሕጽረት ተሳትፎ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኣብዚ ቃልሲ ቅድሚት ዝስራዕ እዩ። እዚ ብተግባር’ውን ዝረአ ዘሎ እዩ። እሞ ድማ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ብቑጽረን ማዕረ ደቂ ተባዕትዮ ምናልባት እውን እንትዘይበዚሑ፡ ወጽዓአን ድማ ዝመረረ እንዳሃለወን ሃብታም ተመኩሮ ቃልሲ ኣንጻር ወጽዓ እንዳወነናን እዩ። ስለምንታይ ደኣ ከምኡ ይኸውን? እዚ ብዘይወዓል ሕደር ክምልስ ዝግበኦ መሰረታዊ ሕቶ እዩ። ተተሓሒዙ ዝመጸ ባህላዊ ተጽዕኖን ስፍሓት ቤተሰባዊ ሓላፍነትን፡ ኣደታትና ካብ ቃልሲ ንክርሕቃ ኣስተዋጸኦ ከም ዘለዎ ከይዘንጋዕካ፡ ብኩራተን ክሳብ ክንድዚ ምብጸሕሑ ግና ዋላ እንተገላበጥካዮ ቅቡል ኣይኮነን። ሎሚ ኣዋጃት፡ መግለጽታትን መጸዋዕታታትን ክቐርቡ እንከለዉ ቅድሚት ዝስራዕ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኣብ ቃልሲ ንክሳተፋ ዝምሕጸን እዩ። ኣብ ከምዚ እየን እምበኣር ኤርትራውያን ኣደታት “ኣብዚ ቃልሲ መንዩ ዓዳማይ መንከ ተዓዳማይ?” ኢለን ክልዓላ ዝግበአን። ወየን ኣብቲ ዝሓለፈ ኤርትራዊ ሰንሰለታዊ ናይ ናጽነትን መሰረታዊ መሰላትን ቃልሲ ኣብነታዊ ታሪኽ ዘለወን ኤርትራውያን ደቂ ቅንስትዮ፡ ሎሚ ብብኩራት ካብ ቃልሲ ክሕመያን ብተደጋጋሚ ሰብ ዝሰርሖ ሓዘን ምስ ድርምምን ምእሳር ፈትልን ኣሳንየን ክነብራን ፈጺሙ ቅቡል ኣይኮነን።

እቲ ቃልሲ ነዊሑ፡ ኣቲ ኣሰላልፋ ናይ ለውጢ ሓይልታት ዘተባብዕ ዘይምዃኑ ካብቶም ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኣብቲ ቃልሲ ከይተግሃ ዝዓግቱ ምኽንያታት ኮይኖም ይቐርቡ እዮም። እዞም ጸገማት የለዉን ኢልካ ምክርኻር ኣይከኣልን። እንተኾነ በቲ ሓደ ወገን እተን ኩሉ ወዲ ተባዕታይ ክገብሮ ዝኽእል ገይረን ነጻነት ዘውሓሳ ኤርትራውያን ደቂ ኣንስትዮ በዚ ምኽንያት ካብ ቃልሲ ክበኹራ ቅቡል ኣይኮነን። በቲ ካልእ ወገን ከዓ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ነቲ ዘይጥጡሕ ናይ ቃልሲ መንገዲ ኣብ ምጥጣሕ ዓቕመን ትሕቲ ወዲ ተባዕታይ ስለ ዘይኮነ ንብኩራተን ካብ ቃልሲ ቅቡል ምኽንያት ጌርካ ዝውሰድ ኣይኮነን። እምበርከ ነቲ ዝርካቡ ዕድልከ ተጠቒመናሉ ድየን። ብሓጹሩኸ እቲ ዝያዳ ተደራራቢ ወጽዓ ዘለዉ ኣካልዶ ኣይኮነን፡ ኣብቲ ኣንጻር ወጽዓ ዝግበር ቃልሲ ቅድሚት ክስለፍ ዝግበኦ።

22 ሰነ 2015

At a time when the excessive human rights abuses of the dictatorial regime in Eritrea are being further exposed through UN and other reports, Eritreans in North America did not only hold a massive demonstration in Washington DC but also sent a petition to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to use his good offices “to help set in motion a thorough investigation on the cause that is driving refugees” from their homeland.

It is to be recalled that the UN Commission of Inquiry submitted its written report on Eritrea and that the Human Rights Council is already considering approval of the document as it is. The report notes that the Eritrean regime has been engaged in abuses that can be considered as “crimes against humanity”. The petition by Eritreans in North America, therefore, asks the UN Secretary General the the UN Security Council to take approporiate measures on the extremely abusive regime in Africa.

Below is the full text of the petition. Good reading.

…….

                                                                                                     June 19, 2015

His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon

United Nations Secretary-General

United Nations Headquarters

New York, N.Y.

Dear Mr. Secretary-General:

We preface our letter with our-heart-felt good wishes to you in all the very important duties you are performing as a world leader. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you and all those who collaborate with you in all the noble efforts.

We are writing you as a matter of great urgency, on behalf of hundreds of thousands of our unfortunate Eritrean compatriots. We note with great appreciation the expression of sympathy and grave concern that you voiced following the tragic drowning of hundreds of Eritreans near the Island of Lampedusa some twenty months ago. Indeed, we believe that your voice and that of His Holiness Pope Francis helped put such tragedy and its causes on national and international agendas, especially in Europe, leading to a great deal of debate and soul-searching.

While we welcome these promising developments, unfortunately, we believe that they stopped short of what needs to be done in order to find a lasting solution to such tragedies and the causes that trigger them. The flow of refugees continues unabated and more people have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, despite the efforts at naval intervention to save lives. We strongly believe that the international community and Europe in particular, needs to translate the expressions of good will voiced in the wake of the Lampedusa tragedy to more concrete actions. Such actions should begin by addressing the causes of the massive migration of refugees from Africa and the Middle East.

In that spirit, and focusing on the Eritrean refugees, we urge you to bring the considerable moral weight carried by your office to bear on the specific tragedy that has befallen on our unfortunate nation—Eritrea. The cause of the massive exodus of Eritreans is the wrong policy and dangerous politics pursued by the government of Mr. Isaias Afwerki. Of all the wrong policies of the government that have devastated a once promising nation, the most egregious is the so called National Service, which has pinned down hundreds of thousands of Eritrean youth in what can only be described as forced servitude. Eritrean youth, the cream of the nation, have wasted, and are wasting, their lives in a pointless and unending service. Thousands have chosen to escape from this servitude at huge risk to their lives, including those who perished in the Mediterranean Sea. Though this servitude is the worst policy pursued by the government, we need to understand the overall context of the nature of the state under which it is practiced.  

People who expressed any criticism against the government have been severely punished; many have died in detention. It is generally known that a once promising country has been turned into a police state and the fervent hopes and aspirations of a whole generation of Eritreans have been dashed on the rock of wrong polices and dangerous politics of a government led by an unelected President. The recent U N Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea found “that systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed under the authority of the Government. Some of these violations may constitute crimes against humanity.”

In the prevailing conditions of lawlessness families of thousands of prisoners do not know where their loved ones are incarcerated, do not know if they are dead or alive, do not have the right to visit them or for doctors and lawyers to see them. The young are particularly vulnerable and many prefer risking death remaining in conditions of endless servitude wasting their precious lives. This is the condition that is forcing thousands to flee their country in search of refuge abroad. Unless and until this condition is properly and quickly addressed, the “refugee problem” will continue with more Lampedusa-like incidents. We are, therefore, appealing to you, Mr. Secretary-General, to use your good offices to help set in motion a thorough investigation on the cause that is driving refugees from their beloved homeland. Your leadership, along with that of H.H. Pope Francis, and with the support of leaders of the European Union, African Union, and individual governments, is needed to bring this tragedy to an end. We implore you to take speedy steps toward the accomplishment of this objective.

On June 19, 2015, Eritreans and friends of Eritrea are demonstrating in Washington,

D. C., in support of the people in Eritrea and against the dictatorship in Eritrea.

People’s Movement of Eritreans for Justice

Email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Co-sponsors:

Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change (ENCDC)

Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP)

Eritreans for Facilitating National Dialogue (EFND)

Copy to U S Department of State