I am writing this piece to expose something that continually perturbs my conscience; I have to speak it out now because no one knows when one passes away. I also earnestly call on those brothers and sisters who were with me in the incident to speak out. It is imperative that we find in our own separate ways how and to whom these crimes should be told. It is also timely to loudly speak and tell about it to our own people.

There is no need of talking here about my identity except informing that I was born in the 1960s and joined the the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) in the 1980s; presently, I live in the western world. Those of us who know many of the brutally inhumane and untold crimes committed and still being committed against our people by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) are not few in number. Many of us also know some of the crimes PFDJ committed against non-Eritreans. The one I am narrating here below is one of those crimes.

It is to be remembered that in the 1990s, relations between the Sudan and Eritrea were bad. In 1996, before we attacked the Sudan, the leadership deployed us [Army Corps No. 271] in region of Nakfaand Karora passing this order: "the Sudan is a threat to our security by sheltering terrorism and Jihad; be at full alert; we will attack them". Our [commanders}, who previously said that Egypt, Ethiopia and Uganda were supportive of the action later on changed the message and said: "Those countries have changed their viewpoints, but we will continue what we have planned".

On this basis, a two-front heavy attack was opened on 27/03/1997 by our Army Corps 271 led by Abdu Remech and his deputy Wedi Keshi. One flank of the attack covered the area from the Sudanese Karora up to Merafit; and the other flank attacked Sudanese army positions from Denbobet up to Jelhandi in the Red Sea; the Sudanese army encampments at Karora, Habokhayt, Ayterbay, Adaret, Agit-Keseret, Agit-Merafit and up to Jelhandi were cleared. Only to justify that the attack was made by the Sudanese opposition fronts and not by the Eritrean army, there were insignificant number of fighters from the armed wings of John Gerang, Sadiq al Mahdi and of Dr. Abdul Aziz (Halfawi). Their presence was nominal.

After 4 days and in some places 5 days, all the Sudanese army positions were put under Eritrean army control. We stayed in all of them till June 1998 except that the Eritrean unit that was in Merafit retreated to Agig after only three days.

[But after 14 months] in June 1998, we retreated [back to Eritrea] when the Sudanese army attacked us in huge numbers. The small units of Sudanese opposition fighters also retreated with us. After our retreat, we occasionally fired heavy shells to the Sudanese army in addition to a few attacks by the air force.

When we opened the initial attack [on 27 March 1997], we were ordered not only to capture camps but also to kill soldiers [massively]. Two weeks after the start of the attack, our brigade leader Wedi Tekeste called a meeting and told us: "beside the Sudanese soldiers killed in the battles, we had taken 1,273 prisoners. However, we asked the Sudanese opposition organization, especially that of John Gerang, to take care of them, but they refused saying they had no capacity to do so. Therefore, we were afraid of outside knowledge and world condemnation [of our attack on the Sudan] and therefore we had no choice but to shoot all the prisoners". At this point, some members of our brigade started to protest against such action but they were intimidated and silenced. The Sudanese opposition fighters also did not show any reaction about the killing [of 1,273 Sudanese prisoners].

Other than this, it is known that [the Eritrean Army] Corps No. 381 had also launched an attack in the Kassala region during that time. However, they did not remain long in the positions they attacked. I am also not fully aware of what mistakes were committed in that zone. Those of you who were in the Kassala region attacks may tell what happened. But what was heard was that leaders of the Eritrean Army Corps 381 killed the Sudanese army officers captured in the battles by burning them inside a cottage using benzene. The other information I was made aware by knowledgeable persons was that 105 Tigre speaking Ben-Amer soldiers of the Sudanese army who fled from the Sudanese army refusing to fight against their brethren in the Eritrean army, were executed and collectively damped in two huge burial vaults. This crime aimed to hide the Eritrean army's action in the Sudan. Then, when will [the eye witnesses] tell the tales of innocent victims killed in front of their eyes? Why are we keeping silent instead of exposing the crimes we witnessed? I want to say the time has come for all of us to speak out and reveal all what we know so that a new dawn of justice can replace the ugly secrets of the past.

The crime I mentioned in relation to Army Corps 271 is one of the agonizing crimes against humanity committed by PFDJ. It has given me so many sleepless years. When I heard that the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea will give its final report about its findings on crimes committed against humanity, I decided to speak out and release it even to the general public. I know that those who were with me and know what I know are pained by the act as much as I am. It is thus time for me and my compatriots who witnessed these acts to come forward and show readiness to be first-hand witnesses. It is also hoped and recommended that the UN Commission of Inquiryinvestigates acts at the level of Wedi Tekeste [head of Army Corps 271] and upwards in the hierarchy [of PFDJ].

[Sincerely]

Your Eritrean brother, who hopes to see criminals facing justice in a better Eritrea

ሓርነት፡ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ክብደት ወጽዓ ኤርትራውያን ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ከመይ ትገልጽዮ?

ኤርትራ ኣልኣዛር፡ ብመጀመርያ ብምኽንያት 8 መጋቢት ዓለምለኸ መዓልቲ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ፡ መግለጺ ንኽህብ ንዝተዋህበኒ ዕድል ልባዊ ምስጋናይ የቕርብ። ነዚ እተካይድዎ ዘለኩም ዘይሕለል ቃልሲ ድማ የሞግስ። ናብቲ ጉዳየይ ክኣቱ።

ወጽዓ ኤርትራውያን ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኣብዚ እዋን እዚ ካብ ኩሉ እዋን ዝኸበደን ዝመረረን እዩ ክበሃል ይከኣል። ምኽንያቱ እቲ ዘሎ ኩነታት ዝያዳ ንኣዴታት ስለዝሃሲ። ድሕሪ ናጽነት ኤርትራዊ ኣብ ዘይተጸበዮ ከርፋሕ ሃለዋት እዩ ዝነበር ዘሎ። ኣብ ዓዱ ቀሲኑ ብሰላምን ብፍቕርን ክነብር እናደለየ፡ ብሰንኪ ባርባራዊ መግዛእቲ ህግዲፍ ክስደድ ይግደድ ኣሎ። ንኣብነት ባርነት ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት መሪርዎም መንእሰያት ኣብ ዝስደድሉ፡ ወለዲ እዮም ዝእሰሩን ዝሳቐዩን። ውሉዳ መውደቒኡ ዘይፈለጠት ኤርትራዊት ኣደ ሻቕሎት ከይኣኽላ፡ ካልኦት ደቃ ዛሕዚሓ ትእሰር ወይ ድማ ኣቦ እንተሎ ንሱ ይእሰር’ሞ፡ ንሳ ፈቐዶ ኣብያተ-ማእሰርት በዓል ቤታ ክትደሊ ከርተት ትብል። ምሉእ ናብራ ገዛ ድማ ሓላፍነቱ ናብኣ ይወድቕ። ነዚ ክትጸሮ ከኣ ዓቕሚ ይሓጽራ። ኣብ ሓደ ጊዜ ናይ ሰለስተ ዝተፈላለየ ሽግራት ግዳይ ትኸውን። መንእሰይ ጓል ኣንስተይቲ እንተኾነት ኣብ ሳዋ ክብራ ይድፈርን ትዕመጽን። ናብራ እንተገበረት ኣብ ልዕሊ በዓልቤታ ብዝወርድ ተጽዕኖ፡ ካብቲ ጸገም ኣይትድሕንን። በዓል ቤታ ኣብ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት እዩ ዘሎ። እንተ ሃደመ ኣቦ ዘይብሎም ህጻናት ሒዛ ናይ ናብራኣ ጸገም ከይኣኽላ፡ ነቲ ካብ ኢድ መንግስቲ ዝጠፍኤ ሰብኣያ፡ ገንዘብ ክትከፍል ትግደድ። ምስዚ ኹሉ ደቃ ተዕንግለሉ ዓቕሚ እውን የብላን። ስለዚ ዝኽፈል ሲኢና ንሳ’ውን ከምቶም ወለዲ ትእሰር። ብዘይካ ቤት ማእሰርቲ፡ ኣብያተ-ሕክምና ወይ ኣብያተ-ትምህርቲ ምስራሕ ዘይፈልጥ ስርዓት ኣስምራ፡ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ በይነን ኣብ ዝኾናሉ ጊዜ ሰሪሐን ደቀን ከየዕብያን እኹል ትምህርቲ ከይረኽባን ኣቛሪጹ ናብቲ መወዳእታ ዘየብሉ ባርነት የእትወን።

ስርዓት ኣስመራ ነተን ምእንቲ ናጽነት ተጋዲለን ዝመጻ ሓርበኛታት’ኳ ኣይኮነን። ሓርበኛታት ወዓሩ ተጋደልቲ ምእንቲ ናጽነት ህይወተን ከፊለን ኣካለን ጎዲለን ክነሰን፡ ጻምአን ገለን ኣብ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ክሳቀያ ከለዋ፡ ገለ ድማ ብድኽነት ከርተት ይብላን ይዋረዳን ኣለዋ። ሓሚመን ሕክምና የለን፣ ክራይ ገዛ ኣይርከብን እንተተረኽበ ከኣ ዋጋኡ ኣይከኣልን። እዛ ብዋጋ ሓርብኛታት ዝመጸት፡ ኣስቤዛ፣ እኽሊ፣ ማይን ኤለትሪክን ዘይብላ ሃገር፣ ንዜጋታታ ድቕድቅ ጸልማትን ናይ ስቅያት ደሴትን ኮይናተን ኣላ። ስለዚ እዛ ትምህርቲ፡ ምዕባለ፡ ብልጽግና፡ ሰላምን ፍቕርን ዝጎደላ ኤርትራ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ንደቂ ኣንስቶዮ ዝያዳ ዝኸፈአት ሃገር እያ ክትበሃል ትኽእል።

ሓርነት፡ ነዚ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ወጽዓ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ብመንጽር ምቅላሱ፡ ፖሊሲ ሰደህኤ ኣብ ጉዳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ብኸመይ ይግለጽ?

ኤርትራ ኣልኣዛር ፡ ብመንጽር ናይዚ ዘሎ ኩነታት ክርአ እንተኾይኑ ንዓይ ፖሊሲ ሰ.ደ.ህ.ኤ ኣብ ጉዳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ መተካእታ ዘይብሉ እዩ። መሰል ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ይሕልው ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ጓል ኣንስተይቲ ማለት መምህር ሕብረትሰብ ማለት ምዃኑ ይኣምን። ምዕብልትን ብልጽግትን ኤርትራ ንምህናጽ ግደ ጓል ኣንስተይቲ ዝለዓለ እጃም ከም ዘለዎ ዝርእን ብምሉእ ዓቕሙ ነዚ ኣብ ግብሪ ንምውዓል ጻዕርታት የካይድን። ኣብ ዝኾነ ጽፍሒ ሓላፍነት ድማ ቦታ ናይ ጓል ኣንስተይቲ ሕልው ክኸውን፡ ናይ ትምህርትን ስራሕን ማዕረ ዕድል ዝህብ፡ ንማዕረ ስራሕ ማዕረ ደሞዝ ይኣምን። ኣብ ጊዜ ሕርስን ጥንስን ቦታ ስርሐን ዝተሓለወ ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ደሞዘን እናተኽፍላ ኣብ ገዝኤን ምስ ውሉደን ክዕርፋ ዕድል ክወሃበን ይኣምን። ሰደህኤ ንደቂ ኣንስትዮ ብዝምልከት ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮኡ ዘስፈሮ “ደቂ-ኣንስትዮ ፍርቂ ኣካል ሕብረተ-ሰብ ኢየን። መሰለን ብሕጊ ተሓልዩ፡ ብግብሪ ኣብ ኵሉ ህይወት ሕብረተ-ሰብ ኤርትራ ማዕረ ተሳትፎ ከምዝህልወን ንምግባር፡ ሰዲህኤ ከይተሓለለ ክሰርሕ ኢዩ። ነዚ ክዉን ንምግባር፡ ኣንጻር ጓል-ኣንስተይቲ ዝውዕሉ ጐዳእቲ ባህልታት፡ ኣተሓሳስባታትን ልምድታትን፣ ከምኡ’ውን፡ ዓንቀፍቲ ፖለቲካዊ ማሕለኻታት ብሕጊ ንምውጋዱ ኣድላዪ ቃልሲ ክካይድ እዩ።” ዝብል ሓሳብ ይርከቦ። እዚ ንኤርትራ ኣብ ትሕቲ ዲክታተርነት ዝገዝእ ዘሎ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ብኣንጻሩ፡ ኣብ ስቓይን ቤት ማእሰትን ጥራይ እዩ ማዕርነተ ድቂ ኣንስትዮ ዝሕልው። ተቓሊሰን ነጻነት ዘውሓሳ ኤርትራውያን ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ዝነብረኦ ዘለዋ ሃለዋት ከኣ ነዚ እዩ ዘመልክት።

ሓርነት፡ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ካብ ዘሰክፉ ጉዳያት ሓደ ምዝሕታል ተሳትፎ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኣብ ናይ ለውጢ ቃልሲ’ዩ። እዚ ስለምንታይ ኣጋጢሙ?

ኤርትራ ኣልኣዛር ፡ ኣብዚ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ቃልሲ፡ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ተሳትፎአን ከምቲ ዝደለ ወይ ዝግባእ ኣይኮነን፡ እዚ ድማ ብዙሕ ምኽንያታት ኣሎዎ።

ቀዳማይ ንናጽነት ኣብ ዝተረብረ ቃልሲ ንምዕዋት ኣብ ሜዳ ብረት ዓጢቐን ብምቅላስ ህይወተን ዝኸፈላሉ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ታሪኸን ዝድምስሳ ዘልዋ ስለ ዝመስለንን እቲ ስርዓት ልቢ ገይሩ ባዕሉ ክዕረ ብተስፋ ስለዝጽበያን። ካልኣይ ኣብ ስደት ዘለዋ ኣደታት ነቲ ምእንቲ ናጽነት ዝተኻየደ ቃልሲ ናይ ጉልበት ስራሕ ሰሪሐን ብኹሉ ዓቕመንን ክእለተንን ዘበርከታሉን ዕድመአን ብሙሉእ ዋጋ ዝኸፈላሉን ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ዋንነት ይስምዐን እዩ። ስለዚ ነቲ ዝገበርኦ ጻዕርታት ስለዝዝክራ ንምቅዋሙ ኣይጭከነለንን። ሳልሳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ንሓደ ዝኣመናሉ ዕላማ ጸኒዐን እየን ዝሕዝኦ። እሙናት እየን። ዋላ ነቲ ዝርኤኦ ጌጋ ከምቲ ደቀን ኣብ ጊዜ ቁልዕነት ንዝገብርዎ ጌጋታት ሸለል ኢለን ዝርእይኦ፡ ነዚ ናይ ሎሚ ጸገም’ውን ከምኡ ስለዝርእይኦ። “ኣደስ ትሓብእ’ሞ ሓበላ ዓይንስ ኣይትሓብእን” እኳ ዝበሃል እንተኾነን፡ ንሳተን ግና፡ ነቲ ስርዓት ኩሉ ኣበሳኡ እናረኣያ ከምዘይርኣያ ይኮነን ክሓብኣሉ ይፍትና። ነዚ ዘስዓቦ ቀንዲ ምኽንያት ድማ ሸፋጢ ጭርሖ ኢሰይያስ ኣፈወርቂ እዩ። “ንሕና ንሱ፡ ንሱ ንሕና” ዝብል። ንስርዓት ምቅዋም ከም ንሃገር ምቅዋም ኮይኑ ስለ ዘረርአ። እዚ ድማ ንሱ ዝፈጠሮ ዘይኮነ ካብ ከምኡ ዓይነት መለኽቲ ዝተማህሮ እዩ።

እቲ ካልእ ጉዳይ ውልቃዊ ረብሓ እዩ። ኣብ ዓዲ ንዘሎ ከም ገዛ ዝኣመሰለ ንብረት ክትብል ንህግደፍ ምንሓፍ። ኣብ ዓዲ ዘለዉ ወለድን ቤተሰብን ክሳብ ብህይወት ዘለዉ ምእንቲ ተመላሊስካ ክትበጽሖም፡ ርኢኻ ከም ዘይረኣኻ ምዃንን ምጽቃን እውን ኣሎ። እዚ ግን ውሕስነት ዘለዎ ኣይኮነን። ብኢድ እዚ ስርዓት ሓደስቲ ገዛውቲ ክፈርስን ክዓኑን ናይ ዓሚ ታሪኽ እዩ። ሎሚ ዓመት ዘይድገመለኡ ምኽንያት’ውን የለን።

ሕማቕ ኣተሃላልዋ ደንበ ተቓውሞ እውን ኣብዚ ዓብይ ግደ ኣለዎ። ልዕሊ’ቲ ንስርዓት ኢሰይያስ ክቃወሙ ዘጥፍእዎ ሓይልን ግዜን ኣብ ሓድሕድ ጸለመ ዝጠፍእ ይበዝሕ። ካብኡ ዝኸፍአ ድማ እቲ ተቓውሞ ነቲ ስርዓት ጠንጢኖም ንዝመጹ ሃገራውያን ብግቡእ ዝሓቁፍ ዘይምዃኑ እዩ። እዚ ከኣ ካልኦት ነቲ ስርዓት ራሕሪሖም ንክመጹ ዘተባብዕ ኣይኮነን። በዚ መሰረት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ’ውን ነንሓድሕድኩም ፍቕሪ ዘየብልኩምን ዘይትከባበሩን፡ ንዝመጸኩም ኣይትቕበሉን ስለዚ ተስፋ ንዘይብሉ እንታይ ኢልና ንመጸኩም ዝብል ዕግበት ኣለወን።

ሓርነት፡ ኤርትራውያን ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ካብዚ ሕጂ ዘሎ ዝሕተላ ወጺአን ተሳትፎአን ኣብ ንቡር ቦታኡ ክምለስ እንታይ ክግበር ኣለዎ ትብሊ።

ኤርትራ ኣልኣዛር፡ እቲ ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞ ቃልሲ ዝካየደሉ ዘሎ ሓቢርካ ናይ ምስራሕን ሕድሕድ ምክብባርን ጻዕሪ ክቕጽልን ክዓብን ኣለዎ። ናብ ቃልሲ ንዝመጽእ ሃገራዊ ድማ ሓንጐፋይ ኢልካ ምቕባልን ምሕብሓብን የድሊ። ንዓኻ ነጻ ዘውጸኣካ ዘየለ ክንሱ፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ሓውካን ሓብትኻን ምፍራድ ቅኑዕ ኣይኮነን። ፍርዲ ንዝመጽእ ህዝባዊ ፍርዲ ሓዲግካ ሎሚ ንናይ ሓባር ረብሓ ሓቢርካ ምቅላስ የድሊ። ከምዚ ተዘይገርካ ግና እቲ ክፈርሃካ ዝግበኦ ይተባባዕ። ምሳኻ ክስለፍ ዝግበኦ ድማ ኣይኣምነካን እሞ ይፈርሓካ። ከይደኸምካን ከይሰልከኻን ድማ እቲ ዘይፈልጠካ ከም ዝፈልጠካ ምግባር። ንኹሉ ኣብ ቅድሚ ዝፈርድ ህዝቢ ዕላማኻ ብግቡእ ምልላይ። ፈሊጡካ ክነሱ እንተ ዘይሰዓበካ ውሳነኡ ስለ ዝኾነ ድሓን። ብግቡእ ከይፈለጠ ንኹልኻ ብሓደ ክፈርደካ ግና ቅኑዕ ኣይኮነን። ስለዚ ነቲ ዘሎካ ዕላማን ራእን ኣብ ህዝቢ ኣቕሪብካ ምልላይን ኣባኻ ከም ዝዓስል ምግባሩን ድማ ናይ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ተቓላሳይ ሓላፍነት እዩ።

ሓርነት ፡ ኣብዚ ታሪኻዊ ኣጋጣሚ 8 መጋቢት መዓልቲ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ተመሓላልፍዮ መልእኽቲ እንታይ ኣሎ?

ኤርትራ ኣልኣዛር ፡ ንኣብ ምሉእ ዓለም ዘለዋ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ብሓፈሻ፡ ብፍላይ ድማ ንኤርትራዊያን ኣደታትን ኣሓትን ዮሃና እንኳዕ ናብ ዓለምለኻዊ መዓልቲ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ፡ ኣብጸሓና እብለን። ሎሚ ንመበል 106 ዓመት እነኽብሮ ዘሎና ዓለምለኻዊ መዓልቲ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ፡ በቲ ሓደ ወገን ነተን ምእንቲ ናጽነት ሃገርና ዝተዋደቓ፡ ዝተሰዋኣን ዝሰንከላን ጀጋኑ ሓርበኛታት፡ ብኽብሪ እንዝክረላ መዓልቲ እያ። በቲ ካልእ ወገን ድማ እተን ኣብ በረኻታት ሳሕራን ፈቀዶ ባሕርታትን ዝወደቓን ኣብ ስደትን ኣብ ውሽጢ ሃገርን ዝሳቐያ ዘለዋን ኣሓትና ብሓዘን እንዝክራላ መዓልቲ እያ። ኣብዚ ታሪኻዊ ኣጋጣሚ 8 መጋቢት መዓልቲ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ እነቕርቦ ናይ ቃልስን ጽንዓትን ጻውዒት ናብ ኣብ ምሉእ ዓለም ዘልዋ ኣሓት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ እዩ። ሓርበኛታት ወዓሩ ኤርትራዊያን ሎሚ እውን ከም ትማሊ፡ ታሪኽ ጽንዓትክን ክድገም ከምቲ ኣብ መድረኽ ቃልሲ ምእንቲ ነጻነት ንጸላኢ ሓንሳብን ንሓዋሩን ዝጸረግክነኦ፡ ሕጂ እውን ብዋጋ ህይወትክን ይጣላዕ ንዘሎ ዓማጺ ስርዓት ኢሰይያስ ንሓዋሩ ካብ ሱሩ ንክመሖ ግደኽን ዓብይ ምዃኑ ዘክራ። ታሪኽ ጅግንነትክን ከይቋረጽ ናብ ናኣሽቱ ኣሓትክንን ደቅኽንን ናይ ምትሕልላፍ ሓላፍነትክን ኣይትዘንግዓ። ብሰላምን ፍቕርን እትነብራላ ብልጽግትን ምዕብልትን ሃገር ክትህነጽ ድማ ካባኻትክን ዝድለ ዋጋ ክፈላ። እተን ኣብ ዝሓልፈ ታሪኽ ገደ ዘይነበረክን ድማ ሃየ ሎሚ ሓደራ ኣሰር ስውኣትን ሓርበኛታትን ተኸተላ። እብለን።

ሓርነት፡ ስለቲ ነዚ ታሪኻዊ መዓልቲ ብዝምልከት ዝሃብክዮ መብርሂ ብስም ኣንበብቲ ነመስግን

ኤርትራ ኣልኣዛር፡ ኣነ እውን ነዚ መልእኽቲ ንከተሓላልፍ ንዝኸፈትኩምለይ ዕድል አመስገን።

ሓድነትና ዓወትና ምክብባርና ድማ ጽንዓትና!!!

ዝኽሪንመዓልቲደቂኣንስትዮ

ዘልኣለማዊዝኽርንክብርንንስውኣትና!!!