EPDP Editorial

PART II

The root causes of all contemporary Eritrean problems are political, inasmuch as the political philosophy of the dictatorial regime of Isaias, which is “equality in poverty”. Just to make it evident, the dictatorial regime in Eritrea is organized to benefit the few in power at the expense of the vast majority of the Eritrean people. In effect, the political power and vast wealth amassed by Isaias and his elites is one that buys the support and loyalty Isaias needs in order to stay in power while depriving the general populace of their basic rights.

One might ask why the regime wants to impoverish the people. Couldn’t it benefit more from the prosperity of the people and the country? The answer is “No”, at least for two reasons:

• Economic institutions that create incentives for economic progress may simultaneously redistribute income and power in such a way that a predatory dictatorship and those that support it may become worse off. Allowing such an economic progress and freedom of institutions that supports it – brings out to the open a conflict between democracy/freedom/equality and dictatorship, which could be instrumental in bringing down the regime of Isaias. For this very reason, the Isaias regime would not allow economic freedom because it threatens its power to the core.
• The nature and characteristics of the dictator at the helm of power in Eritrea is not amenable to reform, let alone to a fundamental change. Thus, in order to bring democracy and all fundamental freedoms in Eritrea, removing the dictatorial regime’s political structure should be the first order of business for the Eritrean people. To that effect, an understanding of the nature and characteristics of the regime and the man at the helm of the power is crucial.

The genesis of the dictatorial regime in Eritrea is closely associated with the nature and characteristics of its architect - Isaias Afeworki. Isaias is a narcissistic and greedy dictator. As a narcissistic leader, Isaias has been and continues to be obsessed with the desire to have an absolute power, as well as a grandiose sense of self-importance or uniqueness of his talent by exaggerating his achievements during the armed struggle and beyond. Not only that but also Isaias is a person who portrays himself as a superhuman who deserves a sense of entitlement in that he wants a special treatment from Eritreans without assuming reciprocal responsibilities – he thinks that he has the right to rule Eritrea without the consent of the Eritrean people as if the country is his own private property. To this end, he established a mythical narrative and fairytale about himself that keeps duping the Eritrean public until now.

Now, majority of Eritreans know that two decades into Isaias’ dictatorship, Eritrean individuals, families, neighborhoods and towns and villages and other traditional institutions (religious groups, educational institutions, hospitals etc) became state-centered; the popular sovereignty of citizens, freedom and liberties, which are the bedrock of democracy are nonexistent. The message here is that Isaias is a prototype of evil dictator that rose to power on the ruins of democracy and freedom, a man who lacks the basic human capability and morality or sympathy to others. And if there is a piece of human trash in our midst, Isaias would be the one. Like many notorious dictators in history, Isaias’ politics of citizenry resides on division, fear, distortion, and demagoguery. And to elaborate some of Isaias’ egocentrism, brutality, disrespect and contempt to the collective wisdom of Eritrean people, here are few examples that the public is familiar with:

1. The extrajudicial killings of his close associates during and after the war of liberation period on the pretext of national security and other lies;
2. The imprisonment and subsequent disappearances of top government officials such as the G-15 on trumped up charges of treason;
3. Condescending comments such as “do the Eritrean people want us to slaughter lambs every Thursday and deliver them to every house” in his scornful reactions to the public complaints about the provision of public service where in reality there was little of it;
4. Condescending comments such as “let’s count the number of pregnancies in Asmara and the number of pregnant girls in the National Service” when the public complained about the nonconsensual sex and pregnancies for which young girls were being forcibly raped and impregnated by his army generals and officers;
5. Characterizing the 2013 Lampedusa tragedy that claimed over 360 Eritrean children, women and young people as “illegal African migrants” by his state media, which shows the depth of lack of empathy and mockery of Isaias; and
6. The utter disregard to the interest of the Eritrean people when Isaias declared in his 2015 New Year interview the 1997 Eritrean constitution as dead before it was even promulgated.

In hindsight, we know Isaias exploited the unique circumstances and the critical juncture that occurred in post independence Eritrea. To put it differently, the fatigue of 30 years of destructive war and the subsequent euphoria of independence let the Eritrean people’s guard down and helped Isaias to lay the foundation of his absolutist and extractive political, economic, and social institutions. Not only that but some also believed that giving the power to Isaias was correct and acceptable as a temporary arrangement. The point is Eritrean people in a deadly historical mistake entrusted Isaias with their public space, their fundamental freedoms, their power of citizenry and sovereignty, and their revolution that they achieved in the decades before independence.

Using such an opportunity - or call it the magnanimity of Eritrean people - Isaias went on consolidating his dictatorial regime by engaging in a scheme of depriving all political rights and atomizing Eritrean society by introducing a series of draconian measures that overtime brought the breakdown of our families and communities, erosion of our cultural values and freedoms, and the destruction of Eritrea’s patriotism, harmony, courage, unity, religious life, and perseverance, which we know such values are the foundation of Eritrean people that helped them withstood all enemies and foreign occupiers, and values that cemented their unity in the last century.

In order to ensure the success and continuity of his dictatorial rule in Eritrea, he pursued a policy of politics of fear and divide-and-rule strategy such as “giving positions as compensations that excluded the civilian workforce from the public life”, “rewarding public positions both civilian and military not on merit, but on the basis of political loyalty; remuneration and entitlements based on cronyism and not on merit, etc. In doing so, the regime accumulated enormous and overarching power through its regime-controlled public space that continues to squeeze and completely suffocate Eritrea’s political and socio-economic space to the extent that the public cannot do anything outside the terms and codes the regime has established. And this has been a major obstacle for any dissent or opposition to organize and flourish inside Eritrea. Under these circumstances, those who can take the risk of acting outside this area are the Diaspora-based individuals and political groups, but they are also weak and divided to the extent that the dictator views them as a nonexistent opposition and if there are, in the eyes of the regime, they are considered as a threat to the country – a claim that the regime is exploiting solely to maintain its political legitimacy in the country.

In sum, we should not underestimate the deceiving power of Isaias. Even now, he can hide his malevolent agenda and deceive well meaning Eritreans. As a malignant narcissist leader, Isaias is adept at charming and manipulating others, camouflaging his malevolent agenda, and even sometimes appearing to be very a normal person. And yet, he is very skilled both at entrancing and putting other’s under his spell. Not only the disdainful interviews that he gives every New Year, but over the past decades, we saw Isaias portraying every trait of a narcissist leader such as lying, creating false propaganda, presenting exaggerated and dubious claims, including using nonexistent foreign threat to the country to instill fear in the minds of his followers/the public as a ‘controlling technique’.

Hence, we should not assume that the people will understand Isaias’ malicious and malevolent behavior and expect them to easily shift loyalty. Chances are that many of his followers may not voice their opposition to his regime and may never exit and shift loyalty to the justice seeking forces (camp). After all, there is the so-called “herding” (just following the flow) that the justice forces need to understand. Thus, as crazy as it is, it is not unnatural for some people to follow the dictator to his grave and perhaps put flowers in his grave, too. Importantly, for many Eritreans the distinction between “a nation, a sate, and a government” is not that clear. For many there is no difference and they consider any “opposition to the government as opposition to or even rejection of the Eritrean Nation and Eritrean State,” which we know this political attitude is to the likening of the dictator. Our role must be to educate the public on the issue of democracy, rule of law, nation, state, and opposition as related to the process of democratization in Eritrea. With this, it is time that we say enough is enough and stop Isaias from destroying and burying the legacy of EPLF and our armed struggle and thedream of our people – a dream of democracy, rule of law, and constitutional governance that is accountable to the people of Eritrea. EPDP says the justice seeking forces need to stop empty boasting and bragging, and should begin “talk the talk and walk the walk” –backing up what we say with concrete action.

By EPDP Information Office

The external affairs committee of the Swiss Social Democratic Party has organized an important meeting in the Swiss capital of Bern on 2 March 2015 at which Eritreans made strong presentations on the political and human rights problems encountering Eritreans at home and in their heartbreaking displacement in diaspora.

Chaired by MP Carlo Sommaruga, who is the president of both his party’s foreign committee as well as being the president of  Swiss National Assembly’s Commission for External Affairs,  the meeting was attended by over 30 senior federal government officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, justice and police, representatives of parties and non-governmental organizations that were interested to question and discuss Switzerland’s policy towards Eritrea on human rights, refugees and related  external policy matters.

MP Carlo Sommaruga           Swiss Federal Palace/Parliament               Amb. Anne Lugon-Moulin

Keynote presentations were made by Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar, foreign relations head of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), followed by Ambassador Anne Lugon-Moulin, director of the Sub-Saharan and Francophone Division in the Swiss Foreign Ministry, and Mr. Daniel Zollinger, senior official at the state secretariat for migration in the Ministry of Justice and Police which is headed by the current Swiss President, Ms Simonneta Sommaruga of the Social Democratic Party. Other speakers who were invited by the chair to give their inputs were Mr. Tesfagaber Ghebre and Mr. Tseghazeab G/Michael who represented at the meeting the newly formed umbrella to  coordinate  various Eritrean refugee and politico-civil society groupings in Switzerland.

The Eritrean speakers regretted that Switzerland, and the Swiss parliament in particular, did not so far strongly formally condemn the human rights abuses in Eritrea, including the use of forced labour, and hoped that such important actions will be taken in the future. They also highlighted the situation of Eritrean refugees in Switzerland and called for attention by federal and cantonal authorities as well as by the fraternal political and civil society organizations in the country. In particular, Mr. Tsegazeab G/Michael, chairman of the umbrella, and Mr. Tesfagaber Ghebre committee member (and also chairman of the Swiss branch of EPFP) emphasized the importance of protecting asylum seekers from agents of the Eritrean regime in Switzerland, like Toni Locher of Zurich, who are creating problems to refugees opposed to the dictatorship in Eritrea. 

Ambassador Lugon-Moulin briefed the meeting on measures taken by the federal foreign office in the Horn of Africa and areas of Swiss support tuned to refugees in the region. Mr. Zollinger of the Ministry of Justice and Police and his two colleagues closely working with Eritrean asylum seekers briefed the meeting on the real hardships Eritrean refugees face in their risky journeys to reach Europe. They said every care is taken to support them adjust to life in this country.

Mr. Carlo Sommaruga, a jurist-trade unionist who built huge renown in his anti-apartheid and related campaigns in the past, thanked all meeting participants and reassured that their inputs will be taken care at many levels of action in Switzerland.

After briefing the meeting on the internal political and human rights situation in Eritrea and the suffering of its refugees, the EPDP head of foreign office made the following summary regarding what Switzerland can do to help avert a much worse situation from occurring in highly militarized Eritrea that can further complicate matters in the region and outside it, as did the state failure and breakdown of society in Somalia.

What Switzerland Can Do to Help Eritrean Refugees in this Country

Most of the recent caseload of over 20,000 Eritrean refugees in Switzerland are young, almost all with poor educational background. They are also extremely traumatized by the difficult situation they experienced in Eritrea and the problems they faced on their hazardous journey to Europe. Therefore, to help them to eventually become useful citizens anywhere, they would primarily need immediate support/assistance like:

• Special attention to their emotional/mental status;
• Basic education, including technical skills; and assist them obtain jobs through a special agency catering this support;
• Periodical seminars/conferences in their language on basics of human rights, anti-militarism/anti-violence etc
• Grant them appropriate legal/political protection with the condition that those who misuse this right by collaborating with the Eritrean Consulate General in Switzerland will be sent back to Eritrea.

Action on the Government in Eritrea

The repressive regime in Asmara has not been receptive to outside pressure in the past. However, continued efforts can yield fruit. For example,

• Strictly implement the targeted UN sanctions, especially regarding the 2% tax and the denial of entry visas to Eritrean government officials;
• Switzerland can work with some known organizations like the ICRC to pressurize the regime to allow at least visitations to known prisoners such as the members of G15 (senior government officials) and journalists imprisoned since 2001;
• Pose to the regime serious questions about the status of the national service and the use of forced labour in Eritrea. In addition, it would be greatly helpful if the Swiss Government (preferably by the Swiss Federal Assembly) could issue a statement condemning (a) Eritrea’s use of forced labour, (b), misuse of national service beyond humanly acceptable limits in the past two decades, and (c) the incarceration without any charge and a day at court of the 11 members of the Eritrean “National Assembly” since 18 September 2001.  

At the Horn of Africa Level

• Put more pressure on both Eritrea and Ethiopia to normalize relations;
• Ethiopia can help by accepting the final and binding arbitration decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission;
• Initiate a solid support for Eritrean refugees in the Horn of Africa region. This will require a special package project for academic and vocational education in East Sudan and North Ethiopia partly using technical development resources that several countries suspended from Eritrea due to the human rights condition there.

Capacity Building for Democracy and Human Rights

• Empowering the mainstream non-state actors (civil society and political movements in diaspora) through capacity building can help in bringing about a positive change in Eritrea (eg. Help radio broadcasts to Eritrea);
• In particular, some Swiss political parties have a stake in working closely with the Eritrean community in this country to influence positive developments in Eritrea today and in constitutional governance in post-dictatorship Eritrea.