http://ascenteq.com/project/epdp

EPDP Editorial 

After 27 years of dictatorship and brutality, the dictator of Burkina Faso, Blaise Campaore who came to power through coup d’état in 1987, fled in disgrace to the neighboring country of Ivory Coast on October 31 following massive protests and unrests that went to the extent of storming and burning his Party’s Headquarters and other government buildings in the capital city of Ouagadougou. The popular uprising was set off by Blaise’s attempt to amend the two term limit provision stipulated in the country’s constitution in order to prolong his reign, which is unconstitutional. But nothing is new here; when things do not go in their favor, it is a common practice for many African authoritarian leaders to repeal term limit, amend it, or come up with a new one in order to stay in power for life.  

Yet, for the people of Burkina Faso, the term limit was only a catalyst in the ouster of president Blaise from power; the protest was against the three decades of absolute rule of president Blaise that brought poverty and inequality, political repression, as well as deprivation of fundamental social and political rights. Again, tens of thousands protesters showed up in the streets of Ouagadougou, and the popular rage instantaneously reached a level of no return and forced Campaore to flee the country. They chanted liberty; they chanted justice; they demanded constitutional democracy; they told their leaders to stop manipulating their country’s constitution.  

Yes, the people of Burkina Faso won; their revolution toppled the one-man dictatorial rule that lasted for 27 years in just few days. Yes, the downfall of president Blaise also brought thrills and new hopes in Burkina Faso. However, despite the excitement and enthusiasm, what we are witnessing in Burkina Faso is not uniquely different from the recent uprisings that brought dictatorships down, and ended up facing power vacuum, political crisis, and instability, especially in African countries - because of the absence of an organized opposition that can pave the way for democratic transition through adopting a constitutional democracy. True, the Burkina Faso’s army, using such a political vacuum and opportunity, and on the pretext of order and stability of the country, it moved in and seized power by dissolving the General Assembly and suspending the constitution. And it declared it formed a transitional government led by one of its own, Lt. Col Isaac Zida, even though the constitution of Burkina Faso states that “the president of the Senate should take over after the national president resigns and an election should take place between 60 and 90 days afterwards.”  

In the midst of all this, the African Union and UN are warning of an imminent sanction against the military - an attempt to force the army to form a civilian transition body until elections are held in the country. But these are all toothless threats. It didn’t work in Egypt and in many other countries that recently toppled dictatorial regimes. The brute fact is majority of African leaders are throwing in such a threat of sanction (a provision adopted by African Union few years ago) not out of commitment to democracy and freedom, but out of fear of similar changes and popular uprising that may happen in their own countries.   

History has repeatedly shown that African opposition forces are either weak, operate along ethnic and tribal fault lines, easily forced into submission by the army, or cooperate with the military for self enriching, a fundamental reason why popular uprising is always at risk of being hijacked in Africa by self-serving groups, mainly the military establishment and extremists. This is an area where African opposition forces in general and Eritrea’s oppositions in particular need to address at the level of building institutions from bottom up, empowering citizens, and creating a cohesive and united leadership.  

Nevertheless, the people of Burkina Faso are holding their ground for now by rejecting the army’s takeover of power. They are aggressively demanding the army to give power and return to its barracks. Time will tell if the opposition forces of Burkina Faso will continue to galvanize the people against the army’s illegal seizure of power by forging unity among various forces under the banner of one message and one cause – an uprising for establishing constitutional democracy. Only then can we dub it an African uprising. 

For Eritreans, the lesson from the uprising of Burkina Faso is this: popular uprisings are unpredictable; they are quick and unstoppable like a powerful tsunami given an opportune circumstance. And they can bring down the most powerful dictator in a matter of days. It is also true that in the wake of popular uprising, chaos, instability, and power vacuum is possible. In our country resistance is simmering against the PFDJ regime. And this resistance will explode in the form of popular uprising; it is a matter of time. The question is where are we? And are we doing enough to prevent power vacuum when the day comes to our country. EPDP knows one thing, and that is disorganized and fragmented popular uprising is more dangerous than anything else for our country.

EPDP Information Office

According to a Swiss daily, centre-right parties in Switzerland are extremely angry with the recent decision of the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) which created the precedent that European countries will no more be allowed to send refugees to country of first entry without making sure that the returned refugee will be treated humanely.

Tribute de Genève of November 4 reported that the European court decided in favour of Afghan family members in Switzerland who were asked to return to Italy where they the first entered and carry finger prints justifying that fact. However, the ECHR said Switzerland cannot send the family back to Italy before Switzerland first asks Italy if it is going to treat the family in good condition because no refugee should be returned to live under “inhumane and degrading” condition. The case of the family was brought to the court by a Swiss NGO.

The decision is a big blow to the Dublin accord which until now allowed European countries to send back refugees to the first point of entry in Europe, which is usually Italy.

The Swiss newspaper reported that Switzerland sent back to Italy last year 2,527 asylum seekers to Italy because they had finger prints. This figure represented 84% of all refugees returned to Italy in 2013. Most affected were Eritreans.

The paper further stated that asylum seekers are not given support in Italy which has place only for 8,000 asylum seekers/migrants. Currently, there are 64,000 asylum seekers/migrants in Italy and most of them are not provided with shelter or other support.

The right-wing parties in Switzerland are now threatening to ignore the ECHR decision.

The ECHR is a supranational or international institution based in Strasbourg, France, and established by the European Convention on Human Rights. It receives applications from individuals or groups of individuals alleging that a contracting state has breached human rights provisions in the European convention.

EPDP Information Office

According to a Swiss daily, centre-right parties in Switzerland are extremely angry with the recent decision of the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) which created the precedent that European countries will no more be allowed to send refugees to country of first entry without making sure that the returned refugee will be treated humanely.

Tribute de Genève of November 4 reported that the European court decided in favour of Afghan family members in Switzerland who were asked to return to Italy where they the first entered and carry finger prints justifying that fact. However, the ECHR said Switzerland cannot send the family back to Italy before Switzerland first asks Italy if it is going to treat the family in good condition because no refugee should be returned to live under “inhumane and degrading” condition. The case of the family was brought to the court by a Swiss NGO.

The decision is a big blow to the Dublin accord which until now allowed European countries to send back refugees to the first point of entry in Europe, which is usually Italy.

The Swiss newspaper reported that Switzerland sent back to Italy last year 2,527 asylum seekers to Italy because they had finger prints. This figure represented 84% of all refugees returned to Italy in 2013. Most affected were Eritreans.

The paper further stated that asylum seekers are not given support in Italy which has place only for 8,000 asylum seekers/migrants. Currently, there are 64,000 asylum seekers/migrants in Italy and most of them are not provided with shelter or other support.

The right-wing parties in Switzerland are now threatening to ignore the ECHR decision.

The ECHR is a supranational or international institution based in Strasbourg, France, and established by the European Convention on Human Rights. It receives applications from individuals or groups of individuals alleging that a contracting state has breached human rights provisions in the European convention.

ብዕለት 31-10-2014 ዞባ ኤውሮጳ ኣብ ሰሰለስተ ወርሒ  ምስ ንኡስ ዞባታትን ጨንፍርን ኤውሮጳ ዘካይዶ ስሩዕ ኣኼባ ኣካይዱ።

መዛረቢ ዛዕባ፡-

1-     ህሉው ኩነታት ህዝብናን ሀገርናን ዓለምን፡

2-   ሃለዋትን ጉዕዞን ደምበ ፍትሕን ዲሞክራስን (ደምበ ተቓውሞ)

3-   ኩነታት ሰልፍናን ተተሓሒዝዎ ዘሎ መደብ ዕዮ ብሓፈሻ ብፍላይ ከኣ ዞባ ኤውሮጳ ምግምጋም።

ነዚ ኣብ ላዕሊ ተጠቒሱ ዘሎ ንምዝታይ ምምሕዳር ዞባ ኤውሮጳ ንኹሎም ኣካየድትን ኣባላትን ዝካፈልዎ ኣኼባ እዚ ንዝተራእየ ጉድለታት እንግምግመሉን ንመጻኢ ንኽንሰርሓሉ እንኽእልል ኣብ ዝብል ሓሳባት ጠርንፍና ነቲ ዝምልከቶ ኣካል እነመሓላልፈሉ ብምባል ዝዓለመ ንኹሉ ኣባላትና ኣብ ውድብ እኹል ኩፉት ብምዃን ዝነቅፍ ውዕውዕ ኣኼባ እዩ ነይሩ። ኣቦ መነበር ዞባ ኣቶ ብርሃነ ገበረክርስቶስ ድሕሪ ሕውነታዊ ሰላምታን ንምንታይ እዚ ዝኣመሰለ ኣኼባ ምጽዋዕ ምግላጹ ኣብ ኣርእስታትት ኣትኵሩ መግለጺ ብተረታ ኣቕሪቡ።

        ሀ) ህልው ከነታት ሃገርናን ዓለምን ዝብል፡

ህዝብና ኣብ ውሽጢ ሃገር ይኹን ኣብ ዲያስፖራ ዘጓንፎ ዘሎ ጸገማት ብሓቂ ወደሲብ ክረኽቦ ዘይግበኦ ጸገምን ግፍዕን ይረክብ ምህላዉ ኩላትና እንርድኦን እንሰምዖን ዘለና እዩ። ንምጥቃስ ዝኣክል ኣብ ውሽጢ ሃገርና ቀረብ መግቢ፡ ማይ፡ ሓይሊ መብራህቲ ።ሕክምና ስእነት ኣፋውስ፡ ትምህርቲ ትሕቲ ምድሪ ዘቢጡ ህዝቢ ዓቕሊ ኣጽቢቡ እምቢታኡ ብምስማዕ፡ ከምዚ ኢልካ ንቕድሚት ክኸየድ ኣይካእልን ምባል ጀሚሩ ኣሎ። ኣብነት ብምጥቃስ ቅድም ብኣቡናት ካቶሊካዊ ቤተ ክርስትያን  ኣበይ ኣሎ ሓውካ ዝብል ጽሑፍ ኣንቢብናን ስሚዕናን፡ ብድሕሪኡ ካብ ሽዱሽተ ደብርታት ኣቡናት ቤተ ክርስትያን ተውህዶ ዝተጻሕፈን ዘስዓቦ ውጽኢትን እውን ናብ ናዕቢ ግጹ ዝጎዓዝ ምዃኑ ብሩህ ኮይኑ ብወገና ትኩር ኣድህቦን ነዚ ምዕቡል መራኸቢ ብዙሃን ብምጥቃም ነዚ ናይ ህዝብና ናዕቢ ምትብባዕን ዝተወደበ ኣሰራርሓ ክካየድ ዘድሊ ሓበረታን ጥርኑፍ ኣገባብ ክነውፊ የማሕጽን። እዚ ኮይኑ ነዚ ምዕባሌ ውሽጣዊ ምንቅስቓስ እንተኾነ ኣቐዲምና ብዝተረፈ ማዕረ ማዕሪኡ እኹል ምቅርራብን ጽኑዕ ምትእስሳር ሰልፍና ምስ ህዝብና ዓቢ ጻዕርን ስራሕን ይጽበየና ከም ዘሎ ምግንዛብ ምውሳእን የድሊ ክብል ኣብሪሁ። ብምቕጻል ኣብ ጎረባብትና ሃገራት ዘሎ ዘይርጉእ ሃለዋት ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ንኹላትና ብሩህ ኮይኑ ገለ ገለ ኢትዮጵያ ምስ ሱዳን ዝግበር ምቅርራብ ንስርዓት ኢሳያስ ዝያዳ የነጽሎ ዘሎ ስለዝኾነ ውልቀ መላኺ ብወገኑ ዘይተኣደነ መናፍሕ ምግባርን ኣብ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ከኣ ንኽፋጠጣ ዝኽእላ ናይ ቦታ ምዕዳልን ዝተጠዋወየ ጽንኩር ፖለቲካ ከካይድ እንስተብህለሉን እንከታትሎን ዘሎና እዩ።  እቲ ኣብ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ብሓፈሻ ብዙሕ ምንቅስቓሳት ይካየድ ኣሎ። ሓደ ካብኡ ምግምጣል መንግስቲ ኣብ ቦርኪና ፋሶ ብህዝባዊ ናዕቢ ዝተላዕለ ኣብ ጀነራላት ወዲቑ ዘለዎ ጉዳይ እዩ። ከምኡ ኣብ ኩሉ ዞባ ኤውሮጳ በብዓይነቱ ምንቅስቓሳት ንርግኣት ኣፍሪቃን ዲሞክራስን ዝነግሰሉ ክፍሊ ሃገር ከይትኸውን ዝዕንቅጽ ዘሎ ጉዳይ ኣትኵርና ክነስተብህለሉ ዝግባእ እዩ።  

ኣብ ሓድ ክፋል ሃገረ ኣፍሪቃ ኤቦላ ዝበሃል ሕማም ተላገብ ንደቂ-ሰባት ዘይምሕር ኣሽሓት ዜጋታት ኣፍሪቃ ዝሃልቁሉ ዘለዉ  ሕማም እዚ ንዓለም ኣስጋኢ ብምዃን ዓለምና ብምሉእ ኣትኩሮ ዝርእዮን ዝዛተየሉን ፍታሕ ንምርካብ ሃሰውሰው ዝብለሉ እዋን ምዃኑ እውን ኩልና ብማዕከናት ዜና እንሰምዖ እዩ። እንተ ናይ ውግእ ወረ ውግእ ግን ኣብ ኤውሮጳ ዩክረን ኣብ ማእከላይ ምብራቕ ዒራቕ፣ ሶርያ፣ ሊብያ፣ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ውዑይ ውግኣት  ህንጸት ህዝብታት እንታይ ንመሃር እውን ኣገዳሲ ኣርእስቲ ስለዝኾነ ናይ ህዝባዊ ናዕቢ ብኸመይ ክተመሓድሮ ዝብል ብተደጋጋሚ ክንመሃረሉ ዝግበኣና ኣርእስቲ ስለዝኾነ ብዝለዓለ ኣካል ዝሳተፍዎ ሰፊሕ ትምህርትን ምሉእ ምይይጥ ክግበር ክንዕድም ኢና ክብል እውን ኣብሪሁ።

        ለ) ሃለዋት ጉዕዞ ደንበ ፍትሕን ዲሞክራስን (ደምበ ተቓውሞ)

ደምበ ፍትሕን ዲሞክራስን ከም ትዕዝብትና ሓዲሽ ኣገባብ ኣዋዲዱ ንኹላትና ዘጽልል ጽላል ንኽህሉ ዝብል እቲ ዝለዓለ ክግበር ዘለዎ ስራሕ ምዃኑ እኳ ተረዲኡ ናብዚ ንምብጻሕ ህርድግ ይብል ከምዘሎ ንዕዘብ። እቲ ብወገን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ናብዚ ንምብጻሕ ዝተፈላለዩ ጻዕርታት የካይድ ምዃኑ ኩላትና ዘይንስሕቶ እኳ እንተኾነ እዚ እቲ ቀንዲ ጻዕርታቱ ነቲ ብፍላጥ ይኹን ብዘይ ፍላጥ ኣብ ሃገራውን ዲሞክራሲያውን ቃልሲ ዝምስረት ኣዋዳድባ ምዃኑ ክንሱ፡ ህዝብና ግና ጌና ዘይተገንዘቦ ወይ ተገንዚብዎ ንምእራሙ ቅሩብ ዘይምዃኑ የርእየካ። ይኹን እምበር ሰልፍና ብዘይሕለል ሓድነት ህዝብን ልኡላውነት ሃገርን ግዝኣተ ሕግን ፍትሕን መሰል ዜጋታት እተኽብር ሃገር ንምምጻእ ኩሉ ደላይ ፍትሒ ኣብ ሓደ ጽላል ንምብጻሕ እተን በረኣእያአን ሓደ ዝኾና ኣብ ሓደ ክጥርነፋን ምስተን ብኣረኣእያ ዝፈላለየና ድማ ሓቢርካ ብምስራሕ ነቲ ንኹላና ዘጽልል ዲያስፖራዊ ጽላል ጽኑዕ ምትእስሳር ምስ ኣብ ውሽጢ ሃገር ዝካየድ ምንቅስቓሳት ንምብጻሕ ጻዕሩ ብተደራረቢ ይካየድ ምህላ ከም ዝቕጽሎ እውን ኣብሪሁ። ከም እንርእዮ ዘሎና ናብዚ ንምብጻሕ ዝተፈላለየ ኮንፈረንስን ሰሚናራትን ተግይሩን ይግበር ከምዘሎን ንምሕባር ኣብ ደቡባፍሪቃ ዝተኻየደ ኣኼባ፣ ብድሕሪኡ እውን ኣብ ፈስቲቫል ፍራንክፈርት ንብዙሓት ተቃውሞ ዘሳተፍ ሓባራዊ ሰሚናር፡ ከምኡ እውን ቦሎኛ ፎርም ኣብዚ መጠረስታ ከኣ ኣብ ኣመሪካ ዋሽንግቶን ዲሲ ዝተኻየደ ብዕድመ ናይ ምሁራት ኣካላት ኤርትራዊ ንምጥጣዕ ዘተ ዝብል ኮነፈረንስ ብዝለዓለ ኣካል ሰልፍና ተኻፊልዎን እቲ ብወገን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ይጠቅምን ኣድላይን ዝበሎ ፍታሕ ኣቕሪቡን ንብድሕሪ ሕጂ እውን ድሕር ከምዘይብል ርጉጽ እዩ ክብል ሰፊሒ መብርሂ ሂቡ።

        ሐ) ኩነታት ሰልፍናን ተተሓሒዝዎ ዘሎ መደብን፡-

ብወገን ዞባ ኤውሮጳ በጺሕናዮ ዘለና ፍጻሜ መደብ ዕዮ ንምግምጋምን እንእምቶ ስራሕን ከመይ ይመስል ዝብል ነዊሕ ዘካተዐን ኣገድሰቲ ኣርእስትን ንጉድለታትና ዝእርሙ ሓሳባትን ጠሊቑ ተዛትዩ። እቲ ዘሕጉስ ድማ ኩሉ ኣባል ሰልፊ ካብ ሓለፍቲ ንኡስ ዞባን ጨናፍርን ውልቀ ኣባላትን በቲ ዝተሰርሐ እኳ እንተተናእደ ጌና ከምቲ ኣባላትናን ብማዕዶ ዝርእዩና ዘሎው ዜጋታትና: (እቶም ብዓይኒ ጽልኢ ዝርእዩናን ባእታታት ገዲፍካ) ዕጉባት ኣይኮናን ዝያዳ ክንሰርሕን ምምሕዳራዊ፣ንምዕቡል ምንቅስቓሳትን ሓሳባትን ምስ ብመትከል ካባና ዘይፍለዩ ሓቢርካ ምስራሕ ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ነቲ መንደቕ ምፍልላይ ስዒርና እንሕይለሉ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ቃልሲ ዝድንፍዓሉ ክነማልእ ይግባእ ብምባል ምሕጽንታቶምን ድሌት ቃልሱ ብምግላጽ፡  ርሱንን ምክብባርን ዝመልኦ  እወንታዊ ዘተ ተኻይዱ።

ብሓላፊ ዜናን ባህልን ዞባ ኤውሮጳ

ፍትዊ ክፍለ