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መርበብ ኤርትራውያን ሲቪካዊያን ማሕበራት አብ ኤውሮጳ፡ መበል ዓሰርተው-ሓደ ስሩዕ ጉባኤኡ፡ ካብ 12-14 መስከረም 2014፡ ኣብ ከተማ  ፍራንክፈርት ሃገረ ጀርመን፡ ኣቓኒዑ። ኣብዚ እዋንእዚ፡  ጽላል ሾሞንተ በርጌሳዊ ማሕበራት ዝኾነ፡

The objectives of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea and ways of making its work a success were the main issues discussed at a public meeting in Geneva on Sunday, 21 September, organized by Swiss-Eritrean Youth for Progress and Solidarity (SEYPS) and endorsed by members of  Eritrean civic associations and political organizations in Switzerland.

The speakers were Ms Elsa Chyrum, director of the Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRC-E) and Ms Veronica Almedom, coordinator of activities of the newly formed SEYPS.

Ms Elsa Chyrum and youthful Veronica Almedom explained that the Inquiry Commission on Eritrea, which was established by the decision of the UN Human Rights Council, last June, aims to investigate and officially document the alleged human rights abuses of the Eritrean regime since its formation 23 years ago.

In her detailed clarifications, Ms Elsa Chyrum listed the abuses that have to be reported by all victims of the regime and their relatives and friends. She urged all sister organizations in the opposition camp to play effective roles in promoting the objectives of the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea which is designed to report its findings within one year. “This is a rare chance for Eritreans to give a clear picture of their sad situation to the UN and the world at large”, she said invited all concerned to send their stories to the UN Commission of Inquiry or to the newly started HRC-E website on this important subject (WWW.coi-eritrea.orga) . Full text of the presentation made by Ms Elsa Chyrum will be posted in www.harnnet.org as it is obtained.

Ms Veronica Almedom, raised and educated in Switzerland like many in the SEYPS, also made a lively presentation supported by power-point notes identifying the potential targets for Eritreans in Switzerland in their efforts to promote the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea. She stated that 4,823 Eritrean refugees asked asylum in Switzerland between January and August 2014 alone, thus raising the total of recent time Eritrean refugees in Switzerland to 22,674.

 The public awareness meeting in Geneva was attended by young refugees and members of civic associations and political organizations, among them EPDP members like the head of the party’s foreign office, Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar, and human rights activists like Dr. Daniel Rezene.

 Printed below is a background information from the new HRC-Eritrea website: (WWW.coi-eritrea.org

  On the 27th of June, 2014, the UN Human Rights Council established a Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Eritrea to investigate and officially document the systematic violations of human rights in Eritrea.

Background:

Together with other global human rights organizations, Human Rights Concern-Eritrea presented the request to the Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea.

Eritrea: HRC Must Establish a Commission of Inquiry

25 June 2014

We the undersigned are writing to call on the UN’s Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Eritrea given the ongoing gross and systematic human rights violations being committed by the government of Eritrea against its own people with total impunity, and its continuing policy of non-cooperation with the UN’s human rights mechanisms, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea.

We believe that the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry is imperative given the human rights violations recorded by the UN Special Rapporteur, as well as those attested to during each of Eritrea’s Universal Periodic Reviews, and in the extensive documentation compiled by NGOs and civil society groups over many years.

A Commission of Inquiry would significantly increase the international exposure and understanding of the situation in Eritrea, giving a voice to the vast numbers of suffering Eritreans, and ensuring that those complicit in these terrible yet hidden crimes are exposed and called to account.

In Eritrea:

·         There is no independent judicial process, unions cannot be formed, and political parties cannot be created.

·         There is no press freedom and all independent media organisations were closed in 2001 and journalists imprisoned.

·         Thousands of Eritreans are detained arbitrarily in inhumane conditions and on the flimsiest of pretexts, suffering routine deprivation, torture and extrajudicial execution.

·         There are no universities and young people face compulsory conscription into the military.

·         Army conscripts, including the under-aged, endure indefinite terms of service and suffer forced labour in development projects, farms, or the mining sector while receiving a negligible wage.

·         Female conscripts endure sexual abuse and harassment from senior army officers, and family members of national service absconders are targeted, extorted or imprisoned.

·         There is no religious freedom.

·         There are an estimated two to three thousand Christians detained indefinitely in Eritrea without charge or trial, and all are held pending a denial of faith.

·         In addition, Eritreans living abroad are obliged to pay 2% tax on all earnings to the authorities.

Eritrea’s continuing refusal to cooperate with the mandate is deeply unfortunate as doing so would indicate a genuine commitment towards improving its human rights record. Instead Eritrea indefinitely delays the implementation of UPR recommendations and persists in excusing its lack of progress by referencing the “no war, no peace” border situation. However, as stated in the recent Pastoral Letter issued by four of Eritrea’s courageous Catholic Bishops, “The true enemy of peace is injustice. Respect for persons, for their dignity and their rights is the corner-stone of peace.”

Thousands of Eritreans continue to flee the country each month, with unknown numbers falling victim to traffickers or suffering privations in detention centers in the Middle East and North Africa. Hundreds more continue to risk their lives crossing deserts and seas in pursuit of sanctuary from an all-encompassing repression.

In light of this situation, we strongly urge the Human Rights Council to adopt by consensus its draft resolution, including the provision for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry and the renewal of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate.

Action de Development Suiss-Afrique
Action International for Peace and Development
Article 19
Associazione per la Tutela dei Diritti Umani del Popolo Eritreo
Burmese Rohingya Organisation U.K.
Citizens for Democratic Rights in Eritrea
CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Conectas Direitos Humanos
CSW Nigeria
East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
Eritrean for Human and Democratic Rights in U.K.
Eritrean Global Solidarity
Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights
Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change
Espace Afrique International
Guardavanti: per il futuro dei bambini ONLUS
Habeshia Agency Cooperation for Development
Human Rights Concern – Eritrea
Human Rights House Foundation
Human Rights Without Frontier
Insieme per l’Africa ONLUS
International Committee for the Respect & Application of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights
International Fellowship of Reconciliation
International Humanist and Ethical Union
Jubilee Campaign USA
Liberi di Credere
OCAPROCE International
Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network
Release Eritrea
Réseau des Défenseur des Droits Humains en Afrique Centrale
Stop National Service Slavery Campaign
UN Watch

ንዕላማታት መርማሪት ኮሚሽን ንምግላጽን ንመደባታ ንምዕዋት እንታይ ክግበር ከም ዘለዎ ንምብራህን፡ ብዕለት 21 መስከረም 2014:ኣብ ከተማ ጅኔቭ ብዙሓት ካብ ግዳያት ህግደፍ እተረኽቡዎ ኣገሳሲ ኣኼባ ተካይዱ። ናይ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ተጣበቕቲ ዝኾና ኣሓት ኤልሳ ጭሩምን: ኣብ ወጻኢ ሃገር ዝዓበየት መንእሰይ ቨሮኒካ ኣልመዶምን ነቲ ቀንዲ ኣጀንዳ ኣኼባ ንምብራህ ሰፊሕን ኣገድሳስን መግለጽታት ብትግርኛን ብእንግሊዝን ኣቕሪበን።

እዚ ብመንእሰይ ስዊስ-ኤርትራ ንምዕባለን ሓድነትን (Swiss-Eritrean Youth for Progress and Solidarity - SEYPS) እተጸውዐ ኣኼባ: ብጨንፈር ስዊስ ናይ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራን ካልኦት ውድባትን በርጌሳዊ ማሕበራትን እተደገፈ ነይሩ።

ኣቕረብቲ መደረ: እቲ ብናይ 27 ሰነ 2014 ኣኼባ ኮሚሽን ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ሕቡራት መንግስታት ዓለም ዝቖመ መርማሪ ኮሚሽን ኤርትራ: ነቲ ኣብ ውሽጢ ዝሓለፈ 23 ዓመታት ብስርዓት ህግደፍ ተፈጺሙ ንዝብሃል ገበናትን ግህሰታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን ብምሉኡ ንምምርማርን ንምምዝጋብን ከም ዝኾነ ሓቢረን።

እቲ ንህግደፍ ዝምርምር ኮሚሽን ዕድሚኡ ሓደ ዓመት ጥራይ ከምዝኾነን: ነዚ ዕድል እዚ ተጠቒምና ነቲ ተገይሩ ዝብሃል ፓለቲካውን ሰብኣውን ግህሰታት ስርዓት ኤርትራ ንዓለም ከነብርህ ኣበርቲዕና ክንሰርሕ ይግባእ ክብላ ኣሓት ኤልሳን ቨሮኒካን ናብ ኩሉ ተቓላሳይ ፍትሒ ተሪር ጻውዒት ኣቕሪበን።

ግዱሳት ደቂ ሃገር ዘለዎም ሓበረታ ናብ ዝምልከቶም ኣካላት ሕቡራት መንግስታት ይኹን ናብቲ ብሓፍቲ ኤልሳ እትመርሖ ተጣባቒ ማሕበር መሰላት ደቂ ሰብ እተዳለወ ሓዲሽ መርበብ (WWW.coi-eritrea.org) ከመሓላልፉ ከም ዝኽእሉ ተገሊጹ።

መንእሰይ ቨሮኒካ ኣልመዶም ከም ዝሓበረቶ: ኣብ ዝሓለፈ 9 ኣዋርሕ ጥራይ 4,823 ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ሃገረ ስዊስ ኣትዮም፣ ኣብ ቀረባ ዓመታት ኣብ ስዊስ ዕቝባ ናይ ዝሓተቱ ቊጽሪ ኤርትራውያን ድማ 22,674 በጺሑ ኣሎ። ካብዞም ኣብ ሃገረ ስዊስ ዝርከቡ ስደተኛታት ኣገዳሲ ሓበረታታት ክርከብ ትጽቢት ኣሎ።  

ኣብ ህዝባዊ ኣኼባ ጅኔቭ ሓደስትን ናይ ቀደምን ስደተኛታት፣ ኣብ ወጻኢ እተወልዱ መንእሰይን ኣባላት ውድባትን በርጌሳዊ ማሕበራትን ተረኺቦም ነይሮም። ካብ ተሳተፍቲ ኣኼባ ናይ ሰዲህኤ ናይ ወጻኢ ጒዳያት ሓላፊ ዝኾነ ኣቶ ወልደሱስ ዓማርን፣ ናይ ሰብኣውን ዲሞክራሲያውን መሰላት ተንቀሳቓሲ ዶክቶር ዳኒኤል ረዘነን እውን ይርከብዎም ነይሮም።

EPDP Editorial

The Context

From the get go, in an effort to consolidate his dictatorial regime, Issaias engaged  in a scheme of depriving political rights and atomizing the Eritrean society by introducing a series of draconian measures that overtime brought the breakdown of our families and communities, erosion of our values and freedoms, and depletion of our cultural strength and perseverance.

Moreover, in order to ensure the success and continuity of his dictatorial rule in Eritrea, he pursued a divide-and-rule strategy, and consequently over the last two decades steady changes have taken place in our country that gravitated towards separating and creating conflict between the older and younger generation. We know this has benefited nobody, but the regime of Issaias whose survival depends on pushing societal conflicts and divisions to the edge, be it among Eritrean social groups or among Eritrean youth.

In the same vein, the disunity and fracture we witnessed over the last two decades between the different actors in the Eritrean opposition political space has resulted in the loss of trust and confidence in their ability to deliver results, which further contributed to the atomization of the Eritrean society as well as a sense of defeatism and loss of hope in the psyche of Eritrean society. The fact is though these different and seemingly competing actors are in reality interdependent, in that they can neither do without one another nor unilaterally impose their respective preferred solution on others if they are to achieve their respective preferred objectives. It is with this understanding that EPDP has been calling upon the sprouting grass-root movements, Eritrean intellectuals and artists, human rights organizations, religious groups and institutions, and above all the Eritrean youth to extend guarantees not to undermine one another’s vital interest, but to cooperate and support one another’s efforts and coalesce into a “united front” against the dictatorial regime.

Against this backdrop, the Bologna festival 2014 is right on the currency and should be commended for its timely courageous stance. More than anything else, it has attempted to reverse the tide of generational and political differences, which is a positive headway in changing whatever negative perceptions had existed before between the two generations, and/or among the various forces who are engaged in the great battle to uproot the system of tyranny in our country.

Spearheaded and organized by various Eritrean youth groups and joined by a number of political organizations, civil society groups, and individual Eritreans, the Bologna festival of 2014 was a success in that it brought the older and the younger generation together for the first time, it brought new forces, and transcended the division that had seemingly existed between the liberation era generation and the present generation. The festival was also a loud voice and a strong reminder that our country and our people cannot be set free by a single group alone, but by a combined strength and concerted effort of everyone. In essence, the message of the festival was that we must all be (those who advocate for freedom and democracy) the owners of our democratic struggle by rejecting the virtue of uniqueness of one group over another or the act of praising of one generation over another; we must work together and inspire democracy, and ensure the continuity of our country that we love and paid very dearly for it. 

The Bologna festival was an eye opener on a number of national issues:

The Shift

By all reasonable measures, the Bologna festival 2014 has registered a shift in attitude, meaning the way we should understand one another; a shift in emphasis, meaning examining the approaches and views we have on the struggle. A shift in our politics, meaning understanding and learning the challenges and complexities of the Eritrean political map and how we address ourselves to the big task in front of us; a shift in the inter-generational communication/relationship, meaning sharing experiences and gaining a spur of positive changes and preparing our present generation to play its role in the establishment and defense of democracy, and continuity of our country, and above all a shift in the trajectory of our current struggle, meaning how we collectively should work towards formulating a comprehensive strategy to defeat the PFDJ dictatorship. 

The New Reality

The Eritrean younger generation, without exaggeration, is more sophisticated than many of us think. This generation: values the uniqueness and culture of its older generation, understands building intergenerational bridge that ensures the continuity of the country and its people’s unity for generations to come. This generation, like its predecessors, finally stepped in and began to take ownership of its future not by rejecting its older generation, but by forging ties and sharing experiences, which will greatly benefit our people as well as inspire the struggle for democracy and freedom in our country that would serve our future generations.    

Eritrean Women in the Festival

Unlike in the era of liberation for independence, in post independence of our country, Eritrean women’s participation and their role in the country has rapidly diminished under the regime of Issaias. What they achieved and died for during the liberation has been reversed and taken away. On the opposition side, the room for expanding the participation and representation of Eritrean women in the struggle has not been successful; in fact, there has been little effort and focus to date by the majority of Eritrean opposition forces to bring Eritrean women to the fore and make them part of the decision-making in the struggle against the PFDJ regime. The Bologna festival of 2014 has changed that and accommodated a large number of Eritrean women. This is a significant shift on the part of the opposition that amplifies the fundamental role of Eritrean women, as well as a long due recognition that Eritrean women represent half of Eritrea’s population, and that they must be visible in the fight against the evil regime in our country. The youth in particular and the opposition in general must continue to open the field for Eritrean women in a manner that the Eritrean women can assert their role for their political rights and civil rights, women’s rights, and equality in post PFDJ Eritrea.

The Declaration of the Festival

The Bologna festival has presented a wide range of central issues, covering the opposition strategies, the basis for forging unity among the Eritrean opposition forces/groups, the role of Eritrean women, and the unanimous endorsement of the May 2014 ‘Pretoria declaration and Bologna 2013”, and others. All the projects, the wealth of presentations/coverage of the state of affairs of our country that we have witnessed in the festival, as well as the incisive analysis and researches that resulted in a road map formulation are a groundbreaking shift in our struggle. In addition, the adoption of policies on how to follow up and implement the road map is another positive that indicates that this time we mean business. EPDP believes, now more than ever, the drive for change among Eritrean people is high. Hence, what we do next is very critical in that it could either further strengthen our struggle for democracy or not. Our option is to aim higher because as a country we are in much deeper crisis than most us recognize. 

Conclusion

It is important to remember that no single gathering will change the suffering of our people, though gathering is crucial and a starting point. In addition, EPDP understands from 20 years of experience that resolutions/declarations hardly prevail by themselves. But we have begun somewhere. The Bologna festival has articulated ideas, strategies, and visions that we think will accomplish the job - to get rid of the brutality and repression in our country. The big question is, unlike in the past two decades, are we ready this time to follow suit and translate our visions and ideas into concrete actions. EPDP believes that we cannot afford to pay witness to our repeated losing any longer; it is of no use articulating the evils of the PFDJ, and losing the battle all together. Bologna gathering must address such a fundamental recurring failings by wielding the will, determination, and commitment to achieving what was agreed in the festival, the road map. EPDP is determined to play its part.