August 2, 2019 Martin Plaut News

by Bryan Bowman

August 2, 2019

in Featured, Interviews, World

Source: The Globe Post

Eritrea has faced increasing international criticism after last year’s release of a UN report accusing the government of President Isaias Afwerki of crimes against humanity. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

With more than 25 million people forcibly displaced from their countries by the end of 2018, the world currently faces an unprecedented refugee crisis. Among the countries with the highest rates of displacement are Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Afghanistan – all of which are riven by war and instability.

Also on this list, however, is Eritrea. In contrast, the small East African nation has been mostly at peace since it won its independence struggle against neighboring Ethiopia in the early 1990s.

To Martin Plaut, a senior researcher at London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies, these figures are illustrative of the despair and hopelessness faced by those who live under what he calls the “most secretive, repressive state in Africa.”

Unlike other, more famous authoritarian and totalitarian states around the world, Plaut notes that the Eritrean regime makes no pretense of even having a constitution, a representative legislature, elections, or a semblance of a free press.

The fate of its citizens are dictated by the whims of the regime – headed by independence leader turned dictator Isais Afwerki. All Eritreans are subject to conscription into the military and can be compelled into forced labor that the U.N. says “effectively abuses, exploits and enslaves them for years.”

Those who step out of line can be detained indefinitely under shocking conditions. Others are killed. There are no courts to hear their appeals.

Plaut, the former Africa Editor of the BBC’s World Service, set out to tell the “untold story of how this tiny nation became a world pariah,” publishing “Understanding Eritrea: Inside Africa’s Most Repressive State,” in 2016. With the release of an updated version of the book this year, The Globe Post spoke to Plaut to shed light on the widespread abuses in Eritrea that have gone largely unnoticed by the outside world.

---

The Globe Post: After a thirty-year struggle, Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. If you can take us back, what went wrong in the immediate wake of independence and how did the government that’s ruled since come to power? 

Plaut: Actually, in effect, it started before that in 1991 when they actually took the capital. What they rightly did was to say, “we won’t formally declare independence until there’s been a U.N. supervised referendum.” And the reason for that was that nobody would ever be able to turn round and say, well, “you just took it by force. It can be taken back by force. The people never really supported you.” So, although they actually declared it formally in ‘93, they really held it from ‘91.

In the beginning, things were fine. But gradually it became clear to President Isaias [Afwerki], who led the independence struggle for 30 years, that things were not going the way he expected them to. A lot of the troops that he had under his command, all of whom were volunteers, all of whom were guerrilla fighters, had been fighting, some of them, for 10, 15 years without pay.

They were only used to getting effectively pocket money and food. lodging and, of course, ammunition and weapons. And they began to turn round and say, “well, hang on, we now have to look after our families. They’re in deep need. We need a bit of money.” There were also concerns about the way the veterans who had been injured – some of whom had lost legs, arms, some of them very badly crippled – how they were being treated.

Eritrean President Isais Isais Afwerki. Photo: AFP

Both these groups began to express concerns, and Isaias was just outraged that anybody would turn around and question his authority. He had ruled for 30 years with an absolute iron rod. And it was needed because they were up against an enemy that was 10 times its size in terms of population.

Ethiopia was also receiving arms – first from the United States and then from the Soviet Union – in vast quantities. So in order to win against them, you had to be completely and utterly ruthlessly disciplined. Some things happened during the liberation struggle that were pretty, shall we say, unattractive, even against their own people. Some people were shot for indiscipline, that kind of thing, and for questioning his authority.

But when he discovers that his authority is being questioned after independence, he begins reacting in the same way. There was a famous incident where some of the disabled tried to walk into town to complain to him, and they were met by the police and the army who opened fire on them. To open fire on your own disabled is pretty appalling.

TGP: You say that Eritrea is the “The most secretive, repressive state in Africa.” What sets the Eritrean government apart in your mind from other repressive, authoritarian ones on the continent and what are some specific practices or policies that you find to be particularly egregious?  

Plaut: Most other governments at least make a pretense of having a constitution and having a parliament, even if it’s manipulated, and allowing a semblance of a free press. You take a pretty authoritarian regime which doesn’t hesitate to repress and kill its opponents and its journalists, like Rwanda. But they do have a constitution. They have a parliament which meets and the parties function. They might be all be controlled by [President Paul] Kagame, but there is a semblance of some political space.

None of these apply in somewhere like Eritrea. There is no constitution that’s been ratified. The parliament has been prorogued. It hasn’t met for years now. Even the ruling party hasn’t had a Congress for many, many years. There are no other parties that are allowed to operate in Eritrea. There is no independent media. Even organizations like Al Jazeera, BBC, Reuters are not allowed to have journalists permanently stationed there.

So, that’s really what singles it out from other repressive regimes in Africa, some of which are extremely bad and very repressive. But they do have some semblance of legitimacy and that is something President Isias has no time for.

TGP: The 2018 UN refugee assessment report notes that Eritrea is among several countries with the highest rate of displacement in the world. Others mentioned in the same category include Syria and the DRC, both of which are the sites of wars and major instability. What does it say about Eritrea that so many people are fleeing the country despite the fact that there is no conflict there? 

Plaut: I think you’re absolutely right to single that out as a clear indication of what is wrong and why it is so peculiar. The reason is simple. The system of compulsory conscription, which effectively operated during the war of liberation, was extended after under the guise of a national service and today is indefinite. Some people have been in national conscription for over 20 years. They’re hardly paid at all. They can be deployed to the most remote corners of the country and they have no ability to lead an independent life and live under military discipline.

Some of them think, “well, this is it. My whole life could be spent, stuck in a trench in the most remote corner of the country,” supposedly guarding it against the Ethiopians who might or might not attack or against Djibouti, with whom they also have a quarrel. This just fills people with such dread and despair that although there’s an extremely high penalty for desertion, you will be shot, they decide to cross. When the border was opened briefly with Ethiopia after the peace agreement last year, up to 500 people were leaving each day. And this is a small population. There are various estimates, but the government figure is 3.6 million people. To have 500 leaving a day, you’re in a shrinking situation.

TGP: I wanted to ask you a bit more about the practice of conscription into permanent military service. As the United Nations reported: “Thousands of conscripts are subjected to forced labor that effectively abuses, exploits and enslaves them for years.” Just how widespread is the practice and what kinds of specific labor are people forced into? 

Plaut: Well, you have to spend your last year of schooling at the military academy at Sawa, which is in the west of Eritrea and a pretty remote area. If you’re lucky and have the right connections, after your basic training of about 18 months, you might then get a job perhaps in the civil service or be sent to work for a general.

But you are entirely at the whim of your senior commander. Women complain of being abused sexually, of being forced to perform domestic chores for officers. Men are sometimes being sent to the mines in some of the toughest conditions you can possibly imagine. The Eritrean coast gets up to 50 degrees centigrade (122 degrees Fahrenheit), some of the hottest conditions in the world. To be mining or building roads under those conditions is extraordinarily tough.

You are at the whim of the regime who, if you step out of line, can lock you up indefinitely. There are no courts to whom you can appeal. Somebody was released recently who had been kept for five years in a shipping container and let out about once every week or two weeks. They were almost blind. There was no light. Those are the kinds of circumstances in which people can be detained. People are just in despair.

TGP: Interestingly, you note that the government has played a role in supporting the Saudi-coalition waging a brutal war against the Houthis in Yemen. Why has Eritrea become involved in that war and how can we understand the regime’s foreign policy towards the region more broadly? 

Plaut: Some years ago, the government was in alliance Iran, which of course is on the other side of the war in Yemen. But quite frankly, I think they were wooed by the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, who, as you say, are fighting Houthis and fighting the Iranians. Frankly, I think it was a question of money. They were given really substantial sums of money. None of this is ever revealed. No budget is ever published in Eritrea. So there’s no way of knowing. But that is the most likely explanation.

They simply swapped sides as a result. The Saudis and the UAE can use Eritrea’s ports and airfields and they use them to attack the Houthis. There are also reports of some Eritrean troops manning some of the islands between Yemen and Eritrea in the Red Sea. And they are also part of that defense operations to prevent the Iranians from bringing assistance to the Houthis. This has all been shown by satellite imagery and there’s no doubt about this.

Eritreans migrants walk through a road on the Ethiopian side of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border. Photo: AFP

More broadly, the Eritreans have managed to fall out and then mend fences with every single one of their neighbors at various times. They’ve had a border war with Ethiopia. They’ve had a clash along the border with Djibouti. The border with Sudan was closed until earlier this year because relations were so bad.

They’ve literally fallen out with almost everybody because everything is run at the whim of President Isais. And he actually thrives on stirring up trouble and difficulties for his neighbors. He’s a past master at mobilizing and manipulating events in neighboring countries. And that’s the way that he operates.

TGP: The human rights abuses and repressive policies of governments like those in Saudi Arabia, for example, or North Korea are quite infamous and well known to Western audiences. But it seems to me that many in the West have probably never even hear of Eritrea. Why do you think that is? 

Plaut: Well, you mustn’t forget that it doesn’t have any strategic reserves of oil or another mineral that is absolutely vital. They are on an important sea route on the Red Sea, but that’s about their only claim to fame. They’re quite a large country, I suppose, in European terms. But they’re not a large country in terms of Africa. And they, therefore, haven’t really caught the attention of the world.

Anything that has increased their importance, certainly in the American sense, is that there have been suggestions that the Russians might get a naval base in Eritrea, but those have not been confirmed. There is something of a sort of naval arms race in the Red Sea because you have both the United States and the Chinese operating out of Djibouti. And they sort of have an uneasy relationship with each other because of the close proximity of their bases.

So it is possible that there might be more strategic interest in Eritrea because of this and because of their involvement in the war in Yemen. Apart from that, they have one other mineral which has been recently discovered, a vast potash deposit, which straddles the border with Ethiopia. That is one mineral that really does look interesting to the outside world. It is an extraordinarily rich deposit. But apart from that, there’s no particular reason for anybody to have taken notice of the country.

Source=https://eritreahub.org/the-most-repressive-state-you-may-have-never-heard-of

ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

ሳዋ ካብተን ክልተ ግዜ ዝተራእያ ከባብታት ሃገርና ሓንቲ እያ። ኣብ ግዜ ብረታዊ ቃልሲ ምእንቲ ናጽነት ከም መደበር ርብዳን ካለኦት መሓዙታን፡ ብዙሓት ሓርበኛታት ወተሃደራውን ፖለቲካውን ስንቂ  ኣስኒቓን ኣዕጢቓን ዘሰለፈት ታሪኻዊት ቦታ ነይራ።  ድርሕሪ ናጽነት ግና፡ ስሙን ግብሩን ዘይሰማማዕ ሓላፍነት ተዋሂብዋ መሰረታዊ መሰላት ኤርትራውያን ዝገሃሰላን ናብ ባርነት ዝገማገም ምዝመዛ ዝካየደላን ብሕማቕ እትለዓል ቦታ ኮይና ኣላ።

ህልዊ መደብ ሳዋ ብ1994 ክጅመር እንከሎ፡ ሕገመንግስቲ ዝመሰረቱ ትካላዊ መሰረት ኣይነበሮን። ብዙሓት ወገናት ካብ ሽዑ ጀሚሮም፡ መቆጻጻሪ ንጹር ፖሊስን ግሉጽነትን ብዘይብሉ ኣገባብ ውልቀ-መላኺ ብዘንቀዶ ስለ ዝነቐለ፡ ናብዚ ደሓር ዝኾኖ ከም ዝምዕብ ስግኣት ነይርዎም እዩ። ከም ዝኽበር’ኳ ርግጸኛታት እንተዘይነበሩ ኣብቲ፡ “6 ኣዋርሕ መሰልጠኒ፡ 12 ኣዋርሕ ድማ ናይ ኣገልግሎት መውሃቢ ብድምር ናይ 18 ኣዋርሕ ዕድመ ክህልዎ እዩ” ዝብል ናይ ሓሶት ቃል ተስፋ ዘንበርሉን ብሓጐስ ዝተቀበልዎን እውን ነይሮም እዮም። ደሓር ግና ዝተፈላለዩ ምስምሳት እንዳተፈጥረ፡ ኩሉቲ ዝተባህለ ተጣሒሱ ናብ “ደረት ዘየብሉ ግዱድ ኣገልግሎት” ማዕቢሉ። በዚ ከኣ ኣብ ርእስቲ ኩሉ ዘይቅርዑይ ኣካይዳ ህግዲፍ፡ መድብ ሳዋ ኣብ ቅድሚ ኤርትራውያን ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም መርኣያ ሕማቕ ምስሊ ጉጅለ ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ ኮይኑ ቀሪቡ።

መደባት ሳዋ፡ ጉልበት፡ ግዜን ዕድመን መንእሰያት ዘባኽን ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ብመሰረቱ እውን መጻኢ ዕድል መንእሰይ ኤርትራ ዘጸልመተን ኣብ ሓደጋ ዘውደቐን፡ ኮነ ኢልካ ኤርትራን ኤርትራውነትን ከዳኽም ዝተማህዘ ተንኮል ምንባሩ ሎሚ ብሩህ እዩ። ተስፋ መጻኢት ሃገር ዝኾኑ መንእሰያት፡ ክንድቲ ዝኽእልዎ ሃገሮም ከገልግሉ ወፊሮም ኩነታት ካልእ ኮይኑ ምስ ረኸብዎ፡ ሃገሮም ራሕሪሖም ክስደዱ ካብ ዘገደድዎም ጉዳያት፡ መወዳእታ ዘይብሉ ግዱድ ዕስክርና ሳዋ እቲ ቀንዲ ምዃኑ ፍሉጥ እዩ። ስንብራት መደባት ሳዋ ኣብ ህይወት መንእሰያት ጥራይ ዝድረት ዘይኮነ፡ ኣብ ቐጻልነት ኤርትራ ከም ሃገር እውን ጽልዋኡ ከቢድ እዩ።  ብዛዕባ መደባት ሳዋ ዘጽንዑ ክኢላታት ከም ዝጠቕስዎ፡ ካብቲ ኣብ ግዜ ህግዲፍ ዝተሰደ ኣስታት 507,300 ኤርትራዊ፡ መብዛሕቱ ብዘይፍትሓዊ መደባት ሳዋ ዝሓለፈ፡ ካብ 18 ክሳብ 24 ዓመት ዝዕድመኡ እዩ። እዚ ጥራይ ኣይኮነን  “ጽባሕ ምስ ፈርዘና መደባት ሳዋ ከርክበናዩ’ሞ ከሎ ጋና ነብስና ከነውጽእ” ኢሎም ዝጠፍኡ ትሕቲ ዕድመ ህጻናት እውን ውሑዳት ኣይኮኑን።

ዋላ’ኳ ከምዚ ኣብዚ ቀረባ መዓልታት ህግዲፍ፡ ዝኽሪ መበል 25 ዓመት ምጅማር ሳዋን ምምራቕ መበል 32 ዙር ተዓለምትን  ብዝብል  ምስሉ ኣብ ጉዳይ ሳዋ ከመላኽዕ እንተፈተነ፡ ነዚ ጉዳይ ብነጻን ሻራ ዘይብሉን ኣገባብ ከጽንዕዎ ዝጸንሑ ክኢላታት ግና ከም ሓደ መርኣያ ዘበናዊ ናይ ባርነት መክዕ ዘለዎ ወጽዓ እዮም ክገልጽዎ ጸኒሖም። ዋላ’ኳ ህግዲፍ ጸማም እዝኒ እንተሃቦ ብዙሓት ዓለም ለኻዊ ትካላት እውን፡ እዚ መደባት ሳዋ ክስረዝ እሞ ኤርትራውያን ተላዚቦምን ረድዮምን  ብዝሕንጽጽዎ ሕጊ ዝቕለስ ፖሊሲ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ክወጽእ፡ ንሱ ክሳብ ዝኸውን ከኣ ናብቲ ዝነቐለሉ 18 ኣዋርሕ ክምለስ ይጽውዑን ይምሕጸኑን ኣለዉ። ብዓብይኡ ከኣ ናይዚ ኣዕናዊ ተግባራት ግዳያት ዝኾኑን በቲ መደብ ዝሓለፉ ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ብዛዕባቲ ሓቀኛ ኩነታት ሳዋ ኣብ ብዙሕ መድረኻት ምስክርነቶም ይህቡ ኣለዉ። ህግዲፍ ግና ነቲ “ካብ ዝቐበረስ ዘላቐሰ” ወይ “መን ይንገር ዝነበረ፡ መንከ የርድእ ዝቐበረ” ዝብል ኣበሃህላ ዘንጊዑ ክሽፈን ዘይከኣል ክሸፋፍን  ንዕዘብ ኣለና። በዚ ዘይወድዓዊ  ኣበሃህላኡ ናይ ዝኾነ ልቢ ከረስርስን ኣተሓሳስባ ክቕይርን ከምዘይክእል ግና ርግጸኛታት ኢና።

ህግዲፍ ናይቲ ዘካይዶ ዘሎ ግዱድ ውትህድርና ርትዓውነት ንምግላጽ፡ ክሕበኣሎም ካብ ዝጸንሐ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ዝነበረ ኩነታት “ኣይውግእ ኣይሰላም”ን ምስኡ ምትእስሳር ዘይነበሮ ማዕቀብን ምንባሩ ክንከታተሎ ዝጸናሕና እዩ። እንተኾነ እነሆ እዞም ህግዲፍ ካብ ብዙሕ ጉዳያት ክሕበኣሎምን ክሃድመሎምን ዝጸንሑ በዓትታት ካብ ዝፈርስዎ ዝያዳ ዓመት ኮይኑ። ብዙሓት ንህግዲፍ ብግርህናን የዋህነትን ዝርእይዎ ዝነበሩ ወገናት፡ ድሕሪ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ዝጸንሐ ኩነታት ምቕያሩን ማዕቀብ ምልዓሉንስ፡ ብሓፈሻ ኣብ ብዙሕ ኩነታት፡ ብፍላይ ከኣ ኣብዚ ግዱድ ውትህድርና ለውጢ ክገብር እዩ ኢሎም ተጸብዮም ነይሮም። ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ግና ቅድሚ ሓደ ሰሙን ኣብ ሳዋ ነዚ ብዝምልከት ኣብ ዝሃቦ መብርሂ “ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ዘይተርፍን ንኹሉ ዝምልከትን ስለ ዝኾነ ማሕበራዊ ፍትሒ ክሳብ ዝረጋገጽ ክቕጽል’ዩ”  ኢሉ። እዚ ማለት ከኣ ኢሳይያስ ክሳብ ዘሎ ክቕጽል እዩ። ምኽንያቱ  ኣብ ኤርትራ ብኢሳይያስ ዝምስረት ማሕበራዊ ፍትሒ ስለ ዘይህሉ። እዚ እምበኣር መደባት ሳዋ  ብጉልባብ “ሃገር  ምሕላውን ምምዕባልን” ንመንእሰያት ኤርትራ ብሞራል ድሂኽካ፡ ብትምህርቲ ኣደንቊርካ፡ ጉልበቶም መዝሚዝካን ክብርታቶም ግሂስካን ኤርትራ ተረካቢ ዘይብላ ንወራርን ድሕረትን ዝተቓለዐት ሃገር ከም እትኸውን ኮነ ኢልካ ዝተሃንደሰ ውዲት ምንባሩ እዩ ዘረድእ። ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ኣብ ትምህርታውን ፖለቲካውን መዳያት ዘይርሳዕ ግደ ንዝነበረን 2ይ ደረጃ  ኣያተ-ትምህርቲ ሃገርና ጨፍሉቑ፡ “2ይ ደረጃ ቤት ትምህርቲ ዋርሳይ ይከኣሎ ሳዋ” ብዝብል ብወተሃደራት ብእትምራሕ እንኮ ማእከል ምትክኡ ናይቲ ትውልዲ ኣብ መዳይ ትምህርቲ ናይ ምቕታል ተግባሩ ኣብነት እዩ። እቲ ተስፋ ዝህብ ግና ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ኩሉ ኤርትራዊ ነዚ ውዲት ነቒሕሉ ክቃለሶ ድልዊ ምህላዉ እዩ።

መንእሰያት ኤርትራ ከምዚ ሎሚ ዝፍጸም ዘሎ፡ ኢደ-ወነናውያን ከም ድላዮም ብዝሰርሕዎን ዝፍንጥሕዎን ሕግን ኣፈጻጽማን ዘይኮነ፡ ብንጹር ሕግን ቅዋማዊ ኣተሓሕዛን ኣብ ህንጸት ሃገሩ ክሳተፍ ግቡእ እዩ። ብመንጽርዚ እዩ ሰዲህኤ ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮኡ “ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ፡ ብሞያውያን ሰራዊትን ብኣባላት ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎትን ክቐውም ተደላይነት ከም ዘለዎ ብምግንዛብ: ቅዋም ዘፍቅዶ ስሩዕን ዝተጸንዐን መደባት ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ከም ዝህሉ ክገብር ክጽዕት እዩ” ብዝብል ኣስፊርዎ ዘሎ።

Ms Adiam Haile Rufael from the USA, one of the youngest newly elected Central Council members of the unified EPDP, stressed in her address at the main Festival Panel in Frankfurt on 3 August 2019 that hadnet /unity in the opposition camp and wudeba/organized action are the sure pathways to speedy victory against the repressive regime in Eritrea.  

Speaking in English, interspersed with her favourite phrases in Tigrigna, young Adiam drew the attention of the festival audience by calling for a fast and renewed action for change based on knowledge and self criticism. She added: “to be fair, all blame cannot be laid on the regime [in Asmara]; we must own our faults as well.”   Unmistakably, she was referring to the unending bickering among all justice seekers, old and new.

Further emphasizing her call for unity and the importance of belonging to or building one’s own strong organization, Ms Adiam Haile said: “We are fighting against an organized political regime that has been able to stay in existence for so long due to our lack of doing what we have begun to do at this Congress together - [unity].”

She criticized some of her generation members who still believe that they should not join organizations led by “the old generation.”  Adiam went on advising her generation: “We must not allow ourselves to be fooled into this divisive political propaganda” which she said is being used  enemies of the struggle for change in order to keep it fractured. Talking about herself, she said she enjoyed working with senior members of the opposition camp “who have been through the struggle and understand Eritrean politics like no other.”

A long-time activist in the social media, Adiam also addressed a plenary session of the 3^rd and Unity Congress held in Wiesbaden, Germany, between 29 July and August 12019 in which she expressed her optimism about the example being set by the unity

attained  between the Eritrean National Salvation/Hidri and the EPDP. She also praised the sacrifices everybody made on his/her own to be at the unity congress from faraway places like Australia and remote parts of the USA and Canada.

Elected receiving  the highest number of democratic votes attainable at the congress, Ms Adiam Haile Rufael will soon be assigned a number tasks as member of the 35-member Central Council of the unified party, the EPDP.

ከም-ዝፍለጥ ብወገን ኣሥመራ፥  ጥዑም ዜና ካብ ዘይስማዕ ነዊሕ ኮይኑ’ዩ። ኣብ ሕጂ በጺሑ’ውን፥ ሠናይ ዜና ክስማዕ ትጽቢት ክግበረሉ ዝከኣል ኣይኮነን። ከምኡ ስለ-ዝኾነ ድማ’ዩ ሕጂ’ውን። ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ዘፍርስን ሃገር ዝበታትንን፥ ሓዲሽ ዘራጊቶ ንፋስ ክነፍስ ዝስማዕ ዘሎ። የግዳስ ንሕና ከም ሕዝቢ መጠን፥ እቲ ድሮ ተጻዒኑና ዘሎ ጸገም፥ ልዕሊ ዓቐን ኮይኑ ከቢዱና እናሃለወ ከሎ። ካልእ ተወሳኺ ጸገም ክህልወና ኣይምደለናዮን። ይኹን እምበር ንሳቶም እቶም ፀረ-ሕዝብን ፀረ-ሃገርን ዝኾነ ኣጀንዳ ሒዞም፥ ዝንቀሳቐሱ ዘለዉ ወገናት ግና፥ ነቲ ሃገር ሰላም ክህቡዎ ዝደልዩ ኣይኮኑን። ከመይሲ ንሳቶም ኣብ ህውከትን ዕግርግርን እምበር። ኣብ ሰላም ዝረኽቡዎ ረብሓ የልቦን።

ከም-ዝፍለጥ ሕዝቢ-ኤርትራ ኣብዚ ግዜ’ዚ። ካብ ዝኾነ እዋን ንላዕሊ፥ ቆፍኡ ከም-ዝተተንከፎ ንህቢ ኮይኑ “-ይኣክል-!!! -” ኣብ ዝብለሉ ሰዓት’ዩ ዝርከብ ዘሎ። እዚ ኃያል ተቓውሞ’ዚ ከኣ። ንዓታቶም ነቶም ብመሰል ሕዝብን ሃገርን እናተጻወቱ፥ ክነብሩ ዝደልዩ ሰብ-ፖለቲካ፥ ቅሳነት ክህቦም ይኽእል’ዩ ዝበሃል ኣይኮነን። እዚ ፖለቲካዊ ረስኒ’ዚ ዝፈጠሮ ዘራጊቶ ንፋስ ከኣ’ዩ። ሕጂ ንቤተ-ክርስቲያን ተዋሕዶ ዕላማ ዝገበረ፥ ሓዲሽ ሕንፍሽፍሽ ክፍጠር ተዓጠቕ ተሸብሸብ ኣብ ምባል ዝርከቡ ዘለዉ። ብዝተረፈ ጉዳይ ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ፥ ሕጂ ከም ኣርእስቲ ክለዓል ምንም ምኽንያት ኣይነበሮን። ከመይሲ ቅድሚ 15-ዓመት ሕሳቡ ተዓጽዩ ዝተቐመጠ መዝገብ ምዃኑ፥ ንሕና ጥራይ ዘይኮንና ማኅበረ-ሰብ ዓለም’ውን ይፈልጥ’ዩ።

ከመይሲ እቲ ብማእከልነት ዮፍታሔ ዲሜጥሮስ ዝምራሕ ዝነበረ ሲኖዶስ። ድሮ ኣብ 05/05/1998 ዓ/ም (15/01/2006) ንፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ካብ ሥልጣኖም ኣውሪዱ፥ ንመቑሕ ኣሕሊፉ ከም-ዝሃቦም እናተፈልጠ ከሎ። ስለምንታይ ሕጂ ድሕሪ 15-ዓመት። ኣብ ልዕሊኦም ከም-እንደገና ኵናት ክኽፈት ይድለ ከምዘሎ። ንዝኾነ ክሓስብ ዝኽእል ጥዑይ ኣእምሮ ዘለዎ ሰብ፥ ብቐሊል ምርድኡ  ዝከኣል ኣይኮነን። ከመይሲ ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ምንም’ኳ ብማኅበረ-ሰብ ዓለም፥ ሕጋዊ ናይ ሃገረ-ኤርትራ ፓትርያርክ ምዃኖም ዝፍለጥ እንተኾነ።  እቲ ብተጽዕኖ-ፖለቲካ  ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ተቘጻጺሩ ዝርከብ ዘሎ ኃይሊ ግና። ን15-ዓመት መመላእታ ኣብ መቑሕ ኣእትዩዎም’ዩ ዝርከብ ዘሎ።

እቲ ኣብ ባይታ ዘሎ ሓቂ እዚ ምዃኑ እናተፈልጠ ከሎ ግና። ሕጂ ብሃንደበት ነገር ኣለዓዒሎም “-መናፍቅነቶም ስለ-ዝተረጋገጸ ብውግዘት ክፍለዩ-” ኢልካ ውሳኔ ምሃብ። እንታይ ዝዓይነቱ ትርጉም’ዩ ከስምዕ ዝድለ ዘሎ-? ብርግጽ ድማ መልሲ ክርከበሉ ዘለዎ ሕቶ’ዩ። ከመይሲ እዚ ነገሩ ተወዲኡ መዝገቡ ዝተዓጽወ ጉዳይ። እንታይ ንምድላይ’ዩ ወይ ኣበይ ንምብጻሕ’ዩ “-ገበን ኣቡነ-እንጦንዮስ ዘቃልዕ ሰነዳት፥ ምስ ዝርዝር መግለጺታቱ ክንዝርግሕ ኢና-” ብምባል፥ ደም ከይነጥረኩም ዝዓይነቱ ምፍርራህ ክግበር ዝድለ ዘሎ-?! ንምዃኑ እንታይ’ዮም ኮይኖም እዞም ሰባት-? ወይ እንታይ’ዩ ወሪዱዎም -? ዘየብል ኣይኮነን። እሞ “-እቲ ንዓመታ ዝጽለልሲ፥ ሕጂ እምኒ ምድርባይ ይጅምርዶ ክንብል-”

ብዝተረፈ እቲ ሓቁ ክፍለጥ እንተደኣ ኮይኑ። እቲ ታሪኽ ከም-ዝብሎ። ንናይ ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ካብ ሥልጣን ምውራድ። ናይ ግብጺ ኮፕቲክ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ደገፍን ኣፍልጦን ክትህብ ተባሂሉ። ዮፍታሔ ዲሜጥሮስ ንኣባ-ዲዮስቆሮስን ኣባ-ማርቆስን ኣኸቲሉ። ኣብቲ እዋን’ቲ ንሃገረ-ግብጺ በሪሩ ከም-ዝኸደ ዝፍለጥ’ዩ። ከመይሲ ብዘይ ኣፍልጦን ምስምማዕን መንበረ-ማርቆስ፥ ሓንቲ ስጉምቲ’ኳ ክኸዱ ከም-ዘይክእሉ ኣጸቢቖም ዝርድኡዎ ጉዳይ’ዩ ነይሩ። መንገዲ ግብጺ ግና ንሳቶም ከም-ዝሓሰቡዎ፥ ብቐሊል ክሕለፍ ዝኽእል መንገዲ ኮይኑ ኣይተረኽበን።

ስለ-ዝኾነ’ውን እቲ ከምቲ ዝዓይነቱ ጸወታ ሒዝካ። ኣብ ቅድሚ’ቶም ታሪኽ ብኽብሪ ዝዝክሮም፥ ቅዱስ-ፓትርያርክ ሺኖዳ-3ይ ምቕራብ።  ዮፍታሔ ከም-ዝሓሰቦ ቀሊል ክኸውን ኣይከኣለን። ዘምጽኣኩም ጉዳይ ተዛረቡ ምስ-ተባህሉ ድማ። እቲ ሚዛኑን ዓቐኑን ዘይፈልጥ ዝነበረ ዮፍታሔ’ዩ። ንፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ብምውንጃል ክዛረብ ኢሉ ዝተላዕለ። ፓትርያርክ-ሺኖዳ ግና ነዚ ዓሻ ድፍረት’ዚ ክዕገሱዎ ስለ-ዘይከኣሉ  “.... ጳጳሳት ኣብዚ ከለዉ ንስኻ ክትዛረብ ኣይፍቀደካን’ዩ ....” ብምባል ገኒሖም ደው ምስ-ኣበሉዎ። እቶም ክልተ-ጳጳሳት’ዮም፥ ኣብቲ እንታይ ምዃኑ  ጫፉን ወሰኑን ዘይፈልጡዎ ጉዳይ  ኣትዮም። ዝሕዙዎን ዝጭብጡዎን ጠፊኡዎም፥ ነገር ክዘባርቑ ዝተራእዩ። ከመይሲ ንሳቶም ከም ዓጀብቲ ደኣዮም ካይሮ ከም-ዝኸዱ ዝተገብረ እምበር። እቲ ዓይኑ ተዃሒሉን ቀርኑ ተሳሒሉን ዝኸደስ ባዕሉ ዮፍታሔ’ዩ ነይሩ።   

እቲ ጉዳይ ፓትርያርክ-ሺኖዳ ምስ ሰምዑዎ ድማ  “....በዚ ትብሉዎ ዘለኹም ምኽንያት ፓትርያርክ ካብ ሥልጣኑ ክወርድ ኣይክእልን እዩ። ብዝኾነ ግና እቲ ጉዳይ ኣብ ቅሉዕ መጋባእያ ቀሪቡ ክርአ ክኽእል ኣለዎ። ወይ ንሕና ኣሥመራ ክንመጽእ፥  ወይ ከኣ ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ናብዚ ናብ ግብጺ ክመጹ። እዚ ጉዳይ’ዚ ኣብ ቅሉዕ መጋባእያ ቀሪቡ ፣ ውሳኔ ከም-ዝረክብ  ከይተገብረ ግና። ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ካብ ሥልጣን ክእለዩ ኣይክእሉን እዮም። ስለዚ’ውን ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ንዓና፥ ትማሊ ኮነ ሎሚ ሕጋዊ  ፓትርያርክ እዮም....” ዝብል ኣቕዋም ብምሓዝ’ዮም፥ ፓትርያርክ-ሺኖዳ ቁርጹ ነጊሮም ዘፋነዉዎም። እዚ ከኣ ብቐሊል ተጣሒሱ ክሕለፍ ዝኽእል ውሳኔ ኣይነበረን። ኣብቲ ኣርሒቖም ክጥምቱ ዝኽእሉ ለባማት ዘይነበሩዎ ደምበ ግና። እቲ ከኸትሎ ዝኽእል ዝነበረ ሳዕቤን’ውን፥  ክርድኦን ክመዝኖን ዝኽእል ኣይነበረን።

ብመሠረቱ’ውን ቅድሚ’ዚ ዝተባህለ ኩሉ። ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ኣብ 02/05/1998 ዓ/ም (11/01/206) ዘመሓላለፉዎ ቃል-ውግዘት ነይሩ’ዩ። ከመይሲ ነቲ ዝቐረበሎም ክሲ፥ ዘይሕጋውን ዘይቀኖናውን’ዩ ብምባል ድሕሪ ምንጻጎም። ከምኡ’ውን እቶም ጳጳሳት “-ፓትርያርክ, ጳጳስ, ካህን ከይሾሙ፥ ብሥልጣነ-ኣብ  ወወልድ  ወመንፈስ-ቅዱስ-” ኣውጊዞም ምንባሮም ዝፍለጥ’ዩ። እዚ ቃል-ውግዘት’ዚ ከኣ፥ ብዝኾነ ተኣምር ተጣሒሱ ክሕለፍ ዝግብኦ ኣይነበረን። እቲ ብኃይሊ ፖለቲካ ተደፊኡን ተሳሒቡን ዝንቀሳቐስ ሲኖዶስ ግና። ምስ ከመይ ዝኣመሰለ፥  ከቢድ መርገም ከኸትል ዝኽእል ሓደገኛ ጉዳይ ገጢሙ ከም-ዝነበረ፥ ክርድኦ ዝኽእል ዝነበረ’ውን ኣይመስልን።

ንክንድቲ ዝኣክል ክብደት ዝነበሮ ውግዘት፥ ክርዳእ ዝኽእል ንቕሓት ግና፥ ኣብቲ ሲኖዶስ-ጳጳሳት ነይሩ ኢልካ ክዝረብ ኣይከኣልን። ስለዚ ድማ’ዩ ኣጀንዳ-ፖለቲካ ንምትግባር ክበሃል፥ ነቲ ዝተሓላለፈ-ውግዘት ተሰጊሩ።  ብዕብዳን ክግለጽ ኣብ ዝኽእል ውሳኔ ክብጻሕ ዝተራእየ። እዚ ማለት ድማ ኣብ ግንቦት 1998 ዓ/ም (2007) 4ይ-ፓትርያርክ ብምባል፥ ንናይ ሰራየ ሃገረ-ስብከት ጳጳስ። ማለት ንኣቡን-ዲዮስቆሮስ 4ይ-ፓርያርክ ኢሎም ክቕብኡዎም’ዮም ዝተረኽቡ።እዚ ሢመት’ዚ ብደረጃ ማኅበረ-ሰብ ዓለም፥ ከቢድ ወቐሳን ተቓውሞን ኣልዒሉ ከም-ዝነበረ ዝፍለጥ’ዩ። ነቲ ብዘይ ዝኾነ መምዘንን መዐቀንን ዝተመርጸ ሲኖዶስ ግና፥ እዚ ኩሉ’ዚ ዝኸብዶ ኮይኑ ክርከብ፥ እቲ ናይ ንቕሓቱ ደረጃ ዝፍቐደሉ ኮይኑ ኣይተረኽበን።

ብዝተረፈ ኣባ-ዲዮስቆሮስ ካብ ዝዓርፉ ድሮ ጥቓ ሓሙሽተ ዓመት ኮይኑ ኣሎ። እንታይ ደኣ’ዩ ክሳብ ሕጂ ካልእ መቐጸልታ ፓትርያርክ ካብ ምሻም ዓጊቱዎም ጸኒሑ-? ዝብል ሕቶ ክቐርብ ግቡእ’ዩ። እወ እቲ ውግዘት ጥሒሶሞ ካብ ዝኸዱ ድሮ ነዊሕ ኮይኑ’ዩ። እሞ ክሳብ ሕጂ ደኣ እንታይ’ዩ ዓዚሙዎም ዝጸንሐ-? ከም-ዝፍለጥ እቲ ነባ-ዲዮስቆሮስ ፓትርያርክ ንምግባር ዝወሰዱዎ ስጉምቲ። ካብ ማኅበረ-ሰብ ዓለም ብብዙሕ ከም-ዝኹነኑን ከም-ዝንጸሉን ገይሩዎም ስለ-ዝጸንሐ። ካልኣይ ግዜ ደፊሮም ክኣትዉዎ ክሕሰብ ዝኽእል ኮይኑ ኣይጸንሐን። ሕጂ ብሃንደበት ክለዓል ምኽንያት ክኸውን ዝኸኣለ ግና፥ ንኣተሓሳስባ’ቲ ሕዝቢ ከፋፊልካ መኣዝኑ ከም ዝስሕት ንምግባር ዝዓለመ ምዃኑ ምንም ዘጠራጥር ኣይኮነን።

ኣብቲ 10 ሓምለ 2011 ዓ/ም (17/07/2019) በቲ ሲኖዶስ ተዋሂቡ ዘሎ መግለጺ ግና “-ቅዱስ-ሲኖዶስ ብዘለዎ ልዑላዊ ሥልጣን፥ ንድኅነት ቤተ-ክርስቲያንን ዕቅበተ ሃይማኖትን-” ክብል፥ ኣብዚ ውሳኔ’ዚ ክበጽሕ ከም-ዝተገደደ’ዩ ተገሊጹ ዘሎ። እዚ ከኣ እቲ ኣዚዩ ዘገርም ትንታኔ’ዩ። እዚ ሲኖዶስ’ዚ ግና ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ቀረባ እዋናት፥  ጉልባቡ ተቐሊዑ ወይ ተጋሊጹ’ዩ ክበሃል ይከኣል። ከመይሲ ኩሎም ጳጳሳት ኣብ ኣብ ዝተረኽቡሉ ጉባኤ መንበረ-ፓትርያርክ። ብሪጋዴር ጀረናል ኣብርሃ ካሣ ዝመርሖ ጉጅለ መንግሥቲ። እናተባራረዩ ነቲ መድረኽ መንበረ-ፓትርያርክ ክዋስኡሉ ተራእዮም እዮም። እሞ ኣበየናይ ቁም-ነገር ከም-ዝወዓሉ ደኣ’ዮም ሕጂ “-ብዘሎና ልዑላዊ ሥልጣን፥ ንድኅነት ቤተ-ክርስቲያንን ዕቅብተ ሃይማኖትን-”  ክብሉ ኣብ ባይታ ዘየሎ ሓቂ ክነግሩና ዝደልዩ ዘለዉ-? በዚ ክዕሸወሎም ዝኽእል ሕዝቢ ስለ-ዘየልቦ “-ነዚ ክትግዕታዶ ትርህጻ-” ክበሃል እንተ-ዘይኮይኑ። ንሳቶምሲ ያኢ-!! ሓለይቲ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ኢሉ ኣሚኑ ዝቕበሎም ክረኽቡ፥ ፈጺሙ ክሕሰብ’ውን ዝከኣል ኣይኮነን።

ብዝተረፈ እቶም ሰብ ፖለቲካ፥ ነታ ዋና ዝሰኣኑላ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ተዋሕዶ። ኣብዚ እዋን’ዚ ንፖለቲካዊ ኣጀንዳኦም ከም መጋበርያ ክጥቀሙላ ምድላዮም እንተ ዘይኮይኑ። ሕቶ ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ከም ሓዲሽ ኣርእስቲ ኮይኑ፥ ክለዓል ዘግብር ምኽንያት ፈጺሙ ኣይነበረን። ድሮ ካብ ዝሓለፈ 15-ዓመት ኣትሒዞም፥ ኣብ መቝሕ ኣትዮም ዝርከቡ ዘለዉ ፓትርያርክ። ድሕሪ’ዚ ኩሉ ማእሰርትን ስቓይን ደኣ ሕጂ “-ንክሕደቶምን ገበኖምን ዘቃልዕ ሰነዳት፥ ምስ ዝርዝር መግለጺታቱ ክንዝርግሕ ኢና-” ብምባል ዝግበር ዘሎ ፈኸራ ደኣ፥ ንመን’ዮም ከፈራርሁ ወይ ክድህሉ ዝደልዩ ዘለዉ-? ግዳስ ንዓታቶም ደኣ ይመስሎም ይኸውን እምበር። በዚ ዝፈርሃሎም ወይ ዝደሃለሎም ይርከብ’ዩሲ ኣይንብልን ኢና።

ኩሎም ደቂ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ብግልጺ ከም-ዝፈልጡዎ። እቲ ካብ ነዊሕ እዋን ኣትሒዙ ብኣቦታት ገዳም ደብረ-ቢዘን ዝግበር ዘሎ ተሪርን ኃያልን ተቓውሞ። ነቲ ሕዝቢ ናብቲ ብፓትርያርክነት እንጦንዮስ ዝወረደ ሓዋርያዊ-ሰንሰለት። ጸኒዑ ደው ከም-ዝብልዩ ገይሩዎ  ዝርከብ ዘሎ። ከም ውጽኢት እዚ ኩሉ’ዚ ድማ “-ሊቀ-ጳጳሳቲነ እንጦንዮስ-” እናተባህለ’ዩ፣ ኣብ ማእከል ኣስመራ ቅዳሴ ክካየድ ዝርአ ዘሎ። እቲ ሕጂ ተበጺሑ ዘሎ ትብዓት ከኣ ነዚ’ዩ ዝመስል። እዚ’ዩ እምበኣርከስ ሕጂ ነቶም ካድረ-ፖለቲካ ተቐይሮም ዘለዉ ኣባ-ሉቃስ “- ንፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ዘቃልዕ ሰነዳት ክንዝርግሕ ኢና-” ብምባል። መኣዝኖም ስሒቶም ክርከቡ ኣገዲዱዎም ዘሎ፥ እዚ’ዩ ክበሃል ይከኣል።

ብዝተረፈ ኣብ በዓቲ ፖለቲካ ተሓቢኦም ዘይዝሩብ ኣብ ክንዲ ምዝራብ። እንተደኣ ሓቂ ኣልዩዎም ኣብ ነፃ መጋባእያ’ዮም ንፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ክገጥሙዎም ዘለዎም። ባዕላቶም ከሰስቲ ባዕላቶም ከኣ ፈረድቲ ኣብ ዝኾኑሉ መጋባእያ ግና። እቶም ድሮ ኣብ መቝሕ ተታሒዞም ዝርከቡ  ዘለዉ ፓትርያርክ። ምእንቲ መሰሎም ክከላኸሉ ዘኽእሎም ሕጋዊ ባይታ ክረኽቡ ዝኽእሉ ኣይኮኑን። በዚ ምኽንያት እዚ’ውን እቲ ቅድሚ 15-ዓመት፥ ኣብ ዕጽው ማዕጾ ዝፈጸሙዎ  ግፍዒ። ሕጂ’ውን ንዕኡ’ዮም  ክንደግሞ ኢና ኣብ ምባል ዝርከቡ ዘለዉ። እዚ ኩሉ ተዓጠቕ ተሸብሸብ ዝበሃል ዘሎ ከኣ፥ ምስ ሓደ ኣብ 93-ዓመት ዕድመ ዝርከቡ’ሞ፥ ኣብ ቤት-ማእሰርቲ  ሒዞሞም  ዝርከቡ ዘለዉ ፓትርያርክ’ዮም፥  ኵናት ክንገጥም ኢና ብምባል ዝውጠጡ ዘለዉ።  

ይኹን እምበር ከምቲ “-ዓሻስ ከይስተር ይግተር-” ዝበሃል ክኸውን እንተ ዘይኮይኑ። ንሳቶምሲ ትንፋሶም ውሒጦምን ድምፆም ኣጥፊኦምን ደኣ፥ ድሕሪት ከይዶም ክሕብኡ ምተገብኦም እምበር። ሕጂ ኣይትሓዙና በሃልቲ ኮይኖም፥ ኣባትር ዘወጣውጡ ኮይኖም ምርካቦም፥ እምበርዶ ኣብ ጥዕና ኣለዉ’ዮም ዘየብል ኣይኮነን። ስለዚ ከኣ’ዩ ኣብዚ እዋን’ዚ እቲ መራኸቢ-ብዙኃን።  ነቲ ፈጺሙ ክእመን ዘይክእል ዜና ጉድ እናበለ ክቀባበለሉ ዝርከብ ዘሎ። ብዝተረፈ እቲ ሕዝቢ ተረዲኡዎ ከም-ዘሎ። እቲ ብስም ሲኖዶስ ዝወሃብ ዘሎ መግለጺ። ናይቲ ፖለቲካዊ-ስርዓት እምበር፥ ናይ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን’ዩ ዝብል ርድኢት ኣብቲ ሕዝቢ ዘይምህላዉ እዩ።

ብዝተረፈ ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ካብ መሠረቱ ኣትሒዞም። ንናይቲ ፖለቲካ ኢድ ምትእትታው’ዮም ክቃወሙ ጸኒሖም። መወዳእታኡ ድማ እቲ ሲኖዶስ፥ ብድፍኢት ፖለቲካ መስመር ሰጢጡ ከይሓልፍ ንምጥንቃቕ “-ብሥልጣነ-ኣብ፥ ወወልድ፥ ወመንፈስ-ቅዱስ’ዮም-” ቃለ-ውግዘት ከቐምጡ ዝኸኣሉ። እዚ በቶም ፓትርያርክ ዝተመሓላለፈ ቃለ-ውግዘት ከኣ፥ ብዝኾነ ተኣምር ክስዕሮ ዝኽእል ኃይሊ የልቦን። ከምኡ እንተዘይከውን ነይሩ፥ ነዚ ቃል ውግዘት’ዚ ተሓላሊፎም ፓትርያርክ መሪጽና ዝበሉሉ እዋን ነይሩ ‘ዩ።  እቲ ፓትርያርክነት እቲ ግና፥ ካብ ብሎኮ ጎዳይፍ ዝወጽእ ኮይኑ ኣይተረኽበን። እኳደኣ ብማኅበረ-ሰብ ዓለም ከቢድ ተነጽሎ ከስዕበሎም ከም-ዝጸንሐ’ዩ ዝፍለጥ።

እቲ መንገዲ’ቲ ዓዲ ዘየእትዎም ምዃኑ ስለ-ዝተረድኦም ግዲ ኮይኑ ድማ። ኣብቲ መንጎ ምስ መንበረ-ማርቆስ ምርድዳእ ክገብሩ ብማለት፥ ዝፈተኑዎ ፈተነ ነይሩ’ዩ። ማለት ኣባ-ሉቃስ ዝመርሑዎ ጉጅለ። ካይሮ በጺሑ ምንባሩ ዝፍለጥ’ዩ። እዚ ማለት ድማ፥ ምናልባት ድሕሪ ዕረፍቲ ቅዱስ-ፓትርያርክ  ሺኖዳ-3ይ። እቲ ተሪር ናይ መንበረ-ማርቆስ ኣቕዋም፥ ክቕየር ይኽእል’ዩ ዝብል ተስፋ ብምግባር’ዩ ዝነበረ። ንጉጅለ ኣባ-ሉቃስ ግና ዝተቐየረ ነገር ኣይጸንሖምን። የግዳስ ናይ ኤርትራ ሕጋዊ-ፓትርያርክ፥ ብጀካ ኣቡነ-እንጦንዮስ ካልእ ከም-ዘፈልጥ’ዩ፥ እቲ ቅዱስ ናይ ማርቆስ መንበር መግለጺ ዝሃበ። ኣቦታት ገዳማት ኤርትራን ምሉእ ውሉደ-ክህነት’ውን፥ ኣብዚ ኣቕዋም’ዚ ተሪሩ ዝረገጸ ብምንባሩ። እቶም ጳጳሳት’ውን ከምኡ ምስ’ዚ ሓሳብ’ዚ ሠሚሮም ይርከቡ ብምንባሮም። ኣባ-ልቃስን ጎይቶት ኣባ-ሉቃስን ኣብ ከቢድ ወጥሪ ዝኣተዉሉ’ዩ ነይሩ ክበሃል ይከኣል።

እቲ ብመሪሕነት ኣቦታት ገዳም ደብረ-ቢዘን ዝግበር ዝነበረ ተቓውሞ። እቲ ናህሩ እናዓበየ ከይዱ፥ እቲ ጸቕጢ’ውን እናኃየለ ምስ መጸ። እቲ ፖለቲካዊ-ሥርዓት ክከላኸሎ ኣብ ዘይክእለሉ ደረጃ’ዩ ክምዕብል  ዝተራእየ። ስለ’ዚ ከኣ’ዩ ንቁጥዓ-ማዕበል፥ ናይቶም ገዳማውያን-ኣቦታት ንምዕጋስ ተባሂሉ። እቶም ክልተ ከም ቁርዲድ ደም ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ክመጽዩ ዝነበሩ። ዮፍታሔ ዲሜጥሮስን ውጉዝ ሃብቶም ርእሶምን፥ ብዘሕፍር ውርደት ተደፊኦም ካብ ቀጽሪ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ከም-ዝወጹ ዝተገብረ። እዚ ማለት ግና በቲ ፖለቲካዊ-ሥርዓት፥ በደል ተረኺቡዎም’ዩ ተባሂሉ ተኣሚኑሎም ዘይኮነ። ነቲ ዝተላዕለ ነድሪ’ቶም ገዳምውያን-ኣቦታት ንምዕጋስ። ተገዲዶም ዝወሰዱዎ ስጉምቲ ምንባሩ፥ እቲ ኣብ ባይታ ዝነበረ ህልው ኩነታት ባዕሉ ከረጋግጾ ዝኽእል’ዩ።

እቲ ምኽንያት ከምኡ እንተ-ዘይከውን ነይሩ።ንበዓል-ዮፍታሔ ብወገፈ ከም-ዘሰናበቱዎም ብምምሳል። ግልብጥ ኢሎም ከኣ ካልኦት ሓደስቲ ካድረታት ፖለቲካ፥ ብሕጓ ከእትዉ ኣይምተረኸቡን። እቶም ብፖለቲካ ዝተመልመሉ ካድራት ከኣ’ዮም፥ ሕጂ’ውን ንመድረኽ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ተዋሕዶ ክዕንድሩሉ ዝርከቡ ዘለዉ። ከም ውጽኢት እዚ ኩሉ’ዚ ድማ’ዩ። እቲ ኣብዚ ቀረባ እዋን ብመራኽቢ ብዙኃን ጉዱ ተቐሊዑ። እቲ መንበረ-ፓትርያክ ጀረናላት ዝዋስኡሉ መድረኽ ኮይኑ ክርአ ዝቐነየ። እቶም ጳጳሳት ንሓዘን ዝተቐመጡ  ክመስሉ ተጐልቢቦም ኮፍ ኢሎም ክርኣዩ ከለዉ። እቲ ናይ ሃገራዊ-ድኅነት ሓላፊ ዝኾነ ብ/ጀረናል ግና። ነቲ መድረኽ ተቘጻጺሩዎ’ዩ ዝተራእየ። ልዕሊ’ዚ ክመጽእ ዝኽእል ሞትን ሕልፈትን ከኣ የልቦን።

ኣብዚ እዋን’ዚ እቲ ፖለቲካዊ-ሥርዓት። ከምኡ ይኸውን ኢሉ ኣብ ዘይሓሰቦን ዘይጠርጠሮን ሰዓት።ዕርቃኑ ወጺኡን ጉዱ ተቓሊዑን ስለ-ዝተረኽበ። ካብዚ ተበጊሱ’ዩ ድሮ ተዓጽዩ ተቐሚጡ ዝጸንሐ መዝገብ ገላቢጡ። ኣብቲ ሕዝቢ መጋገዪ ክኸውን ዝኽእል ስእሊ ንምዝርጋሕ እንተሓገዘ ተባሂሉ’ዩ። ኣንጻር ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ሓዲሽ ኵናት ተኸፊቱ ዝርአ ዘሎ። እዚ ሕጂ ዝኸፍቱዎ ዝደልዩ ዘለዉ ኵናት። ከዋጽኦም ዝኽእል ከም-ዘይኮነ፥ ካብ ዝኾነ ካልእ ባዕላቶም’ውን ይፈልጡዎ እዮም። ንኹሉ ዝኸውን ግዜ ኣለዎም ዝበሃሉ’ውን ኣይኮኑን። ከምቲ “-ናይ ዕዳጋ ዕግርግርሲ፥ ንሰራቒ ይጥዕሞ-” ዝበሃል ግና። እንሆ ነቲ ሕዝቢ መኣዝኑ ከስሕቱዎ ምእንቲ፥ ነቶም ድሮ ኣብ ትሕቲ መቝሕ ኣእትዮሞም ዝርከቡ ዘለዉ ፓትርያርክ። ንኻልኣይ ግዜ ከነውግዞም ኢና ኣብ ምባል’ዮም ዝርከቡ ዘለዉ። ነገር ተዋቒዑዎም ስለ ዘሎ’ውን፥ ዝብሉዎን ዝገብሩዎን ክፈልጡ ዝኽእሉ ኣይመስሉን።

ኣብዚ እዋን’ዚ ካብ ዝኾነ ግዜ ንላዕሊ፥ ብዙሓት ውሉደ-ክህነት ኣብ መቑሕ ይኣትዉ ከም-ዘለዉ። እቲ ካብ ዓዲ ይመጽእ ዘሎ ዜና ይሕብር’ዩ ዘሎ። ናይ ገዳም ደብረ-ቢዘን ኣቦታት፥ ካብቶም ብዓይኒ ጽልኢ ዝጥመቱ ኮይኖም’ዮም ዝህደኑ ዘለዉ። ድሮ ኣብ መቝሕ ኣትዮም ዝርከቡ ዘለዉ’ውን ውሑዳት ኣይኮኑን። ዲያቆናት’ውን ብብዝሒ ይእሰሩ ከም-ዘለዉ’ዩ ዝንገር ዘሎ። ዓቕሉ ኣጽቢቡ ኣብ መወዳእታ ጫፍ ረጊጹ ዝርከብ ዘሎ ሥርዓት ድማ፥ ነቲ ዘሎ ጸገም ነቲ ሕዝቢ ኣጽቢቡ ብምሓዝ ክፈትሖ እንተደለየ ዘገርም ኣይኮነን። ብዝተረፈ ከምቲ “-ጥንስቲ ንፋስ እንተኸደላስ፥ ዝሓረሰት ይመስላ-” ዝበሃል። ንርእሶም ከተዓሻሽዉ እንተ ዘይኮይኖም፥ ደጊምሲ ክታለለሎም ዝኽእል ሕዝቢ ዝረኽቡ ኣይመስለናን።

ብዝተረፈ ቁርጹ ክፈልጡ እንተደኣ ደልዮም። ሕዝቢ ተዋሕዶ “-ዘኣበዮ ለእንጦንዮስ፥ ኣበዮ ለመንፈስ-ቅዱስ-” ኣብ ዝብል ኣቕዋም ረጊጹ ደው ካብ ዝብል፥ ነዊሕ ኮይኑ’ዩ። ዓቃቤ-መንበር ክንመርጽ ኢና እንተበሉ’ውን፥ ክልውጡዎ ዝኽእሉ ነገር የብሎምን። ካብቲ ሓዋርያዊ-ሰንሰለት ወጺኦም ክኸዱ ዝደልዩ እንተ-ዘይኮይኖም። ኣብ ትሕቲ ጽላል እቲ ቅዱስ-መንበር ክሳብ ዝሃለዉ። ብጀካ ፓትርያርክ-እንጦንዮስ ካልእ ፓትርያርክ ክህልዎም ዝሕሰብ ኣይኮነን። ብዝተረፈ እቲ ትማሊ ንኣባ-ዲዮስቆሮስ ከም መጋበሪ ብምጥቃም፥ ተፈቲኑ ዝነበረ ጸይቂ ዝኾነ ነገር። ሕጂ ድማ ክንደግሞ ኢና እንተበሉ። እቲ ብድሕሪኡ ክመጽእ ዝኽእል ሳዕቤን ደኣ ክስከሙዎ የኽእሎም እምበር። ሕዝቢ ተዋሕዶስ ንሰማይ ኣቢሉ ንብዓቱ ካብ ምንጻግ ሓሊፉ፥ ምስኣቶም ኣብ ቈይቍ ክኣቱ መደብ ኮነ ሓሳብ ዘለዎ ኣይኮነን።

እቲ ዘገርም ግና ኣቡነ-ሰላማ ንበይኖም ጥራይ።  ኣብዚ ናይ ጸይቂ መኣዲ’ዚ፥ ኢደይ ሓዊሰ ኣይርከብን በሃሊ ኮይኖም ክርከቡ ከለዉ። እቶም ካልኦት ጳጳሳት ግና፥ ኣብቲ ናይ ጥፍኣት ድግስ ከሳስዩ ብክታሞም ዘረጋግጹ ኮይኖም ምርካቦም’ዩ። ነየናይ ዕድመ ክብሉ’ዮም ኮን-? መጋበርያ ፖለቲካ ብምዃን፥ ንክብርን ቅድስናን ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ተዋሕዶ፥  ኣብ ዕዳጋ ኣውሪዶም ክሸጡዎ ዝደልዩ ዘለዉ-?! ብዝተረፈ ኣእምሮኦም ደንዚዙን ሕልንኦም ዓሪቡን እንተ-ዘይኮይኑ። “-ኦ ጐይታ-! ነዚ መባእ’ዚ እንታይና ክንገብሮ-? ናበይከ ክንወስዶ ኢና-? ቤት-መቕደስካ በሕዛብ ተረጊጹን ረኺሱን። ካህናትካ ድማ ተዋሪዶም ይበኽዩ ኣለዉዶ-” ኣይኮነን ዝበሃል ዘሎ። ታሪኾም ዝተበላሸወ ዘሕዝኑ ጳጳሳት ኢና ንርኢ ዘሎና። ኣቡነ-ሰላማ ግና በቲ ዝወሰዱዎ ስጉምቲ፥ ታሪኽ ቤተ-ክርስቲያንና ብሞሳን ሓበንን እናዘከሮም ክነብር እዩ። (መቃ. 3/50-51)

ስብሓት ለግዚኣብሔር ኣምላከ ኣበዊነ

ስቡሕኒ ውእቱ ወልዑልኒ ውእቱ ለዓለም

ሊቀ-ካህናት ተክለ-ማርያም ምርካ-ጽዮን

ሃገረ-ስብከት ኤውሮጳ