ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ሓው መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም፡ ነቲ ኣብ ዓባይ ብሪጣንያ ንከሰላስሎ ጸሚድሉ ዘሎ መደብ፡ ኣብ ሎንዶን ምስ ዝርከብ ደላይ ፍትሒ ብምርኻብ ጀሚርዎ።

እዚ ብዕለት 30 ሕዳር 2014፡ ብሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጨንፈር ሎንዶን ዝተወደበ ክፉት ህዝባዊ ኣኼባ ኢዩ ኔሩ። ካብ ኩሉ ኩርንዓት ሎንደን መጸዋዕታን ዕድመን ኣኽቢሮም ዝመጹ ደለይቲ ለውጥን ፍትሒን ካብ ኩሉ ሸንኻት ህዝብና ምንባሮም ተስፋ ዝህብ ኣጋጣሚ ኢዩ ። እዚ ንኣርባዕተ ሰዓታት ዝቐጸለ ኣኼባ ብናይ እንቋዕ ደሓን መጻእኩም ቃል ኣቦ መንበር ሽማግለ ጨንፈር ዓዲ እንግሊዝ ፡ሓው ጎይቶኦም መብራህቱ ኢዩ ተኸፊቱ።

ካብዚ ብምቕጻል፡ ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ሓው መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮምን፡ ኣባል ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ሓው ሓምድ ድራርን፡ ሃገርና ኣብ ትሕቲ ምልካዊ ስርዓት እትሓልፎ ዘላ ኩነታትን፡ ኩነታት ተቓዉሞ ደምበን ኣህጉራዊ ኩነታትን ብሰፊሑ ብክልቲኡ ቋንቋታት፡ ትግርኛን ዓረብኛን መግለጺ ኣቕሪቦም።ብተወሳኺ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ህዝባዊን ዜናውን ዲፕሎማስያውን መዳያት ዘካይዶ ዘሎ ንጥፈታት ብዝርዝር ገሊጾም።

ተቓዉሞ ደምበ በዚ ሎሚ ዘለዎ፡ ዝተበታተነ ሃለዋት ከድምዕ ከምዘይክእልን፡ ብክንዲተን ኩላትና እንሰማማዓለን ዕላማታት ተወሃሂድና ክንሰርሕ ከምእንጥለብ ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ገሊጹ።

ሰልፊ፡ መንእሰያት ኤርትራ ንዘጋጥሞም ዘሎ ጸገማት ንምቅላል ኣብ ዲፕሎማስያዊ ንጥፈታቱ ዓቢ ቦታ ከምዘትሕዞ ሓው መንግስተኣብ ገልጹ።

ብመራሕቲ ኣኼባ መግለጺ ድሕሪ ምሃቡ፡ መድረኽ ንተሳትፍቲ ኣኼባ ሕቶታት ከቕርቡ ተፈቒዱ። ዝቐረበ ሕቶታት ውን ብኣቦመንበር ሰልፊ ሰፊሕ መብሪሂታት ተዋሂብዎ። እቲ ኣኼባ ብክልቲኡ ዕላዊ ቋንቋታት ይካየድ ምንባሩ ኩሉ ተሳታፋይ ንትሕዝቶኡ ክርዳእ ኣብቂዕዎ ኢዩ። በቲ ካልእ ሸነኽ ግን ናይ ግዜ ጽበት ስለዘጋጠመ ናይ ህዝቢ ርእይቶ ብሙሉኡ ፈሲሱ ክበሃል ዝከኣል ኣይነበረን።

3/12/2014

ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ

ጨንፈር ሎንደን 

Alleged human traffickers who had arranged more than 20 boat trips from north Africa to Europe picked up in sting operation in Italy and Germany

German Police Arrest 11 Human Trafficking Gangs | Photos from Livesicilia.it

The Guardian

Ten suspected migrant smugglers were arrested on Wednesday in Italy and Germany, including the alleged ringleader behind a treacherous journey that killed an estimated 244 people off the coast of Libya in June.

The alleged human traffickers, who were picked up in an operation called Tokhla, were all Eritrean. They were charged with conspiracy and aiding illegal immigration. An 11th Eritrean was arrested for harbouring the migrants.

The operation marked a significant victory for Italian police, who said the smuggling ring arranged more than 20 trips between north Africa and Europe between May and September. The suspects allegedly used their network across Italy, including the Lazio and Lombardy regions, to smuggle the migrants to other European countries.

“This is a very important operation carried out by the Italian police with the cooperation of the German police and other authorities, and we think we have caught some important people within the organisation,” said Giovanni Salvi, the chief prosecutor in the case.

Police in Catania, who lead the investigation, also found nine Somalis, including eight children, during the operation. The victims had been locked in an attic by the suspected smugglers while they awaited payment by from the migrants’ families.

Salvi told the Guardian that the children were in good health.

In October the Guardian highlighted the risks facing migrant children once they land in Europe, including sexual exploitation and forced labour. Of more than 12,000 unaccompanied minors who arrived in Italy from Africa this year, the article said about one-third had gone missing from foster homes and government shelters.

Traffickers are also increasingly using children to drive boats of migrants to Italy. This year, 18 minors have been arrested and sent to jail in Sicily on trafficking charges.

Investigators in Catania on Wednesday said the international smuggling organisation operated between Italy, Libya, Eritrea and other north African countries. Among those arrested was Measho Tesfamariam, who lives in Germany and was believed to be one of the organisers of the June voyage. Relatives of the victims in that sinking had sought to contact him for news of their loved ones, the police said.

The criminal group is alleged to have cells in several European countries and organised migrants’ journeys from their villages to the final destination in exchange for money.

Police said the investigation into the smuggling ring had begun in May, after another vessel carrying 206 people was rescued by the Italian navy as part of the now-curtailed Mare Nostrum programme to patrol the Mediterranean Sea and rescue migrants. Another 17 migrants had died on that voyage.

The Mare Nostrum programme, which was launched following the deaths of 360 migrants in a shipwreck in October 2013, was wound down in November due to political pressure and replaced by Operation Triton, a programme headed by the EU border patrol agency. Triton patrols will search for and rescue migrants up to 50km from Italian territory, leaving at least 150km of water between Libya and the Italian island of Lampedusa unpatrolled.

EPDP Information Office

On 23 November, the Frankfurt branch of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), held yet another well-attended regular meeting with many young and new participants showing increased interest in the current struggle for positive change,  justice and democracy in Eritrea.

Opened by welcoming remarks and outline of day’s agenda by the branch chairman, Haj Saleh Saeed, the meeting was extensively informed on recent developments affecting Eritrea and its people by explanations presented by Frankfurt branch leadership members Mr. Kubrom Andom, Ms Feven Gideon; EPDP Central Council member, Mr. Nigusse Tseggai, and Mr. Yebio Kifle, branch member.

Young Kubrom Andom recounted the root cause of the suffering and displacement of Eritreans and urged every Eritrean to play a role in the ongoing struggle to remove a cancerous regime in our country. Kubrom Andom added: “Make contacts with everyone around you in Germany. There is no fear of political activism here; we need to use our presence here to create friends for our struggle. We need everyone’s help because we cannot do the job in isolation”.  He also briefed the meeting on other recent events like a public meeting in Germany in which the supporters of the regime were exposed and shamed for their sympathies to the regime and had to leave a meeting with disgrace.

Ms Feven Gideon spoke about the importance of peaceful demonstrations at any place and time, and explained the 22 November demonstration in southern Germany against the regime and its agent associations like the so-called Eritrean women’s association. She stressed the ever building force of the opposition against the dictatorial regime in Asmara which is gradually but surely losing ground at all levels. Ms Feven predicted that those Eritreans still half-heartedly supporting the regime will join the forces of justice and democracy in the very near future.

On his part, Mr. Nigusse Tseggai presented a summary of recent activities by the EPDP in several parts of the globe. He said the already isolated PFDJ regime is being continually affected by what we in the opposition camp are doing to shorten its days in power, and that our activities must be intensified without a let up. The Party leadership member also explained the significance of latest activities by Party leadership members in Germany, Australia, Switzerland and other regions of the world.

Veteran freedom fighter Yebio Kinfe talked about the exeplary role of Eritrean youth in the struggle for national liberation, and reminded the new Eritrean generation that it has no other choice but the repeat the determined struggle expected from youth to save Eritrea from the home-grown oppression. He furtehr urged the meeting participants to strongly advise their peers still sympathizing with the regime to abandon it and join the forces fighting for change to a better Eritrea. 

Fr/Abba Mussie Zerai is currently assigned to Switzerland by the Eritrean Catholic Church in Asmara to serve the community of believers by a hectic shuttle in visiting 13 urban centres in Switzerland. On top of this, he is always on the phone communicating with Eritrean refugees in distress – both at sea, those in North Africa and others facing acute problems while inside Europe.

A googled piece also reads as follows him:

“Father Mussie Zerai has been working with refugees and emigrants to Europe since 1995. Though not an ordained priest by then, he dedicated his life to helping the refugees entering Europe by boat from North Africa. He uses satellite phone, which makes his contacts with the refugees easier; as he can access them directly in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea as they make dangerous attempts of crossing into Europe.
In desperation, many emigrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean in rickety wooden boats or inflatables. Many of the refugees run away from the Libyan detention centres, known as Kufra, where they undergo a lot of torture. Unfortunately many of the victims who contacted Fr. Mussie lost their lives while in detention centres”.

EPDP Information Office

A delegation of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) on Tuesday, 19 November 2014, held extensive discussions with senior officials of the Swiss Social Democratic Party and with the Swiss Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The EPDP delegation availed itself in Bern upon a formal invitation from the Swiss capital to exchange notes with concerned organs of the Swiss Social Democratic Party as well as for updating the Swiss Federal authorities on the ever worsening situation in Eritrea.

Consisting of EPDP’s head for foreign relations, Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar, and Swiss branch leadership members Messrs. Tesfagaber Ghebre and Fitwi Kifle, the Eritrean delegation raised many hot issues that it wished to be addressed by Switzerland in close cooperation with other countries and multi-lateral organizations. The delegation also submitted memoranda: one to the SP/PS president, Mr. Christian Levrat, and in the afternoon meeting at the Foreign Ministry, to the Swiss Foreign Minister and current President of the country, Mr. Didier Burkhalter.

The meeting in the morning hours was conducted with the International Secretariat of Switzerland’s second largest party, well known by its acronyms of SP in the German and Romansh speaking cantons (Socialdemokratische Partei) and PS (Parti Socialiste; Partito Socialista) in the French and Italian speaking cantons.

In the first meeting, the EPDP delegation urged the SP/PS leadership to push the Federal Swiss Government to make active and effective involvement in helping Eritrea and its people to come out of the critical situation they are in. The Swiss party was also asked to initiate a wider discussion of the problem in Eritrea as well as the general situation in the Greater Horn of Africa region at a special meeting of the Progressive Alliance, of which both SP/PS and EPDP are members, with the aim of addressing the ongoing ‘failed state’ phenomenon.

General issues considered at both the meetings with the SP/PS and, in the afternoon session, with the Foreign Ministry included discussion on the ever worsening situation inside Eritrea; areas on which pressure should be exerted; and what joint regional and international measures could taken to improve the lot of the Eritrean refugees in the Horn of Africa region and those already in Switzerland. In particular, the EPDP delegation earnestly requested that the recently formed coordination body of Eritrean political and civil society groups in Switzerland be approached for consultation and joint work to help young Eritreans in Switzerland who have no adequate education background to fit to the new environment they are in.

Excerpts from the memorandum to the Swiss Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs can summarize the gist of the issued proposed for action at the level of Switzerland.

1. Exerting Pressure on the Asmara regime

• • • Assist in organizing international pressure on the dictatorial regime to end the limitless “national service” it started two decades ago;
    • Allow ICRC as well as the UN Commission of Inquiry and the UN Human Rights Rapporteur for Eritrea to visit the over 300 prisons in the country where inmates are kept for many years without recourse to a court of law;

2.  Normalization of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia

• The excuse given as a stumbling block for better relations is the border problem. Both countries can, and must be advised, to show readiness for compromise.
• In particular, there is a need of pressurizing Ethiopia through different means to accept the final and binding decision of the arbitration boundary commission

3. Active support for Eritrean refugees in the Horn, and in Switzerland

• Initiate 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. Switzerland can lead this initiative.
• The tens of thousands of Eritreans in Switzerland are young and without proper education. Giving special attention for their education and skill building would make them better citizens upon their possible return to Eritrea.

4. Assist in bringing about a positive change in Eritrea

• The best option that could be taken by fraternal parties and governments is bringing about change in the system of governance in Eritrea where the majority of the population is opposed to the existing repressive regime.  
• One way of doing it is through empowering Eritrean non-state actors (mainly by reaching the civil society and political movements in diaspora) through active support for capacity building.

November 13th, 2014            The COI-Eritrea Team                                 http://coi-eritrea.org/

Oakland, CA--On November 8th, 2014,Mrs. ElsaChryum, Founder and Director of Human Rights Concern Eritrea (HRC-E) discussed the recent decision of the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to investigate the widespread and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Eritrea. Of those in attendance were Eritreans in theBay Area,including asylum seekers and individuals willing to assist the COI by sharing the human rights violations endured by them or a family member. Members of various Eritrean civic and political organizationsalsoattended to participate in the discussion and Q&A that followed. 

Mrs. Elsa Chryum addressed the community to explain the objectives of the COI, formally established on June 27, 2014. This is the first official inquiry into the human rights violations being committed in Eritrea, including violations against children and women, indefinite military conscription, false imprisonment, restrictions on peaceful assembly and lack of freedom of expression, among many others. Her presentation included a step by step tour, guided by slideshow presentation, of the functionality and purpose of the COI-Eritrea.org website.

Prior to arriving in Oakland, Mrs. Chyrum conducted information sessions in London, Zurich, Boston, Washington, DC, New York City, Denver, and Santa Clara. She advised that several victims and witnesses have come forward to share traumatic and disturbing stories of torture and human rights abuses perpetuated by the Isaias Afwerki regime. Mrs. Chyrum said the community’s support of the establishment of the COI has been encouraging and she acknowledged the incredible courage of the victims and witnesses.

In response to a question about the capacity and probability the COI possesses to remove the current regime, Mrs. Chyrum reminded the attendees that this initiative is just one mechanism to work towards justice and accountability. The testimonies shared by victims and witnesses will assist to serve as a path to collective reconciliation and healing and if the COI finds enough evidence, it may refer it’s findings to the International Criminal Court for further investigation.

Another attendee asked how the COI will handle discovering information that may conflict with what the families have been told in regards to death and the cause of death of loved ones. Mrs. Chyrum advised that the truth will always be disclosed to the families. For those that require their personal information remain confidential, she assured the COI will protect the identities of victims, families and witnesses.

One of the additional questions posed to Mrs. Chyrum had to do with whether injuries or fatalities brought as consequences of persecution can be presented as legitimate testimonies to the COI. As an example, one attendee cited the horrendous realities many Eritreans face in places like Sinai or the drowning of many Eritreans in capsized boats as legitimate cases to bring to the COI. Mrs. Chyrum clarified that any crimes committed outside of Eritrea aren’t within the mandate contained within the COI directives. However, strong testimonies can be procured out of cases that result leading to fatalities and other injuries. She emphasized that the focus, however, is on the myriad of human rights violations suffered at the hands of the PFDJ regime.

To assist the COI in obtaining credible testimonies, she encouraged the participation of the entire Eritrean community andspecifically those that have been victimized. It is their responsibility to come forward with their stories and be advocates for justice. 

Those in attendance offered their assistance and expressed appreciation to Mrs.Chyrum and several victims and witnesses left their contact information to be interviewed. Some also presented excellent ideas on how to further expand the outreach efforts of Mrs. Chyrum and her volunteers.

The COI willcollect testimonies and will review and substantiate all information provided by the victims, victim’s families, witnesses, human rights advocates and experts. The three member Commission will conduct interviews and present a report of its findings to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-ninth session.To ensure this remains a collaborative effort, Mrs. Chyrum will continue reaching out to victims and all active Eritrean civic and political organizations to encourage engagement, answer questions pertaining to the Commission of Inquiry and address any concerns.  

Contact: Members of the press who wish to interview the speaker and/or organizer, should contact the below organizers:

Bay Area:                                           London:

The COI-EritreaTeam                        ElsaChyrum

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.                         This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

415-857-0460                                      +44 7958 005637

EPDP Information Office

Sources from Asmara and the Vatican confirm that two priests of the Eritrean Catholic Church were arrested by security agents of the dictatorial regime during the first week of November.  

The arrested priests belong to the Capuchin order of the Catholic Church. They are Aba/Father Eyob Gheresus, 77, director of Church’s printing press, and AbaTesfai Debas, 60, head of finances, who served in Harerghe, Ethiopia, until the mass expulsion of Eritreans from that country in 1998.

The sources did not want to hint as to the alleged reasons for the current arrest. The sources also confirmed the report in Eritrean websites indicating that the two priests were taken to the Adi Abeyto prison in the outskirts of the Eritrean capital, Asmara.

Meanwhile, 10 members of several Eritrean monasteries of the Orthodox Tewahdo Church have crossed the border to Ethiopia in the past few days fearing imminent arrest by the security apparatus of the regime, probably because of the 1 October 2014 condemnation and excommunication of regime-appointees who promoted, inter alia, corruption and misrule in the Church.

Mrs. Elsa Chyrum held an important meeting with Bay Area (California, USA) Eritrean residents on November 8, 2014. Hosted by Commission of Inquiry  (COI) volunteers in Bay Area, the gathering was part of a series of meetings Mrs. Elsa is conducting in the United States of America in support of the recently launched United Nations Human Rights Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Eritrea.

The meeting was designed to explain the mandate and the work of the COI, and to seek cooperation and participation of all Eritreans in providing the required information to the COI. In a word, her discussion was framed on two crucial issues: one, the commission’s establishment and process it took to establish it, and 2) the responsibility of Eritreans in assisting the commission to reach its final objective, which is documenting the PFDJ’s crimes against humanity and holding Issais regime accountable.

Mrs. Elsa went to a lengthy detail on how we can assist the COI. One of the fundamental issues she underscored was a call for all Eritreans who were victims of the PFDJ regime to come forward and give their testimony to the COI. Second, it was a call to those Eritreans who witnessed serious crimes and atrocities perpetrated by PFDJ regime on other Eritreans to document their witness by identifying and verifying those who get victimized by the regime.

Again, the fundamental message of Mrs. Elsa was this: that the cooperation of victims and witnesses is crucial to obtaining successful outcome of the COI in prosecuting and holding the PFDJ regime accountable on its crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court, a court which adjudicates crimes against humanity. We must do it; this is our chance, Mrs. Elsa underlined.

Mrs. Elsa also gave specific information and procedures on how victims of PFDJ regime and witnesses can provide their testimony to the COI because of real or perceived threats and intimidations against themselves or against their family members by the PFDJ regime.  

Board members of the Eritrean Democratic Association (EDA), that attended and participated in the discussion, appreciate deeply what Mrs. Elsa is doing, and the association affirms to cooperate with Human Rights Concern Eritrea and others to make the COI work successful both in identifying victims of PFDJ and witnesses to come forward and document and provide information they know. EDA is a non-profit organization registered in California, USA, which provides sponsoring services, financial and material assistance to the Eritrean refugee children’s school at Wedisherifey, Sudan.

Prepared By

Eritrean Democratic Association

(A non profit public benefit corporation)

ERITREAN DEMOCRATIC ASSOCIATION, INC.

A Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation 

ብኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ ዝምራሕ መንግስቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ዜጋታት ኤርትራ ክፍጽሞ ዝጸንሐን ዘሎን ጥሕሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን ግፍዕታትን ንምስናድ፤ ዕላማታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ዘቖሞ መርማሪ ኮሚሽን ንምግላጽን ቃለ ምስክርነት ንምስናድን ብወይዘሮ ኤልሳ ጭሩም ዝተመርሐ ኣኼባ ኣብ ኦክላንድ ብ8 ሕዳር 2014 ተኻይዱ።

ወይዘሮ ኤልሳ ኣብ ዝተፈላለየ ከተማታት ሰሜን ኣመሪካ ከተካይዶ ዝቐነየት ዑደት ኣኼባታት ኣብ ኦክላንድ’ውን ዝቐጸለ ብሓላፍነት ወለንተኛታት ኤርትራውያን ንጉዳይ መርማሪ ኮሚሽን ዝተዳለወ መደብ እዩ ነይሩ።  ኣቶ ኣሰናይ ሙሴ ምስ ኣባላት ማሕበር መንእሰያት ብምትሕብባር ዘወሃሃዶን ዝወገኖን ዕዉት መደብ ነይሩ። 

ኤርትራውያን ተቐማጦ በይ ኤርያ ብብዝሒ ዝተሳተፍዎ ኣኼባ ሰብኣዊ ስምዒትን ሓልዮትን ዘሰነዮ ዓሚቝ ምይይጥ ኣብ ዝተኻየደሉ እዋን፣ ኣብ ህላዌኦም ዘስካሕክሕ ግፍዕታት ክፍጸም ዝርኣዩ ተሳተፍቲ ምስክርነት ተሞክሮታቶም ዘቕረቡ’ውን ይርከብዎም። ብዙሓት ካብ ተሳተፍቲ ወይዘሮ ኤልሳ ብምሉእ ሕልናን ተወፋይነትን ድምጽን ጠበቓን ግዳያት ኤርትራውያን ኰይና ኣብ መጋባእያታት ናይ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ቤት ምኽሪ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ቀሪባ ከተካይዶ ዝጸንሐት ምስክርነት ኣብ ኣቓልቦ ዓለም ቦታ ንኽረክብ ካብ ዝገበረትን ምዃና ከም ዝፈልጥዎን ዘመስግንዋን ምዃኖም ገሊጾም። ገለ ካብ ተሳተፍቲ ኣኼባ ወይዘሮ ኤልሳ እትህቦ ሰብኣዊ ኣገልግሎትን ሞያን ከም ኤርትራዊት ማዘር ተሬሳ፣ ዶክተር ማርቲን ሉተር ኪንግን ሮዛ ፓርክን ከም ዝቘጽርዋን ዝሕበኑላን ገሊጾም።

ኣባላት ናይቲ ኣብ ካሊፎርንያ ምዝጉብ ዝዀነ መኽሰብ ኣልቦ ማሕበር፣ ንጉዳይ ስደተኛታት ኤርትራ ዝከታተል ሰብኣዊ ማሕበር “ኤርትራዊ ማሕበር ደሞክራሲ” ኣብቲ ኣኼባ ተሳቲፎም ደገፎም ገሊጾም እዮም። ኣብዚ ኣጋጣሚ’ዚ ወይዘሮ ኤልሳ ንተተሓሒዛቶ ዘላ መስርሕ መደብ ምቅላዕ ሰብኣዊ ጥሕሰታት ስርዓት ኢሳያስ፣ ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕጊ ቀሪቦም ዝሕተቱሉን ክሳብ ዝዕወት ምሉእ ደገፎም የረጋግጹ።