ENCDC has to pursue a constructive productive and effective diplomacy in their struggle for change. Since its foundation in 2011 has failed to win the sympathy and support of foreign states.

ENCDC is now in its revival with a new spirit and mutual respect.

ENCDC have to make use of the diplomacy based on the know-how of the modus operandi of international relations which had been administering the world today, the interests of countries with national sovereignty, and international organizations attends to the interests of international security, regional organizations that sponsor the security and interests of the countries in the region, as well as non-governmental organizations that has become of great influence in international politics and overseas companies with a significant impact on the process of political decision-making.

Therefore any formulation of diplomatic action plan must be based the above mentioned backgrounds, it would be helpful to point out some important guideline here bellow:

1. A diplomatic action built on positive interaction, that is to say, there are parties in the world who have their respective stakes in Eritrea, who need to be convinced that the opposition can be faithful to their interests as long as not inconsistent with the national interests of Eritrea, therefore countries which their interests have been damaged by the Eritrean Regime will cooperate with the opposition, but first, the opposition must confirm its credibility and seriousness
2.  A diplomatic action built on negative interaction, and we mean that there are parties in the world that Eritrean Regime constitutes a source of concern for their respective national security, whether serious or minimal concern, such forces would be more than happy to watch the Eritrean Regime disappearing.

The recent relations with Ethiopia are only personal relations and are temporary. Most of the Horn of African countries have genuine interests in the disappearance of this Regime due to the keenness to their respective national security,  but these countries can not risk to establish relations with the opposition unless ascertained in the seriousness of the opposition, for fear that the establishment of such a relationship might deteriorate the internal affairs of their respective countries, the Eritrean Regime is notorious/warmongering in exploiting the internal contradictions of foreign countries, which constitute a threat to the security of those countries, the seriousness of the opposition/ ENCDC would be associated with its political discourse and its mechanisms.

3- A diplomatic action built on bilateral policy and attitudes, where some countries are in harmony with opposition/ ENCDC on their stance towards many issues, attitudes towards public issues is inconsistent with the positions of the Eritrean Regime, therefore compatibility with opposition or contradiction with the regime, is stimulus for diplomatic cooperation between the opposition and the foreign nations.

4- Diplomatic functioning based on lobbying through local communities, civic organizations and individual relationships, where every vote counts on the part of the Western countries in times of elections, the grouping of communities and activating civic organizations or take advantage of individual relationships can influence and stimulate the policies of Western states towards Eritrea.

5- Benefit from Non-governmental Organizations of certain areas of concern, such as human rights organizations, and organizations concerned with freedoms of religion or press, or transparency and those NGOs fighting corruption, and even the relief and health humanitarian organizations that the Eritrean Regime refused to give access to providing aid to the Eritrean people, all these factors could be valuable for the diplomatic advancement of the opposition if used properly.

The Eritrean opposition need to muster the factors that manipulate world politics through a specialized and skilful apparatus the make use of its political and administrative authority, and perhaps the most important aspect in this regard is appoint united-external-political unit. The following points might be useful in this respect.

• Formation of diplomatic apparatus for the Eritrean National Council for Democratic change/ ENCDC to run the international relations with political and administrative competency and capabilities.
• Consensus on the features of the external political discourse of the ENCDC.
• Coordination of the foreign policies of the political organizations through a united committee consisted of the external relations officials of the ENCDC organizations. With the task of making ENCDCs’ foreign policy a non-partisan policy through the evaluation of external policy functioning, exchange of information and proposal of plans, and benefiting from the relationships of organizations and individuals in this area.
• Coordination with the civic organizations that support the overall objectives of the opposition, especially in Europe, America and Australia, and take advantage of their relations, and to mandate the civic organizations to implement and illuminate the foreign policy of the Eritrean opposition.
• To draw a maximum benefit from all partners struggling for freedom and change at regional and global level.
• Improvement of ENCDC’s website so that it could be a reference to all the questions that may arise in the mind of any policy-maker or a diplomatic mission, as well as writing leaflets carefully prepared and in different languages.

Strategic Media Development

In today's world, which is dubbed as the “age of information evolution”, though the media of the Eritrean opposition is not commensurate with the magnitude of the cause it is raising and the challenge it is facing, despite the progress that opposition media has registered in general, but that is not enough to deliver the message of opposition, especially when the regime it is opposing has an information outlets that are considered the most prominent strengths of the regime.

even the improvements that opposition’s media outlets have shown are due to efforts without any coordination which is not enough to deliver the message of the opposition , most of the oppositions media outlets lack professionalism, most of the ENCDC’s organizations have their own media outlets which lessen the effectiveness of the spirit needed for change, even the oppositions media outlets are often used to highlight the secondary political contradictions between ENCDC organizations , we could point out the following points in this respect: 

• Formulation an information policy with clear goals and instructions to convey a convincing message through all available information means.
• Tolerate secondary contradictions of political and civil forces, and focus on the overarching challenge of removing the dictatorial regime in Eritrea.
• Coordination of work between media organizations and the signing of the Code of Conduct for the media outlets, so that the media war between the organizations, degradation or questioning of the principles, personal attack would be perceived as a red-line.
• development of the radio through the creation of an independent radio with working-hours for as long as possible pursuing a dynamic approaches in conveying the opposition’s message to resist the Regime and to deliver ENCDC’s message in an intelligent way.
• Diligences in founding a TV-channel to convey the goals of the opposition and reflect the suffering of the Eritrean people, and work to highlight the abuse of the regime against our people.Establishing ENCDC’ Satellite TV challenging the PFDJ’s ERITV.
• Develop opposition websites on the web and make it more professional and more easily viewed, and more substantive and meaningful.
• Pay much attention to the Internet to benefit from groups on facebook, Twitter and other tools that gains the attention of a large number of sympathizers.
• The importance of training and the adoption of assigning media work according to individual competency and not organizational affiliation.
• Opening up communication with TV channels, news agencies, global and regional newspapers and magazines and all that can contribute to delivering the message of the opposition.
• Use the universal language in the media, in terms of focus on the concepts of human rights, democracy, transparency and good governance.
• Documentation of the regime’s Violations, and reporting the evidences in figures and images because it makes the message of the opposition more credible and acceptable to the recipient.
• adoption of mechanisms and means to evaluate the feedback such as surveys, questionnaires and others to determine the effect of the message on the recipient
• Co-operate with global organizations that provide skills and Knowledge on democracy, human rights, rule of law , good governance and peace.

October 23, 2019 Martin Plaut Ethiopia, News

Hundreds of Jawar Mohammed’s supporters gathered at his residence this morning

Ephream Silesh & Mahlet Fasil

Addis Abeba, October 23/2019 –Protests erupted in several cities and towns across Oromia regional state and various spots surrounding Addis Abeba after Jawar Mohammed, executive director Oromo Media Network (OMN) and prominent activistposted information in his Facebook page that his security detail were told “to pack their stuff and leave the compound quietly without alerting me.”

Jawar has been posting several messages throughout the night including anaudio/video purportedly carrying a conversation between his security detail and a third person who Jawar said was a security official. In it, Jawar’s security can be heard saying they will not leave their post in the middle of the night without replacements.

The area where Jawar’s residence is located at, off Bole road, was quickly flooded by hundreds of his supporters. As of the publishing of this article, standoff continued between his supporters and the police who are trying to disperse the crowd, our reporter, Mahlet Fasil, said from the scene. Protesters are chanting “Jawar, Jawar” and “Down, Down Abiy.”

In a separate part of the city, in Kara Qore area in western Addis Abeba, a counter protest erupted when a group of youth began chanting “Jawar thief”. The Police quickly stepped in to disperse the standoff between his supporters and those protesting against him.

Protesters in Oromia carrying a banner that reads “Touching Jawar if touching our eyes.”

Elsewhere in Oromia, several spontaneous protests broke out including in Ambo, the hotbed of the four years’ Oromo protests prior to Prime Minister Abiy’s assent to power, Haramaya and Bale Robe, among other places. Roads in outskirt areas of the capital Addis Abeba were also blocked by the Oromo youth, Qeerroo.

Speaking a while ago, Endeshaw Tasew, Federal Police Commission Commissioner,denied the reportsthat there were attempts to remove Jawar’s security. “His message that the police were taking measures against him are false. Neither the government nor the police took any measure against him,” he said.

But he admitted that the government has assigned security details for activists and political leaders who returned home from abroad in order to guarantee their safety and security. However, recently, there has been measures to remove private security details based on evaluations and circumstances that indicate low threat levels and increasing stability, according Commissioner Endeshaw. He called for calm and an end to road closures in various places.

Earlier tension

Tension started simmering since yesterday afternoon following Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s speech at the national parliament during a question and answer session with parliamentarians. An MP asked the prime Minister on what measures the government was planning to take to tame media organizations which are “fueling conflict.”

“The media wants to be free, but wanting to be free and managing to be free are different things’, the PM said, adding ethnic, religious and political entrepreneurs were to blame. He further said that the media, rather than trying to facilitate Ethiopia’s peace and democracy, have resorted to collecting funds from a people and ethnic groups they claim to represent and hinted at the broadcast authority to enforce the law without hindering the process of strengthening the media. “Owners of media who are foreign nationals, who do not have an Ethiopian passport, who can leave the country when things go south” should know that the government was practicing patience to broaden the space. “If [you] become a threat against Ethiopia’s peace and survival, whether or not you speak Amharic or Afaan Oromoo, it should be noted that we will take the necessary measures,” the PM said, adding, “we do not have another country we can flee to” and “those of you with [a second] country, if you are willing to help us with our peace, development and democracy then you are welcome”. In what many saw as an accusation directed at Jawar Mohammed, PM Abiy went on to warn that talk of democracy and freedom cannot be used to mask those that profit off of the media and that measures must be taken to control this.

A few minutes after the Prime Minister’s response at the parliament Jawar Mohammedwrote a direct response to PM Abiy, which was written in Afaan Oromo, and posted to his 1.7 million followers on Facebook.

He started off by saying he never fled the country, but left it to study and had to get a foreign passport because the government wouldn’t renew the one he had. “After Woyane was pushed out by the blood and bone of Qeerroo, you had elders to try and convince us not to come back. But we put our people above everything and came home to help you transition this country with the influence and knowledge we have,”he said. He reminded the PM of their meeting in Minnesota and then in Addis Abeba in which he said Oromia was his life and death from then on.

Speaking about his media,OMN, Jawar said they have always respected the laws of the countries in which they operated and kept on reporting the people’s protest despite the millions of dollars spent on lobbying and jamming the media. Respecting the laws and constitution of the country and putting into consideration the current situation of the people and nation would be what they will continue to do so, he further said.

In the last paragraph, Jawar countered the Prime Minister’s accusation saying he didn’t come home to run away when things go south, and he was “here to face all of it with my people” and signed off by saying his assurances were neither the government of Ethiopia nor an American passport, but God and the Oromo people.

Running for office?

On Saturday last week,a breaking news on The Finfinne Intercept, a Facebook page which quickly gained prominence for its inside information, said citing its sources that “activist and political analyst Jawar Mohammed has initiated the process to renounce his US citizenship.”It added that Jawar was “considering running for a seat in the regional or federal legislature in the upcoming election.” Ethiopian social media space was awash with subsequent speculations that he was indeed running for office, a claim he denied during several media interviews he gave in the past expressing his disinterest to participate in politics.

Jawar himself brushed thespeculation with humor: “The story about me running for office is just speculation. I am running to [lose] weight,” he tweeted. But reliable sources close to him toldAddis Standardthat he in fact was considering to run for office. “He sees the Prime Minister’s move to merge EPRDF and create a unified party as a dangerous move that could potentially tip the country into a civil war,” one source said.

In an interview he gave toLTV and was aired last night, Jawar severely criticized PM Abiy’s move and called it a plot to “extend individual’s power” and a recipe to “disintegrate the country”. He also criticized “Medemer”,the book written by PM Abiy Ahmed.

One of the pictures that emerged from today’s protests show a group ofpeople burning several copiesof “Ida’amuu”, the Afaan Oromo equivalent of “Medemer. “AS

20 October 2019

October 19, 2019 Martin Plaut News

Meir Shamgar, former president of Israel’s Supreme Court, has died at the age of 94. He is one of the last members of the Jewish resistance movement that fought the British during World War Two – the Irgun. They were captured and taken to Eritrea where they were imprisoned for the duration of the conflict. Below is Justice Shamgar’s obituary and this is followed by the story I wrote for the BBC. Martin Plaut

October 18, 2019 11:35 am

Former Israeli Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar in 2008. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

(JTA) – Meir Shamgar, a former president of the Israeli Supreme Court who started his legal studies by correspondence in an Eritrean prison, has died. He was 94.

Shamgar, who was deported and jailed because of his activities with the Irgun paramilitary group, served as the head of Israel’s top court from 1983 to 1995. He had joined the court in 1975.

Among his most notable policy changes as president was to lift many limitations on who can petition the court, including nonprofit organizations. The move, which Shamgar’s allies and opponents agree laid the foundations for the court’s judicial activism approach, significantly empowered the court to intervene on government policy, making it a decider in Israeli society rather than merely an arbiter.

In a biography of Shamgar, the Supreme Court said he had been a “champion of free speech” throughout his years as a judge.

Shamgar also headed the committee of investigation that looked into the omissions exposed in the 1995 assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

He “had an important role in shaping the foundation of Israeli jurisprudence, including legal policy in Judea and Samaria,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said about Shamgar in a statement Friday, using the biblical terms for the West Bank.

Born in 1925 in Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland, Shamgar moved to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1939.

Five years later he was arrested by the British for his role in the Irgun, or Etzel, and was sent to Eritrea. In prison there, Shamgar studied law by correspondence with the University of London and, following his release, later completed studies in history and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, appointed Shamgar chief judge advocate general in 1963 – an unusual nomination because in the days leading up to Israel’s creation, Shamgar’s Irgun had been a rival group to Ben-Gurion’s Haganah.

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I wrote the story about the imprisonment of the Jewish fighters for the BBC in 2002.

Here it is: Britain’s ‘Guantanamo Bay’

The controversial detention of alleged al-Qaeda members by the United States at Guantanamo Bay is not the first time difficult prisoners have been held without charge for long periods of time.

Nearly 60 years ago, Britain detained members of the Jewish underground in a similar way.

In October 1944, with the Second World War drawing to a close in Europe, Zionist groups were determined to see the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine once the fighting ended.

But a minority was not prepared to wait that long.

Two groups in particular – the Irgun and the Stern gang – waged a violent campaign against British targets, and a large number were rounded up and detained.

However detention camps in Palestine were difficult to guard, and the authorities looked for somewhere to send their troublesome prisoners, where there would be no friends or family to aid their escape.

The answer the British hit on was Eritrea, which had been captured from the Italians.

On 14 October 1944, 251 of the toughest prisoners were put on planes bound for the capital, Asmara.

Among those who were deported was a man who later became prime minister of Israel: Yitzhak Shamir (of the Stern gang).

Once there, they were sent to Sembel camp, close to the airport, and about two kilometres north of the capital.

Escape attempts

But the prisoners were well motivated, disciplined and organised, and soon set about attempting to escape.

Within weeks the first breakout occurred. The man charged with getting them back was David Cracknell, then deputy commissioner of police.

Inspector Cracknell (centre) with Eritrean colleagues

Now in retirement in Dorset in Britain, he says that during the 20 months that they were in Eritrea, there were in all about 12 escape attempts involving 107 prisoners, of whom 106 were re-captured.

The most daring escape took place in June 1946, when about 50 prisoners broke out of the camp using a 75 metre long tunnel dug under the wire.

The first that Mr Cracknell knew of the escape was when a policeman told him that there had been two or three arrests of strangely dressed individuals, speaking no known language.

One groups of escapees tried to pass themselves off as a British military platoon, complete with fake regimental cap badges, a military policemen with a red cap and white webbing belt and wooden revolver, as well as a major in charge.

Intensive search

This group commandeered a bus and set off for the Ethiopian border.

After about 50 kilometres, the bus ran out of petrol, and the escapees handcuffed the driver and conductor to the steering wheel and set off on foot.

“We spread the news around by radio and runner, and as a result the whole lot were surrounded by villagers and handed over to the police,” Inspector Cracknell remembers.

The late David Cracknell

There still remained a dozen or so at large, and an intensive search was mounted for them.

The British received help from a Yemeni Jew – part of the small Yemeni Jewish population in Asmara.

“I put him on the task of infiltrating any pro-Zionist groups he came across,” says Mr Cracknell.

“He was in touch with me for several days, saying he was making progress, and then suddenly there was no more from him.

“One morning as I got to the office a constable reported that a piece of paper was found fluttering from a window. It was from this missing informer.

“I buckled on my belt and revolver, drove to an Italian villa and went inside. One door was wedged. I put my shoulder to it and broke in.

“‘Don’t shoot, don’t shoot’ came a voice from the darkness. I ordered the lights to be put on and there were eight Jews sitting there, with my informer in the corner, handcuffed and gagged.”

Slipping the net

During that time there were many escapes, and one man managed to get away – Eliyaju Lankin.

After five months he reached Djibouti via Addis Ababa, and finally sailed on a French boat to Marseilles and then on to Paris.

“His name is imprinted on my soul”, says Mr Cracknell.

Among those who attempted to get out was the future prime minister, Yitzhak Shamir.

Cracknell received a commendation for this work

The British were alerted that a further break-out had taken place when Shamir, Meridor and some other senior prisoners were said to have gone missing.

An earlier escapee – Rahamim Mizrahi – had managed to live at large in Asmara and was known to be in touch with Jerusalem by radio to co-ordinate their efforts.

Mr Cracknell sent an Italian police inspector to make links with the Italian underworld to try to discover the whereabouts of the escapees.

“Three weeks later I got a phone call. He was in the port of Masawa. They were in hiding, awaiting the arrival of a Lloyd Triestino boat bound for Italy.

“All I could do was to ensure that no one got on that boat. And so by putting a cordon around it, by floodlighting it, even having police in rowing boats around it, I ensured that no one got on board it.

“When it sailed, I knew that they would have to come back to Asmara.”

Escape route

The Italian inspector discovered that they had arrived in Masawa by water tanker, and so offered to send them back by the same route, for a fee of £60.

His phone call came saying they were leaving at midnight. David Cracknell set an ambush, at a point seven kilometres out of Asmara. At around three o’clock a diesel engine was heard rumbling up the hill.

“As it approached, the police lorry shot across the road. Headlights came on, and the tanker screamed to a halt.

“The terrified driver in the front was handcuffed and the head of criminal intelligence was told to get into the tanker and arrest the three.

“He was very sceptical about the whole exercise. His head popped out, and he said ‘no-one here’. I told him to look down through the baffle plates (at the bottom of the tanker), which are to stop the water surging.

“And sure enough, he caught the three. We grabbed them – including a short, fair-haired chap, who turned out to be Yitzhak Shamir. They were handcuffed and taken back to the camp,” Mr Cracknell said.

It was not long after that in March 1947 when they were packed up and sent off to Gilgil camp in Kenya, where most of them remained until the declaration of the state of Israel.

On the morning of 12 July 1948 the African exile of the members of the Jewish underground ended, as they reached Tel Aviv.

October 17, 2019 Martin Plaut News

Today refugees in UNHCR Libya’s Gathering & Departure Facility (GDF) held a demonstration.

The centre, designed to be a 24-72 hour transit facility for evacuees, has been their home for the last 3 and a half months.

The reason? They came to the centre themselves asking for help.

When the prison where they were being held indefinitely was bombed on July 2, they were left on the street with no access to aid.

So they walked 14 hours on foot to Tripoli to knock on UNHCR’s door.

They were given temporary residence there but have been explicitly told that they will not be evacuated and will soon be sent back out into the streets.

These are people who were forced out of their homes due to war, political or religious persecution, and dictatorships.

Their request? A clear understanding of the vulnerability criteria UNHCR uses for evacuations, an explanation of why they don’t meet that criteria, and a chance to appeal.

To: His Excellency Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali

Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Addis Ababa.

Your Excellency,                     

We, the undersigned Eritrean Political Opposition Organizations and other justice seeking Eritreans in the Diaspora and at home, would like to submit this letter of unequivocal protest on your inaugural speech in the opening ceremony of the Unity Park in Addis Ababa 2019-10-10 pertaining to Eritrea.

We were deeply shocked and embarrassed to hear once again your explicit declaration of representing Eritrea in front of seven African heads of states and representatives of various international organizations, who all very well know that Eritrea is a sovereign country that achieved its independence after 30 years of protracted and costly liberation struggle and should have been represented, as customary, by one of its delegation including one of the two Eritrean ambassadors currently residing in Addis Ababa.

Your Excellency,

You formally announced that you were delegated to represent Eritrea by President Isaias Afwerki; underlined that Eritrea and Ethiopia are so intimately connected and that their relationship has reached such a level of representation, and congratulated the Ethiopian people and all for that achievement.

The Eritrean people value their freedom as well as a good relationship with Ethiopia based on mutual trust and respect. We, the Eritrean Opposition organizations and justice seekers underscore that Eritrea´s fate is decided by its own people and not by a dictator in Asmara. We stand therefore, firm to defend our hard-won independence which we see being gradually eroded and our social fabric destroyed by the dictator in Eritrea. We note and alert all concerned that the patience of our people is wearing thin and they are getting angrier by the day.

Your Excellency,

The world knows the extremely disquieting political, social, economic and human rights situation in Eritrea. It is a country without constitution, no election or elected president, no rule of law and no free press - a country where people are denied to peruse a normal life. Ethiopia and Ethiopians are a living witness of the flooding of thousands of Eritrean refugees including unaccompanied underage children entering your country every day.

The denial of our people’s sovereign and inalienable rights to elect a representative government cannot continue for too long. Until that day, no foreign leader has the legal and moral right to speak on behalf of the Eritrean people.

As we continue to struggle to ameliorate the suffering of our people, we remain certain that the hurdles we as a people face today will be history tomorrow. Peace based on the will and the power of the people will flourish and be asserted. Taking side with the Eritrean people will always be the right path for healthy and good future relations. Those who aspire for a lasting peace in the region should avoid allying with evil forces of tyranny and destruction.

We, once again, express our gratitude to the people and Government of Ethiopia for hosting thousands of Eritrean refugees and the support rendered to them in this difficult time of our history. We call upon Your Excellency, today a Nobel Peace Prize laurate, to seriously reconsider your stance on Eritrea, increase your endeavors of support and solidarity with the Eritrean people and strive at creating lasting peace in the region based on legal framework and institutional relationship between our countries.

Sincerely yours,

1. Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change (ENCDC)
2. Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP)
3. United Eritreans for Justice (UEJ)
4. Baito Yiakl North America

October 15, 2019