OCTOBER 29, 2020 ERITREA HUB NEWS

OCTOBER 28, 2020 ERITREA HUB NEWS

Sources indicate that the Eritrean who has been told to cease his diplomatic duties is Solomon Mehari. The Eritrean Minister of Information, Yemane Gebremeskel, reacted with fury on Twitter

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Minister Blok takes steps against Eritrean consul for coercive fundraising

Source: Trou.nl

Stef Blok, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is leaving the Ministry of General Affairs. Image ANP

Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs is taking steps against the diplomatic representation of Eritrea because it continues to collect money forcibly from fellow countrymen. An employee must stop working for the embassy office in The Hague.

ANP / Editorial office 28 October 2020 , 4:26 PM

The radio program Argos reported on Saturday that the embassy office has collected money from fellow countrymen to help the East African country through the corona crisis. Coercion would have been used in the collection. Eritreans living here were asked to donate at least 100 euros.

The ambassador of Eritrea was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday to clarify the matter. There, the envoy was informed that the local employee has been declared “unacceptable”, said a spokesman for the ministry.

It means that the man has to quit his job for Eritrea’s diplomatic representation. The man sometimes poses as consul of Eritrea, but he is not a diplomat. According to the ministry, he has often been involved in forcibly raising money.

Eritrea asks for money from fellow countrymen all over the world. This so-called diaspora tax is not prohibited, provided it is done without coercion. The cabinet would like to get rid of this diaspora tax, but sees no possibilities to do so. Two years ago, a diplomat from Eritrea had to leave the Netherlands because the embassy office continued to collect money.

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Source: de Telegraaf

“Eritrean embassy employee has to stop” from minister Blok

An employee of the embassy of Eritrea has been ordered to stop his activities by Minister Blok of Foreign Affairs. The man, posing as consul, put Eritreans in the Netherlands under pressure to give money.

Radio program Argos reported on Saturday that the Eritrean representation raised money from fellow countrymen to help the East African country through the corona crisis. People stated that they were being intimidated, including with the threat that family in Eritrea would not receive food coupons if they did not pay.

155,000 euros

The ambassador of Eritrea has today been summoned to the Foreign Office to clarify things. There he was informed that the local employee has been declared “unacceptable”, which means that he is no longer allowed to work for the embassy. According to the ministry, the employee has often been involved in forcibly raising money.

A list that Argos has in its hands shows that at least 155,000 euros has been raised this time. Some come from supporters of the military regime or organizations affiliated with the regime. But the list also includes people who have fled precisely from that regime.

Diaspora tax

Two years ago, the highest Eritrean diplomat, the Netherlands, was expelled because the regime forced Eritreans in the Netherlands to hand over taxes to Eritrea. Intimidation was not shunned, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Zijlstra wrote to the Lower House.

Eritrea asks for money from fellow countrymen all over the world. This diaspora tax is not prohibited, provided it is collected without compulsion.

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The background to this story can be found below.

The_2%_Tax_for_Eritreans_in_the_diaspora

OCTOBER 27, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT NEWS

Source: Africa Express

By Cornelia Toelgyes on October 27, 2020

Special for Africa ExPress
Cornelia I. Toelgyes
27 October 2020

A new fundraiser in the Netherlands puts the Asmara regime in trouble . For months, the embassy of the former Italian colony accredited in The Hague has been knocking on the doors of Eritrean residents in the Netherlands, forcing them to “voluntary” donations of at least one hundred euros to fight the coronavirus.

Now Stef Blok, Dutch foreign minister, has asked the dictatorship for an explanation. The minister stressed that it is really worrying that Eritrean diplomats are again asking for money from their fellow citizens living in the Netherlands. And finally he added: “I do not rule out possible measures against these actions.

Stef Blok. Dutch foreign minister

Already in 2018, Halbe Zijlstra, the then foreign minister, declared the diplomatic representative in The Hague, the chargé d’affaire of Asmara, Tekeste Ghebremedhin Zemuy, as persona non grata, as the regime insisted on demanding money from members of the Eritrean diaspora in the Netherlands. Blok invited the recipients of the unfortunate requests to send a report to the Public Prosecutor, so that he can open a file.

According to a list that was sent to ARGOS , the Dutch radio station, the regime has already collected more or less 155 thousand euros, partly from supporters and organizations sympathetic to the Eritrean dictatorship, but there are also the names of people who fled from the oppression of the government of Isaias Afeworki. In fact, among the recipients there are many refugees already in possession of regular documents and others still waiting in refugee centers. Some confirmed that they had even received threats: if they did not pay, the families who remained in Eritrea would no longer be able to enjoy food stamps.

Isaias Afeworki, president of Eritrea

Isaias’s troubles don’t end in Holland . Reporter sans Frontières Organization (RSF) filed a complaint for crimes against humanity with the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office for International Crimes against the President of Eritrea and 7 other people, for the extra-judicial arrest of the Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak.

Dawit, imprisoned and in total isolation since 2001 in one of the hundreds of prisons throughout the country, is the longest-detained journalist in the world.

Dawit Isaak, Eritrean-Swedish journalist in jail since 2001

RSF denounced not only Isaias, president of Eritrea since 1993, but also three ministers – the head of the department of Justice, Information and Foreign Affairs, as well as four other people (administrative and security officers).

Journalist and poet of Eritrean origins, with a Swedish passport in his pocket, Dawitt had returned to Asmara to found a newspaper aimed at launching new reforms, strongly supported by the then Minister of Fisheries, Petros Solomon (former Minister of the Interior, then of Foreign Affairs) and by the other 14 “dissidents” also sunk in the regime’s prisons in September 2001. The arrest of the journalist coincides with the request of the “fifteen” to publish the application of the Constitution in the local media, ready but closed in a drawer since 1996.

In these 19 years Dawit has never been allowed to meet his lawyers, much less his family members, representatives of the UN or the Swedish government. The last evidence of existence in life dates back to 2005. He is probably held captive in the Eiraeiro Detention Center, in the middle of the desert of the Northern Red Sea region, where sun-heated containers are used as cells.

Cornelia I. Toelgyes
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@cotoelgyes

OCTOBER 27, 2020 ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Source: BBC Tigrinya

[Note: Partial computer translation. Original below plus further information]

Debretsion Gebremichael, President of the Tigray Regional State, has sent a letter to the 70 leading countries of the world.

The Federal Government of Tigray State has sent a budget to the Federal Government of Tigray State.

Let us test the infrastructure and social services of the Federal Government of Tigray.

If I lose my temper, I will lose my temper.

ዶ/ር ደብረጽዮን ንልዕሊ 70 መራሕቲ ሃገራት፡ ዞባውን ዓለምለኻዊ ውድባትን ደብዳበ ሰዲዶም

ቅድሚ ሓደ ሰዓት

ርእሰ ምምሕዳር ክልል ትግራይ ዶክተር ደብረጽዮን ገብረሚካኤል: ንልዕሊ 70 መራሕቲ ሃገራት፡ ዞባውን ዓለምለኻዊ ውድባትን፡ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ነዚ [ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ] ዝካየድ ዘሎ ፖለቲካዊ ኩነታት ክከታተሎን ዝምሕጸን ደብዳቤ ሰዲዶም።

መንግስቲ ክልል ትግራይን ፌዴራልን ነንሕድሕዶም ኣፍልጦ ስለዝተኸላልኡ፡ መንግስቲ ፌዴራል ንመንግስቲ ክልል ትግራይ ባጀት ብምኽልካሉ ነቲ ወጥሪ አዕሪጉዎ ኣሎ።

እቲ ንማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ዝተዘርገሐ ደብዳበ፡ መንግስቲ ፌደራል፡ ንትግራይ ኣብ ዝምደብ በጀት ብምኽልካል መሰረተ ልምዓትን ማሕበራዊ ኣገልግሎት ክቖርጽ እንተፈቲኑ: ኣብ ሰላምን ሓድነትን እታ ሃገር ሓደገኛ ኣሉታዊ ፅልዋ ከምዝህልዎ ኣፍሊጡ።

• “ዝተዓጽወ መንገዲ ከተኽፍት ዘይትኽእል እንተኾይንካ፡ ስልጣን ምልቃቕ እዩ”
• ስለምንታይ’ዩ: ዘረባ ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ ንብዙሓት ዘይተውሓጠሎም?

ብሰንኩ ንዝመጽእ ሳዕቤን ድማ፡ እቲ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘሎ ሓይሊ ከምዝሕተቱሉ እቲ ደብዳበ የፍልጥ።

መንግስቲ ፈደራል፡ ብመሰረት ውሳኔ ቤት ምኽሪ ፌዴሬሽን ንመንግስቲ እቲ ክልል ዝወሃብ ባጀት ከምዘየሎ ንታሕተዎት ምምሕዳራት፡ ንወረዳታት፡ ከተማታትን ቑሸታትን ሓገዝ ዝወሃበሉ ኣገባብ ኣሰራርሓ ከምዘመቻቹ ምግላጹ ይዝከር።

እቲ ናብ መራሕቲ ሃገራት ዓለም ዝተጻሕፈ ደብዳበ እቲ ብሕታዊ መፍትሒ ናይዚ ሽግር፡ እቲ ብፈደራሊስት ሓይልታት ዝቐረበ ሰላማዊ እማመ ምዃኑን ንህወሓትን ህዝቢ ትግራይን ብተናፀል ዝካየድ እማመ ፍታሕ ከምዘየምጽእ ይሕብር።

ዛጊድ እቲ ብኣውሮጳዊ ሕብረት ዝተጀመረ ስጉምቲ ዝንኣድ ይኹን እምበር ምስቲ እታ ሃገር ኣትያቶ ዘላ ቅልውላውን ከጋጥም ዝኽእል ሓደጋ ምብታታንን ግን ዝመጣጠን ኣይኮነን ይብል እቲ ደብዳበ።

ሕዚ እውን እታ ሃገር ኣጓኒፍዋ ዘሎ ፀገም ኣብ ምፍታሕ: ንኹሎም ሓይልታት ዘካተት ልዝብ ከምዘድልን ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ግደኡ ክፍጽምን መንግስቲ ትግራይ በቲ ዝጸሓፎ መልእኽቲ ደጊሙ ጸዊዑ።

እቲ ደብዳቤ፡ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ስለዘጽቀጠ፡ ዶ/ር ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ ነቲ ዘይሕገ መንግስታዊ ተግባራቱ ክደፍአሉ ኣኽኢልዎ እዩ ክብል ይነቅፍ። ኣብዚ እዋን፡ መንግስቲ ፈደራል ምስ ህዝቢ ናብ ኵናት ክኣቱን ኣብ ልዕሊ ደሞክራስያዊ ስርዓት ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ልዕሊ ሓድነት ሃገር እውን ሓደጋ የውርድን ኣሎ ኢሉ።

ድሕሪ እቲ ኣብ ሚያዝያ 2018 ዝተኸስተ ለውጢ ክልቲኦም ወገናት ነዊሕ ከይጸንሑ ብጥሕሰት ሕገ መንግስቲ ክካሰሱ ምጽንሖም ይፍለጥ። ብሰንኩ ከኣ እቲ ኣብ መንጎኦም ዝነበረ ዝምድና ኣዝዩ ላሕሊሑ ሓደገኛ ክስተት ከይፍጠር ስግኣት ምህለው ፖለቲከኛታት እታ ሃገር ይገልጹ።

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Source: Ezega News

Isaias Afwerki, Abiy Ahmed Plotting War Against Tigray Region: TPLF

By Staff Reporter

October 25, 2020 (Ezega.com) — The Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) said Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed are plotting war against it and the people of Tigray.

In a statement issued over the weekend, TPLF called on the people of Eritrea and Ethiopian defence forces to stand by its side to avert the bloodshed and end autocratic rules of the leaders.

“The leaders are cementing personal relations by ignoring brotherly ties between the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia and the dictator leaders would be held accountable for all chaos that may happen,” the statement said.

TPLF blamed Prime Minister Abiy for seizing power illegally and practicing a unitary administration and bargaining to sell the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in exchange of  big ransom.

It also accused Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of committing treason through establishing alliance with foreign forces in a bid to surrender the people and governing party of the Tigray region.

“Abiy’s led government does not have legal ground to conduct restructuring of the regiments in the army as its term had already ended on October 5, 2020. Accordingly, the decisions with regard to the army’s restructure are not acceptable,” the statement reads

The governing party of Tigray also urged members of the federal army to refuse commands from Abiy who is commander in chief of the Ethiopian defence forces.

The statement further said the planned regiments that will be deployed in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar city are intended to surrender the Tigray government.

The regional government has demanded the federal government to release the annual budget to the Tigray region without any preconditions. “TPLF said the budget is reimbursement the region had paid in the form taxes to the federal government and the ‘illegal force’ does not have legal ground to freeze the budget.” it said.

“If the” illegal force” cuts the budget to the Tigray region against the constitutional right of the people in Tigray, it will be tantamount to declaring war and the authorities in Addis Ababa will be held accountable for all chaos that will happen thereof.”

Relations between Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigray region have been deteriorating after the latter unilaterally held elections last September in defiance of the upper house’s decision to postpone national polls due to Covid-19.

The Upper House of the Federal Parliament later voted to exclude the region from official matters and imposed a range of harsh measures, including budget cuts, against the region.

Critics say although Abiy had ruled out military action against the region, war  could break out soon if disputes continue this way.

https://martinplaut.com/2020/10/25/israel-sudan-agreement-will-ease-deportation-of-asylum-seekers-sources-say/

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The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants said it was too early to predict the implications of normalization. “Israel has diplomatic relations with Eritrea and with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and at the same time it maintains a policy of non-refoulement in regard to their citizens who seek asylum in Israel. Even if Israel were to end its non-refoulement policy in regard to Sudan, the state will still be obligated to examine all the asylum requests from Sudanese citizens – an obligation Israel has evaded for over a decade, with various excuses,” the group said.

Source: Ha’aretz

Establishment of ties is expected to change policy, despite international refugee convention mandating that asylum applications be examined on case-by-case basis

Noa Landau, Lee Yaron | Oct. 25, 2020

The planned normalization of relations with Sudan will facilitate the repatriation of asylum seekers back to that northeast African country, sources in Israel say.

While Israel has in the past cited the principle of non-refoulement for its agreement not to forcibly repatriate asylum seekers from Eritrea, with Sudan the official position is that the absence of diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Khartoum prevents Israel from deporting Sudanese nationals.

The establishment of ties is expected to change that stance, despite international conventions mandating that asylum applications be examined on a case-by-case basis.

According to the UN Refugee Convention and statements by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in recent months, even if a peace agreement is reached, removing one of the obstacles to repatriation, Israel is still obligated to examine all applications for refugee status. The convention prohibits deporting anyone to a country where their life or liberty are in danger, and in recent days a number of massacres have been reported in Sudan.

In a statement Saturday, the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants said it was too early to predict the implications of normalization. “Israel has diplomatic relations with Eritrea and with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and at the same time it maintains a policy of non-refoulement in regard to their citizens who seek asylum in Israel. Even if Israel were to end its non-refoulement policy in regard to Sudan, the state will still be obligated to examine all the asylum requests from Sudanese citizens – an obligation Israel has evaded for over a decade, with various excuses,” the group said.

“It’s important to note that Sudan’s leaders today are the same generals that perpetrated the genocide in Darfur and the ethnic cleansings in the Nuba Hills and in the Blue Nile. Unfortunately, also in recent months a numbers of horrific massacres have been reported against, among others, internally displaced people who sought to return to their lands. We share the hope of the Sudanese asylum seekers to return to their country in peace and in security, without any fear for their lives or their liberty.”

On the eve of his February visit to Uganda, where he met with Sudanese officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a promise to the Likud Central Committee: “We stopped a million infiltrators from entering the country from Sinai. A huge difference. We have already removed one-third of those who still got in, and we’re going to remove the remaining two-thirds. We’re working on it; you’ll hear news soon.”

In late September, the High Court of Justice extended by three months the state’s deadline for deciding the status of asylum seekers from Darfur, after the state informed the court of secret developments in relations with Sudan “that could affect the result of the petition” to the court, according to the ruling. Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and justices Yael Willner and George Karra ruled that in light of the classified materials submitted to them, they would allow the state to submit an additional update in January before ruling on the case.

In March 2019, the court ordered the state to explain why it refused to give temporary resident status to Darfuris. Since then, the state has repeatedly postponed replying to the court with various excuses; then in September came the three-month extension.

There are currently 6,285 Sudanese citizens in Israel, one-fifth of all asylum seekers. They have fled the genocide in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile region since 2003.

In other places around the world, Darfuris are usually granted refugee status. In Israel, 4,500 of them have filed for refugee status but have been waiting for an answer for years, some for over a decade. Israel has not replied to their requests either way. Only in one case was refugee status granted to a Sudanese national. Without an answer to their applications, most asylum seekers from Sudan live in Israel without legal status or rights.

UNHCR officials have said that in light of the relations between Israel and Sudan and Israel’s protection of Sudanese asylum seekers over the past 15 years, the situation must be examined cautiously, “even in light of the political changes in Sudan, the continuing crises in conflict regions and the quality of the diplomatic relations between the states.”

Sharon Harel, a senior official with the UN refugee agency in Tel Aviv, told Haaretz in the past that if conditions changed so as to enable the safe return of refugees to Sudan, the agency could assist with “voluntary” repatriation.

“There are thousands of pending asylum applications from Sudanese citizens,” she said. “Those of asylum seekers who still claim their lives would be in danger if they were returned must be examined in accordance with international standards as part of the convention on refugees.”

OCTOBER 25, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT NEWS

Source: The Conversation

October 25, 2020 

Author

1. Martin Plaut

   Senior Research Fellow, Horn of Africa and Southern Africa, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study

Disclosure statement

Martin Plaut is affiliated with the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, University of London

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Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki in China in the 1960s. He is fifth from the left, rear row.

There are few leaders as enigmatic as Eritrea’s president, Isaias Afwerki.

In my book, Understanding Eritrea: Inside Africa’s Most Repressive State, I profile the president who led the country as it fought for its freedom from Ethiopia for 30 years, only to then turn on his own people.

Eritrea has been independent since 1993 but has no constitution and no parliament. No budget has ever been published. Elections have never been held and Isaias’s opponents languish in jail.

The president is a brooding, taciturn figure, who has dominated Eritrean politics since the 1970s.

Isaias was born in the Aba Shi’aul district of the Eritrean capital, Asmara, in February 1942. The son of an employee of the state tobacco company, he attended the Prince Makonnen Secondary School. At the time Eritrea was an integral part of Ethiopia.

In 1965 he left to study engineering in Addis Ababa. In October the following year he abandoned his studies and joined the Eritrean Liberation Front in the Sudan, which was fighting for Eritrea’s independence. No sooner was he a member of the front than he began plotting against its leaders.

He declared that the organisation was dominated by Muslims and participated in a series of splits that created the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front in 1974-75.

Isaias has effectively led the party since its inception.

In May 1991 his fighters marched into Asmara, finally ending the 30-year war of independence. Isaias continues to lead both the country and his party, which changed its name to the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice in February 1994.

Living without freedom

Eritrea is a nation living without freedom. It is “the country that’s never had an election” and is today among the most repressive states in Africa. The regime’s human rights abuses are well documented.

Since Isaias rules without reference to a constitution or parliament, and without an independent judiciary, one can only conclude that these abuses are instituted at his insistence. The president surrounds himself with a small coterie of military and party officials who do his bidding.

As the US State Department’s 2019 annual report stated:

Eritrea is a highly centralised, authoritarian regime under the control of President Isaias Afwerki.

Isaias expects the same unquestioning discipline and obedience from the general population that he expected of his troops during the war of independence. Control is enforced through a system of indefinite national conscription, which all healthy citizens are required to undertake. This is meant to last 18 months, but can continue for 20 years and more. The UN has declared it a form of slavery.

Quite how this came about is something of a puzzle, even for some of Isaias’s once close associates. Bereket Habteselassie, drafter of Eritrea’s unimplemented constitution, says this in his book, Desecrators of the Sacred Trust:

A question that everybody asks – one for which there has been no clear and unequivocal answer thus far – is: How did Isaias succeed in convincing everybody to let him do as he pleased, whatever he wanted for all those years?

Part of the answer lies in Isaias’s personality: an intelligent, secretive man, he has a highly developed sense of insecurity. In a leaked assessment from Ronald McMullen, the American ambassador to Asmara in 2008, the president was described as “paranoid”. At the time, Isaias believed that both Ethiopia and the US were attempting to kill him.

As a result he was reported to switch plates with subordinates, apparently to avoid being poisoned, and to sleep in different locations to foil a coup or assassination attempt.

The ambassador’s report points to another key to Isaias’s policies: the fact that he was trained in China at the time of Chairman Mao’s notorious cultural revolution, during which millions were killed. The American ambassador quotes the Chinese ambassador to Eritrea as saying “he learned all the wrong things”.

Ruthless authoritarian

When Isaias founded the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front he also established a secret, controlling “party within a party” – the Eritrean People’s Revolutionary Party.

He used this organisation, sometimes referred to as the People’s Party, to ruthlessly crush his rivals, both on the left and on the right. Eliminating challenges to his rule has been a constant ever since. Whether they were wounded liberation fighters who complained about their treatment soon after independence, or soldiers asking for pay, he has not hesitated to use force to end any signs of opposition.

This culminated in 2001 in the arrest and incarceration without trial of senior liberation front leaders and journalists, some of whom had been with the front for decades. Their “crime” was to question his handling of the disastrous border war with Ethiopia (1998–2000) and his failure to fulfil his promise to implement a democracy. Those who were rounded up have not been seen since.

Yet Isaias has not survived by brute force alone. Sections of the community still revere him as the leader who brought about independence. He is also a skilled regional tactician. Although he does not tolerate Islamist movements in his own country, Isaias did not hesitate to link up with Islamist groups in Somalia (including al-Shabaab) when it suited his aim to undermine neighbouring Ethiopia, which was deeply involved in Somali affairs. This resulted in limited UN sanctions against Eritrean leaders in 2009, which were lifted nine years later.

Because of complex feuds going back to the 1970s, Isaias is bitterly opposed to the leadership of the neighbouring Ethiopian province of Tigray. He welcomed the election of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in April 2018, which saw the end of Tigrayan dominance of Ethiopia.

This, in turn, allowed a settlement of the border dispute between the two countries. It also opened the way to a peace agreement between Isaias and Ahmed, signed in Saudi Arabia.

The peace agreement cemented relations between Eritrea, the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, both of which have bases in Eritrea from where they conduct their wars in Yemen and Libya. Ordinary Eritreans have seen few benefits from the agreement. Food and even water are scarce, electricity is intermittent and the land border with Ethiopia remains closed.

Isaias Afwerki has been at the helm of Eritrean politics since the 1970s. Despite growing opposition among Eritrea’s large and influential diaspora, there are few signs of an effective challenge to his rule.

OCTOBER 26, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Tensions ratcheting up

One does not have to look hard to see the warnings. The media are full of images of Tigray preparing for a conflict.

Long standing observers of Ethiopia (and Tigray in particular) like Professor Tronvoll, has sounded a warning.

 

Professor Tronvoll provided further details in a Facebook post. He warned of the dangers ahead and berated the international community for their lack of attention to this situation. Why, he asked, is there so little apparent action to prevent a conflict?His warning is timely.

Here are recent developments:

• The Ethiopian parliament cut its ties with Tigray after the Tigrayans held a regional election on 9 September that the Addis government deemed “illegal”.
• Tigray accused the federal government of freezing the quarterly budget of 285 million birr, that the World Bank provided for the implementation of safety net programs in the region.
• The ruling Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) issued a statement accusing Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of plotting war against Tigray. Over the weekend the TPLF called on the people of Eritrea and the Ethiopian defence forces to stand by its side to avert the bloodshed and end autocratic rules of the leaders. “The leaders are cementing personal relations by ignoring brotherly ties between the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia and the dictator leaders would be held accountable for all chaos that may happen,” the statement said.
• Daniel Berhane – founder of Horn Affairs wrote in a Tweet: “#Ethiopia‘s army Northern Command in limbo. Former command head resigned and #Tigray wouldn’t accept Abiy Ahmed’s new appointee. Further, Tigray declared Abiy can not make any decision regarding the army. In effect, Tigray took over the most heavily armed wing of the military.”
• In his first foreign interview with the Financial Times in February 2019 Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed underlined  tensions with Tigray. In the interview the prime minister professed to be unfazed by the forces he had unleashed. ‘”Yesterday they were on the streets of Mekelle insulting me,” he said, referring to the Tigrayan capital. “But I love that. That is democracy.” Mr Abiy said he wanted to secure peace by persuasion, not through military pacification. “Negative peace is possible as long as you have a strong army. We are heading to positive peace,” he said.’ That was then. Now the situation looks rather different.

Tigray acted earlier this year to prevent heavy weaponry with Ethiopia’s army’s Northern Command from being withdrawn from the region. Below is what was reported on this blog in January.

The situation is tense and it would take very little for a war involving Ethiopian federal forces and Eritrean troops against Tigray to erupt.

Below are two articles which provide the context for this situation.

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Tigray protest halts army’s attempt to move heavy weapons to Oromia

JANUARY 1, 2019 MARTIN PLAUT ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Popular protests on Monday prevented the Ethiopian army from transferring its heavy weapons from north-eastern Tigray.

The events took place in Gulo Mekeda, close to the town of Zalambessa, which borders on Eritrea.

After a daylong standoff, the military held discussions with local people and agreed to remain there until replacements arrived.

The people of Tigray are sceptical about the policies of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, whom they accuse of working with Eritrean President, Isaias Afwerki. They believe this has made Tigray vulnerable to potential attacks from Eritrea.

Since reconciliation between Eritrea and Ethiopia and Prime Minister Abiy’s trip to Asmara in July, Tigrayans have been warily watching developments on both sides of the border. They have insisted that the army’s artillery stays in their area to protect them.

Why the military wants to move its artillery

Ethiopia’s federal army believes it requires its armaments to prepare for a possible conflict in Oromia.

Since the return of rebels of the Oromo Liberation Front from exile in Eritrea there have been clashes between OLF forces and government soldiers throughout the state of Oromia.

The Tigrayans mounting the roadblocks in Gulo Mekeda were not convinced, arguing that the OLF doesn’t have heavy weapons, while the Eritreans do.

The recent closure of the Eritrea – Ethiopian border has only fuelled Tigrayan distrust of President Isaias and Prime Miniser Abiy.

Ethiopia has experienced ethnic conflicts in many parts of the country after Prime Minister Abiy ended the dominance of the centre over regional parties.

Currently there are close to 3 million people displaced within Ethiopia.

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Old enemies, old friends: the Eritrea – Tigray relationship

FEBRUARY 19, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT ETHIOPIA, NEWS

The complex and sometimes hostile relationship of the Eritrean and Tigrayan authorities appears to have hit another low.

An official statement from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) [below] contained strong warnings for President Isaias. He was told not to interfere in Ethiopian affairs.

Esteemed People of Eritrea

The people of Tigrai and TPLF have never wavered or compromised on the quest of the Eritrean people for freedom. As a result of the sacrifices we jointly made, we won over the brutal Dergi regime and achieved victory. You have determined your destiny and the people of Tigrai and the TPLF are, as always, proud of this achievement. Nonetheless, in the last 20 years we had been locked in an unnecessary conflict and we both paid dearly as a result. We all realize the scar this has left.

It should not be forgotten that the relationship between the TPLF and the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) have been littered with periods of cooperation and conflict.

The EPLF helped the TPLF when the Tigrayan movement was first formed, with training and equipment. They then fell out over strategy and tactics, before cementing an alliance that resulted in their forces co-ordinating the capture of Asmara and Addis Ababa in 1991. Eritrean troops even provided Prime Minister Meles with security in the first months of his rule.

But bitter disputes have also characterised their relationship. The Eritrean closed the route into Tigray at the height of the 1984-85 famine, leading to thousands of deaths. PM Meles warned his Eritrean hosts not to ‘scratch old wounds’ when he came to celebrate the formal independence of Eritrea in 1993. And – of course – there was the tragic border war of 1998, sparked by a conflict over the village of Badme.

Now there is increasing tension along the Eritrea-Ethiopia border once more. The TPLF blocked the removal of heavy weapons and equipment by the authorities in Addis Ababa in January 2019. The Tigrayans feared renewed fighting along the border.

Tigrayans blocked military trucks from leaving Shire and Zalambessa, January 2019

There is now a war of words once more, while the land border between Eritrea and Eritrea is closed.

The bitter words from the TPLF were matched by President Isaias, during his recent interview on Eritrean television.

An extract of what President Isaias had to say is below.

 

OCTOBER 24, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT NEWS

3 refugees from Eritrea alleged forced work at a gold, copper and zinc mine controlled by Nevsun

Source: CBC

Landmark settlement is a message to Canadian companies extracting resources overseas: Amnesty International

Yvette Brend · CBC News · Posted: Oct 23, 2020 4:13 PM PT | 

A general view shows the sag mill and ball mill within the processing plant at the Bisha Mining Share Company (BMSC) in Eritrea, operated by Canadian company Nevsun Resources, on Feb. 18, 2016. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

A human rights lawsuit alleging slavery and torture has been settled outside of court with a Canadian mining company for an undisclosed but “significant” amount, according to Amnesty International.

In February 2020 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the case could be heard in B.C. despite the fact it involved events in Africa.

The terms of the settlement remain confidential but human rights advocates say the outcome of this legal proceeding will resonate.

• Forced labour lawsuit against Vancouver mining company can proceed

Tara Scurr is the business and human rights campaigner for Amnesty International Canada.

She says this case — brought forward by three refugees from Eritrea — involved allegations of torture, slavery and other human rights abuses.

Precedent-setting case

The fact that the Canadian mining company opted to settle the dispute will send a message.

“It’s a precedent-setting case. It’s the first time that level of human rights abuse has been brought before a Canadian court for the activities of a Canadian extractives company overseas,” said Scurr.

She said this serves as an example that such cases can be heard in Canada and result in significant settlements with corporations.

Nevsun Resources’ gold and copper mine in the Bisha mining district in northern Eritrea, adjacent to Sudan. (CBC)

The case was first filed in 2014 by former mine workers Gize Yebeyo Araya, Kesete Tekle Fshazion and Mihretab Yemane Tekle.

The trio of Eritrean refugees alleged that Nevsun was responsible for benefiting from human rights abuses including slavery, forced labour, torture and crimes against humanity during construction of its copper and gold mine in Eritrea.

Amnesty International said in a news release that the terms of the settlement between the company and the three refugees are confidential.

The secretary general of Amnesty International Canada lauded the courage of the mine workers who came forward with their “horrific” experiences in a “groundbreaking” lawsuit.

“These individuals helped pave the way for corporate accountability overseas. Canadian companies must take responsibility for alleged human rights abuses associated with their operations, not just on Canadian soil, but anywhere in the world,” said Ketty Nivyabandi.

Supreme Court allowed case to proceed in British Columbia

In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court dismissed Nevsun’s appeal of the case and allowed it to proceed in B.C., affirming that international law applied to both states and corporations and making it clear that companies can be tried in Canada over serious allegations in other countries.

During the proceedings Nevsun denied that the company or any subsidiaries enlisted the Eritrean military to build the mine or supply labour, and said the refugees behind the court action were not mistreated.

B.C. courts dismissed Nevsun’s attempts to make Eritrea the forum for the lawsuit.

In its March decision, the Supreme Court rejected the company’s argument that Canadian courts are precluded from assessing the sovereign acts of a foreign government, including Eritrea’s national military service program.

The court also noted that customary international law — the common law of the international legal system — embraces fundamental norms, including prohibitions against slavery, forced labour and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Scurr said the trio who first brought the case continue to suffer trauma because of their experiences.

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She said workers described being bound and beaten, tied up in the hot sun and left for hours, while earning about $30 US per month. There was no sick leave and they faced retribution that affected their families if they took any leave.

She said the settlement is a relief for the families, despite the fact details about who was involved won’t be publicized.

“It saves them giving testimony, giving evidence, having every single issue scrutinized and debated while they are still recovering from the terrific abuses they suffered. In fact, fantastic for them that the case has been settled. I know that they are very happy.”

CBC reached out to former Nevsun executives who declined comment.

Requests to Zijin Mining Group Company, a Chinese company that acquired Nevsun in 2018 for $1.9 billion, have gone unanswered.

In previous statements, Nevsun denied all allegations and said it planned to “vigorously defend itself in court.”