Just six days after four senior Ethiopian Air Force pilots defected to Kenya, the Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) news agency is reporting yet another air force desertion.

The Amsterdam-based network says an Ethiopian Mi-35 Air Force pilot has defected and joined the exiled Ethiopian opposition, and added more information will be revealed soon.

ESAT didn't reveal which neighboring country the pilot defected to, but it's highly likely to be Eritrea, since it's the only country bordering Ethiopia that protects Ethiopian asylum seekers.

In its report, ESAT also revealed the names of the four Ethiopian Air Force pilots that defected to Kenya on December 31st. They are MiG-23 pilot, Capt. Gezakegn Derese and three MI-35 Helicopter pilots, Capt. Daniel Girma, Lieut. Masresha Sette, and Bruk Atnae.

Over the last 10 months, a total of 16 Ethiopian Air Force pilots (not including technicians) have defected to neighboring countries; with predominantly of them to Eritrea. The absconding pilots brought with them various multi million dollar military aircrafts, making their desertion a costly blow to the TPLF regime.

By Vice

Sweden has had a pretty rough year politically. With the general election held in September and bigoted far-right Sweden Democrats trying to bring down every government prioritising other social issues than immigration, it's hard to avoid politics. And evidently, it's not only Sweden that's had a year of narrow-minded opinions taking place on a wider stage in the limelight. Which is why it's about time we hand over the stage to Sa'ra Charismata, a lady determined to speak up against social and economic injustices. Born and raised in Sweden, with parents fleeing the conflict in Eritrea in the 70s, this lady knows how to speak – ehrm, sing – her mind.

Part-time Brooklyn based Sa'ra's tour staring in January will take place on various colleges in Sweden. Why? Well, Sa'ra says that, "Concentration of young people is a vital component of social change as they tend to have the most freedom to question the moral and spiritual health of a nation." And what better way to involve young people in the act of questioning corporate interests than to make your music available to all? So here you go, listen to "SHEEP (Let me go)" below.

Just hours after the Danish Immigration Service (DIS) released its fact-finding mission report on the real human rights situation in Eritrea last month, the so-called Eritrean opposition groups, Human Rights Watch, and other human rights charlatans were frantically trying to spin the news anyway they can.

Among the first to complain about the report was Professor Gaim Kibreab, who whined on various European news outlets claiming the Danish team had taken what he said out of context, even though immediately after reading the report, the aging intellectual had expressed to DIS via emails that it was a “well written and informative report."

But if there was a need to complain about the report, it would be DIS' decision to interview Professor Gaim. Seeing how the professor hasn't even been in Eritrea in over 30 years, and is actively involved in trying to bring a regime change to the country, Eritreans were left questioning why the Danish team even bothered to present him as an authority on the current human rights situation in Eritrea.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has one of the most extreme and biased narratives of Eritrea's human rights, dismissed the Danish report as being 'deeply flawed' in its short report. Predictably, it provided no evidence for such a bold claim. Instead, HRW did what it does best: it filled its report with more unsubstantiated claims and negative opinions on Eritrea's human rights record from the comfort of their cubicles in New York City.

Perhaps the most legitimate criticism against the DIS report came from one of its own members. Weise Olesen, who was part of the fact finding mission to Eritrea, complained they didn't do enough to interview Eritrean "refugees" in Ethiopia. But as Lene Vejrum, Vice president of HR at the Immigration Service, points out, "There is no evidence in the claim of disagreements over the content of the report."

So if there is no disagreements on the content of their report, then what is driving certain media outlets to use terms such as 'controversial', 'deeply flawed', and other weasel phrases to describe the report, especially when the report is mostly comprised of interviews with Western diplomats, International Organizations, NGOs and UN agencies based in Eritrea?

It seems the unwarranted attack on the DIS report is a classic example of shooting the messenger with the goal of negating the messages. After all, when a UN official based in Eritrea says, "Hardly any Eritrean leaves their country for political reasons"[1], this is as credible as sources get in the region. This is probably why HRW, which blames Eritrean migration on "political repression", is attacking the messenger instead of challenging the UN official who actually made the statement.

What the DIS report unintentionally did was expose a decade-long narrative on Eritrea that is so perverse and extremely negative that any group reporting otherwise, no matter how credible their sources are, are attacked vehemently by a myriad of opposition groups, Ethiopian regime supporters, and human rights organizations who have invested a considerable amount of time and energy to make this extremely negative narrative stick.

In the case with human rights organizations, the reason why their reports on Eritrea are contradictory from the claims made in the DIS report is because they rely heavily on obscure Eritrean opposition websites that regularly fabricate, or exaggerate their stories. Even their most credible sources, which come from interviews with Eritrean "refugees", are unreliable sources of information as many investigative reporters on Eritrean migrants have come to find out.

In 2012, Danny Adino Ababa, an Israeli reporter who went undercover posing as a migrant in Tel Aviv, shed light on a popular false story Eritrean and African migrants like to sell to UNHCR and human rights agencies in order to stay in their host countries:

My cover story has not been finalized yet, but luckily I run into Jeremiah, who’s been in Israel for three years now. “What do I tell those who ask how I got into Israel?” I ask him. “Lie,” he says. “Don’t tell the whole story. The Israelis, and mostly the non-profit groups working with the infiltrators here, like to be lied to.”

“Say you were a soldier, and that if you return to Eritrea you’ll get a death sentence. Keep in mind that you must be consistent with your story. The bottom line is that everyone uses the story I’m telling you here, and this way they fool everybody,” he says. “Almost none of them arrived on foot from Egypt to Israel. None of us crossed any deserts…it’s all nonsense.” 

It is from these synchronized and rehearsed lies from Eritrean migrants that HRW and other organizations use to paint an extremely gloomy human rights situation in Eritrea that doesn't exist in reality. We know it doesn't exist because Eritreans, UN agencies and Western diplomats in Eritrea are saying it's not true, and that the reason why Eritrean migrants leave is for "economic reasons".

Indeed, a Western diplomat in Eritrea, who was given the alias "Western embassy (D)" in the Danish report, stated: “most people who leave Eritrea do so for economic reasons and because of lack of livelihood opportunities and not because of political repression”.[2]

Another Western official in Asmara, who was given the alias "Western embassy (B)", took it a step further and claimed that 99.9 percent of Eritreans who leave their country are economic migrants, not refugees.[3] This figure isn't the first time to be claimed, either.

In 2012, the former Israeli head of the Population, Immigration and Borders Authority, Mí. Yaakov Ganot acknowledged that “in our examinations, I would say that 99.9 percent of them [Eritreans] are here for work. They’re not asylum seekers: they are not at any risk.”

The Western embassy (B) diplomat went on to inform DIS that "only very few Eritreans have genuine reasons for claiming political asylum abroad."[4] And warned: "If the Western European countries do not halt its policies of granting asylum automatically to more or less all Eritrean asylum seekers they will see a steady increase in the number of Eritreans coming to Europe."[5]

This policy of granting automatic asylum for Eritreans in Western countries began in 2004, when UNHCR shifted its policy position on Eritrea by designating all Eritrean asylum-seekers with prima facie status (i.e. automatic recognition of Eritreans en masse). In essence, this controversial and politically motivated policy is arguably the biggest pull factor of Eritrean migration to Western countries. What this policy did was force the hand of Western countries to accept Eritrean economic migrants as refugees. Thus, by rewarding them with asylum statuses and removing the criminal aspect of their illegal migration, this induced more Eritrean migrants to head for wealthy Western countries, and made other African migrants pretend to be Eritrean when entering Western countries.

UNHCR said it shifted its policy due to Eritrea's alleged poor Human Rights situation, but Western officials and UN agencies working inside the country disagree with this claim. For instance, Western diplomat (B) informed DIS that the human rights situation in the country is "no worse than in most other African countries",[6] and emphasized "There are no mass violations of human rights in Eritrea".[7]

The diplomat went on to explain that,

Eritrea has fallen victim to a massive propaganda campaign from other countries, especially Ethiopia and its allies, as well as from the Diaspora and Eritrean asylum seekers. Human rights reports from international NGOs either lack knowledge of Eritrea or they are part of the propaganda against the country. The human rights situation in Eritrea is not as bad as it has been described.[8] 

In the end, no matter how many times these aforementioned human rights groups attempt to dismiss the Danish fact-finding mission team, they can never dismiss what those Western sources working and living in Eritrea said in the report. After all, if they are saying these external human rights organizations' reports on Eritrea are false, then who are they to question them from their cubicles in the West?

_______________________________________
References:
1. Page 7, http://www.nyidanmark.dk/NR/rdonlyres/B28905F5-5C3F-409B-8A22-0DF0DACBDAEF/0/EritreareportEndeligversion.pdf
2. Page 7, Ibid.
3. Page 44, Ibid.
4. Page 42, Ibid
5. Page 42, Ibid.
6. Page 44, Ibid.
7. Page 44, Ibid.
8. Page 44, Ibid

By Sokore Waqo | Janurary 4, 2015

The recent defection of Ethiopian Air Force crew with MI-35 helicopter has sent shockwaves to the corridors of power in Addis Ababa. The ruling elites are increasingly displaying pugnacious behavior. They lashed out at the pilot, labeling him a “traitor”. And they lambasted Ethiopia’s enemies (which the Defense Ministry statement referred to as Shabiya’s agents and mercenaries) for conspiring to destabilize the country and presumably being involved in the defection covertly.  Adding to the setback TPLF had already suffered, unconfirmed reports on another round of defection of four pilots from the Ethiopian Air Force to neighboring Kenya were circulating in the last few days.  It is believed that similar waves of defections are even more rampant in the Army. In fact, these waves of defections are telling signs that TPLF’s reliance on coercive institutions to continue its grip on power is reaching its limits. Professor Messay Kebede, a notable scholar and commentator on Ethiopian politics, had written a compelling prognosis few weeks ago explaining this “slippery ground of TPLF’s power strategy”.  Thus, the essence of Messay’s prognosis is that with increasing reliance on coercion as a power strategy, TPLF only hastens its inevitable fall from power for this could possibly trigger resistance against the regime both from within the government and from the resentful members of the public.

In my view, there are chiefly three frontiers that explain TPLF’s ability to hold on state power virtually alone since May 1991. These are tight control over coercive state institutions, trading on democracy building and lately claiming to advance economic development under the rubric of a “developmental state”.

Command and control of coercive state institutions as a solid power strategy

The first has always been the major and most effective weapon in TPLF’s power strategy.  It seems to me that TPLF leaders have always been very transparent about their reliance on coercion as a method of statecraft or governance. To be sure, in TPLF’s loose political coalition – so-called EPRDF – political weight is a function of the havoc one had wreaked during the insurgency years with the Dergue regime rather than a function of building constituencies that could win an election.  Consequently, key positions in coercive state institutions and public resources were selectively handed to TPLF core members who are believed to have paid more “sacrifice” in blood and sweat in removing the Dergue dictatorship.  So to speak, all the Rawlsian primary goods – liberties, opportunities and income and wealth – are unfairly distributed to the high ranking officers in the coercive state institutions.  Thus, the military or other security organs of the state are the entry points for those who intend to become career politicians or wealthy business men. Indeed, the military profession as an entry point to politics and business has always been the legacy in historic Ethiopia except that TPLF intensified this practice with an ethnic twist.

The fault lines of reliance on command and control of coercive institutions

The strategy of populating senior positions in coercive state institutions with loyal cadres from the insurgency years might have been effective so far in serving TPLF’s political ambitions. But there are growing signs of its fault lines recently. The supposedly loyal members of the coercive state institutions, specifically the middle and low ranking officers, are increasingly dissatisfied with the soaring cost of living and maladministration in their institutions in particular,  and worsening political and economic conditions in the country in general. For this reason, some of them are electing to defect risking their lives. A case in point is the crew of the MI-35 helicopter who defected to Eritrea last week.  Members of the crew were from different ethnic backgrounds, including from Tigray. To the dismay of TPLF leaders, the crew members put aside their ethnic differences and acted in unison to land the helicopter in Eritrea.  Now loyalty based on primordial relationship is being put under severe test.  This is really what enraged the TPLF leaders than loss of the MI-35 gunship to their arch-rival regime in Asmara because TPLF benefits from fomenting ethnic tensions and creating animosity among the staff in the security institutions. Hereafter, who is going to be a trusted functionary of TPLF to the last minute even from the staff in the security institutions? Now, therefore, TPLF leaders cannot be sure enough if the officers they have assigned in coercive state institutions would stand with them when the political storm of the oppressed Ethiopians surface violently.

A lesson or two for the junior partners of TPLF and the opposition

There is a lesson to be learnt by the junior partners of TPLF’s government in particular and the opposition in general. For the junior partners, they have a clear opportunity presenting itself to them. That TPLF’s last frontier to continue exercising grip on power – the skewed arrangement of balance of power in the coercive state institutions – is on a downward spiral. If the junior partners can seize the momentum, there is likelihood to cut back TPLF’s dominance in the coercive state institutions thereby facilitating the conditions for “equal partnership” in the loose coalition I have passingly mentioned above.

Again, for the junior partners, seizing the momentum is now or never for two reasons. First, if the junior partners fail to sense this opportunity, TPLF core leaders will get time to regroup like wolves and redesign a framework for perpetual subduing of the junior partners. Second, with the increasing use of naked power to silence regime opponents and growing dissatisfaction of Ethiopians due to the prevalent chronic political and economic problems in the country, TPLF may trigger a widespread political storm that could hasten its fall from grace. With the demise of TPLF, undoubtedly the junior partners would also be swept under the rug.

For the garden-variety regime opponents, it is time to stop wholesale assignment of blame on the Tigreans for the ills created by the TPLF regime on the unfounded ground that TPLF’s social/political base is Tigray. TPLF is an organization that plies its trade through coercion; it is reluctant to build constituencies and base its political survival on adequate representation of the interests of its constituents. For this reason alone, it is not fair to assume that TPLF has the political support of all Tigreans. Besides, at a time when the members of the coercive state institutions are defecting in opposition to regime’s rogue actions from all ethnic backgrounds, it doesn’t make any sense at all to single out those from Tigray. When opportunities avail themselves they are equally resistant to TPLF’s authoritarian rule. To be specific, Abreha Desta’s courageous struggle against TPLF tyranny, despite many odds and his suffering at the Maikelawi prison, is a testament to this very assertion. After all, on what moral/political ground can we reproach the Tigreans while the so-called silent majority in the rest of the country has apparently acquiesced to the authoritarian rule of TPLF?

The faltering of democracy building as a legitimation strategy

The second ground of legitimation for TPLF’s government – democracy building – has already faltered. TPLF enacted a constitution in 1995, established a “Federal Democratic Republic”, incorporated all kinds of individual  rights and freedoms as well as collective rights into the constitution,  stipulated that sovereignty lies not in the government but the Ethiopian people hinting that government is based on the consent of the people, etc.

In its practice in the last twenty years, however, TPLF adequately demonstrated that it has no intention to abide by the rules and standards stipulated in its own constitution. The sovereignty of Ethiopian people has been denied as TPLF refused to sanction free and fair elections. The second republic, that was presumed to be federal and based on the self-government of the diverse ethno-cultural communities, did not come close to a true “Federal Democratic Republic”  since  TPLF was determined to exercise totalitarian power over the whole country as a matter of fact. The much-admired individual and collective rights stipulated in the constitution remained hollow promises for they were reluctantly breached rather than being observed for political expediency. Institutions that were established by the constitution, to serve as custodians of these rights and put a limit on governmental overreach, were either structurally flawed from the beginning or starved of revenue and competent personnel. The regular courts (at federal and regions) lack institutional independence from the state and party structure of TPLF, and cannot, therefore, be relied on by citizens as the last bulwark for ensuring their rights. The Ombudsman and the Human Rights Commission are run not by independents but apologists of the TPLF regime. The House of Federation, which is established to protect the fundamental rights of citizens and curb unconstitutional excesses of power by the government through constitutional interpretation, lacks the essential characters of a constitutional court, and therefore, practically unable to carry out its functions. As a result of all these anomalies, democracy building under TPLF has lost any credibility.


Why developmental state is not the answer for TPLF’s legitimacy crisis

The third ground on which TPLF claims to have legitimacy to rule has to do with economic development. TPLF emphatically claims that it has the recipe for Ethiopia’s rapid and sustainable economic development far better than neo-liberal economic policies advanced by the opposition due to suitability and relevance of its “developmental state” policy to Ethiopia’s peculiar economic problems. Accordingly, it has issued reports of progress claiming Ethiopia’s economy has grown by 11% in the last decade as a result of implementing the policies of a “developmental state” where the state plays a pivotal role in the economy. However, there are many reasons not to trust such an extremely exaggerated claim by TPLF and its external allies. First and foremost, the benefits of the said rapid economic growth have not meaningfully trickled down to the majority of the Ethiopian citizens so far. Second, youth unemployment is still rampant. Third, food insecurity is still a permanent feature of the Ethiopian agrarian economy. Fourth, income and wealth inequality, which was reversed by the Dergue regime’s sweeping measures of ‘land to the tiller’ in the rural areas and redistribution of urban land and extra houses, is roaring back as a fundamental feature of Ethiopia’s political economy. Fifth, rampant corruption and embezzlement of public funds due to nonexistence of oversight mechanisms and institutions is facilitating capital flight in billions of dollars from Ethiopia annually.   Finally, TPLF government institutions lack technocratic elites and efficient bureaucracy which are vital for successfully carrying out the mega development projects sponsored by a developmental state.

The interview

Allow me to allude to a side issue to explain my last point by taking one recent example – the Interview. I am not talking about the film by Sony Pictures allegedly hacked by North Koreans. I am referring to the interview an Egyptian television station (Nile TV International) recently conducted with the Ethiopian Speaker of the Parliament. It is not my intention to go through all the content of the interview. My intention is to only raise two points that were striking to me and illustrative of the ineptness of TPLF government functionaries. One has to do with Speaker Aba Dula’s choice of words to describe the relationship between Egypt and Ethiopia since ancient times. He said, “the Fer’on pyramid was Aksumite kingdom”.  This assertion is “nonsense upon stilts” to borrow a famous phrase used by Jeremy Bentham (leading British philosopher and jurist of the early 19th century) in his critique of natural rights. If the Speaker meant the Egyptian pyramids were built by the Aksumite kingdom, this is not going to sink well with the Egyptians who are very proud of their ancient civilization. This is not going to be a “public diplomacy” envisaged by TPLF either, but an insult to the intelligence of the Egyptian people.

The second has to do with the apology issued by the Speaker to the Egyptian media for the coincidence of the Egyptian revolution and the initiation of the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile. If you claim the case to be a happenstance by coincidence, there is no logic necessitating apology. But if the apology is one for starting the very construction of the dam, then the Speaker is explaining the latest position of the Ethiopian government (as a high ranking official) on the controversy over the construction of the dam. Otherwise, the Ethiopian government must take further measures showing the Speaker’s comments do not represent the position of the government on the matter.  Hence, one of the measures could be impeaching the Speaker for incompetence.

Inept officials are inimical to developmental state policy

Imagine now how inept officials like the Speaker (I suspect the Speaker is not alone in the wilderness of inertness in TPLF’s government) could be antithetical to the creeds of a developmental state – efficiency, effectiveness, technocracy, competitiveness, prudence and decisiveness. Filling the government with such inert people turns the claimed “developmental state” into anti-developmental primitive political entity.  I believe TPLF is deliberately doing this for political reasons (to maintain its supremacy in the EPRDF) although assignment of officials based on loyalty rather than competence could hurt its professed economic policies of a “developmental state”. One may ask whether this is a good trade off.  This being as it may, Aba Dula’s recent interview with an Egyptian media gave us an opportunity to see the contradiction between wanting loyalty in the political sphere and desiring competence in the economic sphere.  Now let’s contrast the leadership qualities of Ras Gobena and Aba Dula vis-à-vis both of whom critique is often hurled for lack of agency, political vision, and by extension, incompetence.

Ras Gobena versus Aba Dula

Without denying the controversial legacy of Ras Gobena, it is fair to say that he relatively excels Speaker Aba Dula in many aspects including courage, diplomatic skills and characters of a competent statesman. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon to hear a charge pressed against Ras Gobena for his decisions and actions during the early expansion and consolidation of the modern Ethiopian state: that he had no wisdom to have his own political ambition – of founding the modern Ethiopian state as a co-equal with Menelik – but a mere vassal of the latter. Despite such criticism marshalled against Gobena by some ethno-liberationists and their disciples, some historical records reveal that Gobena was the most capable war general of his generation. For instance, Gobena was able to subdue the resistance in Gurage region after Menelik lost at a battlefield with Chaha tribe of the Gurage in October 1876 (see Bahru Zewde, The Aymallal Gurage in the Nineteenth Century: A Political History in SOCIETY & STATE IN ETHIOPIAN HISTORY: SELECTED ESSAYS, (2012) p.67). According to Bahru, Menelik “was defeated and a large number of Amhara captives were sold to Wallayta by the victors. Only one-third of Menilek’s men returned safely. Among those killed in the battle was Alaqa Zanab, author of the first chronicle of Emperor Tewodros”

In contrast, Gobena led a successful expedition against Qabena and Walane tribes of the Gurage region in July 1880 and quelled their rebellion. A noteworthy point here is that Menelik was advised by Gobena to pull back his forces after he had crossed the Awash River to confront the said Gurage tribes because Gobena didn’t want his partner to lose another battle in the region and anticipated what another loss would mean for their bigger political project at hand. Again, in the same Gurage region, Gobena defeated Hassan Enjamo, who was able to mobilize Gurages and other Muslims against the Shewan forces, in 1889 killing more than 3,000 of their men while losing his son (Merid) and 29 fighters. It can be safely said that Gobena’s capacity at organizing and leading war campaigns as well as his diplomatic skills in negotiating peaceful settlement with regional powers to bring their territories under the suzerainty of the emerging modern Ethiopian state at the time was unparalleled. Hence, Gobena’s hand in bringing the western territories from Wollega to Jimma and Beni Shangul to Gambella is reminiscent of a competent statesmanship.

However, the new Gobena of TPLF, the honorable Speaker of the Ethiopian Parliament, (if the criticism against Ras Gobena for vassalage holds) has shown no wherewithal of a statesman in his interview with the Egyptian media. He can only function as a statesman under the tutelage of TPLF in TPLF’s political empire. Well, Aba Dula’s pedigree also includes that of a war general like Ras Gobena, but TPLF has not been generous enough so far in publicizing his battlefield achievements. Until the shenanigan empire of TPLF discloses the former general’s military achievements, we are entitled to believe that Gobena excels as a warrior based on available historical records. Surprisingly enough, as one can glean from his online biography, the educational credentials he earned from China, the United States and the United Kingdom were not adequate to lift his veil of ignorance. In my view, the two Gobenas are incomparable: the earlier Gobena – a true statesman who cofounded modern Ethiopia with Menelik; the new Gobena – a remarkably inept messenger of TPLF.  It is my contention that TPLF might have encouraged the Speaker to do the interview in English, a language, they know, he doesn’t have good command of, to expose his ineptness and to send a chilling message to his OPDO colleagues that the top position in Arat Kilo is beyond their reach because one of their own failed to effectively represent the government in external relations when given the opportunity.  Now, we can connect the dots and surmise why Juneidi Saddo, another TPLF protégé, was discharged dishonorably from the government in November 2012. At least, he could have given a decent interview in English to an international media or effectively represent the government on international platforms thereby raising the hopes of rank and file OPDO members to start thinking one of their own could possibly take the chief executive position in the government or wreak havoc till their aspiration in this regard is given a serious consideration.  Thus, it seems to me that TPLF got rid of him to nip in the bud any potent internal power struggle.

Having said all that about the ineptness of TPLF government officials and having discussed the reasons for which reliance on coercion or building a developmental state may no longer be effective power strategies for TPLF, I would like to wind my opinion of part I of this write-up by posing the following questions to be examined in detail in part II.  What should be prioritized in our thoughts in the new year of 2015 to unshackle ourselves from the yoke of TPLF’s tyranny?  Unless we are clear headed about what we want, what our priorities should be, how to bring together various groups with differing political interests to deal with the grave political and economic problems brought upon the Ethiopian people by the authoritarian rule of TPLF, the prospect of bringing real democracy and meaningful economic progress for all Ethiopians would be a daunting and far-fetched project.

By Thomas Mountain

Secret internal correspondence from Amnesty International has been published detailing a plan to instigate regime change in the small east African country of Eritrea funded by a grant from the US State Department under then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

This is not a new charge, having first come to my attention in the fall of 2011 when a journalist in London called me one morning asking for my comments on a press conference by Amnesty International denying
charges that the Eritrean government was supposed to have made that Amnesty and HRW had been involved in sending a secret mission to Eritrea in an attempt to destabilize the government.

The problem was the Eritrean government had not made any such charges, at least not that I had heard of. Operating on the maxim made immortal by Claude Cockburn, father of the Cockburn clan of intrepid journalists, that “Never believe anything until it has been officially denied” I set off in search for more on this story.

It wasn’t until that evening that Eritrean TV broke the story with excerpts from the Amnesty International document they claimed to have. The next night EriTV broadcast more highlights from the document and
then the story just disappeared. It seemed that the curtain had dropped on another episode in the rancorous relations between the Eritrean government and the human rights corporations. Left with nothing hard to go on I could only file this one in the “hope to follow up on someday” file.

Now, three years later, the letter has been published and it really is a bombshell.

“Our intended goal is that by December of this year [2011] the regime of [Eritrean President] Issayas Aferwerki should be shaking and ready to fall”.

This was going to be done thanks to a “reasonable grant from the US State Department” to “bring about [regime] change...as has happened in other African and Arab countries”....

The letter is signed by one Catherine Price, Africa Special Programmes, Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street

Priority Status; Stricktly Confidential Resonance; Urgent To; Mr. Adams Subi Waitara Amnesty Tanzania Section.

The letter was to inform him that he had been “appointed to be part of a 4 man delegation to Eritrea beginning 6th to 16th September, 2011”. The letter lists the other members of this very secret group including an Amnesty staffer who was then working for HRW.

The letter goes on to say “Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch...have received a reasonable grant from the US State Department...” and that “the main aim therefore of this Mission to Eritrea is to provide funding and to help in setting up websites and computer centers...”.

The letter warns about the need for absolute secrecy, “Do not operate, at any time in groups of more than two in the day time...” and “Do not take any photos with normal cameras, except the micro cameras that will be provided for you...”. It informs Mr. Adams that “Mr. Georges Gagnoy, Human Rights Watch Africa Director, will be monitoring the events and activities online from Nairobi, [Kenya] and will offer any emergency assistance should it be needed.”

Deja Vu? Cuba and Venezuela watchers will be reminded of similar programs funded by the US State Department to destabilize the governments of those countries with the goal of “regime change”. The bombshell this letter drops is that for the first time Amnesty International and HRW are caught in writing accepting “a reasonable grant” from the US State Department to do its dirty work.

What makes this letter all the more believable are the links between HRW and the Hillary Clinton mafia that have been the subject of a protest letter signed by several Nobel Peace Laureates. In particular, one Tom Malinowski who goes back and forth between being a speech writer for Hillary and a senior staff member at HRW.

Those of us in the Eritrean support community know Mr. Malinowski all to well for his history of vociferous slanders and other fabrications about Eritrea going back some 15 years or more. It would be all to
easy for Malinowski to use his high level contacts in the Hillary Clinton State Department to arrange a “reasonable grant” for his cohorts in HRW and Amnesty International to carry out some undercover
dirty work on behalf of Pax Americana.

Amnesty International and HRW are major corporations, with HRW being funded for several years now to the tune of $100 million a year by George Soros who has a long history of working with the US intel
community in former Soviet Union republics ie the “Rose Revolution” in Georgia. Neither organization is “democratic” or transparent. The Board of Directors of both organizations elect themselves and answer
only to the handful of 1%ers that fund their enormous budgets. No one can really tell you just how much and from where these human rights corporations get their funding from. Has anyone ever seen an in depth
audit of either of these outfits multi million dollar operations budgets?

Hillary, Amnesty, HRW and regime change in Africa. Its about time such matters are being brought to the light of day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas C. Mountain has been living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006. He can be reached when he is somewhere that has access to the internet at thomascmountain@gmail dot com or more successfully by mobile at 2917175665.

By Yilma Bekele

Normally regimes do not lose such an important asset just like that. Fighter jets or helicopters just do not fly out of the coop so easily. But we are talking about Ethiopia here and no matter how you look at it ours is not a normal regime. Six percent of any group do not control hundred percent of the decision making. Even in business it requires fifty plus one to have a controlling interest.

Those rules do not apply in our country. The six percent have guns. This is where the rule of the jungle trumps the rule of law. Just like as in the movie ‘The God Father’ they have offered the people a deal they just can’t refuse. When the question asked is your life or your silence I am afraid most sane people would choose to live another day. Losing a fighter helicopter should be seen in that context.

The population expresses its disgust with the regime in many different ways. We are witnessing many creative and daring ways our people have chosen to part ways with Woyane bastards. It is unfortunate a lot sacrifice their life trying to get away. Not a month passes without a mention of a boat capsizing in the Red Sea. Ethiopians, Eritreans and Somalis are victims of unscrupulous smugglers overloading the boat, I just hope they go down with their victims. Southern African countries are full of Ethiopians that are defying all odds and walking the jungles to reach the promised land of South Africa.

It looks like members of the Ethiopian Air Force have found a better way of travelling. It is a little confusing to think such highly trained individuals would abandon all that privilege and decide to leave a life of comfort. It is doubly perplexing to think the individuals that were forced to leave friends and family behind are members of the six percent that are assured a life of riches and fame. It just shows that there are some that have conscience and no matter how high the promise they would not sell their soul to the highest bidder. They silenced the idiot narrow tribalist among us. All is not lost.

Of course how could we forget the brave Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot that hijacked his own plane and forced it to land in Geneva? In Ethiopian Airlines the Air Marshals sit in the cockpit, forget the passengers the crew is what they are watching. Thus it was not a surprise that our Air Force pilots flew a fighter helicopter to Asmara and asked for political asylum. The whole world thought it was big deal. As usual we Ethiopians were not surprised. There is no dull day in Woyane land.

The Ethiopian Government did not waste time explaining the situation and as usual it just did not make sense. Their propaganda department has a very low opinion of the citizen and makes a story that for any thinking individual does not add up. Lying is part of Woyane DNA. The lying gene is what qualifies a person to be accepted into the criminal organization. If you do not believe me ask Dr. Tedros Adhanom the Foreign Minister, he is the one that administers the test. Every recruit today is expected to watch all interviews the good doctor gives to sharpen his lying skills. Dr. Tedros makes any Woyane cry with great finesse he can declare black to be white.

“The military helicopter landed in Eritrea, flown by a traitor pilot who forced both his co-pilot and a technician while they took part in a training exercise,” the report said, citing a defense ministry statement. You see how absurd that is. The only way that could happen is if the pilot shot those two and that did not happen. The last we heard all there are well and alive in Asmara. Why did Woyane make such an outrageous statement? Bad habit is difficult to get rid of. They get away with declaring double digit economic growth, ninety six percent margin in election victory thus a lie about a pilot forcing two comrades is nothing to be excited about.

So now how to get your helicopter back is not a simple question. I am sure the Eritrean Government is waiting to see how Woyane would go about asking the question. You see there are a few issues to settle before the helicopter makes a return trip. I am not privy to the details but as a lay person and a simple business man I have been thinking about the issue and trying to contemplate ways to help my dear Woyane tormentors. First thing is it has to be asked in a civilized manner. No threats, no condemnations and no smart aleck comments. For starters I would suggest something like ‘Please may we have our helicopters back? Will go a long way. Of course it would take a while for the Eritrean government to respond to such a request.

There is no international protocols in the book for such incident. It takes time for the request to go through the proper channels until it reaches the President of Eritrea. He would have to discuss with the appropriate departments and prepare the bill. What bill you might ask? Well my friend it is just like if you get your car towed and you go the next day to pick it up I am sure you are aware there is the issue of the bill before you get your auto back. This is close but a little bit more.

For starters there is the issue of crossing an international border without permission. There is a fine involved. The Eritrean government has included such fee in their budget. When the Eritrean Government found out there is a fighter helicopter crossing and on its way to Asmara I am sure they activated their defense system to meet the threat, somebody has to pay for the overtime wages involved. Every day the helicopter has been sitting in Asmara there is parking and storage fees. There is a fee to disconnect the batteries or starting the motors every two days to make sure when the time comes everything would work.

On the Ethiopian government side the biggest headache has been trying to find trustworthy pilots that would fly it back without making an unscheduled stop someplace else. There is also the issue of delivering fuel to fly the machines back. The Eritrean government has made it clear fuel is in short supply and they are not obligated to refill the tank.

Every day the helicopter is in Eritrea the bill is accumulating. Pretty soon the parking and other fees are going to be more than the value of the helicopter. Eritrea have no need for such fancy machine so keeping the helicopter is out of the question. It is no secret that they have been approached both by the South Sudan Government and Somalia  have shown interest in purchasing the war machine. South Sudan have already got Ukrainian pilots on standby.

As they say the ball is in Woyane’s court. Deal or no deal is what Isaias is asking. Of course Woyane have the option of selling bonds to the Diaspora to raise the necessary funds and pay our Ukrainian friend a bit more to bring the helicopters back home and pray they would fly in a straight line. Woyane can always aim the missile they told us they are building to make sure the mercenaries do not stray and hold their collective breath the weapon would not land in in the great Republic of Tigrai. Of course they would declare some opposition traitor is responsible. Who said dictatorship is easy?

By Al-Masry Al-Youm
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and other seven ministers and a number of media hosts, journalists and artists signed Monday a document pledging to protect the Nile water.

"In light of the fierce attack against the Nile River which is the lifeline for Egyptians and the gift of their presence, and out of respect for the Constitution of Egypt, to which we all swore and which recognizes the state's commitment to the protection of the Nile River, the preservation of the historic rights of Egypt in the [Nile], [instructs] rationalizing and optimizing the use of [Nile] water and avoid wasting or polluting it, stresses the right of every citizen in enjoying the Nile River and the prohibits violating its sanctity, I declare joining the Nile Guards Committee to protect the river from infringement," read the document.

"I will have a monitoring social role, will follow up the Nile's affairs, join the popular awareness campaign...and I swear not to contaminate or infringe it," the document added. 

By HIDROM

The year 2014, what a year it was! The year 2014 was a year to remember. It was the year when Eritrea marched forward politically, diplomatically, and economically. It was a year when Eritrea marched to the “Promised Land” unshaken and unperturbed by the “toothless barking dogs” from the streets of the West. It was a year when every conceivable toothless barking dogs, with their tails tagged between their legs, headed to their lonely cages; waiting for scrape of bones from the master. It was a year when Eritrea shined brighter for all to see. Thanks to you, Eritreans all over the world, for being there when your country and people needed you. Yes, you were there!

Deki Ere, yes you were there defending your country politically and diplomatically with unparalleled depth and intellect. On the psychological warfare they unleashed upon you; you beat them with wisdom and
steadfastness. To trash their well-planned and financed “psychological warfare” here was the ordinary Eritrean men/women from every corner of the world to have proclaimed ALONA! Here you were and you are, using the same weapons (the internet and mass media) they used against you, you beat them. And in the process you defended the truth; nothing but the truth.

You were there helping your people financially and materially. You were there promoting the beauty of your country. You were there on the Eritrean festivals making Eritrea proud. You were there at Bologna Festival, at Sawa Youth Festival, and the festivals in Sweden, Germany, the Americas, Australia, Middle East, etc etc. You were there in the seminars to arm your selves with knowledge to defending Eritrea in more ways than one. In all the places; through thick and thin, through winter snow and blizzard, and through summer heat and sweat; you were there in all the places, from Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia. In unison, you said, “LOMI Kem Timali Alona; Hiji win Bidho!”

As a result what you have done; the Eritreans enemies are reduced to a “toothless barking dogs“. Because of what you have done, here are the “mercenaries for hire” to have packed and headed back to their cages. How about the handful HASUS from EDAGA ENUDAT? Here are the handful HASUS headed to no man’s land; with no people and country to belong to.

That not all. Because of what you have done; here are diplomats heading to Eritrea to see what Eritrea is all about. Yes, we told them “come and see us”. Yes, they came and what did they find? They found a peaceful and determined people marching to the Promised Land, to the MERIET HIDRI. What they found was a country at work building a nation brick by brick. What they found was a “civilized” society that preaches and practices “love thy neighbor” and who believes in peaceful coexistence. What they found was a country of ethnic and social harmony. What they found was a people of religious harmony and tolerance; where the “Qeshi” and the “Mufti” kneel down and pray to the same God/Allah, the Almighty, from the same “AGOZA”. Last but not least, what they found was a people ready to pay the ultimate price to defend their homeland; period!

Stay on course Deki Ere, for we have a lot to do before we reached the Promised Land-the land of “equality, fraternity, liberty, social justice, and prosperity”. Let them know Eritrea is only to march to the Promised Land with no if or buts in the year 2015. The “Promised Land” is just around the corner. Besides, “ምቐልቃል ዓዲ ሓሊፍና፥ ኣብ ኣፋፈት ደምቤና በጺሕና ኢና!“.

By the way, following the groundbreaking ceremony to build a new structure at the cost of $30,000,000 at the Mai Nefhi Technical Institute, here is a “500 schools in 100 days” gift from Home, sweat Home, to all Eritreans in New Year’s Eve. Here is Social Justice (ማሕበራዊ ፍትሒ) manifested in its highest and honorable form. “ማሕበራዊ ፍትሒ" is the hub of Eritrean wheel of “equality, fraternity, liberty”. Call it “Democracy” at its best and finest.

Deki Ere, report coming your way from HOME is reading: “After successfully building “67 school in 100 days” in all zones last year; Eritrea has set out to construct over 500 schools in 100 days in the years 2015 and 2016 in four regions; namely Gash-Bark, Anseba, Northern Red Sea Zone, and Southern Red Sea Zone”. Here is “500 schools in 100 days” is the gift from Home, sweat Home, to all Eritreans in New Year’s Eve.

What does this mean to Eritrea and what are the goals to be achieved once this project is completed?

1. For a short term, does this mean the project will provide 50,000 highly skilled employment opportunities? Yes, it does but it is much more. In the long term, it is here where the next highly trained and skilled Eritrean generation is to be trained and nurtured. Do not forget, every Eritrean capital project is the “technical school” where knowledge is passed from one generation to the next.


2. Does this mean 50,000 to 150,000 more kids per year will have access to the ‘Eritrean free education for all" in the years to come? Yes, it does!


3. Does this mean there shall be 6,000 to 8,000 new jobs as directors, teachers, and custodians in these schools? Yes it does!


4. Does these mean 50,000 elders per year will be attending in “adult education” program Yes it does. Do not forget, 80% of the Eritreans are literate and this project shall push the Eritrean literacy rate to 99.80% in no time.


5. Does this mean roads and drinking water supply shall go hand in hand or parallel to this project? Yes it does; if they are not there already.


6. Does this mean our people who are still following semi nomadic or nomadic life style will change fast so the children will not only quit schooling in the middle of the year but also benefit from other social


7. programs such as medical? How about to the Eritrean mothers? You bet the Eritrean mothers are the most to benefit from this noble project.

You bet, it means all of the above and much nobler and honorable outcomes are to follow once this project is complete. Just like the drinking water supply and roads that are being pushed to the finish line; by this noble endeavor, every village and Dembe shall have a school just around the corner. Do not forget education in Eritrea is a ‘right” and not a “privilege”. Yes, education in Eritrea is a right and not a privilege.

In addition to the above benefits, there is a noble and honorable thing about this project that is not obvious to the ordinary person. Take a look at the direct beneficiaries of this project; namely Gash-Bark, Anseba, Northern Red Sea Zone, and Southern Red Sea Zone”. History from just yesterday records it that the Eritreans who live in these zones were the one that have been neglected more by every conceivable colonizer. These are the zone who have been left behind by every colonizers, especially Ethiopia, and yet these are the very Eritreans who where there when Eritrea needed them the most. They were in the middle of the "ተሓምበለ", they were there through thick and thin, and they were there when hell was raining fire. They were there with the Tegadalay in the middle of war and they were there in the 30 years of unparalleled gallantry, dedication, and sacrifices. Yes they were there when ውቓው እዝ, ናዶው እዝ were crushed all the way to ስሪሒት ፈንቅል that led to the doorsteps of ኣዲ ቀይሕ, ደቀምሓረ, and ኣስመራ. All these were done by sacrificing their life as human beings. They did all these and much more by keeping their generation and the next generation at standby until Eritrea was liberated once and for all. On May 24, 1991, they were there on the finish line. That is why they were left behind; more so than any one or any thing else. As a result, it is high time to lift up these Eritreans.

That is why directing this project to these zones is not only timely but noble and honorable thing to do. That is the hidden message, that is ”social justice” at its best and finest; defined!

The question is how are Eritreans, especially those in Diaspora to be part of this noble cause. It is time Eritreans all over the world to share ideas and set out plans to be part of the noble and honorable Eritrean
endeavor in the year 2015. Lifting those who were left behind is social justices at its best and finest; the Eritrean way.

Thanks SHAEBIA!
Long Live The Bigger Than Life Eritrean Leaders!
Eternal Glory to our Martyrs!
Thanks Deki Ere, for being there for your country thru thick and thin!

By Graham Peebles

Ethiopia is being hailed as a shining example of African economic growth. Principle donors and devotees of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank development model (an imposed ideological vision which measures all things in terms of a nations GDP) see the country as an island of potential prosperity and stability within a region of failed states and violent conflict.

“Economic performance in recent years has been strong, with economic growth averaging in double-digits since 2004,”states the IMF country report. The economic model (a hybrid of western capitalism and Chinese control) adopted by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government is a centralised system that denies democracy – consultation and participation in "development plans" is unheard of – ignores and violates human rights.

A willing ally in the "war on terror," Ethiopia is a strategically convenient base from which the US launches its deadly Reaper Drones over Yemen and Somalia, carrying out "targeted assassinations" against perceived threats to "national security" and the ‘American way of life’. In exchange perhaps, irresponsible benefactors – Britain, America and the European Union – turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the human rights buses being perpetrated throughout the country by the highly repressive dictatorship enthroned in Addis Ababa.

Widespread repression

Whilst there are state-fuelled fires burning in various parts of the country: Oromo, Amhara, Gambella, and the Lower Omo Valley for example. Regions where Genocide Watch (GW) consider “Ethiopia to have already reached Stage 7 (of 8), genocide massacres,” arguably the worst atrocities are taking place within the Ogaden, where GW say the Ethiopian government has "initiated a genocidal campaign against the Ogaden Somali population."

A harsh region subject to drought and famine where, according to human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as first-hand accounts, innocent men, women and children are being murdered, raped, imprisoned and brutally tortured by government forces.

The region borders Somalia and is populated largely by ethnic Somalis, many of whom do not regard themselves as Ethiopian at all and see the Ethiopian military operating within the region as an occupying force. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has been engaged in a struggle for independence for the last 22 years. They were elected to power in the 1992 regional elections; however, after they had the democratic gall to propose a referendum on self-determination, the central government under the leadership of the previous Prime-Minister – Meles Zenawi, sent in the military: leading members of the newly elected regional authority and their supporters were executed and arrested and the army installed to control the region. The ONLF, branded terrorists by a government that labels all dissenting individuals and groups with the "T" word, were driven into the bush from where they have been waging armed and diplomatic resistance ever since.

Since 2007, all international media and prying meddlesome humanitarian aid groups have been banned from the area, making it extremely difficult to collect up-to-date information on the situation. The main source of data comes from courageous refugees and defected military men who have found their way to Kenya or Yemen. Most fleeing the region end up in one of the five sites that comprise the sprawling UNHCR-run Dadaab refugee camp in North Eastern Kenya. Established in 1992 to accommodate 100,000 people for 10 years, it is often described as the largest refugee camp in the world and is now home to round 500,000, although manipulated Kenyan government figures are much lower.

Maryama's story

Maryama arrived in Dadaab with her son and daughter in May 2014 after fleeing her homeland in Ethiopia. She had been the victim of terrible physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the Ethiopian military. Her shocking story echoes the experience of thousands of innocent women – many of whom are no more than children – throughout the affected parts of the Ogaden. I met Maryama in the UNHCR field office of the Dagahaley site in October 2014. She spoke to me of her life in the Ogaden and the violence she had suffered. We sat on the ground in the shade of a UN office building. She spoke with clarity and passion for over an hour, her two-year old son on her lap.

Like many people in the Ogaden, Maryama lived a simple life as a pastoralist. Tending her goats and camels, she moved from place to place with her family. She had never attended school, cannot read or write and knows little or nothing of her country's politics. Sometime in 2012, she was arrested when a large group of armed soldiers from the Ethiopian military descended on her family's settlement in Dagahmadow in the district of Dagahbuur.

"They came to us one day while we were tending to our affairs in our village and they accused us of being supporters of the ONLF as well as having relatives in the ONLF." The soldiers "called all the village people together and started carrying out acts of persecution. They took anything of value, including property and livestock, by force and burnt down homes in the process. I had just given birth seven days earlier when they came into my home and they asked me why I am inside the house [a small semi-circular wooden structure made from branches and mud] by myself [she was bathing her son at the time]. They saw footsteps near my home, which they followed and concluded that it must have been left by the ONLF" [the prints were in fact made by the military]. "All of us were taken out of our homes and questioned about the ONLF, we all denied any involvement. Our homes were then burnt."

The solders moved from house-to-house questioning people about the footprints. A young mother, who had given birth the day before and was holding her child, was interrogated; she knew nothing and said so. An elderly woman went to her aid; she was caught by the throat and questioned about the footprints – she knew nothing. They shot her dead. Two men from the village arrived and were immediately questioned. One of the men answered, denying any connection with the ONLF; two soldiers tied his hands together, threw a rope around his neck and pulled on each end until he choked to death. Maryama was ordered to hold the strangled man upright and not allow him to fall to the side. When, exhausted after two hours, she let go of the body she was "arrested with six other girls (including my sister), one of the girls had given birth that day." On the first night in captivity [in an abandoned village] "she was forced to her feet by two soldiers, one of them kicked her in the stomach – she fell on the floor, keeled over and died on the spot. They also shot my sister in front of us. I watched as she bled to death next to the other girl who had died from the beating."

Maryama told how after witnessing these atrocities, soldiers put a plastic bag over her head and tied a rope around her throat until she lost consciousness. When she came to, she found herself outside in a deep pit; she was naked and in great pain; she found it difficult to move. Her son was nowhere to be seen. Eight other people were with her, five were dead – one was a cousin, two were neighbours. These people had gone missing 10 days previously; it was assumed they were in prison. She cried hysterically.

After 28 days in the pit, her son was brought to her and they were both taken to prison. She was held captive in Jail Ogaden, in the regional capital Jigjiga, for approximately two and a half years, during which time she was subjected to torture and extreme sexual abuse. There were, she told me, over 1,000 women in the prison. At this point it is perhaps worth stating the obvious: this woman had broken no law, had not been charged with any offence or been granted any of her constitutional or human rights.

Maryama, along with other female prisoners, was routinely tortured by military personnel; stripped naked, they were forced to crawl on their hands and knees across a ground of sharp stones. Their knees would collapse and bleed; if they stopped, they were verbally insulted and beaten with wooden sticks or the butt of a rifle. Another favoured method of torture was to strip the women and take them to the latrines where toilet waste was thrown over them. At the same time they were beaten with sticks, belts and hit with the butt of a rifle. They were not allowed to wash and were forced to sleep covered in this waste.

Maryama, who was around 18 years of age when she was first arrested, was repeatedly raped by groups of soldiers while in prison. They like the women to be young – 15 to 20 – and semi-conscious when raped so the girls cannot resist and the perpetrator cannot be identified; part strangulation with a rope or a blow to the head using the butt of a rifle renders the innocent victim unconscious. Soldiers are told to use the penis as a weapon and are "trained," defected military men told me, to rape women and how to "break a virgin"; violent demonstrations on teenage girls are given by training officers. They are told to eat hot chillies before going out on patrol, so their semen will burn the women rape victims. A defected divisional commander in the Liyu Police, Dahir, related how during his five years in the force he had witnessed between 1200 and 1500 rapes in the Ogaden.

The creation of a climate of fear amongst the population is the aim of the government and the military; they employ a carefully planned, if crude, methodology to achieve their vile objective. False arrest and detention of men and women, arbitrary assassinations and torture, rape and the destruction of property and livestock make up the arsenal of control and intimidation employed by the EPRDF government.

Unbelievable

The Ethiopian regime maintains that nothing untoward is taking place within the Ogaden region. The military and Liyu police (a renegade paramilitary group), they tell us, are safeguarding civilians against the terrorist organization operating there, namely the ONLF. Soldiers in training are brainwashed to see the population of the region, men, women and children, as enemies of the State. Accounts like Maryama's are pure fiction, government spokesmen say, and, sorry chaps, the region is unsafe for members of the international media or human rights groups and you cannot enter. And if you do, you will be arrested.

There is indeed terrorism raging throughout large parts of the Ogaden and elsewhere in the country; it is State Terrorism perpetrated by a brutal regime that is guilty of widespread criminality, much of which constitutes crimes against humanity.

By MAN B&W

Qingdaohaixi Marine Diesel Co., Ltd. (QMD) and EPC contractor Shanghai Marine Diesel Engine Research Institute recently signed a contract to supply Eritrea with two MAN B&W 12K60MC-S low-speed engines that will run on liquid fuel.

The engines will play a key part in the expansion of the Hirgigo power plant, located 5 km southwest of Massawa, the major city on the Red Sea coast. Shanghai Electric will manufacture the generators for the engines, which are being produced for the Eritrean Electric Corporation (EEC).

The EEC has chosen the latest mark of the K60MC-S engine type and the two units will provide a joint mechanical output of 47.52 MW at 150 rpm. The engines will comply with the NOx emission limit of the World Bank’s 2008 regulation, i.e. 1850 mg/Nm3 at 15% O2 dry.

Based on statistical information, the distribution of the electrical consumption in Eritrea is 57% for industrial purposes, 22% for residential areas and 21% for commercial use. When the two new engines enter operation, MAN B&W two-stroke, low-speed diesel engines will account for approximately 73% of Eritrea’s total power supply.

Breakthrough

MAN Diesel & Turbo views the new order as a major breakthrough for several reasons, primarily because it is the first time a Chinese licensee has received an order for a stationary application with MAN B&W engines outside of China. It is also QMD’s first order for MAN B&W engines as well as the first occasion where a Chinese company will supply low-speed generators outside of China for engines with an MAN B&W design.

About QMD

Qingdaohaixi Marine Diesel Co., Ltd. signed a two-stroke license agreement with MAN Diesel & Turbo in October 2014. QMD is a joint venture of Yichang Marine Diesel Engine Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Marine Diesel Engine Research Institute, and a member of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC)., and is based at Haixi Bay, Qingdao, north-eastern China.

Norwegian Superhero Makes International Success

Eritrean origin Norwegian citizen Josef Yohannes (33) creates an African superhero comics character.

Josef Yohannes’s meeting with two boys during the World Cup four years ago changed his life, writes TV2. He saw two small children who reminded him very much of himself and his brother. So he shouted them over and gave them some money for ice cream, and thought he’d have done something more for them.

- When I was back in Oslo, I got an idea to create their own superhero. A superhero who could inspire children, says the cartoonist to TV2.

- Children and young people in the West have always had the luxury of having superheroes like the Hulk, Batman and Superman, while children in Africa have not had any official superhero, adds Yohannes.

Then he creates cartoon character The Urban Legend.

Super Hero works as a teacher named Malcolm T. Madiba, but has a yellow and black costume he uses when he has to fight for justice.

The idea of an African superhero character draws attention internationally.

Now Josef becomes Mandela’s ambassador to work for more justice and equality regardless of race, gender and faith. One of Mandela Foundation’s staff called and invited Yohannes to visit Mandela’s family in November, according to TV2.

- He had heard about this and thought it was amazing that there was a black superhero, first and foremost, but also that he was named after Mandela, says Yohannes.

Nelson Mandela was called "Madiba" in South Africa.

"The Urban Legend" is also read in the textbook of the first year of upper secondary school in Norway.

- It was amazing, it is one of the main highlights, that it has become the school curriculum in Norwegian class. I’m very happy for it, says Yohannes.

Last year, Norwegian cartoonist had secured an exclusive agreement with the newspaper USA Today – which would present The Urban Legend on its online edition.

http://www.tnp.no/norway/entertainment/4625-norwegian-superhero-makes-international-success-mandela-africa-black-norway

Picture: Holding facility of Red Sea Ornamental Marine Fish at Massawa in Eritrea. Funded by the government, the facility has a yearly holding capacity of above 75,000 fish, and directly employs 25 locals. 


By Thomas C. Mountain

Habtemichael Habtetzion, “Habtet” to family and friends, is a brilliant, hard working, nationalist young Eritrean scientist. He is presently past the half way point in earning his Ph.D. at one of China’s most prestigious University’s specializing in Aquaculture and already has 4 papers published in prominent scientific journals.

Habtet was one of the first graduates from Eritrea’s Marine College and immediately began work at the then cutting edge project known as Sea Water Farm in Massawa. There he was part of advanced aquaculture
programs until the CIA sabotaged the project by introducing a virus into one of the shrimp ponds and used it as an excuse to cut funding for the project.

With the closure of Sea Water Farm, Habtet was the only one able to independently continue aquaculture activities through working with an aquaculture expert from Israel.

In 2011 Habtet was able to secure an invitation for a two month visit to the Nanjing Agricultural University where he quickly caught the attention of a prominent professor through his hard work and willingness to get his hands dirty by joining in the manual labor involved in the aquaculture activities. Of the over 40 African graduate students invited Habtet was one of only four offered a full scholarship for his Masters Degree.

Habtet struggled at first to familiarize himself with the advanced scientific testing equipment and remained on campus during the winter break to spend time directly under his Professor gaining hands on experience with the highly technical systems used to analyze the various experiments being conducted. This hard work paid off and Habtet soon published his first paper in a respected aquaculture journal where he established the accelerated growth rates in fish at higher water temperatures. He followed up on this with another project where he demonstrated the most effective protein levels for fish food in promoting fish growth rates.

In 2013 Habtet was granted a full scholarship to continue his studies in the Ph.D.. program, one of only two successful applicants out of more than 350 Masters Degree graduates from all over the world who applied for the doctorate studies program.

Habtet has already been the lead author in two papers on fish and shellfish immunology and toxicology during the first half of his doctorate studies and is on track to complete his studies with honors in another year and a half.

With a newly minted Ph.D. in his portfolio including numerous papers published in prestigious scientific publications Habtet will be able to pick and choose from any number of very well paid job offers in academia or the growing aquaculture industry from any of a number of countries internationally.

While Habtet could take the money and run his dream is to return to his Motherland and help lead the development of a mass, modern, environmentally sustainable aquaculture industry in Eritrea.

After studying within the center of the largest, most advanced aquaculture industry in the world in China Habtet knows what can be done in our country.

He knows how Eritrea, due to its year round high water temperatures and salinity, nutrient rich near shore waters and calm, “lagoon” water conditions is one of the best places on the planet to develop an aquaculture industry.

To give readers an idea of just how much potential fish farming has here in Eritrea a one hectare fish cage (100m x 100m x 10m deep) can be used to raise 100,000 fish to a mature size of 1.5 kilos in six
months. In one year one such hectare sized fish cage can produce 300,000 kilos of fish.

One hundred hectare sized fish cages can produce 30 million kilos of fish in one year and Eritrea has over 4,000 square kilometers of sea area ideally suited for doing so in the Massawa to Tio region of the Red Sea.

Under the leadership and expertise of brilliant, hard working, nationalist young scientists like Habtet, Eritrea can not only provide an ample supply of quality fish for Eritrea’s people to eat, especially our school children, for sufficient fish consumption has a direct relationship to intelligence development in children (fish is “brain food”) but also to provide a major, consistent source of foreign currency earnings from fish exports which can play an important role in helping develop and diversify Eritrea’s economy.

A modern aquaculture industry will provide many thousands of well paying jobs ranging from advanced scientific researchers, to highly skilled technicians in the hatcheries and breeding programs, skilled workers for the fish cages and many more thousands of support workers in processing and shipment of the fish.

It is critical that our leaders recognize and support brilliant, hardworking, nationalist young Eritrean scientists like Habtet and if they do Eritrea’s future will only grow brighter.

________________________________________
Thomas C. Mountain, who has a special interest in seeing the successful development of Eritrea’s maritime industry, spends much of the year on Eritrea’s coast, fishing, sailing, diving and studying the marine environment there. He has been living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006. He can be reached when he is somewhere with internet access at thomascmountain at gmail dot com. 

Keep in mind, this video is directed for an Ethiopian audience. It's intended to debunk the lies and negative perceptions the TPLF regime has created about Eritrea and Eritreans.


Rough translation:

We got to the city, Asmara, and we've found the people friendly. No one hates Ethiopians.We felt as we were at home.The propaganda that the previous and the current regimes use to scare Ethiopians that Eritreans (shaebia) are the enemy of Ethiopa is total a lie. We even attended a wedding ceremony and there were a couple of Amharic songs in between. And so on....

By peacefmonline


Ethiopian Airlines cargo aircraft with flight No. ET – AQV crashlanded at 11:05 am on Saturday January 10, 2015 at the Kotoka International Airport.

Though authorities have not confirmed the cause of the accident yet, it is believed to be due to the poor visibilty caused by the harmattan weather conditions currently prevailing in Ghana.

The crew of three(3) people on board the crash-landed Ethiopian cargo plane all survived the accident and are currently responding to treatment at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

The Corporate Communications Officer of the Ghana Airport Company, Newman Quartey said operations at the airport have normalized adding that “the normal flights are operating on schedule.”

Mr Quartey explained in a press release that the plane which was on route from Lome [Togo] to Accra, “skidded the runway” while trying to land safely.

It would be recalled that in June 2012, another cargoliner belonging to Allied Cargo overshot the KIA runway and killed passengers in a metro commuter at the El Wak end of the airport.

By Yacob

UK is known to be a model of democracy, nevertheless 42 UK MPS signed in undemocratic way against Eritrea and the western mining companies operating inside Eritrea. This was done on un–unsubstantiated human right accusations. They have reached at the decision from the limited input they had from the handful of so-called Eritrean oppositions but who are known within the wider Eritrean communities as traitors and rather as off-positions, as their activities is on anti-Eritrea agendas mainly influenced by the enemies. They made their decision without consulting the wider Eritrean communities and civil societies. They also ignored latest international reports from Denmark Immigration experts, International Human right lawyers from UK and Canada who have written report on the Human right issue in Eritrea. More over they have ignored the historical context of the advent and maintenance of the sovereign country Eritrea.

Before I start further analysis, I would like to make it clear my interest is not to accuse the great 42 MPs from UK. Specially among the 42 MPs the list includes two MPs who I respect, love and admire very much. Their names are Diane Abbot and Sarah Teather. While it is my goal to inform them with the right information, I like to stress the respect I have for them would always be there. Indeed, I was even further disappointed though that 18 out of the 42 who signed are labour MPs, that is 42%.

I believe most of the MPs who signed the motion may have genuine interest on human right, however they have arrived at a mistaken and wrong decision because they were misinformed. They failed to seek reliable and balanced source of information.

Let me share with you the story how the MPs came to motion. The primary sponsor of the early day motion is labour MP Jeremy Corbyn from Islington. I had been told he is someone who is known to have genuine interest on human right issues but has been rushed and misinformed on this occasion.

I am sure you may be asking what led Jeremy Corbyn to sponsor the motion? On October 21st of 2014 he hosted a Talk from Ex-Eritrean member of the Eritrean government who is known to be a very clever and a meticulous writer, but unfortunately who is at the wrong side of the Eritrean history.

Nevertheless, he is an Eritrean considered by many as a traitor who chose the western life style instead of continuing to struggle as part of the government. He left the responsibility given to him to serve his people and now he is working against the unity of the citizens people.

Another speaker on the event, who is suspected to be the architect of the media defamation campaign against Eritrea, who also had been part of the team organising events against Eritrea was Martin Plaut.

While during the year of 2014 there had about ten events about Eritrea, eight of them were focused at either defaming the Eritrean government or distorting the truth about Eritrea. Previous events were witnessed to be well defended by Eritrean youth and community members. As a result of the event hosted by Jeremy Corbyn, possibly based on advice of Martin Plaut; was not even advertised on the Internet and was arranged during the day time refusing access to Eritrean professionals and students who are busy during the day time.

Nonetheless, the event participants were reported to be three people from the Ethiopian Embassy in London, handful of individuals who are known to be the Eritrean off-positions and Martin Plaut himself. The event was reported to be:

very biased campaign against the government and President Isayas Afeworki. – it was done in a matter of character assassination of the Eritrea Government .

For me from the way the meeting was secretly organised but with a consequential motive, it sounds like part of the regime change attempts that has been going on harassing the Eritrean people and Government. Indeed, it is embarrassing the UK MPs are connected with this evil act. Readers should realize this is not an isolated incident as UN staff, had been using his (their:-one was caught but there may be others) position. Further information can be found on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w2ATpNF8-8

In 2011 there was also a commissioned of a failed regime change attempt by HRW and Amnesty. More information and clear evidence can be found from the link: http://www.madote.com/2015/01/hillary-amnesty-hrw-and-regime-change.html

Indeed I feel very embarrassed, ashamed and angered that the British MPs have signed based on a one sided unreliable inputs. They could have consulted the wider Eritrean communities, youth and professionals.

There have been recent publications such as the report from the Danish Immigration Service’s fact finding missions to Ethiopia and Eritrea. The report had identified reliably both the challenges and the real human right situation which is different from the usual defamation you see from the commissioned news report and articles. The following quotations from the report identifies:

the main reasons for emigrating are the prolonged National Service, the social and economic situation in the country including the prospects for a better life in Europe or a combination hereof.

Corruption is very limited compared with other countries in the region

The government has a genuine intention to keep the living standards at an equal level and it is serious in its efforts to distribute food to the parts of the country where there is a need for humanitarian assistance. It was added that the state’s revenues stem from the Diaspora tax and from joint ventures between the state and foreign mining companies. Since 2011 the mining of gold and now copper has generated revenues to the state budget. On the other hand food import which Eritrea depends on is expensive

The above affirms the government of Eritrea is rather working on improving the human right of its citizens. Revenues from mining and the 2% tax help with doing that, anyone interested in genuine un-politicized human right of Eritrean citizens, should not try to attack both.

In regards to the repeated political accusation of the mining companies. The issue had been addressed by international human right lawyers from Canada and UK. There is no evidence the Mps had consulted those reports and professionals, rather their sources had been limited to unreliable sources. For dependable sources you may refer to the followings: http://www.sihrg.freeiz.com/1_4_Eritrea-Report.html
http://www.nevsun.com/responsibility/human-rights/Nevsun-HRIA-SummaryApril-2014.pdf

The Nevsun report above had been confirmed to be independent by Martin Plaut himself in
his guardian article as

the Canadian mining company Nevsun Resources commissioned an independent assessment (pdf) of working conditions at its Bisha mine, in which the Eritrean government holds a 40% stake

Human trafficking had been used as a way of accusing the Eritrea Government and sadly used as a method harassing Eritrean citizens often targeting those with relations who can go deep in to their and lender pockets to make the payments. It is know that it has been as way of organ harvesting.

We cannot deny that, there are Eritrean citizens have fallen to be victimized in the hands of smugglers and traffickers. The causes for the whole tragedy are the organised smugglers, the traffickers and those who celebrate the sad phenomenon for their own political dream, they often take documentary pictures at a close range. It is imperative though we realize human trafficking is not an incident restricted to Eritrea. The Economic Roots of Trafficking in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Executive Committee confirms http://www.unece.org/press/pr2004/04gen_n03e.html4

One of the most rapidly growing illicit activities over the past two decades has been trafficking in women and girls mainly for the sex industry in Western Europe (Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Germany and United Kingdom) and the United States.

The same source also confirms

Some European estimates suggest that, in 1990-1998, more than 253,000 women and girls were trafficked into the sex industry of the 12 EU countries

The Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking#cite_note-10) gives an indication to the size of the Human Trafficking Industry as:

Human trafficking represents an estimated $31.6 billion of international trade per annum in 2010.[9] Human trafficking is thought to be one of the fastest-growing activities of trans-national criminal organizations.

A legitimate question we can ask is What does the Eritrean government says about Human trafficking. The statement by his Excellency Mr Osman Saleh minister of foreign affairs of the state of Eritrea at the general debate of the 67th session of the united nations general assembly http://www.raimoq.com/eritrean-mission-to-the-un-statement-by-h-e-mr-osmansaleh-at-the-67th-session-of-the-unga-conference-on-human-trafficking/ reinforce the Eritrea position as:

It is not only a criminal network of human traffickers that Eritrea is contending with, but more insidiously, those who are using the traffickers as tools, those who are creating an enabling environment for the crime through generous funding, vicious propaganda, provision of safe havens and active destabilization. Eritrea has solid evidence that individuals and groups posing as “human rights defenders,” representatives of at least one UN agency and officials of some governments are implicated. This is why Eritrea has officially called on the United Nations to launch an independent and transparent investigation of this abominable affair so as to bring justice to Eritrean victims and to a country that is the target of a malicious, concerted and unlawful campaign.

In regards to human right, Eritrea is known to even look after the human right of the its war of prisoners. Additionally, despite of two illegal base sanctions and being forced to be in no war and no peace situation; Eritrea had managed magnificent exemplar achieving in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Anyone interested could Google for UN report further details.

The 42 Mps have sadly added their names to the long list of individuals who have carried international harassment, abuse or bullying that has been directed to the people and government of Eritrea.

The real focus should be on the primary sources of the human right concerns including people trafficking and smuggling are: the illegal sanctions and endorsed occupation of Eritrea’s land.

One of the bullying tactic used on Eritrea is by fabricated accusation related with Somalia. Bomb Somalia how you like and blame Eritrea has been the most popular template that has been used by those countries that carry out aggression on Somalia.

In the past few years countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda and the west such as US and others have blamed the problems in Somalia on Eritrea and security council has put an illegal sanction on Eritrea just on allegation without any kind of evidence.

Even Keneya for a brief time had also been added to the list of those countries who accused Eritrea, once again the accusation was done without providing any tangible evidence. But had been picked all the major new agencies. Aljazeera’s had reported:

The United Nations has accused the African nation of posing a threat to the East African region, partly by financing Somalia’s anti-government fighters.

The allegation was dropped after it did enough defamation of Eritrea.

To anyone who is interested in the truth the clear pattern of the accusation is visible. Most of the accusations are done by those who have done some sort of criminal activity in Somalia.

On the 23rd Of December 2009 Eritrea received a special Christmas Present, a Sanction based on allegations that are proven to be fabricated lies.

The allegation against Eritrea was based on two lies:

• Eritrea supports politically, financially and logistically Somali insurgents
• Eritrea has occupied part of Djibouti’s land

Please note that the Somali related allegation against Eritrea comes in three different versions:

The first was that Eritrea has 2000 soldiers in Somalia. When Ethiopia’s US commissioned war against Somalia was waged, not even one Eritrean soldier was found. The allegation was quietly dropped.

Another allegation that Eritrea is supplying weapons to Somali groups was made just before the celebration of Eritrean independence in May 2009. This was not true or believable as Eritrea and Somalia don’t have a common border. The countries in between (Djibouti and Ethiopia) and the sea are fully controlled by the US marine force and naval warships.

No evidence was supplied and raising sanction based on it was too embarrassing. But it was repeated countless times by corrupt journalists who were happy to copy and paste the allegation without doing any fact finding and giving it the impression it is true without any factual evidence.

It is extraordinary that none of them looked or asked for any evidence. For some unknown reason, major media organizations such as the BBC and Guardian (because of Martin Plaut) have been seen to be biased against Eritrea, exaggerating on negative reporting even when it is incorrect, and under-reporting (or even not reporting) when it is good news about Eritrea.

For bringing the second sanction the allegation was twisted to:

Eritrea provides political, financial and logistical support

Eritrea does not believe in politics that is based on religion, race or tribe. It hasn’t got any favorite or particular group of Somalia to support. Eritrea firmly believes the Somalia’s problems should be solved by Somali only, without any foreign interventions. No one can find any fault in that.

Eritrea is self financed and is not fully dependent on aids or grants from donors especially when condition is attached. Even though Eritrean government manages its financial commitment very well often buying crops for its people, it is not in a position to spare any finance, commodities, military equipment’s or personnel to any group in Somalia.

Also Eritrea fully understands the consequence of war and would not do anything to cause war between Somalia government and opposition groups.

The Lack of consistency is clear evidence that the allegations against Eritrea are fabricated lies. On the contrary, the accusers of Eritrea:

• have dumped Nuclear and medical waste in Somali waters;
• In 2009 US have supplied 80 tones of weapons to Somalia’s government, a surplus amount which found its way into the weapon black market in Somalia;
• Both Ethiopia and Uganda (who were seen to campaign for the sanction against Eritrea) not only have they supplied weapons, but have used them to kill people in Somalia, including kids.

As for the accusation of Eritrea occupying part of Djibouti, it is not true and has been instigated
by the US, who have formed a military base in Djibouti.

It is surprising the Security Council talk about Djibouti while allowing Ethiopia to occupy Eritrean
land for about a decade after a final and binding international court decision and virtual
demarcation.

As it can be seen on page 344 of the book Surrender is not an option, John Bolton has confirmed
US have prevented the implementation of the border demarcation according to the final and
binding international decision.

The history of use and abuse against Eritrea is repeating over and over too many times. Sixty-five years ago US, UK and UN have annexed Eritrea with Ethiopia for the interest of the west. This has caused the beginning of thirty-year war causing many deaths and many children to be destitute in their own land. US interest on Eritrea was to use it as a listening post against USSR and the whole world.

Financial support, weapons and military training were provided to Ethiopia as rent money for over thirty years by the US government. These weapons and aircrafts were used to kill Eritreans, US listening post kept a blind eye over it.

US have armed Ethiopia even when Ethiopia was a communist regime without any care for the Eritrean people. When it was Russia’s turn to arm Ethiopia, the weapon supply was done at a level it could have been enough for the whole Africa.

Ignored by the East, the West and respectable media companies such as the BBC, Eritreans fought a testing 30 years long war where many children, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters died. Freedom came at a Price. The Eritrean President, government and more importantly the free independent nation of Eritrean is now live kicking because of the price paid by many lives.

It is an open secret that some countries and individuals doesn’t still like Eritrean independence. Thirteen countries including UK have voted supporting the Sanction against Eritrea on false allegations without any factual evidence. The latest monitoring report published in October 2014 states a clear confession that there has never been any evidence to sanction Eritrea:

The Monitoring Group has found no evidence of Eritrean support to AlShabaab during the course of its present mandate.

Previous fabricated Monitoring Group reports were the cause for the two sanctions on Eritrea.
While the real victims of the sanctions are ordinary Eritreans, who do we blame for the sanctions.
I believe the list would include:

• those who voted and abstained and participated in international bullying
• the monitoring group, UN and the security Council
• the media who never questioned the absence of the evidence,
• think tank who claimed to research about Eritrea but who never questioned that no one ever presented any evidence on any of the accusations they made

While apology should be given by all the above, the first three should really compensate the
Eritrean people for the harm they caused.

In regards to the Illegal occupation of Badme, thirteen year after the final and binding decision confirmed it to be Eritrea’s; as a result of inaction of UK, US, UN, AU and EEU, many kids are growing up away from their fathers as many of them are engaged in safeguarding their country from a possible attack.

If the 42 and other UK MPs are genuinely interested in the human right of the Eritrean people, if they want to reduce human smuggling and trafficking; then for the sake of the Eritrean people, the Eritrean kids and soldiers who are forced to stay in the trenches for the last 15 years then they should put their names and their signatures on the main important concerns that are violating the Eritrean Human Right.

If they really care about the human right of Eritreans then:

1. They should call for Ethiopia to vacate Badme (proven to be Eritrea’s land)
2. They should start the process for annulling the illegal sanctions
3. Sign a motion to see compensation for Eritrea from those who signed to illegally sanction Eritrea.
4. Immediately withdraw their signature from the motion they signed recently and apologize for their action.

Doing the right thing on Eritrea this time would requires honesty and courage. The British Eritrean community trust our great UK MPs have got it and hope to see them reverse their action to justice for Eritreans.

1. http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/dec/19/western-firms-reduce-eritreanminers-to-abject-slavery-uk-mps-say
5. http://www.sihrg.freeiz.com/1_4_Eritrea-Report.html
6. http://www.nevsun.com/responsibility/human-rights/Nevsun-HRIA-Summary-April-2014.pdf
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking#cite_note-10
8. http://www.raimoq.com/eritrean-mission-to-the-un-statement-by-h-e-mr-osman-saleh-at-the-67th-session-of-the-unga-conference-on-human-trafficking
9. http://www.madote.com/2015/01/hillary-amnesty-hrw-and-regime-change.html

It is to be recalled that President Isaias Afwerki conducted an interview with the national media outlets mainly focusing on domestic affairs in connection with the New Year on the 30th of December 2014. In the interview that was broadcast live through Eritrean Television and Dimtsi Hafash highlighting all-round national and regional developments, as well as future prospects, the President shed light on the implementation and progress of development programs, nation-building programs set for implementation in 2015 and other domestic and regional issues. Here is an excerpt of the third part of the interview.

_________

Your Excellency! In last year’s official celebrations of Independence Day, you said that a new constitution would be drafted. What exactly does this mean, putting in to consideration the 1997 national constitution? And what action has so far been taken in this regard?

As everybody knows, there is no constitution. I cannot say there was a constitution which existed or died…I do not even want to bring any excuse about the challenges we have been facing in the last 15 years that were woven to intimidate our existence, sovereignty and development. Majority of our political progress has been under such consistent external ploys and havocs. Thus, the constitution could taken as an already died document before it was declared. Before over ten years, many were suggesting us to declare a state of emergency. But, what they are saying now is another story. However, the constitution is practically a dead document before its declaration. Was it necessary to declare it or not, I think it is of no use to open a platform for an argument. As for us, we do not want to put ourselves in such meaningless issues, but we rather opt to go beyond. Who drafted it, how was it drafted, what was it aimed at? well, we have learnt too much about this issue in the last 15 years. We have learnt many things and upgraded our political maturity. The awareness and the anticipation we had back then comparing with what we are having now is completely different. At that time, due to emotions and goodwill, many things might have been seen. But now, we are highly matured. So, putting in to consideration what we have learnt from our last experience, there must be a Governmental System which helps not only to narrow the gaps among societies but also to protect the recurrence of any sort of gap. Above, the system should ensure the living standard of every national is improved. Based on this, a body is formed to work on it. It is another issue whether the formed body is declared or not. Because, the main concern is the task. This is not a public relations agenda. Since we are well aware of our situations, we perform our job without needless propaganda. As I have said during the Independence Day celebrations, there is a body formed to take charge of it. When it is announced, you can interview this respective body.

There is a methodology that serves in the drafting of the constitution. The most important thing is, when and how would the constitution be prepared and become operational. The former one has become outdated. Since we have learnt too much in the past 15 years, the new one should be better and that serves for the future. The document is just a means but not an end. In this country, where huge sacrifice of life and time has been paid, what we prefer is a system that takes us to the path we aspire to go and that could lead us towards achieving the big objectives I have mentioned earlier.

Since, the system is not by itself an end; the process is progressing without any hasty in the right time. We do not want to put ourselves in an argument about how and what it would look like. This is our domestic issue and the document is not for external political gain. The document we are drafting is aimed to serve for the huge sacrifices we paid for a number of generations, to take us to the journey we aspire to reach and to the chapter we are looking to be in. Thus, it is not an issue where we ask for external support or acclaim. So, it would be practically prepared passing through needed research and preparation and without any publicity. Everybody is ought to understand the document in the fact that it is aimed to sever neither individuals not to minorities interest. This document takes in to account the future of this country and not the interests of individuals. There is nobody who works on the document to make it perfect and without any errors.But, there should be a document that serves for the transformation that is in the near horizon. There is a procedure on how to rectify or make amendments. Thus, for the time being, it is suffice enough if we understand the document is not a perfect one but it would rather continually revised. Everybody who wills to make contribution is the country is most welcomed. Many have been sending their suggestions and shared their views in different forms. I am stating this in a time where we entered to a new transitional chapter. So, we could make humble deliberations in a time where we are setting up or drafting a system that serves the people. A body has been set up in the last six months and we would steadily publicize on how this body operates.

Translation by Eritrea Profile

By Aya Nader

Egypt rejected the current the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD) high storage capacity, as studies showed it will affect its national water security, reported state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) Sunday.

The dam’s storage capacity reaches 74bn cubic meters. Calling such capacity “unjustified and technically unacceptable”, Egypt asked Ethiopia to reduce it to what was agreed before the start of negotiations over the years-of-filling and operation of the dam.

Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, the three countries involved, are facing difficulties in technical negotiations, said Alaa Yassin, Advisor to the Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation and spokesman for the GERD file, according to state news agency MENA.

Yassin hopes that all parties adhere to the August agreements that took place in Sudan “without procrastination and time-wasting”, while the three countries are trying to overcome these difficulties.

“Egypt’s share in the historic Nile River water red line cannot be crossed,” Yassin told MENA.

Ethiopia began constructing the dam in 2011, and since then Egypt and Ethiopia have been locked in a diplomatic dispute, which reached a peak in 2013. Egypt, which utilises more Nile water than any other country, fears the dispute will have a detrimental effect on its share of Nile water.

As per agreements signed in 1929 and 1959, Egypt annually receives 55.5bn cubic metres of the estimated total 84bn cubic metres of Nile water produced each year, with Sudan receiving 18.5bn cubic metres.

On January 10 - 11, 2015 the Eritrean Americans civic organizations in Denver, where able to join the National Council of Eritrean Americans together with the others 42 cities in the US by conducting a full day
workshop consisted of thought provoking presentations and productive group discussions to address challenges and looking ahead through a Common National Vision on the current situation and collective understanding as  the tackle on the necessity, objectives, and structures of the NCEA by seating plan for 2015 within a three panel discussion.

The work shop was attended by PFDJ, YPFDJ, NUEW and PFDJ-II of Denver, Colorado as they gathered and the theme of - Harmony in Vision, Vanguard in Action– were they participated actively in the workshop led by special guest Ms. Hadnet Keleta.

The full day workshop consisted of thought productive presentations and creative group discussions. The day started off with Ms. Hadnet focusing on understanding our clear vision and the challenges we have faced and how we can overcome them to accomplish our goals. She focused on how our weakness are translated into strengths and offered perspective on how we must enhance engagement with our youth, those raised here and those who recently came from Eritrea.

She also conducted multiple breakout sessions where all participants were split into groups to discuss resolutions for a work plan/outline for 2015.

This was followed by two presentation lead by Mr. Ibrahim Idris whom he gave an introduction to the newly established - National Council of Eritrean Americans- better known as NCEA. The main purpose for NCEA is to be an umbrella organization for all Eritrean civic organizations such as PFDJ, VOE, YPFDJ, NUEW, OEA etc so that we can be better organized as a civic institutions the mainstream America. Its aim is to develop a common understanding among all organizations, encourage excellence, preserve
culture, contribute to Eritrea and solidify a vigorous participation. This was followed by a report from Mr. Tsegay Hibtios regarding expectations and responsibilities for the local Council of Eritrean-Americans in Denver to achieve the tasks of 2015. The event ended with people feeling energized and ready for work with vision and devotion.

Follow up on Sunday, Ms. Hadnet Keleta was able to conduct a through presentation to the Eritrea community in Colorado about the current developments in Eritrea and the region. Where the attended engaged in a very informative gathering, by addressing many subjects concern the peace process, socioeconomic, and political being of their beloved country Eritrea.

Credit: Dehai

ልምዓት ሃገር ዝብል ኣምር ብዙሕ ትርጉም ኣለዎ። ልምዓት ሃገር ማለት ምዕባሌ ሃገራዊ ቴክኖሊጂ፡ ኢንዲስትሪ፡ መራኸቢታት፡ ሕርሻ፡ ህንጻ፡ ቁጠባን ካልእ ማሕበርዊ ዕብየት ህዝብን የጠቓልል። ኣብ ሕቶ ሃገራዊ ልምዓት፡ እቲ ዘገድስ ነገራዊ ምዕባሌ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ እንተላይ እቲ ኣብ ዜጋታት እታ ሃገር ዝመጽእ ሓፈሻዊ ለውጢ ኣብ መነባብሮን፡ ኣካልን፡ መንፈስን ጥዕናን እዩ፡፡ ኣብ ብዙሓት ዝናኣድ ሃገራዊ ልምዓት ዝተጓናጸፋ ሃገራት ዝረአ ሓደ ኣሰካፊ ጉዳይ ግን ኣሎ። ሃገራዊ ልምዓት ኣብ ነገራዊ ለውጢ ጥራይ ኣቶኲሩን ንዉሑዳት ዜጋታቱ ጥራይ ኣርቢሑን ንብዙሓት ካልኦት ዝርስዕ ዘተሓሳስብ ጉዳይ። ኣብ ብዙሓት ሃገራት ከምዝተረኣየ: ሃገራዊ ምዕባለ ንቕድሚት ክስጉም ከሎ ብዙሓት ዜጋታት ግን ኣብ ዕጹው ዓንኬል ድኽነተ ተሓጺሮም ይተርፉ ኣለዉ። ነዚ ዝፈጥር ድኽመታት ብዙሕ እዩ። ሓደ ጭቡጥ ድኽመት ግን ነቶም ንገዛእ ርእሶም ኣካል ሃገራዊ ምዕባሌ ክገብሩ ኣኽእሎን: ባይታን: ዕድላትን ዝሳኣኑ ዜጋታት፡ ኣካል ሃገራዊ ልምዓት ንምግባሮም ዝውሰድ ሃገራዊ ሕግን ፖሊስን ኣብ ግብሪ ዘይምውዓሉ እዩ። ፕሮግራም ልምዓት ውድብ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ከምዝገልጾ፡ ደቀንስትዮ ኣብ ትምህርቲ፡ ጥዕናን፡ ሽቕለትን ፖለቲካዊ ውክልናን ካልእን ኣሉታዊ ኣድልዎ ብዙሕ ጊዜ የጋጥመን እዩ። ኣብ ከምዚ ዓይነት ኩነታት ዝያዳ ዝህሰዩ፡ እቶም ንገዛእ ርእሶም ከማዕብሉን፡ ክከላኸሉን ዕድመን፡ ጾታን፡ ኣካላዊ ብቕዓትን ዘየገላብጦም ከም ህጻናት፡ ኣካለ ስንኩላን፡ ኣረገውትን፡ ደቀንስትዮን ዝኣመሰሉ እዮም። ምርግጋጽ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ሃገራዊ ልምዓት እምባኣር፡ ነተን ብሰንኪ ማሕበራውን ቁጠባውን ጸቕጥታትን በደላታን፡ ካብ ሃገራዊ ልምዓት ዝግለላ ደቀንስትዮ ኣቶኲሩ፡ ተሳታፍነተን ዝረጋግጻሉ ባይታ ዝፈጥር እዩ።

ህዝባዊ ግንባር ሓርነት ኤርትራ፡ ንጾታዊ ማዕርነት ደቀንስትዮ፡ ብመትከልን ግብርን ተቓሊስሉን ሰሪሕሉን እዩ። ህዝባዊ ግንባር መሰል ደቀንስትዮ ኣብ ሕቶ መሬት፡ ሕርሻ፡ ባይቶ፡ ማሕበራዊ ውዳቤታትን፡ ኣብ ትምህርቲ ጥዕናን ሽቕለትን፡ ብዓብዩ ድማ ኣብ ብረታዊ ቃልሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ኤርትራውያን ደቀንስትዮ ጎኒ ጎኒ ኣሕዋተን ደቂተባዕትዮ ክቃለሳን ከቃልሳን ክመርሓን ኣኽኢሉ እዩ። ኣብ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ልዕሊ 30% (30,000) ደቀንስትዮ ምንባረንን ኣብ ኩሉ ወታሃደራውን ማሕባራውን ፖለቲካውን መደባት ይሳተፋ ምንባረን ሰነዳት ይምስክሩ። ኣብ ወጻኢ ሃገርን ኣብ ውሽጢ ጸላእን ከይተረፈ፡ ኤርትራውያን ደቀንስትዮ ታሪኽ ሰሪሐን እየን። ህዝባዊ ግንባር፡ ደቀንስትዮ ብጥርኑፍ ተወዲበን መሰለን ብጻዕረን ከረጋግጻ ዘኽኣለን ሃገራዊ ማሕበር ደቀንስትዮ ካብ እግሪ ተኽሊ መስሪቱን ኮስኪሶን እዩ። መሰለን ብሕጊ ክረጋገጽ ድማ ኣብ 1977 መሰል ደቀንስትዮ ብንጹር ኣብ ሃገራዊ ዲሞክራስያዊ ፕሮግራሙ ኣስፊርዎ እዩ። ብተወሳኺ ኣብ 1984 ንመሰል ደቀንስትዮ ዝሕሉ መርሓ ሕንጻጽ መርዓ ኣውጺኡ እዩ። ብደረጃ ዓለም ጽልዋ ዘሕድር ብቑዕ ኣብነትዊ ሃገርዊ ትካል ሃማደኤ ምህናጹ ድማ፡ ምስክር እምነት ህዝባዊ ግንባር ኣብ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት እዩ። ኤርትራውያን ደቀንስትዮ ብወገነን በቲ ዝተፈጠረለን ዕድልን፡ ንድርብ ወጽዓ ብምቅላስን፡ ሃገራዊ ማሕበር ኣብ 1979 ኣቒመን። ነቲ ኣብ ጊዜ ሰውራ “ማዕርነት በተኻፋልነት ኣብ ስራሕ” ዝብል ጭርሖአን ብምቕጻልን ብምሕዳስን ድማ መሰለን ኣብ ናጻን ልኡላዊትን ኤርትራ ዘረጋግጻሉ ባይታ ሃኒጸን ኣለዋ።


ኤርትራ ሃገራዊ ልምዓት ብሰብኣውነት ኣማእኪሉ ክዓቢ ትገብር ዘላ ሃገር እያ። ሰብኣዊ ምዕባለ ክባሃል ከሎ ኣብ ነገራዊ ልምዓት ከይተሓጽረ ዜጋታት ከም ደቂሰብ መጠን ብኣካልን፡ ኣእምሮን፡ መንፈስን ተሃኒጾም ተኻፈልቲ ጸጋታት ሃገሮምን ሃነጽቲ ኩለንትናዊ ምዕባሌኦምን ዝገብር እዩ። ንማእከልነት ሰብ ኣብ ምዕባሌ ኣመልኪቱ ሃገራዊ ቻርትር ኤርትራ ከምዚ ይብል፡ “... ኣብ ናይ ምዕባሌ ስትራተጅና ኩሉ ሳዕ ሰብ ማእከላይ ቦታ ክሕዝ ኣለዎ ... ብቐዳምነት ኣብ ሰብ ክምርኮስ፡ ነገርውን መንፈሳውን ድሌታቱ ንምርዋይ ክዕልም ኣለዎ”። ካብ ሰብ ናብ ሰብ ድማ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ኣቶኵሮ ዝግበኦም ዜጋታት ዓቕሚ ደሊቦም ብሕግን፡ ተወዳዳርነትን፡ ተሳታፍነትን፡ ብቕዓትን መሰሎምን ሰብኣውነቶምን ኣብ ምዕባሌ ዘረጋግጽሉን፡ ዘውሕሱሉን ሃገርዊ ልምዓት ይሰላሰል ኣሎ። ሃገራዊ ቻርተር ኤርትራ ንራእይ ማሕበራዊ ፍትሒ ኣመልኪቱ “ፍሉይ ቆላሕታ ንዝተወጽዑ ወገናት” ይብል። ነዞም ኣተኵሮ ተጌርሎም ኣብ ሃገራዊ ልምዓት ኤርትራ ተሳታፍነቶም ክረጋግጸ ዝጻዓረሎም ዘሎ ዜጋታት ተወሳኺ ብራኸ ንምሃብ፡ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ኣብ ርእሲ እቲ ካብ ጊዜ ብረታዊ ቃልሲ ኣትሒዙ ዝሰራሓሉ መትከላትን ፖሊሲታትን ኣካል ኣህጉራዊ ውዕላትን ትካላትን ኮይኑ ኣሎ። ንኣብነት ኣብ 2000 ዓ.ም. ኤርትራ ነቲ ንምኽባር መሰል ደቂሰብን ማዕረ ዕድላት ንደቂተባዕትዮን ደቀንስትዮ ንምትብባዕ ኣገዳሲ ዝኾነ ውዕላት ዓለምለኻዊ ውድብ ዕዮ ኣጽዲቓቶ እያ። ስለዚ ኣብ ኤርትራ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ሃገር ክረጋገጽ ዝተሰራሓሉን ዝስራሓሉን ዘሎ እዩ።

ብደረጃ ሃገር፡ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ንምርግጋጽ፡ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ዝኽተሎም ራእይን ፖሊስን ንጹራት እዮም። ሃገራዊ ቻርተር ንራእይ መጻኢ ክግለጽ ከሎ “ሕበረተሰብ ኤርትራ ብስኒት ኣብ ሞንጎ ዝተፈላለዩ ክፍልታቱ፡ ብማዕርነት ኣብ ሞንጎ ወዲ ተባዕታይን ጓል ኣንስተይትን ... ዝልለ ክኸውን” እዩ ይብል። ንዕላማ ማሕበራዊ መሰላት ክገልጽ ከሎ ድማ፡ “ደቀንስትዮ ኣብ ኩሉ ሜዳታት ብማዕርነት ተሳተፍቲ ንኽኮና ምጽዓርን፡ ንማዕረ ስራሕ ማዕረ ደሞዝ ከምዝረኽባ ምርግጋጽን። ብማሕበር ተወዲበን መሰላተን ንኽከላኸላ ምትብባዕን” ይብል። ስለዚ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ሃገር ኣብ ሃገራዊ ቻርተር ሰፊሩ ዘሎ እዩ።

ካብ ሕግታትን ፖሊሲታትን መንግሲት ኤርትራ ንምጥቃስ ማክሮ ፖሊሲ 1994፡ ኣዋጅ ሲቪላዊ ሕጊ ቁ.1/1991፡ ኣዋጅ ተጠቃምነት መሬት ቁ.58/1994፡ ንድፊ ቅዋም ኤርትራ 1997፡ ከምኡ ድማ ናይ ኤርትራ ናይ ጀንደር ፖሊስን ሃገራዊ መርሓ ግብሪ ጀንደር 2004 ኣብነታት እዮም። ኣብ 1995 መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ነቲ ንኽሉ ዓይነት ኣድልዋ ኣብ ልዕሊ ደቀንስትዮ ዘወግድ ውዕል ኣጽዲቕዎ እዩ። ኣብ 2007 ድሕሪ ሓያል ጻዕሪ ምኽንሻብ ደቀንስትዮ ብኣዋጅ ቁ.158/2007 ብሕጊ ተኽልኪሉ ኣሎ። መጽናዕቲ ባንክ ልምዓት ኣፍሪቃ (2014) ከምዝሕብሮ ኤርትራ ኣብ ምጽባብ ጾታዊ ጋግ ብቕዓትን ደረጃ ትምህርትን ደቀነስትዮ ብምሕያል ዝረአ ዓወት ኣመዝጊባ ኣላ። እዚ መጽናዕቲ ከምዝሕብሮ ኣብ ኩለን ሚኒስትርታት መንግስቲ ጾታዊ ኣተኵሮ ዝከታታል ኣሃዱ ክቐውም ሃማደኤን መንግስቲ ኤርትራን ተበግሶ ወሲዶም ኣለዉ። ሃገራዊ ፖሊሲ ኤርትራ ኣብ ትምህርቲ፡ ጥዕና፡ ኣከባቢ፡ ጻዓት፡ ሕርሻ፡ ውሕስነት መግቢ፡ ዋኒን ንብረት፡ ውርሻን ካልእን ንጾታዊ ማዕርነት ዘረጋግጹ ዓንቀጻት ኣለውዎ። እዞም ፖሊሲታት እዚ’ኣቶም ንጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ሃገር ብኹሉ ሸነኻቱ ዝጸልዉ እዮም። ነተን ፍርቂ ሕበረተሰብ ዝኾና ደቀንስትዮ ካብ ተጸበይቲ ናብ ንጡፋት ኣካል ሃገራዊ ምዕባሌ ንምግባረን ድማ ብተወሳሳቢ መንገዲ ዝሰርሑ ፖሊሲ ተሓንጺጾም ኣለዉ። ንኣብነት ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ትምህርቲ እንተሪእና፡ ደቀነስትዮ ኣብ ማኣዲ ትምህርቲ ክሳተፍ ዝሕግዝ ነናሓድሕዱ ተደጋጊፉ ዝኽይድ ናይ ጥዕናን፡ ሕርሻን፡ ኣከባብያዊ ፖሊሲን፡ ዘቤታዊ በደላትን ኣድልዎን ዝኽልክል ሕግን ፍትሕን ኣሎ። ኣብ ትምህርቲ ዝዋዓለት ጓል ኣነስተይቲ ኣብ ገዛኣ እኹል ጊዜ ክህልዋ ዝሕግዝ፡ ብፍላይ ድማ ነተን ኣብ ገጠራት ዝነብራ ከም ዝስተ ማይ ኣብ ቀረባ ኣከባቢአን ከምዝህሉ ይግበር ኣሎ። ሞጎጎ ኣድሓነት ኣብ ጥዕናን መንፈሳዊ ሩፍታን ጉልበትን ደቀንስትዮ ብትገብሮ ዘላ ኣበርክቶ ንሰብኣውነት ምዕባሌ ብፍላይ ድማ ንደቀንስትዮ ኣብነታዊት እያ። ኣብ መባእታ፡ ማእከላይ፡ ካላኣይ ደረጀን ላዕለዎት ትምህርታዊ ትካላትን ዝሳተፋ ዘለዋ ተማሃሮ ደቀንስትዮ ቁጽረን ካብ ዓመት ናብ ዓመት ይውስኽ ኣሎ። በቲ ካብ 2015 ዓ.ም. ጀሚሩ ቁጽሪ ኣብያተ ተምህርቲ ንምውሳኽ ተታሒዙ ዘሎ መደብ፡ ዕድል ናይ ትምህርቲ ዝረኽባ ደቀንስትዮ ክውስኽ ምኻኑ ርዱእ እዩ።

ደቀንስትዮ ኤርትራ ክማሃራን ክሰርሓን፡ በዘይፍርሕን ምሹቕራርን ኣብ ዝመረጸኦ ጊዜ ክነቀሳቐሳ ዝኽእላላ ሃገራዊ ስኒትን ሰላምን ዝሰፈና ሃገር ኣላተን። እዚ ድማ ኣካል ሃገራዊ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ኮይነን ዘረጋግጸኦ ዘለዋ ድሕነት ሃገር እዩ። ኣብ ቁጠባ ርእሰን ክኽእላን ናይ ገዛእ ርእሰን ምንጪ ኣታዊ ክረኽባን፡ ኣብ ስራሕ ድማ ማዕረ ደቂተባዕትዮ ክሳተፋ ዝሕግዘን ሕግን ስልጠናን ናይ ገንዘብ ለቓሕን ምትሕግጋዝን ይዋሃበን ኣሎ። መጽናዕቲ ባንክ ልምዓት ኣፍሪቃ ከምዝሕብሮ ኤርትራውያን ደቀንስትዮ ኣካል ዓቕሚ ሰራሕተኛታት ኤርትራን፡ ወነንቲ ናኣሽቱን ማእከላይን ብሕታዊ ትካላት ምኻነን ይገልጽ። ካልእ ተመሳሳሊ መጽናዕቲ ከምዝሕብሮ ካብ ብዝተፈላለዩ ኣካላት ዝዋሃብ ለቓሕ ልዕሊ 40% ተጠቀምቲ ደቀንስትዮ እየን። ኣብ ተጠቃምነት መሬት ካብ 2009 ክሳብ 2012 ኣብ ዘሎ ጊዜ ካብ 17,684 ናይ ገጠር መሬት ንዝተፈላለየ ኣግልግሎት ዝተዓደሎም ዜጋታት፡ እተን ልዕሊ 32% ደቀንስትዮ እየን። ካልኦት ዕድለን ክውስኑለን ከይተጸበያ ድማ፡ መራሕትን ኣባላትን ኣገደስቲ ሃገራዊ ትካላት መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ብሙኻን ብደርጃ ሚኒስተራት፡ ዳይረክተራት፡ ኣባላት ባይቶን ናይ ኣከባብን ዓድን ዳኛታትን ኣነባበርትን ክኾና በቒዐን ኣለዋ። ብመሰረት ኣዋጅ ዞባዊ ምምሕዳር ቁ.86/1996፡ 30% ባይቶ ንደቀንስትዮ ሕዙእ ከኸውን ከሎ ኣብቲ ዝተረፈ 70% ድማ ክወዳደራ የፍቅድ። ብኣዋጅ ኮማዊ ቤት ፍርዲ ቁ. 132/2003 ሓደ ሲሶ ማለት 30% ኮማዊ ዳኛታት ንደቀንስትዮ ሕዙእ እዩ። ዋላኳ ከምቲ ዝደለ ብዝሒ ንምርካብ ጊዜን ጻዕርን ክሓትት እንተኾነ ልዕሊ 22% ኣባላት ባይቶ ደቀንስትዮ ምኻነን እቲ ክሳብ ሕጂ ተበጺሑ ዘሎ ደረጃ ዓቢ እዩ። ምኽንያቱ ሕቶ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ሕቶ ዝሓለፈ መግዛእታዊ በደላትን ባህላዊ ተጽዕኖታትን ስለዝኾነ ብቐሊሉ ዝምለስ ኣይኮነን።

ካብዚ ኣብ ላዕሊ ተገሊጹ ዘሎ ሓሳባት ተበጊስና ኤርትራ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ከተረጋግጽ ጥጡሕ ባይታ ዘለዋ ሃገር ምኻና ክንድምድም ንኽእል። መስርሕ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ዝተሓላለኸን ነዊሕ ጊዜ ዝወስድን ስለዝኾነ፡ ኤርትራ ጌና ብዙሕ ዝተርፋ ክህሉ ከምዝኽእል ዝካሓድ ኣይኮነን። ኣብ ባህልን ጾታዊ መረዳእታን ዘሎ ናይ ህዝብና ኣተሓሳስባ ብዙሕ ጎስጋስን ትምህርትን ዘድልዮ እዩ። ብዓብዮ ቁጠባ ኤርትራ እናዓበየን እናሰፈሐን ክኽይድ ከሎ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ዝያዳ እናተረጋገጸ ክኸይድ እዩ። እቲ ክሳብ ሕጂ ተበጺሑ ዘሎ ኣተባባዒ ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ኣብ ልምዓት ሃገር ግን ዝምስገን እዩ። ነዚ ንምሕያሉን ንምውሓሱን ድማ ኣብ ጽንብል ታሪኻዊ ዝኽሪ መበል 35 ዓመት ምምስራት ሃማደኤ ነተን ብመስዋእተንን ተወፋይነተንን ናብዚ ዘብቃዓና ጀጋኑና ዘኪርና መብጻዓና ከነሐድስን ክነጽንዕን ከነውርስን ይግባእ።

ዓወት ንሓፋሽ!

ዮሴፍ ኣብርሃ

ሚነሶታ

01.10.2015

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መወከሲ፡

1. ሃገራዊ ቻርተር ኤርትራ
2. ፕሮግራም ልምዓት ውድብ ሕቡራት ሃገራት (http://www.undp.org) (http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/genderinequality-index-gii)
3. African Development Fund. ADF/BD/IF/2009/60. March 2009.
4. The Government of the State of Eritrea: Report on the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and
 Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcomes of the Twenty-third Special Session of the General
 Assembly (2000).