It was the peace deal nobody saw coming. In July of last year Eritrea's
President Isaias Afwerki stepped off a plane in Ethiopia and was greeted with a
warm hug from that country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed after almost two decades
of hostility between the horn of Africa neighbours. Isaias, analysts said, had
been caught off guard when Abiy, a new and reform-minded leader for Ethiopia,
extended an olive branch. Still, the Eritreans responded in kind as Abiy
promised Ethiopia would finally accept the terms of a UN-brokered agreement that
ended a 1998 - 2000 border conflict, which had killed more than 80,000 people
and left the two nations in an effective state of cold war.
Almost a year later,
though, Eritrean opposition activists say there has been no peace dividend.
Isaias, a former rebel commander, came to power in 1993 -- and no elections have
been held since. Rights groups report that journalists and dissenting
politicians have been rounded up and imprisoned without trial. Eritreans must
obtain an exit visa to leave the country. There is forced conscription.
Eritrea
has long said such measures are necessary to protect it from attack or sabotage
from its much bigger neighbour. But activists are now asking, with the new
accord inked, how much longer that argument can hold.
This month, a group of 100
leading African journalists, politicians and activists signed an open letter to
Isaias urging him to embark on political reform. Eritrean Diaspora youth are
stepping up the pressure, too, kick starting vibrant social media campaigns such
as Yiakl - or Enough - and HappyBirthdayCiham.
The government says it has been
victimised by foreign powers and that it is reforming - albeit slowly.
Is
Isaias on a collusion course with AU, IGAD and Ethiopia
on Sudan?
Breaking News:
Agreement between Sudan and Eritrea on borders opening...
(while the border with Ethiopia is
closed) SMC
Sudan and Eritrea have agreed to
open the borders between them and facilitate the normal movement of the peoples
across the borders.
This came during the joint talks Friday
between the Chairman of the Transitional Military
Council (TMC) Lieutenant-General Abdel-Fattah El-Burhan
and the Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, in the
Eritrean capital Asmara during the one-day visit to
Eritrea.
They have also agreed to activate
cooperation and coordination between the two countries
in all fields.
The concerned authorities in the two
countries are take the necessary measures to open the
borders formally and immediately.
In a statement to the Sudan News Agency (SUNA),
the Director-General of the African Affairs at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Ambassador Abdel-Moneim
Osman al-Bayti said that the Lt. Gen. Al-Burhan briefed
Afwerki on the developments in Sudan.
For his part, President Afwerki affirmed
his country's support for the Sudanese people and
rejected foreign interference in Sudan's affairs. "Only
the people of Sudan who decide their own destiny," he
said.
The two leaders affirmed the deep
historical and humanitarian ties between the two
brotherly peoples as they are considered as the solid
base for launching cooperation between the two countries
at all levels, overcoming the bitterness of the past and
opening a new page of cooperation between the two
countries and peoples.
Despite Historic Rapprochement With Ethiopia, "Nothing
Has Changed" in Eritrea
Tanja Müller Friday,
June 14, 2019
ASMARA, Eritrea-The streets of
Eritrea's capital in the runup to this year's
Independence Day celebrations on May 24 were
unusually quiet. But cafes and restaurants were full
of many Eritreans from the diaspora who had traveled
back to mark 28 years of national independence. "I
come every year on this occasion," an Eritrean
living in Germany told me, "to celebrate my
country."
Most of the people I know who put up
with life in Eritrea the whole year, however, do not
feel like celebrating. For them, the holiday is a
day off work that they will spend at home, in part
because security tightens, with soldiers or police
on every street corner. In the past few months,
arbitrary arrests have apparently increased, so
everyone is cautious and seems to avoid the center
of the city. It is impossible to verify these
stories, or other rumors of splits within the ruling
party and increasing forms of dissent, given how
opaque politics are in Eritrea. The only visible
sign I encountered last month was anti-government
graffiti inside a building, profanely calling out
the ruling party, the People's Front for Democracy
and Justice. Photos of other anti-government
graffiti have recently circulated on Eritrean social
media
Read More
"Afwerki's Eritrea, touted in the media
as "Africa's North Korea", is the guarantor of stability
in Ethiopia."
PETER KAGWANJA
Power shift in the Horn of Africa
is eroding Kenya's influence
At the dawn of this
century, the then editor of the Foreign
Affairs Journal, James
Fulton Hoge Jr., rightly observed that the global
"transfer of power from West to East" was
"dramatically changing the context for dealing with
international challenges-as well as the challenges
themselves" (Foreign
Affairs,July/August,
2004).
MESSIANIC SENSE
In the Horn of
Africa, the return to peace and collapse of
sit-tight dictatorial regimes is spawning a major
power shift.
It is also
challenging Kenya's influence in the region over the
last five decades in a profound and palpable way.
The old regional
balance of power that sustained Kenya's regional
influence rested on three pillars. One was a
Strategic Alliance, a mutual defence pact ratified
by the two countries in December 1963, with scions
of the Solomonic Dynasty. The Kenya-Ethiopia Defence
pact, which sought to curb the territorial and power
ambitions of an increasingly militaristic and
expansionist Somalia, ensured that Kenya and
Ethiopia coexisted and collaborated in a duality of
power as two regional powers with little competition
for legitimacy or influence.
Sudan's
opposition denies demanding transfer of talks
with military council to Ethiopia
June
15, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese opposition Forces
for Freedom and Change (FFC) said they did not
demand the transfer of talks to Addis Ababa
denying statements made by the spokesperson of
the Transitional Military Council on this
respect.
On Thursday, Shams al-Din
Khabbashi said the opposition groups and not
serious to reach an agreement with the military
council and said they asked the Ethiopian
mediator to transfer the talks on the transfer
of power to Addis Ababa.
The proposal to transfer the
negotiations to Addis Ababa was made by the
Ethiopian Prime Minister on Wednesday.
The FFC declined the invitation
in a timely manner, maintaining they want the
political process remains inter-Sudanese and the
Ethiopian embassy withdrew it, further said the
FFC.
Upon the request of the Peace and
Security Council of the African Union, Ethiopian
premier Abiy Ahmed is brokering a mediation to
establish a civilian-led Transitional Authority
in Sudan on 6 June.
Following this decision, Abiy was
in Khartoum on 8 June where he met the ruling
military council and the opposition FFC.
The Ethiopian mediator appointed
by the prime minister and the African Union
special envoy to Sudan are holding separate
meetings with the two sides in Khartoum.
The two mediators have to make
new proposals to the Sudanese parties before 30
June as the PSC will discuss the situation in
Sudan again and might decide punitive measures
on those who obstruct the process.
Thank You Our African
Brothers and Sisters Bereket Habte Selassie
Emeritus Distinguished Professor of African Studies and
Professor of Law
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Fellow, African Academy of Sciences
06/19/2019
The
Open Letter our African brothers and sisters wrote to
Eritrea's Head of State, Isaias Afwerki, is a breath of
fresh air in the stale atmosphere of African politics
and diplomacy. It came on the 55th
Anniversary of the establishment of the OAU (the
predecessor of the African Union), which falls one day
after Eritrea's Independence Day, and it thus carries a
poignant symbolic significance. It signifies a Pan-Africanist
spirit as well as reflecting a spirit of liberation that
had given birth to a new African nation, following a
long and arduous struggle. It is a simple message,
simply expressing a wish to visit Eritrea and requesting
the President to allow such a visit, which includes
visits to meet with government Ministers as well as
prisoners, including journalists, who had been locked up
without any legal process for over seventeen years, just
for daring to exercise their civil and constitutional
rights.
Speaking
for myself, having been privileged to have known some of
the people who wrote the letter, including Professor
Wole Soyinka, whom I consider a good friend, I was not
surprised when news of the letter hit the headlines; but
I was thrilled and most grateful that Africa had come to
the rescue, that the Pan-Africanist spirit was invoked
in defense of our people's rights. I was also pleased
that the letter was couched in polite, diplomatic
language, avoiding preaching and any hint of
high-mindedness. The letter even made reference to
problems some of their own nations were facing, but that
Eritrea's predicament of total denial of elementary
human rights, and deadly isolation, is beyond the pale.
Hence the timely and welcome intervention of our African
brothers and sisters whose conscience has been pricked
and who had waited long to see changes that did not
come. And, after years of hope for change, they decided
to intervene in a desperate effort to induce change of
behavior from Eritrea's leader.
The
dominant sentiment of the letter is a deep-rooted
concern for the plight of the Eritrean people, and a
Pan-Africanist spirit of solidarity with a people that
the writers of the letter considered (and called)
heroic. The writers expressed their ardent desire to see
them and their country emerge form isolation and join
the family of fellow African peoples.
Will Mr.
Isaias Afwerki respond positively to the requests of the
writers of the letter? Judging by the desoerate comments
of the propaganda machine that appeared in the
government website, which reflects a knee-jerk reaction
by the regime's Department of Information, it would be
unwise to expect anything better. Having been a member
of the G-13, and knowing him as I do, I have no illusion
that Isaias will respond positively. The G-13, a group
of Eritrean scholars and other professionals, had
pleaded with him to make peace with his colleagues in
the government and erstwhile comrades-in-arms (during
the armed struggle) and agree to implement the ratified
constitution that he had suppressed. He refused and when
they persisted by calling for the convening the Congress
of the governing party, he proceeded to arrest and
detain them. They have been in detention and
incommunicado ever since, and many have either died or
suffered bodily and mental harm.
The
important point is that all of Africa, has turned its
gaze on Eritrea, through the eloquent pens of its men of
letters, and democracy and human right s activists. In
other words, Africa's needed awareness of Eritrea's
tragic plight has been expressed by its voices of
conscience. We cannot have wished for more.
So, we
say:
THANK YOU
OUR AFRICAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS FOR GIVING VOICE TO THE
VOICELESS! AND GOD BLESS YOU AUNDANTLY!!
Bereket Habte Selassie
Emeritus Distinguished Professor of African Studies and
Professor of Law
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Fellow, African Academy of Sciences
Eritrea
interferes in Sudan's internal affairs?
Press Statement
Press
Statement on the occasion of the
visit of Lt. General Abdul'Fattah
Al'Burhan; Chairman of the
Transitional Military Council
For over thirty years, Sudan's
National Congress Party ' an adjunct
and continuation of the Islamic
Movement ' inflicted unparalleled
damage in the country thereby
creating a vacuum. The following
few and major events illustrate the
gravity of the prevalent situation:
*
Pushing South Sudan to opt for
secession and precipitating a
situation of recurrent tension;
*
Perpetuating and micro'managing the
problems in Darfur, Kordofan, Blue
Nile, the East and other areas;
*
Inducing the proliferation of over
120 political organizations and
parties in order to divide and
weaken them and thereby prolong its
rule;
*
Impoverishing the Sudan -
potentially a breadbasket - and
causing it to suffer chronic bread
shortages;
*
Installing a corrupt and
kleptocratic regime in stark
contrast to its pronounced agenda of
"advocacy for the deprived and
promotion of social justice";
* Not
only has it caused Sudan's debt to
skyrocket to over 50 billion US
dollars, but it also plunged the
country into spiraling economic
crisis;
*
Pursuing a reckless regional policy
of sowing discord. This was
manifested by, among other things,
the regime's harbouring of Bin La
Den and Al'Qaida; ... giving
safe'haven to Carlos; involvement in
the attempted assassination of
(former Egyptian President) Housni
Mubarak in Addis Abeba (OAU
Summit);... the propping up of
"Eritrean Jihad" who were trained
and involved in Afghanistan;...its
support to Jihad movements against
Libya, Chad and Egypt respectively;
as well as hosting, promoting and
serving as a springboard for
destructive regional agendas and
alliances. The regime had thus
become the principal actor in
stoking regional conflicts and
destabilization;
The ensuing vacuum created by the
regime's policies tested the patience
and tolerance of the people of the
Sudan. In the event, the entire people
of the Sudan managed, in unison, to
overcome all obstacles and usher in a
new, historic, phase through a
spontaneous uprising. The Sudanese
people are today earnestly engaged in
formulating their own road'map for a
durable arrangement that transcends the
challenges of the current transitional
phase. And this is being achieved
without pretentious external
interventions.
In view of the historic and robust
bondage between the peoples of Eritrea
and the Sudan, the Eritrean people have
also been victimized by the negative
consequences of the regime's reckless
and destructive policies. This is
indeed why war was declared on the
Eritrean people without any
justification whatsoever. The border
between the two countries was then
closed whimsically using the
"declaration of emergency" as a
pretext. In the circumstances, the
Government of Eritrea expresses its
admiration and support to the patience
and patriotism of the Sudanese people.
Aware of its obligations that stem from
the historic ties of the two peoples,
the Government of Eritrea pledges its
full and unequivocal support to the
Transitional Military Council in its
efforts to shoulder its responsibilities
at this crucial phase of transition.
Ministry
of Information
Asmara
14 June 2019
Eritrea responds to "Open
Letter" to the Eritrean President by African writers
and activists; refused to extend invitation to visit the
country
"African Voices":
political cherry picking at its worst!
Early this
week, a motley network of African writers and
journalist wrote an open letter to President Isaias
Afwerki expressing concern on what they termed as
"continued detention of Eritrean journalists and
activists, migration of youth and...the isolation of
Eritrea from the larger African family".
To impart a
semblance of "balance", the writers also expressed
their "most sincere congratulations to Eritrea" for
"its normalization of diplomatic relations with
Ethiopia".
The timing and rather inappropriate medium of
communication that they selected to convey their
views to the Government of Eritrea provoke profound
questions of purpose and intent. But we would
rather focus, at this point in time, on the issues
they have raised than wasting time second'guessing
their underlying motives.
June is a very solemn month for all Eritreans in all
walks of life. June 20th is Martyrs Day!
Due to the travesty of justice and flagrant breaches
of international law at various junctures of their
history, the people of Eritrea were compelled to pay
enormous sacrifices in the past 60 years. The human
toll has been staggering and unparalleled relative
to the small size of Eritrea's population. These
figures say it all: 65,000 freedom fighters
martyred in the three'decades long liberation war
(1961'1991); more than 20,000 of Eritrea's best sons
and daughters lost their lives in the subsequent
border war (1998'2000) as well as its sequel in the
past two decades as Ethiopia pursued wanton policies
of belligerence and "regime change".
June is thus a month of somber reflection on the
myriad injustices that were meted on Eritrea by a
constellation of major powers and their local
surrogates for over six decades. It is a month of
commemoration for the high price paid and arduous
trajectory blazed simply because Eritrea's
inalienable national rights were perceived as
incompatible with, and had to be compromised on, the
altar of "higher" geostrategic interests of major
global powers.
In all these difficult decades, "voices of
conscience" in the wider international community
'
and especially African voices; official or
otherwise ' were conspicuous for their absence and
deafening silence. In the case of African voices,
the apathy persisted even in the past 16 years when
Ethiopia flagrantly flouted Africa's sacrosanct
principle of the sanctity of colonial boundaries and
continued its occupation of sovereign Eritrean
territories in contravention of the final and
binding arbitral ruling of the Eritrea'Ethiopia
Boundary Commission of 13 April 2002.
Peace has been achieved at long last now after
Ethiopia belatedly accepted the EEBC decision and
agreed to implement it fully. This is indeed the
backdrop of the Joint Declaration of Peace and
Friendship between Eritrea and Ethiopia signed in
Asmara on July 9 last year.
Peace is extremely dear to Eritrea. Needless to
emphasize, those who cherish peace most are those
who have been affected most by its absence; by the
attendant prevalence of war. This was acutely felt
in Eritrea for the past six decades. Indeed, in the
past 57 years from 1961 until 2018, the only time
the country enjoyed durable peace to funnel its
undivided attention and resources to nation building
was the short, seven'year, interlude from 1991 until
1998; in the immediate aftermath of the historic
victory of the liberation struggle.
Eritrea is now focused on consolidating the hard'won
peace process underway. It is earnestly working to
recoup lost time and opportunity to address critical
issues of nation'building ' in all its dimensions '
with a redoubled sense of purpose and urgency.
Formulation of appropriate policies, their
prioritization and sequencing, as well as timelines
of implementation are serous tasks that fall within
the purview and prerogatives of the Government and
people of Eritrea alone. Maintenance of the
independence of its policies and ownership of its
national developmental programmes are in fact
cardinal principles that the GOE subscribes to
strongly.
Despite attempts to isolate and muzzle Eritrea by
certain powers, Eritrea has and currently enjoys the
support of many, including Africans, at
international forums. Eritrea has vast diplomatic
ties and representations in virtually all
continents. Suffice to mention a couple of recent
examples: Eritrea's election (167 states) to the UN
Human Rights Council and its assumption of the
Chairmanship of the Khartoum Process that deals with
migration and human trafficking issues.
Eritrea is making modest contributions in these
forums. More importantly, Eritrea is playing a
widely acknowledged, active, and constructive role
for regional peace, stability and economic
integration.
The provision of education for all and health for
all, achievement of food and water security in
difficult circumstances of war and relentless
belligerency, attest to the government's commitment
to improve the lives of its people. Eritrea's
commitment is evidenced by its achievement of all
health'related UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Much needs to be done, and with the new found peace,
no doubt Eritrea will fulfill the aspirations and
dreams of her people, to develop their war'torn
nation.
In as far as" migration of youth" is concerned,
there is vast literature in the public domain on the
dominant and politicized pull'factors that have
spurred it in the first place. The granting of
"automatic political asylum to all Eritreans" by
certain European countries, with the UNHCR at the
helm, was indeed designed to weaken Eritrea's
defense capabilities by "weaning its youth from the
National Service". Other domestic push factors
pale in impact in terms of this externally'driven
and politicized pull'factor.
The authors of the open letter also allude to
"continued detention of journalist and other
activists". Here again, the painful events of
sedition that transpired at a crucial time during
the border war are well known, documented and
available in the public domain. To feign ignorance
of these facts is disingenuous or irresponsible.
The majority of the signatories have undoubtedly
been influenced by the narratives on Eritrea
produced over the last 20 years. None of them have
firsthand knowledge of, or have ever visited, the
country. When one skims through the list, there is
not even a single individual who has penned one
single article on the predicaments of Eritrea in all
those decades when it faced enormous existential
threats.
Another poignant fact that we must recall is the
tendency of external powers to instrumentalize
"African voices" to implement their policies of
subversion. In the case of Eritrea, both the UNSC
sanctions (2009/2011) and the UNHRC resolutions
(2012) of harassment were adopted using African
Trojan horses as "key sponsors". One wonders
whether a similar gimmick is on the offing in this
case too. Particularly as some of the individuals
in the list have murky associations with certain
powers.
Be that as it may, Eritrea's motto has been, "Come
and See". Eritrea is open to all those with genuine
interest in understanding the country, its people
and its leadership. Otherwise, Eritrea's "rightful
place in the family of African nations", achieved
and preserved through the blood, sweat and sacrifice
of her children, remains intact.
Asmara
13 June 2019
Last Updated (Thursday, 13 June 2019
07:01)
Open letter to Eritrea's
president: Let us visit detained activists and
journalists
We write to convey our most sincere
congratulations upon your country's
normalisation of diplomatic relations with
Ethiopia. This is a development much appreciated
by all Africans of goodwill.We write to you in
our capacity as citizens of Africa to pledge our
unequivocal solidarity with all the people of
Eritrea. This includes the many Eritreans we see
enduring all manner of risk and suffering in
search of a better life outside their homeland.
We acknowledge that we too hail from nations
with varying governance and developmental
challenges. We write to you, in the spirit
of Pan'African solidarity, to seek common
solutions to our shared problems.
Read More
ጅግና ስውእቲ፡ ንእሽተይ ሓፍተይ ሲሚቲ! 
SMC
June
15, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese opposition Forces
for Freedom and Change (FFC) said they did not
demand the transfer of talks to Addis Ababa
denying statements made by the spokesperson of
the Transitional Military Council on this
respect.ndex.6.jpg)
በውጭ
አገራት የሚኖሩ ኤርትራውያን አገሪቱ ሉዓላዊነቷን ከተቀዳጀች ጀምሮ የመሯት የኢሳያስ
አፈወርቂ መንግሥት ላይ "በቃ" የተባለ ዘመቻ እያካሔዱ ነው። በትግሪኛ፣ በእንግሊዘኛ እና
ሌሎች በአገሪቱ በሚነገሩ ቋንቋዎች የሚካሔደው ይኸው ዘመቻ መልዕክቱን ለማስተላለፍ ትዊተር
እና ፌስቡክን ተጠቅሟል። የ16 አመት ታዳጊ ሳሉ አልጋ ተደግፈው የሚታዩበትን ምስል
በትዊተር ያጋሩት አቢ የተባሉ የዘመቻው ተካፋይ "ሳዋ እጅግ አስፈሪ ቦታ ነው። ምን
እንደሚፈጠር ማንም አያውቅም። በዚህ አሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ውስጥ ኖሪያለሁ" ሲሉ በወታደራዊው
የማሰልጠኛ ጣቢያ ያሳለፉትን ጊዜ ፅፈዋል። በሳዋ ወታደራዊ ማሰልጠኛ የተሰጠ የትምህርት
የምስክር ወረቀት አያይዘው "እኛ ወደ ኮሌጅ እነሱ ወደ ወታደራዊ ማሰልጠኛ ተላክን።
ሁላችንም ከዚህ የተሻለ ይገባናል። በውጭ አገራት የምትኖሩ ኤርትራውያን ለሰዎቻችሁ
እንድትጮሁ እንፈልጋለን። የእናንተን ጥሪ እየተጠባበቁ ነው። ለእርዳታ እያለቀሱ ነው። ዝም
አትበሉ! ንቅናቄውን ተቀላቀሉ" ያሉት ደግሞ በዚያው በትዊተር መንደር ሮራ ሐባብ ናቸው። 
The
Open Letter our African brothers and sisters wrote to
Eritrea's Head of State, Isaias Afwerki, is a breath of
fresh air in the stale atmosphere of African politics
and diplomacy. It came on the 55th
Anniversary of the establishment of the OAU (the
predecessor of the African Union), which falls one day
after Eritrea's Independence Day, and it thus carries a
poignant symbolic significance. It signifies a Pan-Africanist
spirit as well as reflecting a spirit of liberation that
had given birth to a new African nation, following a
long and arduous struggle. It is a simple message,
simply expressing a wish to visit Eritrea and requesting
the President to allow such a visit, which includes
visits to meet with government Ministers as well as
prisoners, including journalists, who had been locked up
without any legal process for over seventeen years, just
for daring to exercise their civil and constitutional
rights.
mglexi_index.7.jpg)
