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Eritrea Sanction: A New Horizon in Eritrea’s Political Landscape

It also appears that President Isaias and his government miscalculated the ability of his African counterparts at effecting such a feat, possibly counting on the fragmented regional alliances and perhaps also his expertise at divisively influencing regional players into mistrust and away from a mutually beneficial goal. He failed miserably. Not only was Uganda able to exert considerable effort in pushing the draft resolution, it had support from IGAD (the regional economic alliance) and eventually the full backing of the Africa Union as a whole, and this during the presidency of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, a staunch ally who would go on to oppose the resolution at the SC.

At a wider global level both China and Russia, known for their inclinations to not support sanctions, did not oppose the Eritrea sanction when either of them could have used their veto to stop it from going any further (China chose to abstain whilst Russia voted for the sanction). This is perhaps the clearest sign of the International Community’s frustrations at the Isaias Afewerki’s relentless disregard for the efforts to engage Eritrea and enabling it to play a positive role in the region.

Justifiable Judgment on the CDRIE types

I, like most concerned Eritreans, believe that the primary task for us now is to bring about change in Eritrea, and that means removing the Issayas dictatorship from power. The key issue is thus to develop tactics and strategies of removing the regime and implement them.

CDRIE and its types do not believe that removing the regime is the primary task. They believe that the post Issayas scenario, the so-called soft landing is the primary issue. They thus divert our attention from the primary issue of removing Issayas to what may or may not happen after Issayas. The CDRIE types believe that peaceful and only peaceful struggle is the way forward. They have every right to do so. I also believe that peaceful struggle should be our main approach. But unlike me, the CDRIE types condemn every other form of struggle and thus de-legitimize a huge part of the opposition, and a legitimate means of removing the regime.

Sanctions Watch: Lessons from the G-15 Dissent

In the last decade, while the image of Ethiopia as the number one security threat to the nation has been gradually fading, the image of Isaias/Shaebia as the number one security threat to the daily lives of the masses has been gradually solidifying. Unlike the abstract “security threat” of Ethiopia that has so far remained potent only in its potential form, that of Isaias/Shaebia has increasingly become as immediate and as tangible as it could possibly get to the common man. So there is no doubt that the masses, by now, have come to understand that the threat to their survival primarily comes from Isaias. How about teghadelti?

As pointed above, the genius of Isaias lies in the fact that he made the gain of teghadelti dependent on the pain of the masses. Shaebia is becoming rich at the expense of bankrupted merchants and landless peasants. The colonels and generals are not only getting all the power, money and villas but also all the women they want. The Yikealo are able to wield tremendous power over Warsai because of the drastic power rearrangement made possible by the indefinite nature of national service. With sanctions, all of this is set to change; in the order of priorities that will soon emerge, such privileges would attain only secondary status, at best.

CDRiE’s Conference: Towards making a difference

The people of Eritrea are subjected to extreme human rights violations by PFDJ; the institution of the family is put under extreme pressure as the most productive member of the family is forced to work for free under the Warsay and Yekealo development project for an indefinite period of time. The suffering of the population has become unbearable as evidenced by poverty in Eritrea and by thousands of people fleeing the country particularly the youth. The UNSC has passed a resolution of limited sanction alienating Eritrea from the community of nations. All these have raised the need for change and the question of: “Are we heading towards a critical mass of change?

Dr Mirjam van Reisen and her attempt to influence Eritrean politics

The damage caused by people such as Dr van Reisen is not caused by the wrong headed choices they make in trying to influence Eritrean politics. She has supported the policies of the former EPLF who have “joined” the opposition, and the damage caused by that is no higher than the damage caused by the groups themselves. The real damage is caused because the Dr van Reisens of this world claim to be neutral as far as Eritrean opposition politics is concerned while they are clearly partisan in their approach. The bigger damage is caused because the bleeding-heart liberals they are they probably actually believe they are neutral even when they are taking and acting in such a narrowly partisan fashion.

Eritrea Walks into the Sanction Trap

There is a Tigrinya saying: “there is no cure for the one who hides his ailments.” Eritrea under the PFDJ is sick. It appears that the Eritrean leaders have lost all senses of reality; they are living in a delusion of grandeur; they act in the world stage as if they were leaders of a nation that is not small, war ravaged and poor and; they pretend to go toe-to-toe with the mightiest nation on the Earth – the USA.  There is no diplomatic or political remedy for such kind of an ailment. The cure is as simple as a walk to the nearest psychiatric ward. All this hoopla in front of the whole wide world may be a mercy call for such an intervention. The supporters of the PFDJ need to wake up from their deep slumber and face this heartbreaking reality.

Sanctions and its “supporters”

These days it appears that everyone in the “opposition camp,” even those who deep down hate the sanctions imposed on Isaias regime are all for it. At last the so-called CDRIE, a front organization for the identical twins of the PFDJ in the opposition have declared through their chairman that they support the sanctions, or have they? Read between the lines and you can see what their support amounts to.
 
According to CDRIE the sanctions “are nothing but the result of the failure of the Eritrean government in the field of diplomacy.” You see the problem CDRIE and its likes have with the Isaias regime is not its lawlessness in regional politics (a reflection of its lawlessness in domestic policy) but its lack of finesse and skill in executing such a policy. They apparently feel had they not been booted out by the “the man” they would have executed these same policies with the necessary diplomatic skill and things would have turned out okay for Eritrea.

What a Way The Year 2009 Ended!

The Year 2009! What a tenacious and hyperactive year it was!! It was also a very revealing year in that the various conferences that were being launched in alarming progressions brought out several “notables” from the woods to the Eritrean political spotlight. It gets one to wonder if this is not just the beginning of a process whereby an Eritrean Chalabi is to be picked up and installed in Asmara from an intimidating line up of scholars, poets, human right activists, all claiming in their own rights, that they have been struggling, better than every body else, their entire life for democracy and justice and thus deserve the attention and respect of the Eritrean populace. And this is not even including those who came in great numbers expressing their anger and disdain on why they were not invited to the conferences. I cannot but help recall my early reading of an episode from Don Quixote, in which Sancho Panza commented by saying “There must be more dons than stones in this island”, as he looked at the big number of dignitaries that came to pay tribute to him as he finally arrived in the Island his master promised him .

UN Sanctions Imposed on Eritrea

As the embargo drags on and the leadership becomes more desperate it is bound to resort to the same tactics the Somali warlords resorted to in order to survive: So, Isaias and his goons are very likely to take the same route the Somalis took and will start to capture ships in the Red Sea and confiscate their cargo to supplement their arms needs and will also probably resort to the capture of anything they can lay their hands on, including hostages and even the demand of ransom. That can only lead to an eventual breakdown of law and order in the land. All these are in the cards. In the short run therefore, things are bound to get worse, leading to an eventual disaster in the long run too, UNLESS...

Eritrea: Free but Responsible Media

Like many of us I am not perfect as a person or journalist. But I do not intend to change my style of editing or reporting even if sometimes it makes others angry. However, I regret and apologize for my excesses in my use of aggressive phrases and adjectives in expressing frustration with Awate.com, and in criticizing my colleagues, Saleh, Habtom and Milkias. I was wrong. I could have adequately defended the need for free but responsible media without being too disagreeable. I have nothing but admiration for the professional capabilities and talents of these three gentlemen.

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

Finally, I would like to ask the question: What would Eritrea like for Christmas?

An end to oppression; an end to imprisonment for imaginary crimes; the freedom to leave the country; the freedom to write the truth in newspapers and speak it on the radio and show it on television; the freedom to study for a better future in a restored university rather than waste one’s youth half-starved in an army training to fight an imaginary foe; the freedom to sit at home surrounded by ALL your family, with plenty to eat, with work to return to, with a future that is not uncertain and masked with fear; the freedom to pray to any divine being to worship in any way one wishes - everything, in fact, that Eritrea does not have.

Tribute to the late Sheik Ahmed of Senegal, a poet and a friend of Eritrea: And X-mass remembrance of all prisoners of conscience

Families and friends of Sheik Ahmed Tidiane Gueye organized a memorial event in the Institute of Education, University of London on 28 November 2009. It was an event reflecting his progressive ideas and development in revolutionary thought and spirit. Various artists and poets with traditional African instruments gave the event an African atmosphere. Sheik was a Pan African Activist, Poet and Critic. He studied Egyptology and he popularised its importance in African history and its impact on civilization. His poems and his lectures in various Universities have made him a symbol of African identity in the UK. One of his popular poems is as follows.