Eritrea accused of sending arms to Seleka rebels, says CAR ex-President Bozize

Allegations have surfaced this week against the government of Eritrea regarding their role in the in arming the rebels in the Central African Republic who recently overthrew Francois Bozize.

In an interview with ex-President Bozize recently ran in the media, the former CAR leader claimed that "the arms used by the Seleka rebels during their final assault on the presidential palace were purchased from Eritrea and transited through Chad with the permission of President Deby"

The Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs this week issued a strong denial.

(Photo: Seleka rebels believed to be armed by Eritrea)

Unfiltered Notes: The Sinai Tragedy

And here is the irony. Eritrea is a highly militarized country with over 300,000 under arms and few Rashaida tribesmen are believed to operate the human trafficking ring. The Rashaida are 1% of Eritrea’s population. That comes to a total of about 50,000 Rashaidas in the country. Assuming 1% of them are involved in human trafficking, it begs the question how a highly militaristic and trigger-happy regime that has waged war with all its neighbors is unable to disrupt a 500-strong criminal gang? Given its vast spy network, it is even reasonable to assume the regime knows each one of them by name.  The ratio of Eritrea’s army to the few Rashaida traffickers is 600 to 1. Said another way, Eritrea’s 600 military personnel are no match to one Rashaida operative. The regime either has no desire to stop the trafficking or, as some suspect, the regime is actively profiting from it.

'90 Interview of Meles Zenawi: on Independence, Isaias and Eritreans

PBH: Would you expect the EPLF to participate in a provisional government in Addis Abeba?

MZ: We don’t know. We think they could play a constructive role. We would really like to see Eritrea retain a relationship to Ethiopia, but we don’t know if Isaias can work out the situation to make this possible. Our own position is very delicate. We have to have good relations with Eritreans, so we recognize their right to self-determination, going as far as independence if they want it. We endorse their proposal for a referendum because we don’t think there is any other solution for the situation that has developed. But we really hope that Eritrea can remain part of a federated Ethiopia. I agree with what you have written about the advantages for the Eritreans themselves.

UN expert to assess human rights situation in Eritrea

Banjul, 11 April 2013 – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Beedwantee Keetharuth, today regretted that the Eritrean Government continues to deny her access to assess the situation of human rights in the country, and announced she will undertake a mission to neighbouring countries to talk to Eritrean refugees.

“I have urged the Eritrean authorities to cooperate with my mandate, as required by the UN Human Rights Council,” Ms. Keetharuth said during the 53rd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, The Gambia, where she held an ad-hoc meeting with the delegation of Eritrea in the margins of the event.

Eritrea: 'Freedom Friday' Movement Challenges 'North Korea of Africa'

A new grassroots movement in Eritrea that draws inspiration from the Arab revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia is poised to challenge the one-party authoritarian rule of president Isaias Afewerki, who has been in power for twenty years.

The Freedom Friday (Arbi Harnet) movement, started in November 2011 by the Eritrean diaspora, is finally gaining momentum inside the country according to Meron Estefanos, a human rights activist and presenter with the Sweden-based Radio Erena, which broadcasts in Eritrea and around the world.

In tandem with Eritrean Youth for Change (EYC) and the Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change (EYSC), Estefanos has set up a new campaign to reverse the Arab-style call to take to the streets every Friday. Instead, it urges Eritreans to empty the streets.

Eritrean Refugees and POWs in Djibouti - 2nd Visit

TB has been rampant at the detention centre for the last two years or more, but neither the Djiboutian government nor the UNHCR have taken the necessary actions to eradicate the diseases.  Many detainees were suffering, some diagnosed as TB sufferers, but medication was not provided. They all live together, and those who were diagnosed were not separated from those who were not diagnosed. There has not been a proper TB programme for so long. Not having a proper TB assessment in such a situation is tantamount to  condemning the refugees to death. At the time of Ms Chyrum's visit over 10 refugees were showing signs of TB symptoms and 7 were on medications. If a proper TB programme is launched, out of 250 detained refugees and 19 POWs, more will be identified as a carrier of the virus.

Fleeing Eritrea's bombs to fight racism in Australia

About 2,000 Eritreans live in Australia, many of them granted asylum after being tortured by President Isaias Afewerki's regime. Despite the emotional and sometimes physical scars they bear, some have become prominent figures in Australian society. Berhan Ahmed is one of them. He is the first person of African descent to run for a seat in parliament.

The relaxed scene in the back garden of Ahmed's family home in a quiet suburb of Melbourne, couldn't be further from the conflict he fled to come to Australia.

Extraordinary Eritreans: Eritrean journalist relaunches paper in Canada

People flee Eritrea for many reasons - personal, economic or political

. Aaron Berhane did everything he could not to leave. But a clampdown on the media forced him to flee to Canada. It would take eight years but he was finally reunited with his family in 2010.

In a bustling coffee shop in Toronto, there's a whole section for beans from Africa: Ethiopia and Kenya - but no Eritrea. Dissident newspaper editor Aaron Berhane, he shrugs off the snub and orders water.

Nevsun Resources Ltd. puts Canadian values and innocent lives at stake

The question we need to ask is this: Does the Canadian government know? A mining company like Nevsun receives the unconditional support of the Canadian government while the government thinks they are helping developing countries.

“As world-class corporate citizens committed to sharing their knowledge and expertise with developing countries, Canadian companies are helping bring greater prosperity to our friends throughout Africa,” said Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade in a statement upon his return from a trade mission to Nigeria and Ghana.

Contrary to Minister Fast’s statement, a company like Nevsun Resources Ltd. is not helping to bring greater prosperity, but only poverty, displacement and emigration. They are damaging Canadian values by aligning themselves with the totalitarian Eritrean regime which only abuses its own people day in and day out.

Book Review: "Massacre at Wekidiba", the Tragic Story of a village in Eritrea

I am glad the professor has written this important book.  Wekidiba is but one of many massacres of innocent civilians that were committed by Ethiopian government troops in Eritrea in the years of the independence struggle, 1961-1991. The others, Ona-Besik Dira, She'b, the city of Asmera itself, etc. have not been told yet.  I also think it is timely, not only because there is a dearth of literature on the subject, but also because it is important to remind those who, quite unashamedly, are trying to tell us to forget the atrocities that were committed by two successive Ethiopian governments.  (These are not only Ethiopians such as Zewdie Reta, but also Eritreans). There is a resurgence of revisionist history these days by those who have no qualms pointing a finger at the atrocities that have been committed by Eritreans against other Eritreans during the armed struggle, but try to justify, on that account, their revisionist notions of history of Eritrea and Ethiopia.  According to them, we should never have, as a people, risen against Ethiopia to begin with. They tell us bluntly that the Ghedli or struggle for self-determination was unnecessary. ...

Eritrean Progress

The state he is in
If only; you can imagine

You might; can even try
The mirror; right in front
Will tell you why

You still think it was about you
Do you… now?

Egypt, Sudan: Kidnap and trafficking of refugees and asylum-seekers must be stopped

Egypt and Sudan must make urgent and concerted efforts to stop asylum-seekers and refugees being kidnapped from camps in Sudan, forcibly transported to Egypt, and being severely abused in the Sinai desert, Amnesty International said in a new briefing.

For over two years, refugees and asylum-seekers have been kidnapped from in and around the Shagarab refugee camps in eastern Sudan, near the Eritrean border. The vast majority of victims are Eritrean. They are then trafficked to Egypt’s Sinai desert, where they are held captive by Bedouin criminal gangs while ransom payments are demanded from their families.

Amnesty International has received repeated reports of brutal violence used against captives in Sinai, including rape and sexual abuse, beatings, burning and other violent and cruel treatment.