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It is with great grief I have recently learnt about kidnapping and human trafficking of Eritreans,who are then sold to Bedouin Militiamen in Sinai. As a Burundian People who had our own share of suffering,episodes of genocide,dictatorial regime, I cannot disassociate myself with the suffering of Eritreans currently held under unimaginable conditions in Egypt.
If a band made up of a mute and a cripple advertizes a show that involves singing and dancing, it would be easy for a prospective audience to picture how that division of labor would go. Even though it would be easy to imagine either of the duo or both playing musical instruments, the only way to imagine them in the act of singing and dancing would be for the cripple to sing (for he has no legs to dance with) and for the mute to dance (for he has no voice to sing with). But if, on the real stage, it is actually the mute who tries to sing and the cripple who tries to dance, one can claim that the audience has been a victim of its “normalized” imagination. ... So is it with the Eritrean opposition in diaspora: only by normalizing the abnormal state of Eritrea would they keep on mismatching agents of change and the roles they are supposed to play in the division of labor they imagine that turns every contemplated action to usher regime change into a not-doable one. And given the numerous possible agents of change in regard to Eritrea, the mismatch could turn out to be quite dizzying and intangibly bizarre. ...
... However, it is possible that the 21 January events will act as a catalyst for attempts on power, with potential rebels now viewing the regime as vulnerable.
Realistically, a coup led by genuine democratic reformers is difficult to imagine. Instead, the leaders would likely be long-standing members of the regime – probably from the pervasive military or security services. Few individuals are likely to expose themselves to the considerable risks involved in a coup attempt, only to then contest power at the ballot box. Yet even a new dictatorship would likely show greater pragmatism than the Afewerki regime. Considering the country's perilous economic situation, there would probably be some attempt to end the country's current international isolation.
Verdi's opera Nabucco has a unique resonance with people’s struggle for justice. It was first performed in Italy in 1842, and today is still best known for its ‘Va Pensiero’ chorus. At the time of its first performances, the Italian people immediately identified with the chorus, and sang it as the freedom song of the day. To this day, this world-renowned chorus is associated with, by many, the plight of prisoners who are unjustly incarcerated ('der Gefangenenchor').
The English rendition of the chorus starts like this ...
Va' pensiero sull'ali dorate ...
(Fly, thoughts, on the wings of gold)
Cross the mountains and fly
Over the oceans.
Reach the land find the place
Where [Eritrean] children go to dreamland
Every night after singing this lullaby.
The demands for the implementation of the constitution and the release of all prisoners of conscience, is the demands of the oppressed Eritrean people who are silenced because they are denied the right to express themselves. The Forto mutineers made the demands visible for all to see, the Eritreans in particular and the international community in general. Although they have not achieved their mission, their bold initiative and selfless sacrifice has become a moral crusade that opened the gates of hope for the people of Eritrea. Wedi Ali will be remembered in the Eritrean history as the first martyr in action in an attempt to deliver the people of Eritrea from PFDJ serfdom. ...
The event has reinforced the conventional truth/wisdom that, more often than not, change comes from the inside. It has ushered in a fundamental change of views in the thinking of those who expect change to come from the outside believing that the people of Eritrea are incapable of bringing change by themselves. ....
We Eritreans missed A golden opportunity to demonstrate at the PDAC International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange is the world’s leading Convention for people, companies and organizations in, or connected with, mineral exploration. The four-day annual Convention held in Toronto in March of every year, for the world’s mineral industry. In addition to meeting over 1,000 exhibitors, 30,369 attendees from 125 countries, it allows you the opportunity to attend technical sessions, short courses as well as social and networking events.
This is a petition to call against the entry of Mr Yemane Gebreab , Head of Political Affairs, PFDJ, Eritrea’s only ruling party into the United Kingdom. Gebreab who is guilty of the active advancement of severe human rights abuses, arbitrary detention, and thousands of killings in Eritrea is planning to open an annual conference in the UK.
We strongly call upon the UK Foreign Office not to allow Mr Gebreab entry, which would only enable him to further advance his oppressive and dangerous propaganda among Eritreans residing in the UK and Europe.
This article was being prepared when the events of January 21, 2013 invigorated our souls and spirits. Forto 2013 reinforced what we all wanted to believe but had denied all along – that despite the outward absence of any sign of opposition within Eritrea that it is in fact bubbling just beneath the surface.
Diaspora opposition has taken cue and anted up its campaign against the regime. Some question how effective these actions are but judging by the confused reactions from the regime and its idol worshippers, indeed it is has been very effective. After all, the regime is busy “jamming” Al Jazeera for covering Eritrean opposition; putting itself on a head-on collision with its main benefactor – Qatar. The agitated minds of regime supporters are now pulling out all stops to slow down the momentum gained from Forto 2013.
Haben Girma is being honored as a Champion of Change for her efforts in Educational Excellence for African Americans.
The White House Champions of Change Program honors ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things, and this week’s Champions have taken extraordinary strides for America’s students. Haben and nine other Champions discussed important changes in education that would help students across the country. The event took place at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in The White House. In addition to friends and family, the events’ audience comprised of U.S. Dept. of Education officials, including Secretary Arne Duncan, and White House officials. During her segment of the program, Haben stressed the importance of high quality teachers for students with disabilities, the invaluable support of state deafblind projects, and the need for schools to consider accessibility when investing in emerging technologies.
The moment the hostages arrive in Sinai they are distributed among the five major families located few miles from the Israel-Egyptian border. Reminiscent of the bygone era, hostages are chained and placed in makeshift rooms dominated by the big house occupied by the patriarchal chief, his relatives and wives. Soon after their arrival torture begins and calls are made to relatives in the middle of the torture session. Thereafter, the torture continues until the hostage comes up with the money requested by the criminals. Few fortunate ones avoid the prolonged torture by paying the ransom immediately but for many it continues for months. The majority who has no means to pay or have no extended family living in the US/Europe, Africa or the Gulf states die a miserable death. There are also candidates for organ harvesting in particular those individuals appearing healthy and with admirable physical attributes. ....
In the mortuary in the town of El Arish, the extent of the carnage caused by the gruesome kidnap trade is even more evident.
"Since the revolution there have been hundreds of bodies because the borders have been more lax," says mortician Era Ki, as he points towards the deep-freeze cabinets in front of us.
"The corpses usually have torture-style injuries.
"The ones that come from the Bedouin [people-traffickers] have always been tortured to get their families to pay ransoms.
"If their families can't pay, they have no use for them and torture them to death."
CAIRO (Reuters) - Bedouin gunmen in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have released two British tourists who were kidnapped earlier on Thursday as they drove from Cairo to the beach resort of Sharm el Sheikh, security and tribal sources said. ...
They were held for several hours in an unknown location before being handed over to the army after negotiations with tribal elders.
Two American women were kidnapped in Sinai in February last year but Egyptian authorities negotiated their release a few hours later. ...
It is compulsory for Eritrean women to serve in the national service where they are not treated as equals with the male soldiers, who themselves are there against their wishes and maltreated, but used as sex objects by the military officers and made to work as housemaids-cum-slaves. Women are subjected to abuses and sexual harassment by officers in the training/concentration camps, prisons and the army. Refusal to meet the demands of the officers usually results in torture and reassignment to places with extremely hostile living and working conditions.
In most Eritrean ethnic groups recruitment of women into the military is traditionally not accepted. Women thus recruited are therefore shunned as suitable wives and mothers. They are maltreated by the army and ostracised by the rest of Eritrean society. Paradoxically, childbirth provides the only release from national service into a socially and economically rejecting society.
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In this context, the renewal of Sudanese citizenship is vital if further rupture between the Sudanese peoples and, ultimately, the further physical disintegration of the state, are to be avoided.
However, and as the report contends, this renewal can only be achieved by ending the violence that is currently targeted overwhelmingly at marginalised communities; transforming practice, policy and law around the construction of a genuinely non-discriminatory and fully participatory Sudanese citizenship; and committing to the creation of an all-Sudan political and constitutional process that allows grievances and programmes for change from the margins to be heard and heeded.
Eritrea's human rights record has long faced international criticism. Located in the Horn of Africa, the country is home to five million people, but so closed to the outside world that individual stories tend to come almost exclusively from those who have fled.
Kidane Isaac was just 18 when he says Eritrean authorities arrested him for an unspecified crime. It's possible he was suspected of planning to desert military service. Thousands of Eritreans flee the country every month, many of them teenagers, to escape the
(London 17th May 2013) Release Eritrea is to extend its support to victims of trafficking through two projects in Egypt and Israel respectively. The projects which have been funded for three years starting this month will build on the work that was carried out over the last two years enabling local staff and volunteers to provide relevant services as identified by those already engaged in the field.
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EYSC (15-05-2013): The Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change - Global Group - announced today the launch of its new television program, EYSC TV.
The television program, which will air twice a month beginning on Wednesday May 22nd at 7:33 PM Berlin time, covers over half a million households in the Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Darmstadt areas in Germany and will be accessible world-wide at the same time via YouTube or via the distribution links of the TV studio. EYSC ensures interested viewers that it will publish the programme simultaneously to the TV broadcast on EYSC Facebook and in YouTube.
Date: 24 May 2013- Time: 2:00PM – 6:00PM -Venue: in Front of 10 Downing Street
The Coordinating Committee representing the different exiled opposition political and civil society organizations in London calls on all Eritreans and the friends of Eritrea to participate in the Pro-democracy Peaceful Demonstration.
It is with deep sadness that the Coordination Committee of the Eritrean National Democratic Forces (ENDF) learned the passing away on 12 May 2013 of compatriot Amare Gebremariam at the age of 70.
The late Amare Gebremariam was one of the founding members of ENDF which he served also for one year as its active vice-chairman actively supporting the ENDF chairman, Diplomat Humad Kullu.
From his perch in California, Sium tries to stay politically connected to his country. He marches when there's a local demonstration, contributes to refugee causes and posts on Facebook.
But there's always one thing missing. The people inside Eritrea don't dare to "like" his Facebook posts. And they never march in the streets themselves. For Eritrean activists living abroad, this silence can be frustrating.
So Sium had an idea: If we can't ask them to come out, what if we ask them to stay home?
Sharing her experience and expertise in the struggle against human trafficking in the region was Ms Meron Estifanos, Eritrean human rights activist and journalist with the diaspora based Radio Erena. In a moving presentation focusing on the narrative of a young victim of trafficking who died leaving her toddler son, in the hands of her abductors; Meron challenged every head of state present to respond to the plight of countless victims and address this shameful issue taking place in the region.
In his own presentation President Omer Hassan al-Bashir admitted that the concern is indeed a grave one that requires urgent attention. For his part president Paul Kagame also made a personal commitment to highlighting this concern at the UN Security Council, over the coming few months.
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We are happy to report that the Supreme Court accepted our appeal against a verdict issued in a lower instance court that rejected the Hotline for Migrant Workers' request to release an asylum seeker who survived the torture camps in Sinai from the Saharonim internment camp. The outrageous lower instance ruling by Judge Eliyahu Bitan stated that severe torture cannot be considered as an "exceptional humanitarian reason" for release under the Anti-Infiltration Law. All asylum seekers who have entered Israel since June 2012 have been jailed under this draconian law according to which asylum seekers can be released only in exceptional circumstances including "exceptional humanitarian" cases. ...
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April 18, 2013 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Eritrean government said this week that it supports Egypt’s stance over a colonial-era treaty that granted Egypt a right to utilise the lions share of Nile river’s water resources.
The Red Sea nation expressed its support in a message sent from the Eritrean president and delivered to Egypt’s president by Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs, Yemane Gebreab.
The Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, has highly welcomed Eritrea’s position towards Egypt’s "historic rights" over the sharing of the water of the Nile River.
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)
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