Eritrea is just a stage
a platform from here to there
a land where no one knows
who is who and where
You can upstage a state anytime
without all that jazz
change the scenery
straight from frozen liquid to gas
Given the closed nature of Eritrea, it has become hard to get the exact news of what actually happened on the 21st of January and in its aftermath. But the little information that is coming out of the country tells that it is a deja vu moment: a failed mutiny by the top, followed by a wave of arrests. What has remained consistent is that the Revolution keeps eating its own children: if the news from Awate.com and farajat.net is to be believed, it seems that the very men who were instrumental in devouring the G-15 (none other than Abdella Jaber and Mustafa Hussein) are now being devoured by that same Beast.
The lessons that I drew from the G-15 dissent were:
So far, what the informants have to say has corroborated much of what have been suspected for a long time – and more. The story that is emerging is a story of two different groups of workers : one mostly foreign, well-fed, well-quartered, well paid, well insured and working in a safe environment; and the other group: natives, poorly fed, poorly quartered, poorly paid, overworked, nominally insured and working in an unsafe environment. But this, by itself, doesn’t say much. It is only by categorizing the workers in the different strata that they have been put into that we see how the regime is exploiting the workers in every way imaginable to maximize its profit...
(Photo: Bisha-Nevsun Project, Eritrea)
When it comes to the question of which local companies to subcontract, for the mining companies it is not even an option. As pointed above, since the PFDJ-owned companies have already bankrupted and forced almost every private company in its field out of the market and in the process monopolized the whole economy, the mining companies will have no other alternative than to hire these government-owned companies; and that is exactly what they are doing. Much of the work that doesn’t require very specialized tasks like transportation, construction, providing food for the local workers and any other menial jobs will be done by local companies. ... There is no doubt then that the overwhelming majority of the workers in the mining projects are those “hired” by the subcontracted government-owned companies. And that is where the link to slave labor exists at its strongest.
The real targets of the conference were never in the room. The real focus of the voodoo economics agenda are unsuspecting Diaspora Eritreans. The retail agenda is aimed at the pocket of the working and middle class Diaspora. This time no one can be foolish enough to give the discredited bankrupt regime US$10,000.00 cash to purchase a bond without legal guarantee. So the new plan is to try to merchandise millions of stocks in unproductive, profitless and undocumented government controlled “firms” for $50, 00 or $100.00 per share etc- spreading the misery to thousands trusting Eritreans instead of 500 the so-called top investors.
Nevsun’s experiences show that by developing projects in Eritrea, mining firms are walking into a potential minefield of human rights problems. Most notably they risk getting entangled in the Eritrean government’s uniquely abusive program of indefinite forced labor—the inaptly-named national service program. Through this program the Eritrean government keeps an enormous number of Eritreans under perpetual government control as conscripts. Originally conceived as an 18-month program, the national service scheme now requires all able-bodied men and most women to serve indefinitely, often for years and with no end in sight, under harsh and abusive conditions. Those who try to flee risk imprisonment, torture, and even reprisals directed against their families.
Some national service conscripts are assigned to state-owned construction companies who exercise a complete monopoly in the field. International mining firms operating in the country face intense government pressure to engage these contractors to develop some of their project infrastructure. If they do so, they run a pronounced risk of at least indirect involvement in the use—and harsh mistreatment—of forced laborers.
"When Nevsun began building its Bisha mine in Eritrea in 2008, it failed to conduct human rights due diligence activity and had only limited human rights safeguards in place," Human Rights Watch said.
The Eritrean government insisted that Segen Construction Company, a local Eritrean contractor, carry out construction of the mine in 2008. Segen — owned by the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice — routinely exploits conscript workers that the government assigns to it, the report alleges.
The premise that Eritrea was annexed and colonized by Ethiopia is highly contentious. Colonialism involves; geographic occupation, socio-economic domination, transfer of population to a new territory as permanent settlers, the subjugation of one people by another, outright enslavement, forced assimilation, exploitation of cheap labor, economic exploitation of natural resources, and creation of new markets for the colonizing nation. Did the above happen to Eritrea when it was part of Ethiopia ? These are serious questions that need to be addressed.
Eritrea and Eritreans are in a far worse situation than when they started the revolution. They have fallen under the yoke of a new breed of home grown brutes, who not only have denied their very unique and proud identity as Abyssinians and Africans, but also created a jilted "hybrid identity" which is alien to the centuries old history and heritage of the people and the land.
EriTV’s recent “interview” with Isaias looked more like a rigged boxing match between a giant equipped with spiked gloves and a five-year old with hands tied behind his back. The “champ” stepped in the ring after making sure his opponent is incapable of throwing any punches -- thus the pre-arranged and self-serving questions. Of course, he was declared the undisputed winner again as in years past since there was no one to dispute anything. And with his signature celebratory ritual, he stepped on the head of his fallen five-year old opponent to claim his trophy.
And the menacing threats to skin me alive
That played in my head
In my solitary cell
Were also unreal
My mother’s prayers to the saints are always real
They won’t save me but may wipe her tears
This noose around my neck is real
You…who sit watching
Are you for real?
Really
Real?
The worry of many diplomats and politicians in nations ravaged by war in under-developed countries is the state of a political vacuum. Syria is a good example. Thanks to “liberation” type of war, Eritrea was endowed with a nascent state ready to shoulder the complex and heavy responsibilities of a post war situation, said people such as the famous Weldeab Weldemariam, many other believers and friends of Eritrea. Without exception, all missed the cardinal issue of a free and sovereign people. The state of having simply an armed and tightly knit group was accepted for a good-governance....
We have now in our midst writers who deny the solid connection between the current stifling and repressive reality in Eritrea and the political traditions during the gedli period. ... Lamenting about the death of the private sector in independent Eritrea without recalling the program of the EPLF to nationalize factories and trade (both domestic and foreign) is nothing but disingenuous. ...
Like swords; the lines are drawn
As the ink hesitates to let itself; drop
The hand; on the other hand
Waits to make up its mind
In the meantime; a blank page
Like a wild dog; is barking in rage
Write me; or put me down
Page 5 of 100
The rapid advancement in media technology has opened up world media, making it increasingly difficult to conceal what is going on within the borders of a totalitarian state. Eritrea remains one of the few states in the world to successfully isolate its people from global information exchange. Under the slogan “Serving the Truth,” Eritrean media are managed entirely by the Ministry of Information. The ministry simply manufactures and disseminates government propaganda, stifling alternative views while protecting the country’s leadership.
Read more...
There are calls to expel Eritrea's top diplomat in Canada because he presides over a system that's milking money from the Eritrean community in this country.
Evidence obtained by CBC News suggests Consul Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael is again soliciting taxes despite a threat by Canada eight months ago not to renew his credentials if he kept at it.
But one Eritrean in Toronto, who has asked not to be identified, tells the CBC it was business as usual just a few weeks later when he had to pay.
Yesterday, a large group of Eritrean prisoners in an Aswan prison concluded a three-day hunger strike, in desperation protesting their continued incarceration without charge or trial. They were joined by some of the young children incarcerated with their mothers in the prison. The Government of Egypt has apparently accepted that they are victims of human trafficking, brought into Egypt against their will, yet they are not being released after many months. The prisoners report poor conditions in the prison, and a lack of food and access to medicine and treatment. ...
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(Asmara 16- 05-2013) Freedom Friday Activists in Asmara have started their Independence Day 2013 Campaigned themed, From Here to Dignity, by distributing hundreds of high definition glossy posters depicting the Eritrean Tragedy and calling on all Eritreans to play their role in putting a stop to these. The flyers with the word ‘Enough!’ written in bold across the middle were distributed in the centre of Asmara as well as some of the outskirt regions.
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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?
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