Nine Years Later, Oct 7, 2001: “The Berlin Manifesto”

Before the G15, there were the G13

“The Berlin Manifesto”

Letter to the President of Eritrea.

“Men are respectable only as they respect” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mr. President,

Despite these disquieting developments, we remained remarkably silent. The reason for our silence was not due to apathy or lack of interest but rather due to the pervasive phenomenon of self-censorship. This self-censorship was particularly acute during the last two years because we all felt that criticism would give aid and comfort to the enemy who might distort it to suit its purposes. Now it is time to speak and speak plainly. Further silence can only endanger the interest of the country as well as compromise our historic responsibility. We must now say that, in our considered opinion, the government has lagged behind in the development of democratic institutions, including mechanisms for ensuring accountability and transparency. We respectfully submit that this is the most important matter for you to ponder and face squarely in whatever reappraisal of government policy and practice you may be undertaking, as we hope you are.

VoD – Thursday, July 08, 2004

Examining war begins with very general questions: What is war? How can it be defined? And what causes war? Moreover, what are the relationships between Eritrea and war?

Let’s look at the definition of war first: Cicero defines war broadly as "a contention by force"; others say that war is the continuation of politics by violent means … in other words, when politics fails then war ensues. And the Oxford Dictionary expands the definition to include "any active hostility or struggle between living beings; a conflict between opposing forces or principles."

Eritrea has lived under wartime conditions for decades. I think that sort of life has changed the predisposition of our people. I am sure that applies to our neighboring countries as well. Anyway, it seems our attitudes towards matters of war and peace is somewhat different, perhaps worrying. First of all, Eritrea has never known real peace except during the 1991-1998 time frame. Now, considering the absence of peace, that is to say, the extended exposure to decades of war, do you think that has given rise to a shift in the ways our people think of war? Well, hold the thought. We will come back to this subject, but first let’s listen to the News.

Eritreans still defiant