A Response to Allegations Made against Me by Red Sea Fisher

A Response to Allegations Made against Me by Red Sea Fisher

This is a brief explanation prompted by what has been said lately about me in a certain blog known as Red Sea Fisher, ostensibly administered by Eritrean government apologists. The allegations are not different from what has been said about me by government apologists in different times. I could have dismissed them as something belonging to agent provocateurs (those who entice/provoke others to commit a morally reprehensible action and through that try to achieve some political scores). Clearly, the purpose of the allegations, as is the case always, is to distract my attention from the main issue at hand. The claimant has mixed facts by quoting my words which were published in two different contexts and times in a way which serves his/her narrow political interests. There is a need to set the record straight in order to avoid further confusions on the matter. 

Government apologists seem to be misinterpreting my words as quoted by the International Business Times on its issue of 9 April 2013. They did so by taking my words out of context and comparing it with previous statements I made in a certain discussion paper I co-authored with my colleague and friend, Daniel R. Mekonnen. I believe that my views as reflected in the International Business Times were not conveyed in the same way I intended when I spoke to the reporter. I cannot deny that there are several allegations of organ harvesting in relation to the entire human trafficking crisis in the Sinai Desert. Some of these sources were individuals who were interviewed by me. What I said is that no one from those I have interviewed has told me that he or she was a victim of organ harvesting. Indeed, I haven’t met a single interviewee who said “my organ was harvested.” This is what I was trying to say. However, several victims have told me that they were threatened for organ harvesting if they refused to pay the ransom money asked by the smugglers or traffickers. This does not mean that there were no incidents of organ harvesting as might have been established by other sources. From what I know, the main source of information for the alleged instances of organ harvesting was one particular source. And yet, this does not mean that there cannot be other sources that may have not come to my attention, because I cannot claim to have monopoly of knowledge on this particular issue, as is generally the case even with matters of everyday life. Matter-of-factly, there were sources and there are still that claim organ harvesting is taking place, even as I write this note.

For me, one of the most important things, and perhaps the most exigent, is that Eritreans are still fleeing their homeland in unprecedented numbers. Unless this horrifying trend is halted immediately, they will continue to suffer in the hands of Eritrean and non-Eritrean victimisers. There is no doubt about this. The atrocities which are associated with the unprecedented instance of forced migration, such as torture, extortion, sexual abuse, human trafficking and possibly also organ harvesting, will continue unabated. Regardless of where such abhorrent crimes are committed and who committed them, I strongly believe that justice should be served against perpetrators of such crimes. The way we see it, I hope it won’t be far before we could see some, if not all, individuals being prosecuted before national, regional or international judicial organs for the abhorrent violations they have committed against Eritreans. Indeed, the mounting pressure coming from the UN Security Council, coupled with the appointment in 2012 of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea, indicates only this. For government apologists, the best thing to do is: advise their government to mend its way of doing things before it is too late.

Meron Estefanos

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