Eritrea: Free but Responsible Media

Letter to Saleh Gadi, Habtom Yohannes and Milkias Yohannes by Michael Abraha

There is urgent need to strengthen and unite the Eritrean democratic camp. And nothing strengthens and unites more than our readiness to sacrifice personal gains, fame, and yes, even power, in the service of the greater good that spurs us to create a decent social order where there is no hunger, no slavery or tyranny and where all are treated with dignity and respect. We have a very small population with a tiny intelligentsia and even tinier democratic force. Our biggest source of strength is our unity and our ability to accommodate differences.

I hold no malice or bad intention toward fellow fighters, colleagues and friends. As a journalist, I have in recent months used telephone and email communication system to interview many thinkers and social and political activists whom I have never met in person before. This is not difficult to do since I am more interested in their message than who they are. In fulfilling this voluntary task, I rely on mutual trust and good faith. I do not judge or prejudge and I prefer to ask non-leading questions unless it is absolutely necessary to do otherwise. I am very respectful and generous in my complements when introducing my interviewees or other sources of my information.

The misunderstanding surrounding my interview with Hamtom Yohannes could have been avoided if Awate.com’s Saleh Gadi and journalist Habtom had directly approached me as friends and colleagues before deciding to attack and trash me and my profession in their joint article, “An Altered Interview”. There is a lot of blame to go around. However, the purpose of my observation here is not to fasten any more blame on anyone but merely to stress that I did all I could to rectify the situation before and way after the posting of the joint attack article. And there were some unhelpful condescending and self-righteous comments floating around from their side wrongly interpreting my humility as a sign of weakness and admission of guilt.

Like many of us I am not perfect as a person or journalist. But I do not intend to change my style of editing or reporting even if sometimes it makes others angry. However, I regret and apologize for my excesses in my use of aggressive phrases and adjectives in expressing frustration with Awate.com, and in criticizing my colleagues, Saleh, Habtom and Milkias. I was wrong. I could have adequately defended the need for free but responsible media without being too disagreeable. I have nothing but admiration for the professional capabilities and talents of these three gentlemen.

Although in his article, Saleh tried to trash my name and presented me as if he never had anything to do with me, I was still wrong in reacting by making public what was communicated between the two of us about his pending court case. It may not have been stated more clearly, but my sole intention was to show that Saleh and I in fact had enjoyed good friendly relationship in the past.

My disappointment with Awate.com in recent months has to do with the way it is handling in its web-pages the Moslem-Christian, Lowland-Highland issues. Lowland chauvinism or extremism is not the answer to Highland chauvinism or extremism. This very crucial and serious subject is deliberately manhandled at Awate.com in a divisive and hateful manner – a dangerous, misguided move that only diverts our attention from the burning issues and problems impacting Eritrea at this very minute. What I call Awate’s “Ali Salem Project” is an insult to the refined thinkers and intellectuals of Eritrea’s lowlands and highlands.

Lastly, I have neither the intention nor the ability to rehabilitate Sofia Tesfamariam. She has crossed the line a long time ago and in the eyes of our democratic side, she is irredeemable in the political or legal sense. The only point I tried to convey was that attacking the issues rather than the person is always the best policy. The criminal charge Saleh Gadi is facing is a good illustration. Still, in retrospect, I was wrong in bringing Sofia to the equation and could have done without the unwarranted contrast I drew between the two.

Finally, below are two unedited letters which I wanted to share with the reader. One is from Dr. Daniel Rezene Mekonnen kindly sent to me a couple of days ago, which I am posting here with his prior permission and the second is my own note to Saleh Gadi in October about my position on “Ali Salem.”

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From: Daniel Rezene Mekonnen This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
date Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 7:26 AM

Subject Comments on your latest

Dear Ato Michael,

I trust this email finds you well.

I am writing to share a comment with regard to your latest posting, as I saw it first in mesekrem.net and then in the following link: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/133426

At the outset let me tell you that I have read several of your postings and I found many of them to be enlightening and informative except for some parts of the latest posting which I will explain below. My comment is not on the disagreement that transpired between you, Saleh, Habtom and Milkias, although I wish to see this disagreement sorted out in a civilised manner and see again all of you joining hands against the biggest Eritrean evil, the tyranny of PFDJ.

My comment is rather about one particular sentence I read in your posting. In an effort to discredit Saleh Gadi, you have beautified Sophia Tesfamariam beyond proportion and I find this unacceptable.

Part of the sentence which grabbed my attention is that which describes Sophia as a “prolific writer” who “is a woman of integrity apart from her blind support of the current Eritrean political set-up.” I believe this is inappropriate. Firstly, there is a contradiction in this very sentence. How can she be a woman of integrity if she blindly supports a savage regime such as PFDJ? Simply because she has been “attacked” by Saleh (if that is the case) does not make her a woman of integrity. Secondly, in her case, it is not only about a blind support of the current Eritrean regime. There are thousands of blind supports of the regime but her case and that of a few blind supporters and apologists is unique. It goes way beyond that. In her case, she is actually aiding and abetting the perpetration of international crimes in Eritrea. There is a very sound legal basis for this according to my extensive research on her actions and the assessment thereof in terms of well-defined principles of international criminal law, particularly the principle of aiding and abetting. Several of her irresponsible actions also likely give rise to a legal action on the basis of the US Alien Tort Claims Act. It is only because of lack of adequate resources that I have not been able to pursue this matter beyond this point. The bottom line is: she is not just a blind supporter. She is possibly a criminal suspect or at minimum a suspect who could be held accountable under the Act I cited above -- according to my thorough research findings (and of course save to a determination in this regard in an open and impartial court of law).

Given this background, I find your description of Sophia unacceptable, particularly since this comes from a person like you who have written extensively on the ongoing human rights violations in Eritrea. Please in the future, when you write about people like her, try to be as balanced as possible so that your readers like me may not be offended by what you write. I am sorry to say this again but the above description of Sophia was absolutely inappropriate for me.

I hope you will see this as a constructive engagement.

Kind regards and my best wishes for the festive season.

Daniel

Hi Saleh:
Allow me to commend you again as a friend and colleague for your achievements over the years as a writer and publisher of a prominent news and opinion website. However I continue to disagree with you over the wisdom to encourage the inherently divisive views of 'Ali Salem'. Ali Salem condemns Christian Highlanders for "grabbing land" belonging to Moslem Lowlanders and calls for counteraction.

There are injustices everywhere in Eritrea, more so in some places than others. I am disappointed; however, that Ali and Awate.com cannot see that social inequalities and unfair practices can be removed by introducing progressive and enlightened rules and policies. Such action, coupled by proper public education stressing change in people's attitudes and behaviors may bring positive results.

Awate.com does not seem to be leading as a consensus builder by emphasizing the need for reconciliation. Indeed, some readers are concluding that Ali and Awate.com are trying to grab "Islamist" political power by sawing the seeds of division, hate and mistrust among Moslems and Christians. I hope this is not Awate's motive. But if it is, it is likely going to backfire. As a friend, I do not wish to see you hurt by conflicting philosophical and ideological problems for which we all still have no common answers.

Moslems and Christians have lived in peace for centuries in Eritrea by respecting and honoring each other’s interests and desires. We have to remove and abandon divisive and hateful ideas and ideologies such as that of Ali Salem. We have to promote freedom of expression. But such freedom is not worthwhile unless the objective is to create happier and saner societies. I hope you and the Awate Team will be able to find the right balance between these two objectives.

Your friend
Michael

Michael Abraha is media and human rights advocate and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> Also visit RightsResearch.com