Forgetting No! Sanctions Yes!

Forgetting No! Sanctions Yes!

As the regime and its ever-dwindling supporters in the diaspora cry foul over the newly imposed sanctions on Eritrea, the opposition and the vast majority of Eritreans are sighing in relief: that this may usher the beginning of the end of our latest nightmare -- the dictatorial PFDJ regime. The latter and its supporters are actually preparing (as I write this) to hold demonstrations in Washington D.C. and elsewhere in opposition to the sanctions. I say good luck, mindful of how the UN operates once sanctions are imposed. It will take a long time, many years, may be even a decade or so, before the Security Counsel's decision is reversed, if at all, unless the status quo in Eritrea changes dramatically.

As U.S. UN Ambassador Rice stated, when UN sanctions were seriously considered, the UN was seeking a positive response from the regime in Eritrea. CNN.com reported, on December 23,2009, that, "U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the council acted "not hastily, not aggressively," but with the aim of seeking constructive dialogue with the Eritrean government. She said members of the Security Council have repeatedly urged Eritrea "not to continue actions which destabilize Somalia" and to "resolve peacefully" the border skirmish with Djibouti. "We do not see this as the door closing on Eritrea but, on the contrary, we view this as another opportunity for Eritrea to play a more responsible and constructive role in the region."

Consistent with Rice's comments, Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian Prime Minister (see, Interview in Tigrigna at Asmarino.com), says the Security Counsel asked the regime in Eritrea to do a couple of things if they wanted to avoid the sanctions: 1) Withdraw from Djibouti's territory they're occupying after the brief border clash a couple of years ago and negotiate to solve the problem peacefully; 2) Officially announce severance of Eritrea's relationship or support of the Al Shabab organization in Somalia.

So far the PFDJ regime have not responded positively. And I don't see how the regime can do either one. Because, in both cases the regime denied ever getting involved in the first place. They denied there was a conflict with Djibouti even as the latter lodged protest in the UN and asserted why and when the conflict began and the lives they lost in the battle. The PFDJ categorically denied everything. Second, they denied ever supporting the Al Shabab or any other Somali entity. Denial ('alu', in Tigrigna) is PFDJ's specialty, historically. So, the regime in Eritrea cannot go back and now accept the accusation leveled at them after denying it for years. They do not have in them the humility or the courage to say 'we are sorry...we messed up. We made a mistake'. Instead they will continue to be belligerent until the end.

Hence the sanctions. Except Libya, no African country voted against the sanctions. That's unprecedented in OAU/AU history! The AU always supported their dictators even when the dictator acted belligerently. Why is it this time different? Because the PFDJ regime had already burned all its bridges with Africa, by its belligerence, by its name-calling arrogance, by its lack of basic diplomatic skills. At the UN the story was the same. All members of the Security Counsel unanimously voted for sanctions. No friend left in New York either! Even the Obama administration wanted to engage them initially. But the PFDJ spurned them, refusing to grant a visa to the U.S. envoy just as they did to the previous envoy to the region. The response from the regime was not for a constructive dialogue, but, as usual, more arrogance, paranoia, and unnecessary defiance. Thus, there is a good chance that not only the sanctions will be imposed permanently but more sanctions will be added. In other words, the regime brought the sanction on itself.

The sanctions focus on (a) arms embargo (cannot buy and sell arms), b) travel restrictions of government officials, and c) the freezing of assets of governmental entities and individuals. The sanctions specifically target the government elite and, therefore, may not unduly burden the people at large. That's the good thing.

After two decades of deception, misery, and false hope, we know, in fact the whole world knows, the regime in Eritrea has nothing to show for, except war and conflict (with each of Eritrea's neighbors), economic ruin, demoralized population particularly the youth, and now sanctions. The vast majority of the Eritrean people continue to live in poverty, the youth are tied down in the army for years on end (and the dictator still tries, see, for example, his interview with Financial Times in September 2009, to justify it as a duty of every citizen), and thousands every year leave the country for lack of, not only economic opportunity, but lack freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, all of which are banned in Eritrea without the explicit permission of the dictatorial regime.

It's been said that change is the only constant in life! Change is natural and inevitable. Nothing stays the same for ever. Winston Churchill said: "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often". The fanatics in Eritrea and their supporters in the diaspora do not want any change from the status quo. To them change is unpredictable and hazardous. They view change something to be avoided at any cost. President-for-life Isaias Afeworki (PFLIA) has hundreds, if not thousands, of these trusted lieutenants and minions who are willing to do his bidding. He would not survive without these people. He would not have lasted even a year let alone almost two decades. They are therefore equally responsible for the debacle Eritrea finds itself in.

Of course the regime does not want us to talk about all these issues. That's why I say kudos to those who keep on writing, remembering and organizing. We know what the dictatorial regime wants us to do: forget. It was not a coincidence that the dictator, when asked about those he illegally imprisoned nine years ago in 2001, responded by saying: "That is history!" (See, Financial Times, September 18, 2009, Interview by Barney Jopson). That is history!? You throw Ministers, army Generals, journalists and other citizens in prison without the due process of the law, without charging them of any crime in court except accusations in the media, and you say "That is history!" That is it? As if these people never existed! This can only come from a megalomaniacal, psychopath, and, yes, fascist dictator! And it is clear that he wants us to forget about it; he was irritated by the question itself. But if we forget, he will have won. How could we forget what is happening right now in Eritrea? How could we forget that the regime has incarcerated many thousands without the due process of law? Forget that it has usurped power by shelving the ratified constitution of Eritrea? Forget that it continues to illegally keep recruits for years in the army, some of them for fifteen years? Forget that it's shooting on the spot Eritrean kids attempting to cross the border to Ethiopia or Sudan because they cannot legally leave the country if they wanted to? Forget that it is pushing people to starvation by restricting and preventing then to move food and food items to town from the rural areas or vice versa? Forget, forget, forget....No! We will not forget!

So, to deny him that victory, we must not forget. We need to write, to remember those that are languishing in jails all over Eritrea; those who have died in prison such as the members of the so-called G-15, and those who are dying in the Sahara desert and/or the high-seas trying to escape the claws of the regime and reach the safety of Europe, Asia, or the Americas. They are the regime's victims too.

The Nobel Peace laureate and holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, in his most famous book, "Night", writes about this subject more eloquently and profoundly. He says he felt that he was "a witness who believes he has a moral obligation to try to prevent the enemy from enjoying one last victory by allowing his victims to be erased from human memory". He also admonishes that "to forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time." (Night, pages xiv and xv). Of course, in no way do I compare our situation to the holocaust. But we need to continue to write, to remember; we will not give the dictator the satisfaction of victory. Because by saying that "That is history!", he wants to erase the memory of the G-15 and those he has practically sentenced to death or to life imprisonment. If we are silent, he will be victorious, but if we continue our agitation and our remembrance, not only he will have lost, but we'll have given those under the dictator's claws some hope, hope of survival, hope of a brighter future.

That's why I say kudos to all those who're writing to remember, to expose the regime, to give hope to those who may have lost hope because they are living under the repressive regime, unable to express their opinion.

That's why I say kudos to those who keep on writing, remembering and organizing.