EDITORIAL

Eritrea’s Open Letter to Diplomats in

Asmara, Addis Ababa and Khartoum

(From upcoming issue No. 99 of The Eritrean Newsletter,

English language organ of the ELF-RC)

Who of the international diplomats accredited to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, the Sudan and Yemen will tomorrow feign ignorance of the current catastrophic situation of the Eritrean people under the cruel regime of petty dictator Isaias Afwerki? 

Who and how many of the scores of African, Arab and other diplomats in the region will tomorrow be mentioned favourably to have helped Eritreans, in one way or the other,  when they  suffered under the clutches of the African Pol Pot, Isaias Afwerki?

This open letter wishes to present a small picture of the hugely ugly human condition in Eritrea today. It also wishes to recommend action that can be easily taken by those to whom this message is addressed: Diplomats and Diplomatic Missions in Asmara and in Eritrea’s neighbourhood - Addis Ababa, Djibouti, Khartoum and Sana’a.

On his day of departure from Asmara on 2 June 2007, former USA Ambassador to Eritrea, Mr. Scott H. DeLisi, expressed his admiration for the strength and undiminished courage of Eritrean friends and assured in this telling words: “You should know that despite increasing [Eritrean] government violations of human rights, civil liberties, economic freedom and democratic principles, the Government of the United States of America  remains hopeful that ONE DAY the Eritrean people will enjoy the rewards of their heroic struggle for independence”. The outgoing Ambassador also added: “The United States will continue to support the Eritrean people in their quest for TRUE freedom and prosperity” [emphasis added].

Thank you USA diplomat for your departure-day note that less diplomatically telling about the situation you left behind in Eritrea. Thank you for publicly acknowledging the absence of freedom in Eritrea and for the pledge to support Eritreans in their quest for true freedom, and thank you for prophesying that one day, our people will prevail over the dictatorship and enjoy the fruits of their prolonged struggle. Yet, this is too little, too late for the Eritrean people. They ask for more.

Today’s mild note by the departing US Ambassador reminds one of the bold memorandum of EU envoys in Asmara that Italy’s Ambassador Baldini submitted to the Eritrean dictator on 28 September 2001. In it, the European ambassadors accredited to Asmara expressed their shock and consternation over the blatant action taken in September 2001 by the regime against the fledging private press and government officials who demanded for more rights to the people. Ambassador Baldini was expelled but he did not regret what he and his colleagues did because it was done for a good cause. However, seven long years have passed and the cause that they aimed to promote – i.e. to see a democratic Eritrea, as dreamt by its fighting people – is not yet accomplished.

Year in year out, the political, social and economic situation of the country is deteriorating in a tragic way. The good diplomats in Eritrea’s neighbourhood are reminded to heed to what is going there as reflected in the annual reports of Amnesty International, the Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders (RSF), the US State Department’s human rights annual record, occasional statements of the European Union and others. The reports show what Eritrea looks like today. Please read on:

ERITREA TODAY

Eritrea is in total paralysis under the PFDJ regime of petty dictator Isaias Afwerki and clique of military officers whose sole interest is lingering on the saddle of power that it denied to the people. The country is falling apart. The people are in utter desperation looking for a rescue. Outside Eritrea, the regime has contributed in further destabilizing the already fragile situation in the Horn of Africa.

Political Bondage

As you all know, the regime thinks of nothing save self-preservation. After 16 years since liberation in 1991, Eritrea has no constitution; it is ruled by decrees. No freedom of press and assembly. No political parties. No independent civil societies. No respect for the most basic human rights.

There have not been national elections since 1991. The rubber stamp parliament put together in a shameful manner in 1994 holds no regular meetings. It last met in February 2002.

Like the old Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot and that of Dictator Saddam Hussein, Isaias Afwerki’s Eritrea is in splendid isolation from its neighbours and the world at large. It has been at loggerheads with Yemen, Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Sudan for many years. It has no good relations with the rest of the world that has passed judgment on the abnormal behaviour of its rogue regime. During the past 18 months alone, over a dozen International NGO that were actively serving the needy people in Eritrea were expelled for no reason other than the regime’s fear of their watchful eyes.

No Freedom of Expression

Eritrea’s journalists are in prison and so is the right to free expression. It is believed that Eritrea is the worst country in Africa and third in the world in terms of suppression of freedom of the press. Scores of journalists are in prison since 2001. In 2006, nearly a dozen of additional journalists were put in prison. The Eritrean/Swedish Dawit Issak and others were presumed dead in prison. Aklilu Solomon of the Voice of America was one of the few lucky ones to have escaped form detention in December 2006.

No Freedom of Privacy

No Freedom of Movement

In Eritrea, the post, the electronic mail and phone lines are under daily surveillance of the security apparatus. Armed gangs of the regime break into homes anytime of the day or nigh without any legal authorization.  Barricades block movement of people from place to place within the cities and in the countryside. Visas are not obtainable. Now, new conditions dictate that children above 5 years must present a sponsor to guarantee their return to the country after a specified period. Those above 18 years are not allowed to travel abroad.

Religious Suppression

Freedom of worship is suppressed and religious establishments have very limited scope to do work in Eritrea. Their properties were confiscated; their bank accounts are under strict state monitoring. Eritrea has an appointed Mufti for its Muslims and an appointed Patriarch for its Christians of the Orthodox Church after the detention of the illegally dethroned Patriarch Antonios. The so-called smaller churches are literally banned and many of their worshipers imprisoned. In places like the notorious Sawa camp, people are prohibited practicing religious rituals like performing the 5 prayer rituals (salat) for Muslims or owning and reading the Bible in the camp.

Absence of the Right to Fair Trial

No fair trial in Eritrea by a judiciary which is subjected to the executive organ. Special courts pass phony decisions. Throughout the years, special courts penalized defendants who never appeared before them. For sure, there is extreme for of “disdain of law and international standards of fair and just trial” as the Khartoum-based Suwera Centre for Human Rights put it in its 2006 report. For instance, three Jehovah’s witnesses were imprisoned for 12 years although refusing to go to national service is punishable for up to 3 years under PFDJ laws. Some prisoners are told without going to court that they are sentenced to so many years. E.g. Tekle Tesfai of Eritrean/Dutch nationality was arrested in May 2005. Recently, he was told by the director of the prison that he is sentenced to five years. He has not been taken even to the Kangaroo courts of Isaias Afwerki.

Arbitrary Killings

Several persons have been executive in military camps and in the rest of the country. On 13 May 2007, three young persons were executed in the market place of Tessenei near the Sudanese border and residents of the town were invited to watch. The victims were killed for alleged petty crime of assisting persons to cross the border to the Sudan. Such cases in the market place of Tessenei alone reached 9 in the past two years. Any person apprehended while trying to cross the border to Ethiopia or the Sudan is shot at the spot.

Arbitrary Detentions

Persons taken to prison in 1992 are still detained in unknown places. No visitations by family members. Malnutrition is high and medical care almost inexistent. Escapees report of constant deaths of prison mates in all parts of the country. Parents of suspected escapees from the camps and forced labour projects are ordered to pay 50,000 Nakfa (USD 2,000) per son or daughter or face imprisonment. Many have been imprisoned on behalf of their children whose whereabouts are not known. Some parents languished in prison for sons and daughters who were killed by the Eritrean forces while trying to cross the border Ethiopia or Sudan, or died in the deserts Sudan/Libya or the high seas.

Torture

Torture is rampant in the myriad of prisons and detention camps throughout the country. Even containers, used as prisons, accommodate up to 50 persons each under hot climate and are found everywhere in the country. In PFDJ prisons, inmates sleep in turns because of lack of space. Prisoners are allowed toilette facilities only once a day. For the rest of the time, they use food cans. Access to bath is once a week in the best cases. Eritrea’s ever growing prison population knows no access to radio, TV or newspapers. Instead, the news exchanged among inmates is about the ever changing methods of torture the inmates are subjected to: electric shocks, dipping in cold water, beating on sensitive parts of the body, exposure to hot sun, hanging from trees, bonding hands and legs in different shapes. Cases of suicide are plenty.

Situation of Eritrean Refugees

UNHCR and the rest of the humanitarian community know that the Isaias regime has discouraged the return of refugees after liberation in 1991. It was estimated that 80% of Eritrean refugees in the Sudan, then numbering 0ver 500,000, remained in the Sudan. Now, new refugee caseloads are flooding in Ethiopia and the Sudan. An estimated number of one million Eritreans still remain in the two countries.

Presently, there are about 100,000 Eritreans living in refugee camps in Eastern Sudan where they receive very little support (25% of the normal rations they used to take). Well over 20,000 Eritreans cross the borders to Ethiopian and the Sudan per year. Currently, there are over 10,000 fresh arrivals in the Shimelba refugee camp in northern Ethiopia. In all cases, the condition of Eritrean refugees is tragic and below the absolute minimum of living condition of human beings mainly because international humanitarian assistance is almost non-existent for many known reasons, including donor-fatigue.

The other worrisome situation is that of the Eritrean asylum seekers who have tried to reach Europe via Libya and Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. Recent reports indicated that 450 Eritreans are in one detention camp called Misrata, and there are many other detention centers where Eritreans are kept. Many Eritreans asylum seekers are dying while trying to cross the sea in small rickety boats

What Can Diplomatic Missions in Asmara, Addis, Djibouti, Khartoum and Sana’a Do To Help Eritrea and Eritreans?

Eritrea is in bad shape but it is also liable to face a much worse human disaster than what befell failed states in recent years. The international community as represented by its envoys in the region is expected to help. However, we are not of the opinion that Ambassadors of individual countries and diplomats in the international missions located in the region have done what they could to help avert this potential disaster looming high in Eritrea. What do Eritreans want them to do?

·                    Diplomats accredited to Asmara can exert efforts to further reveal to the unheeding world the brazen human rights abuses of the regime and advise their respective governments to make pressure bear on the rogue regime to change course.

·                    Similarly, those envoys and diplomatic missions in the neighbouring countries can engage in exploring the real situation inside Eritrea and advise their governments or head offices to help avert a worse situation to Eritreans and peoples of the region in general because a disastrous situation in Eritrea will spill over to the rest of the region.

·                    Jointly and individually, the diplomatic missions in the region can and should demand that the UN appoints its Special Human Rights Rapporteur to Eritrea in order to monitor the escalating human rights abuses in that country.

·                    The diplomats in the entire region can, likewise, help identify the forces of change to the better in Eritrea (both those inside and outside the country) and recommend or give substantive political and material support. In their words, they can demand from their respective governments the means for empowering Eritrean political and civil opposition forces in order to make them effective agents of change and democratization.

·                    In the meantime, all international representatives in the region should not remain idle observers of the plight of Eritrean refugees, old and new cases, who are in great distress without end in sight. Those young Eritreans who are leaving their homeland in spite of high risk to their lives and later being exposed to great dangers in the region and beyond it are in need of all-round human attention.  Diplomatic missions in Eritrea and its neighbourhood are among those who bear moral responsibility to help.

Tomorrow, there will not be any way for them to feign ignorance when an avoidable much bigger human disaster occurs in Eritrea, in their midst.