HERE AND THERE

By Fetsum Abraham

Eritrean Press Statement

Tuesday, 14 May 2013 07:13 | PDF Print E-mail

Press Release – Press Release  shabait

Eritrea Rejects Amnesty International’s Wild Accusations

“Eritrea rejects in the clearest of terms Amnesty International’s wild accusations that  it has “jailed at least 10,000  political prisoners.” Amnesty’s    transparently    political     assault    on    Eritrea     is    totally unsubstantiated, with the  organization unable  to  back  its  claims  with facts.  It is hardly surprising that  it admits  that  it does not  “know  the exact figure.”

There is no doubt that there exist prisoners without due trial in Eritrea, immaterial how many because one innocent prisoner is one too many injustice in view of human rights violations. Numbers don’t even matter here as much as lives do: one unjustly lost life is too significant for the international community, especially Amnesty to be concerned.

How can the extremely secretive and tightly closed regime expect a proof from Amnesty without allowing it to investigate the matter inside the country? Even Ali Abdu, did not know where Dawit Isacc was placed for heavens sake!! Wouldn’t the government let the world research on this inside Eritrea if it were confident on this testimony and should not it do this first before accusing Amnesty for being unable to substantiate its claims? What a commonsense!!

“Amnesty     International  knows   full   well  that   Eritrea   was   born   in  a remarkable thirty year  struggle  for human  rights. The consolidation of the human  rights  of the  people  of Eritrea  in their  diversity- ethnic  and cultural  groups,  women, youth, children, the  disabled- remains  an overriding priority for the government and people of Eritrea.”

It is hard to comment on this statement knowing that the regime has no concept of human rights let alone to practice it in Eritrea. What surprises me is its audacity to mention “human rights” with the worst record on the subject. The hell must have turned to heaven for Eritrea to claim “a defender of human rights” but the leaders did it here without any shame and concern about international opinion.

“Stepping   boldly   into  the  political, Amnesty  International claims  that “Twenty  years   on  from   the  euphoric  celebrations  of  independence, Eritrea   is  one   of  the   most   repressive,  secretive   and   inaccessible countries  in the world.” Eritreans  and the thousands  of foreigners from all over the  world  who work and live in Eritrea  cannot  but  wonder how far off the mark  Amnesty  chooses to be, as the sordid  picture it paints resembles  little to the reality.”

Of course the whole world including said Eritreans and the thousands of foreigners from all over the world that work and live in Eritrea cannot help wondering on the regime’s compulsion of denial. Amnesty did not choose to be off the mark from reality but the Eritrean regime certainly is in this regard because Eritrea is not only one of the most repressive, secretive and inaccessible countries in the world but is the worst of them all.

“Undeterred, Eritreans  and their  friends,  not  just  in Eritrea, but  all over the  world  will  be participating this  month  “in euphoric  celebrations of independence.” Of course, Amnesty  International will take  no notice  of these   indicators  of  the  Eritrean   people’s  stance,   smug      in  its  self¬ righteous   belief   that   it can,  with   impunity, attack   and     denigrate  a young   nation, which  despite   many   odds,  manages   to  progress   and improve  the lives of its citizens.”

Can you believe this government officially releasing this garbage for the laughter of the world? The majority of Eritreans in the Diaspora was against the government all over the place and this contradictory reality is what Amnesty observed like any other person there was. What nonsense!! The Eritrean government as we know it today is the most rejected government in Africa and probably the most illusional in politics as well. Other governments such as Syria may be suffering today because of civil war and foreign involvement caused by the refusal of Assad to step down in the face of the on going catastrophe. International involvement was necessary in such countries where conflicts are causing the death and displacement of thousands of innocent people similar to our situation during the Badme war with Ethiopia. But, I have never come across a country so antagonized with the whole world (UN, EU, AU, and many humanitarian organizations and NGO’s) in peacetime like Eritrea has been during the last 12 years. Simply speaking, no one is seriously taking the Afwerki regime for anything any longer because of its consistent patterns of deception, denial, rigidity, vigilance, absolute dictatorship, corruption, illegal and violent activities and irresponsible actions for devil’s advocacy.

As we all know, the international community is watching the Eritrean government like the Police looking for a thief in a neighborhood. There is always something about Eritrea against justice and freedom. Recently, the following activities took place in this regard:

CBC News, Last Updated: May 27, 2013: “A United Nations report last year indicated that state threats and intimidation were commonly used against families in Eritrea to get their relatives living in Canada and other countries to pay up.”

“TORONTO — Canada is expelling an Eritrean diplomat after he was caught using his consulate in Toronto as a fundraising front for the repressive African regime and its military in violation of international sanctions.

Consul Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael was ordered home Wednesday after a government investigation confirmed his office was soliciting money from expatriates — some of it explicitly for the Eritrean armed forces.

The expulsion comes after Foreign Affairs had repeatedly warned Eritrea in diplomatic notes to stop. But the consul continued anyway and last week the National Post revealed that as recently as two weeks ago he was still using his office to pressure Canadians to hand over 2% of their wages to the regime, as well as an additional $300 to $500 for the country’s military.”

Comment: It was the Eritrean Ambassador’s (in the US) deportation for breaking instructions few years ago and this comes on today proving the fact that the Eritrean government is incapable of handling civilized diplomatic relationships with other nations. It is too addicted to criminal and illegal activities to be civilized: the only solution has so far been sanctioning the regime and deporting its useless diplomats in humiliating fashion, yet in vain!

To your information, the Eritrean government has invented a new method of exploiting the Diaspora making it impossible for it to give the people a break. Eritreans who live in countries that no longer allow the government’s 2% taxation must pay it inside Eritrea in foreign currency. There is simply no way out for Eritreans from the dirty games of the government.

Here is another international voice against Eritrea:

“Eritrea: Letter Regarding the Renewal of the Mandate of the Special Reporter on Human Rights in Eritrea:

To Permanent Representatives to the UN Human Rights Council, on Behalf of 15 NGOs

May 31, 2013

Excellencies

We are writing to call on members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) to take action during the current 23rdsession of the HRC to renew the mandate of the Special Reporter on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, in response to the continued appalling situation of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Eritrea and the lack of cooperation demonstrated by the Eritrean government towards international and regional human rights mechanisms.

We noted with appreciation the adoption by consensus of resolution A/HRC/RES/20/20, presented by Djibouti, Nigeria and Somalia, on the human rights situation in Eritrea at the 20^th session of the UN Human Rights Council in July 2012. The UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, will present a report highlighting the human rights situation in Eritrea to the 23rdsession of the Council in June 2013.

We therefore call on your delegation to support the adoption by the HRC of a resolution that:

    * Condemns abuses documented by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea and urges the Government of Eritrea to implement the recommendations contained in her report;

    * Renews the mandate of the Special Rapporteur;

    * Urges the Government of Eritrea to allow access to the country for the special mechanisms of UN Human Rights Council and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

We thank you for your attention to these concerns. We remain available to provide further information as may be useful.

Sincerely,

Comment: The initiative was taken by three African countries including Somalia which has become one of the best democracies in Africa after the sanction stopped Afwerki’s destructive role in the country with Al-Shabab. The following 15 organizations were represented in this activity.

African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, Amnesty International, Article 19, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, CIVICUS

East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Human Rights Concern – Eritrea, Human Rights House Foundation, Human Rights Watch, International Service for Human Rights, Reporters Without Border, Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, West African Human Rights Defenders Network

Conclusion: All of the above cannot go wrong on Eritrea and nor were they influenced by the CIA. In fact most of the organizations above are anti-CIA by socio-political philosophy because they are composed of humanist activists. Most countries in the world are coexisting peacefully and here is a government in Eritrea that has become the talk of civilized nations for its bizzar political behavior internally and externally. No nation respects this government and all of them want it to leave: the international atmosphere is for change in Eritrea and ready to support a popular group to replace the regime in Asmara. The only problem that is delaying change is our failure to work under a united front for transitional government. We therefore need to concentrate on unconditional unity as the priority of our resistance against the absolute dictatorship.

The issue of unity will continue to dominate our work and see you soon with a follow up to the last article.