URGENT APPEAL TO:Department of state

The Honorable Dr. Jendayi Frazer,

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs,

Department of State,

Washington DC



Madam Secretary,

I am writing to you, not representing any political organization, but in my personal capacity, as a concerned American citizen of Eritrean origin. You will remember me, expressing grave concerns about the regime’s record of human rights violations and doubts about the possibility of a change of heart on the part of President Isaias Afwerki regarding the demands for democratic transition and observance of human rights. He has proved that he is not capable of change along those directions, and the victims of his detention centers and torture chambers provide ample evidence for this conclusion.



I have followed your thinking on the tragic situation in my homeland, including your latest remarks that sanctions are being considered as an option. From what I understand of your policy pronouncements so far, it seems that the basic rationale is that imposition of sanctions will induce change in the behavior of President’s Isaias in regard to his involvement in Somalia. His regime’s destabilizing activities in the Horn of Africa region is defined as an act of terrorism. What about the terrorism the regime has been perpetrating on its own population? Would that be forgotten if, for the sake of argument, Isaias decides to play by the rules of the game and stopped helping terrorist groups in Somalia and elsewhere?

As you are aware, the Eritrean government under President Isaias Afwerki has been committing serious violations of human rights over the past few years. At the risk of telling you what you already know, I must mention the fact that several appeals have been made by both Eritrean nationals and members of the international community addressing the following:

1. President Isaias ordered the arrest of many citizens, including former Ministers and generals of the national army. The detainees have been held incommunicado for six years, without charge. No one knows where they are, no lawyer or medical doctor of their choice can see them; their families are not allowed to visit them. Every time attempts are made to inquire into the reason for their arrest, the President and his spokesmen say that they committed acts of treason and sabotage without adducing evidence to support the claim. If there were any element of truth in the charge, the detainees would have been rushed to court and indicted immediately. Meanwhile the regime periodically unleashes a systematic hate campaign against them in order to have them condemned in the “court of public opinion.” But the public is not convinced of their guilt; far from it. Hence the decision of the government in not bringing them to court.
2. President Isaias has frustrated the democratic will of the people by suspending the implementation of the Constitution, using “the war with the Weyane” (Current Ethiopian government) and a “Weyane threat” as an excuse. With the suspension of the Constitution, the President has instituted an undeclared military government. All the civil rights guaranteed under the Constitution have been jettisoned, and the President rules by decree, using a captive “Parliament” to rubberstamp his decrees. And he dismissed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for pointing out that there was undue interference of the executive branch in judicial matters.
3. President Isiaias abolished the Private Newspapers that had made a promising beginning. He also arrested all their editors and principal reporters.
4. President Isaias has suppressed religious freedon and illegally deposed the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church.
5. In the most destructive move, the unelected President instituted a “national service” ordering an entire generation of Eritreans (the nation’s future) to be placed in military camps and trenches for an indefinite period of time. This is a most disruptive measure that is costing the nation immeasurably in wasted lives and squandered opportunities; hundreds of thousands of young p people (male and female) who could use their time to study and help their families and otherwise participate in the productive effort of a country have been forced to conditions of servitude without recourse and relief thus becoming demoralized. This we consider as an attack on our nation’s future. Thousands of youth have fled to neighboring countries, and beyond, at immense risk to their life. Indeed many have perished in the deserts of Libya and drowned at sea.
6. Being desperate for foreign exchange, the government has been confiscating hard currency brought by visiting members of their family who live in the Diaspora. The government has also been selling public land including to its bond-holders when the latter demanded the return of their money upon the maturation of the bond issued during the 1998-2000 war with Ethiopia. Such is its desperation, which has been aggravating its draconian measures and continued violation of human rights.

In view of the above, and considering the arrogant rejection by the government of Mr. Isaias Afwerki to all appeals, we have no alternative but to insist on requisite measures to sanction this lawless government. Without prejudice to your right to take or recommend sanctions that your government considers appropriate, I urge that the following measures be taken against the government of President Isaias Afwerki by the government of the United States:

1. A diplomatic boycott on President Isaias Afwerki and members of his cabinet of Ministers and other high-ranking members of his government, including refusal to issue visas.
2. Suspension of development aid, pending the implementation of the Constitution, the reinstatement of the Free Press and the release of all political prisoners.
3. Prohibition of all investments by American companies in Eritrea.
4. Causing the freezing of Eritrean assets in foreign banks.
5. Diplomatic campaign in support of the above-mentioned steps, especially in the European Union and its member governments.



I am confident that you will give this matter the attention it deserves. .

Respectfully,



Bereket Habte Selassie (Distinguished Professor)

The University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill.