حملة إعتقالات تطال الأسر والتلاميذ في أفعبت

عونا ـ 5 مارس 5/03/2006


شهدت مدينة أفعبت حملات اعتقالات عشوائية واسعة طالت المئات من تلاميذ المدارس ومئات أخري من الأسر، حيث قامت الأجهزة العسكرية والأمنية التي تحكم المدينة مدججة بأسلحة بمداهمات في صفوف طلاب المدارس من الصف الثامن الي العاشر وذلك يوم الأربعاء 22 فبراير الماضي متمكنة بذلك من إعتقال أربعمائة (400) طالب قامت بإرسالهم فوراً الي منطقة دنكاليا، ثم عاودت السلطات الكرة في يوم الاثنين 27 فبراير مستهدفة هذه المرة الأسر الذي هرب أبناءها من البلاد، فقبضت علي مائتي (200) أسرة بتهمة مساعدة أبنائها علي الفرارأو عدم التبليغ بذلك ـ وقد جمعوا الأسر في مخزن كبير، وفي اليوم التالي وضعوا أمامهم ثلاث خيارات :ـ

· أن يأتوا بأبنائهم فوراً.
· أن يدفعوا مبلغ خمسين ألف (50000) نقفة.
· اذا لم يستطعوا تحقيق أي من الخيارين السابقين، يستعدوا للعمل في مشاريع النظام المدنية والعسكرية لثلاثة أعوام مجاناً.

وقد طلبت بعض الأسر امهالها شهرين لتري فيما اذا كانت تستطيع تحقيق الخيارات المذكورة، وتم اطلاق سراحها بضمانات قاسية، في حين رفضت معظم الأسر الخروج من (المخزن) لمعرفتها باستحالة ما طلب منها، وهي الان خاضعة للخيار الثالث حيث يتوقع الزج بها في مشاريع النظام في أي لحظة، هذا وقد علم موقعنا بأن الأسر المعتقلة توجد فيها نسبة كبيرة من العجزة والحوامل والمعوقين والمكفوفين ـ ومن ناحية أخري أبلغت السلطات طلاب الصف الحادي عشر لكي يستعدوا للذهاب الي معسكر (ساوا) في شهر يونيو القادم.

يذكر أن حملة الاعتقالات طالت جميع الأقاليم والمدن الاريترية خلال الشهور والأيام الماضية ـ وقد بدأها النظام أولاً في الأقليم الجنوبي في شهر يوليو من العام الماضي، ويهدف النظام من الحملات الي توقيف المنحي الخطير الذي وصلته عمليات الفرار الجماعي من البلاد نحو الاتجاهات الأربعة، وهي عمليات تتم بينما الشباب الفارين موجودين اصلاً تحت سلطات النظام وفي دوائره الرسمية، وبجانب هذا الهدف فهناك أهداف أخري كثيرة يريد النظام تحقيقها من خلال حملات التجنيد واعتقال الاسر نذكر منها علي سبيل المثال :ـ

· إلهاء الشعب الاريتري وشغله عن قضاياه الحقيقية ووضعه في حالة استنفار دائم بحيث لا يفكر الا في الحملات القادمة ويتناسي جرائم النظام الأخري واخفاقاته.
· زرع البغضاء والكراهية بين أفراد الأسرة الواحدة وخلق مجتمع حاقد وكاره وفاقد الثقة علي بعضه البعض.
· الحاق أضرار اقتصادية كبيرة بالأسر وذلك بنهب ماتملكه ووفرته طيلة حياتها أو دفعها للاستدانة أو تثقيل كاهل ابنائها بالخارج.
· القضاء علي المقاومة الجماعية والفردية التي بدأت وسط المجتمع خاصة بعد ظهور مناشير سياسية معادية للنظام وظهور شعارات علي الجدران في مدن كثيرة، وظهور تجمعات سياسية منظمة في الداخل، وبعد أن بدأ إعلام المعارضة الاريترية ـ خاصة المسموع منه مثل اذاعة الشرق والتحالف وبعض التنظيمات ـ بالتأثير علي الشعب وأصبح ما يرد فيها احاديث الناس.
· ربط ما يحدث بالنزاع مع اثيوبيا وتصوير النظام بأنه حامي حمي البلاد وأن مايفعله هو من أجل السيادة وبالتالي التغاضي عنه في هذه الفترة.
· ادخال قيم جديدة علي المجتمع الاريتري تقوم علي الأنانية والفردية والرشوة وتوسيع دائرة الفساد الأخري بحيث لا تقوم للشعب الاريتري قائمة بعد رحيل النظام.
· مساعدة بعض الجنرالات والمسئولين في رفع من مستواهم المادي ووضعهم في مرتبة أقرانهم أو قريبة منها وذلك بتحويل مبلغ الخمسين ألف نقفة الي جيوبهم الخاصة.
· التأكد من صلاحية الخطة التي وضعها النظام لتحرير "بادمي" واخضاع المجتمع الدولي الي رغباته، وهي خطة تقوم علي القيام أولاً بالتمارين والتدريبات العسكرية علي آباءنا وأمهاتنا وعلي العجزة والمكفوفين والحوامل وأولئك الذين لم تطالهم يدا هيلي سلاسي ومنغستوهيلي ماريام بما ملكتاـ بحيث الانتصار عليهم يؤدي تلقائياً الي الانتصار علي اثيوبيا وعلي المجتمع الدولي، وخطة التمارين علي الشعب أفتتحها اسياس افورقي نفسه حين جربها أولاً علي أولئك الذين أعانوه علي ظلمه ( من أعان ظالماً سلطه الله عليه ) فصفع منهم من صفع واعتقل منهم من أعتقل ولطم منهم ـ بزجاجة ويسكي فاخرة يكفي سعرها لإعالة عشرين أسرة اريترية ـ من لطم.
وما زال البعض يلوم صغار المسئولين والمهرجين!
إن رغبتم في التعرف علي فساد الجنرالات والمسئولين وافسادهم في اريتريا تابعوا الآن إذاعة "دلاينا" بموقع أسمرينو.

När kommer demokratin till Eritrea?

Eritrea sluter sig inom sitt skal som man alltid gjort inför verkliga eller påhittade hot från omvärlden. Med slutenheten stryps förutsättningarna för maktspridning och yttrandefrihet.
Den fängslade svenske journalisten Dawit Isaak är en bricka i det spelet.

Khaled Abdu, fd chefred för den oberoende tidningen Admas,

Semret Seyoum, fd kollega till Dawit Isaak och

fotojournalisten Donald Boströmdiskuterar förutsättningarna för en demokratisk utveckling i Eritrea.

Moderator: Christian Andersson.Debatten är på engelska.

Tid: onsdagen den 8 mars, kl. 18.00.

Plats: AFB-huset, Sveavägen 41,

Stockholm.Ett arrangemang av Reportrar utan gränser

Stockholms Seminar Report

By organisers

The seminar organised by the Eritrean Dialogue Forum on Saturday 26 February 2006, under a theme of , “Inter –ethnic and inter religious” was completed successfully. This was the second seminar organised by the association with a view generating a dialogue among the diverse Eritrean ethnic groups eliciting their opinion on issues that are being kept taboo but practically applied by all in their cleavages.

The objective of the meeting was to bring the various Eritrean ethnic and religious groups for exchanging information on their own historical memories of tensions and conflict. It is apparent that there are today major political organizations are all organized along ethnic and religious lines. The regime in Eritrea is the first organization getting its support by appealing ethnic and religious issues. The purpose of the seminar was to bring together all these people and discuss on the issues of ethnicity. Ethnicity is a broad concept covering a multiplicity of elements: race, culture, religion, heritage, history, language and so on.


Dialogue is different from debate in that it encourages diversity of thinking and opinions rather than suppressing these ideas. It facilitates the progressive emergence of mutual understanding of the problems and search for consensus. This is the belief of the Eritrean Dialogue Forum, in practising of dialogue one can reach agreement and find solutions, therefore dialogue is a process of problem solving. Dialogue is to listen each other not to pronounce judgements. The Eritrean Dialogue Forum creates meeting places and platforms for all Eritreans ready discuss about Eritrea and its people.

In this seminar, invited speakers were from the Kunama, Afar and Jeberti people. The seminar was moderated by Mr. Gimbot Abraha and Mr. Abdurehim Arey

(1) The Kunama people

Presenter

Mr. Peter Umet, member of the Kunama civil society in Germany and co-editor of the Kunama Website, and Lukas Davit from Sweden he is also a member of the Kunama civil society in Sweden presented their paper on the Kunama people, land and culture. Mr. Umet, in his lecture stressed the land features of the Kunama land, the historical authority of liberal egalitarian system of governance in the Kunama land, and the regional divisions of the land and people. Concerning religion , the Kunama has no conflict of religion, they belief in Christianity , islam and other natural traditional beliefs. The most significant identity factor of the Kunama people is their territoty, culture and their way life and is not religion, stressed, Umet.
Why did the Kunama could nor be able to develop is because of the continuous aggression and suppression of the internal and external forces. This continuous oppression and deprivation of their lands and culture was deteriorated by the regime in Eritrea that has taken power after independence. The Kunama people has never deserted their land and flee to the neighbouring countries during the past occupation forces but now at this time because of the ruthless dictator, flee the country and ask for asylum.

What should be done? Asked , Peter. The politic of apartheid should be uprooted and replaced by democratic ethno- federal system of governance. A system that respects the fundamental rights of the Kunama people should be established.

(2) The Afar People

Presenter

Mr. Idris Ismail from the Afar people, in his lecture provided a historical overview of the Afar people in the Horn of Africa, how they lived in before the national borders were invented in this area of Africa. When the Horn of Africa was divided in nations, the Afar people were scattered in three countries- thus Ethiopia , Djibouti and Eritrea. He analysed how the various clans and tribes inside the Afar nationality were ruled in their lands of the RED Sea region. He has elaborated the rule of the sultanates of Afar people. His analysis was chronological , thus he divided the stage before colonialism and after colonialism and how the Afar people were influenced by the foreign powers. After introductory presentation, Idris stressed, how the Italians entered the Red Sea as shipmen and explored the inland of today’s Eritrea. The Afar people were the gate and beginning of the Eritrean nationalism. What is Eritrea without the Red Sea and the Afar people? Asked, Idrs. The Afar land – the Red Sea where today the regime in Eritrea and its supporters claim has deprived the Afars their homeland and replaced them with others. How the livelihood of Afar was destroyed by the regime in Eritrea, the herdsmen , the fishermen and traders were taken their properties and today their land is experiencing demographic changes, taking the lands from the natives and distributing to others is injustice and occupation. While the Afar people flee their land other Eritreans from highlands come and take place- is this justice? What would the the Eritrean highlanders say if the Afars take power and take their lands by force? It was a national denial and immoral not to support these inhumane actions , emphasized, Idris. Finally , he concluded his lecture, how can we remedy these problems, at which part of the Eritrean body politics will we start to solve these problems and create a peaceful situation where we can live together in equality and justice.


( 3) The Jeberti people

Presenter

Mr.Abdu Suleiman from the Jeberti civil society association in Sweden presented his paper by short introduction but later elaborated the movement of the current Eritrean people from the different directions, thus those who come from the north ( Nubea) , those who come from South ( Abyssinia), those who come from the Arab Peninisula. His analysis was very elaborative and chronological. He divided the analysis in periods- the pre- national or before the invention of borders and the time during nationalism. The flight of islam believers from the Kureshi and their asylum in Abyssinia and how they were received. After a general analysis, he has focused on the historical development of the Jeberti people in this region, their struggle against oppressors and religious persecution, he has brought the ruthless and criminal action of King Johans of Ethiopia at that time harassing and killing all the believers of Islam but was later killed by the resistant movement. In his analysis, Mr. Abdu focused more on the Emirate Ifat Jeberti on their settled livelihood as agriculturalists and farmers. They had their own rulers and local laws, they have always challenged by the Christian Abyssinien rules , they were deprived of their properties at this time but the oppression has learned them that they have created other skills of livelihood , they pursued other ways of life like trade, building and other service business activities. In Eritrea, like all others , they moved from the different directions he formerly mentioned. They used to live in all parts of Eritrea but mostly in the Eritrean highlands. They were the first who were urbanized and got the first education in Eritrea. In the rural areas of the Highland their main home is known as “Misiam” in the province of Seraye.

In his second part of his analysis, he has taken the role of the Jeberti in building of Eritrean nationalism, he has taken the periods before federation with Ethiopia, here he focused how the Jeberti resisted the false federation with Ethiopa and the sacrifice they offered he referred the letters of Martyr Abdulkadir Kabire. It was a fantastic analysis. He later has taken the role of the Jeberti in organizing both the political and armed struggle, he mentioned their participation inthe Moslem league during the political struggle in Eritrea. Finally , he mentioned how the situation of Jeberti today after independence, here he stressed that the Jeberti in Eritrea has not got what they deserve but dehumanisation and second class citizens without no rights and power in their own affairs.

Discussion:

Over 100 participants from various Eritrean diversity met in their individual capacities asked discussed , commented on the issues raised by the panel and the panel responded all the questions forwarded by the participants. Participants were almost convinced by the issues raised and showed that these unmet needs should be further discussed in order to create opportunities for democratic development in Eritrea.

From the questions raised was the one which is always asked by a certain circle., this time is not the time to raise such issues, this argument is like the ruling party’s argument, we are in the war with Ethiopia, therefore this time is not to ask about human rights and democracy in Eritrea. Such argument is only to delay or bury the realities in Eritrea. But, this argument has no reality but only used to ignore the demands of the oppressed.
The issue of nationality and ethnicity was also discussed. Mr. Abdu, in his response on this issue and how the Jebrti people are nationality , he brought the characteristics that made the Jeberti as different ethnic than the other tigrinya speaking christians; is because we are different by race,culture,religion,heritage, history and so on. He added that it is not the language that make one known as ethnic or nationality but other characteristics he added.

Participants asked for further studies if the ethnicities ( Gebail ) have reached the level of development to be called nationalities.

Some issues raised by the participants were not based on the topics discussed by the lecturers. Every lecturer has expressed its own people’s situation and how they are oppressed by the ruling regime in Eritrea in particular. The grim scenario in Eritrea can only be challenged by the union of all oppressed, concluded the meeting.


Organizing Committee

Eritrea ban blamed for UN death

The United Nations has accused Eritrea of placing its personnel at risk with a ban on helicopter flights.
This follows the death of an Indian peacekeeper on his way to hospital after a cardiac arrest in the buffer zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The evacuation flight took nearly four hours instead of 50 minutes. The helicopter had to use a longer route because of the ban, which Eritrea introduced in October, along with restrictions on ground patrols.

Eritrea believes the international community is not putting enough pressure on Ethiopia to accept a border demarcation made by an independent commission in 2000.

The neighbours fought a brutal war between 1997-2000 which ended with a peace agreement committing both sides to abide by the ruling of an independent commission which demarcated the boundary.

However, Ethiopia has not withdrawn its troops from the disputed border town of Badme, which the commission awarded to Eritrea.

Last year, Eritrea banned UN helicopter flights and called for the expulsion of Western peacekeepers.

In January, Eritrea's President Isaias Afewerki refused to allow the team of US diplomats and army officials to visit the border area.

خلافات حادة بين الجنرال ( وجو ) وحاكم مدينة أسمرا وإعتقال الكولونيل فسها أبرها

300) اسمرينو : ECMSنشبت خلافات حادة بين الجنرال الذائع الصيت قرزقهير عندماريام ( وجو )

وحاكم مدينة أسمرا سمري رؤسوم وذلك إثر قيام الأول بإعتقال عدد من الطلاب وأبائهم للتحقيق في مصرع إبنه وسجنهم في مكان مجهول في إستغلال واضح لنفوذه ، متجاوزاً اللجنة المختصة المكلفة بالتحقيق في حادثة مصرع إبنه الذي توفي إثر سقوطه من الطابق الأول في المدرسة التي يدرس بها ، وذكرت المصادر إن تصاعد الخلافات بين الرجلين قد تؤدي إلى نقل الجنرال وجو إلى إقليم آخر .ووعلى صعيد آخر قامت السلطات بإعتقال الكولونيل فسها أبرها المشهور ( بودي أبرها ) في السابع والعشرين من فبراير الماضي وذلك إثر رفضه لما يدور داخل النظام من الإعداد للمواجهة العسكرية مع إثيوبيا .

Journalister får fängelsestraff i Eritrea

I onsdags hade organisationen Reportrar utan gränser ett seminarium om Eritrea. Det handlade om pressfriheten i landet. Khaled Abdu från Eritrea talade på seminariet. Han är journalist och har lämnat Eritrea. Han bor nu i Sverige.
Samhälle (Sesam) – I Eritrea finns ingen fri press längre, säger Abdu. Khaled Abdu lämnade Eritrea efter att ha suttit i fängelse flera gånger. Efter freden med Etiopien år 2000 har Eritrea blivit en diktatur. Det finns bara ett parti i Eritrea. De äger också det enda tidningstryckeriet. Journalister som skriver artiklar som regimen inte tycker om skickar man till armén eller i fängelse.
Det enda sättet att göra tidningar är att skriva dem utanför Eritrea och sedan skicka dem dit. Men man får inte sälja tidningar till armén. Det är där de unga finns. De som fortfarande ger ut tidningar skriver bara positiva saker om regimen nu. De vill inte få fängelsestraff. När Eritrea krigade med Etiopien kunde människor starta tidningar i Eritrea. Det var svårt redan då, men nu är det omöjligt. De som fick tillstånd att starta tidningar under kriget har förlorat de här tillstånden nu.
Dessutom censurerar regimen de artiklar som människor skriver, så att de inte skriver saker som kritiserar Eritreas politik. Khaled Abdu är pessimistisk om framtiden. Efter kriget bestämde regimen att det är bättre om sanningen inte kommer fram, säger Khaled Abdu. Han tror att det enda som kan få regimen att ändra sig är om andra länder ber dem att ta bort de här lagarna.
– Just nu har ingen människa i Eritrea några politiska rättigheter, säger Khaled Abdu.
Karin Holmberg

Pressfrihet i Eritrea

En tisdagskväll i april har Reportrar Utan Gränser arrangerat ett seminarium om pressfrihet i Eritrea i Sidas lokaler på Sveavägen i Stockholm. Medverkande är bland annat pressombudsman Olle Stenholm, som för kvällen agerar moderator, den eritreanske journalisten Khaled Abdu, som flytt sitt hemland för att söka politisk asyl i Sverige, samt Folke Löfgren, Stockholmsbaserad svensk ambassadör för Eritrea. Seminariet ska, utöver eritreansk pressfrihet i allmänhet, komma att behandla Dawit Isaac, en svensk-eritreansk journalist som sedan september 2001 sitter fängslad i Eritrea. Frågan har blivit utrikespolitiskt laddad då den eritreanska regeringen vägrar att uppge för svenska myndigheter var Isaac finns, genom att hänvisa till hans eritreanska medborgarskap.
Redan innan mötet börjar är stämningen i den fullsatta lokalen spänd och hetsig. Uppslutningen är stor och sittplatserna räcker inte till – många tvingas stå utmed väggarna. Då en man vill videofilma seminariet utbryter protester, och Olle Stenholm försöker mana till lugn genom att poängtera att demokrati och åsiktsfrihet kommer att vara ledorden för den fortsatta diskussionen. Skulle någon i publiken ha problem med dessa begrepp är det bara attlämna rummet, menar Stenholm.Debatten tar sin början trots att stämningen fortfarande är orolig. Khaled Abdu visar en inspelning med Dawit Isaac, gjord bara cirka 2 veckor innan han greps.

Khaled Abdu översätter vad Isaac säger i videoinspelningen. Bland annat uttrycker han som privatperson, inte som journalist, ett stöd för reformisterna (de elva ministrar som arresterades i Eritrea år 2001, efter att ha kritiserat den sittande regeringen). Då Khaled Abdu hävdar att ingen vet huruvida dessa fängslade ministrar och journalister är i livet eller ej, uppstår på nytt högljudda verbala protester bland åhörarna. Därefter får Folke Löfgren, som den svenska statens företrädare, frågan vilka ansträngningar Sverige gjort för att hjälpa Dawit Isaac sedan han fängslades: – Problemet är att den eritreanska regeringen ser Dawit Isaac enbart som eritreansk medborgare, säger Löfgren. Vi kan givetvis inte förneka det, men han är också svensk medborgare. Av principiella och humanitära skäl måste vi gå vidare med det här fallet, och ärendet står ständigt på agendan. Han tillägger sedan att han är tacksam för att kvällens seminarium äger rum, eftersom svenska staten, som han uttrycker det, ”behöver stöd för att klargöra hur viktig frågan är”.Det är när Khaled Abdu ska visa ytterligare ett filmklipp, denna gång med Eritreas f.d. ambassadör i Sverige, som mötet spårar ur. I inspelningen anklagar ambassadören Dawit Isaac för att spionera för Danmark. Khaled Abdu vill visa klippet för att peka på absurditeten i de skäl som anförs för att hålla Dawit Isaac fängslad. Efter visningen anser en del av publiken att intervjun ska översättas, och det är då kaos bryter ut. Stolar kastas upp på scenen, slagsmål utbryter och resten av åhörarna försöker desperat ta sig ut ur lokalen. Polis kallas till platsen. Att spänningarna mellan de olika eritreanska grupperna är stor går inte att ta miste på. Dock menar vissa åhörare att somliga i publiken kommit till seminariet enbart för att bråka och störa mötet så att det måste avbrytas – vilket också sker. Inte ens halva seminarietiden har passerat då diskussionen får ett abrupt slut.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues press release By Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Feb 27, 2006, 18:51
The Government of Eritrea has been closely following the latest statements on the Eritrea-Ethiopia issue as publicized whether by the UN Security Council or even in the name of “witnesses of the Algiers Agreement”.
As expressed time and again, the final and binding decision of the Boundary Commission marks the legal conclusion of the Eritrea-Ethiopia issue once and for all. In light of the fact that the technicalities of the border demarcation and the detailed directives of implementation have been long worked out by the very commission, entertaining further “initiatives and consultations” would be utterly irrelevant. The Government of Eritrea looks forward solely to the professional dispensation of the final technicalities based on the directives of the Boundary Commission, nothing less and nothing more.
Any attempts to derail the dispensation of the border demarcation from its legal course or even entertain other “alternative mechanisms' suggestive of dragging behind or holding up the process will have no legal bearings or serve any other purpose than to prompt events that would set off a dangerous precedent. Thus, the Government of Eritrea does not recognize nor accept these deviations.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs 27 February 2006 Asmara

الأمم المتحدة تدعو إلى محادثات بين إثيوبيا وإريتريا

التوتر تصاعد على الحدود بين البلدين في الفترة الأخيرة(الفرنسية-أرشيف)دعا مجلس الأمن الدولي إثيوبيا وإريتريا إلى إجراء محادثات لتسوية النزاع الحدودي بينهما.


وقال دبلوماسيون في المنظمة الأممية إن المحادثات التي من المقرر أن تعقدها اللجنة الحدودية الإريترية الإثيوبية مطلع الشهر القادم في العاصمة البريطانية تهدف إلى التوصل إلى قرار بشأن اقتراح حول ترسيم حدود جديدة بين الدولتين.
وأشاروا إلى إنه إذا ما وافقت الدولتان على حضور الاجتماع فإنه سيتم الضغط عليهما للقبول بقرار اللجنة بشأن الحدود والتنفيذ الكامل لاتفاقية الجزائر التي وقع عليها البلدان عام 2000.
وتنص اتفاقية الجزائر التي وقعت عليها إثيوبيا وإريتريا على وقف لإطلاق النار وقبول بخط ترسيم للحدود كما تحدده اللجنة الحدودية.
غير أن إثيوبيا تراجعت عن تنفيذ الاتفاق قبل عامين ورفضت اقتراح اللجنة للترسيم بينما قبلته إريتريا. وشهدت الفترة الأخيرة وجود حشود عسكرية لكلا البلدين على جانبي الحدود تم خفضها بضغوط من الأمم المتحدة.
يذكر أن النزاع الحدودي بين البلدين أسفر عن مقتل نحو 80 ألف شخص بين عامي 1998 و2000.

Young Eritrean students forced to Wia for military training

Reliable sources from Eritrea indicate that youngsters, who are over 18 years of age and who are studying in schools should be stopped and be sent to Wia for military training.
Wia is a desert camp near the Red Sea port of Massawa, in a region where daytime temperatures hover about 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Sending this young students to such area is meant to terrorize them. Families of the students are asking the regime as to why this action is taken and specially in the town of keren there are arrests taking place are signals coming out that parents to this children are trying to oppose the action and express their opposition to the leadership. .
In fear of public unrest the regime is strengthening security in the cities and villages.
To read more about wia camp please go through the following testimony.
http://www.awate.com/artman/publish/article_4246.shtml

Välbesökt 24-timmarsvaka till stöd för Dawit

- Vi upplever att protesterna här i Sverige når fram till den eritreanska regeringen.Det sa biståndsminister Carin Jämtin när hon medverkade i den manifestation som Journalistförbundet tillsammans med Tidningsutgivarna, Reportrar utan gränser, Sveriges Tidskrifter, Publicistklubben och stödföreningen Free Dawit Isaak anordnade på Sergels Torg igår.

Biståndsminister Carin Jämtin

Manifestationen började redan vid midnatt den 3 maj - Pressfrihetens Dag - och pågår i 24 timmar. Intresset var stort och ett flertal medier och många människor besökte manifestationen under hela dagen. Där hölls appeller hölls av ett flertal olika talare, bland annat Carin Jämtin som berättade om regeringens kontinuerliga arbete med att få Eritreas regering att släppa den svensk-eritreanska journalisten Dawit Isaak. Hon berättade bland annat att utrikesminister Laila Freivalds tagit upp fallet med Rwandas utrikesminister. Carin Jämtin sa att regeringen upplever att protesterna når fram. Om den eritreanska regeringen är mottagliga för protesterna kan vi bara svara på den dagen vi får träffa Dawit och framförallt den dagen han blir fri. Hon kunde inte utlova några starkare reaktioner från regeringen. - Det finns olika öppningar som jag inte vill gå in på, fortsatte hon. Man kan inte säga att vi gjort tillräckligt förrän han är frigiven. På frågan om det skulle vara aktuellt att dra in det svenska biståndet till Eritrea svarade hon: - Biståndet Sverige ger är framförallt ett humanitärt bistånd. Om vi stoppade det humanitära biståndet skulle det försvåra de eritreanska kontakterna vi har byggt upp.


Lars LeijonborgLars Leijonborg, partiledare för Folkpartiet, var kritisk till regeringens tysta diplomati. Han menade på att den tysta diplomatin inte fungerar och att det är dags för klarspråk.´ Han uppmanade utrikesminister Laila Freivalds att besöka Eritrea och på plats göra klart för regeringen att vi inte finner oss i sig behandlingen av Dawit Isaak. - Dawit är en hjälte, sa han i sin appell. Vi kräver att Dawit blir fri nu!

Gellert Tamas, författare och vice ordförande i Svenska PEN kritiserade också regeringens arbete med fallet Dawit och uppmanade även medierna att bryta tystnaden som varit och Stig Fredriksson, ordförande i Publicistklubben, talade om pressfriheten i världen och hur vanligt det är att journalister dödas för att de försöker utöva sitt arbete. Han berättade att The Committé to Protect Journalists, CPJ, i en undersökning räkna fram att majoriteten av de journalister som dödats, inte har dödats i krig utan mördats på grund av innehållet i sin rapportering. En undersökning som startar idag, berättade Arne König, vice ordförande i Journalistförbundet och ordförande i EFJ (European Federation of Journalists), om. Det är INSI, International News Safety Institute som startat ett projekt som kallas "Who kill journalists and why?".


Arne König
Under de senaste 15 åren har 1300 journalister och mediaarbetare har dödats medan de varit i tjänst. Förra året var ett av det blodigaste. I projektet, som består av journalister och professorer i bland annat konfliktforskning, ska man undersöka varför journalister dödats i sitt arbete och presentera detta i en rapport. Du kan läsa mer om projektet här: http://www.newssafety.com/. Arne König berättade också att Journalistförbundet bjudit in Dawit Isaak till kongressen om tre veckor på Djurönäset. Inbjudan postades idag och om han kommer finnas där återstår att se. Journalistförbundet har inte slutat hoppas och kommer att fortsätta sitt arbete för att Dawit Isaak och hans kollegor skall frigivas.


Ola GäverthOla Gäverth, ordförande i Journalistklubben vid Sveriges Radio berättade att klubben ställt in möten för att kunna medverka på Sergels torg under dagen. - Dawit är symbol för något mycket större. Den här manifestationen handlar om yttrandefriheten, grunden för hela vår verksamhet. Bland övriga talare hördes Eva Elmsäter, ordförande Reportrar utan gränser, Bengt Braun, ordförande i Tidningsutgivarna,

EU-parlamentarikern Cecilia Malmström, Journalistförbundets ordförande Agneta Lindblom Hulthén, journalisten Khaled Abdu, kommunikationschef Karin Hallgren,TCO, Yvonne Lundén, SKTFs förbundsstyrelse, Henrik von Sydow, riksdagsledamot (m), skådespelerskan Görel Crona, Christina Jutterström, VD Sveriges Television, Peter Örn, VD Sveriges Radio, Håkan Bravinger, Författarförbundet, Leif Öbrink, stödkommittén Free Dawit Isaak, Siv Norlin, förste vice ordförande i fackförbundet ST med flera. Dawit Isaak greps i september 2001, tillsammans med flera kollegor. Samtidigt förbjöd den eritreanska regimen all privatägd och oberoende media. Den 3 maj har Dawit Isaak suttit fängslad 1319 dagar - utan rättegång! Vi kräver att Dawit Isaak och hans kollegor släpps fria och att Eritrea respekterar pressfrihet och mänskliga rättigheter. Pressfrihetens Dag har proklamerats av FN och manifesteras över hela världen. Bakom den dygnslånga manifestationen i Stockholm står Journalistförbundet, Reportrar utan gränser, Publicistklubben, Sveriges Tidskrifter, Tidningsutgivarna och Stödföreningen Free Dawit Issack











Khaled , Cecilia , Leif










Gellert , Agnetta , Görel

Svenska Journalistförbundet
Telefon: 08-613 75 00Fax: 08-21 26 80E-post: kansliet@sjf.se

Testimony: The Execution of Mogos Gebreselase By Anon (submitted by Elsa Chyrum) Feb 24, 2006, 06:59 PST

The history of Eritrea’s youth is a story of humiliation, exile, detention and death. Thus, when it comes to youth, it is hard to expect any good news. It has been over ten years since Eritrean parents have been shedding tears in Eritrea—a nation which could win a Nobel prize, a marathon and an Oscar for its human rights abuses. Thanks to the government of Eritrea, there is an abundance of sadness, hunger and bareness and too little of peace and tranquillity. The Eritrean people know that the blood of Eritrea’s youth is as cheap as that of dogs, shed everywhere. Todate, there has been no restraint on the dying and jailing of the youth and, consequently, the youth are abandoning their country and families and flowing to exile.

The story of Mogos Gebreselase is part and parcel of this history. I met Mogos in October 1998 in the hamlet of Elala, around Shambeko. While serving the nation in our units, I came to learn that he was born and raised in Asmara. Due to his intense patriotism, he had enlisted in the armed struggle in 1990. An astute and conscientious person, he was not one to utter, “yes, ok” indisicriminately.

Mogos Gebreselase was a tireless and principled person who respected military rules and discipline. But because he was an ethical person, he could not get along with his superiors. This is not surprising: a sharp and astute person like him could not tolerate the debauchery of those in charge. In 2001, anonymous members of the army sent a letter that exposed the corruption of those in charge to the Defense Ministry ([known as] Beleza.) Instead of trying to investigate the veracity of the claims against the accused, Major Afwerki Habtegiorgis (“Ababu”), the major’s friends within the Defense Minstry sent back the letter to the major advising him to take caution. And the major initiated the process of sharpening his knife to slay his enemies.

In an effort to save himself, a panicked Major Afwerki began the process of identifying those he considered his enemies. He called on all the soldiers in his charge to submit to handwriting investigation. In the end, Mogos Gebreselase and seven other members of our division were detained. No one in the rank and file knew about this, but Mogos and the others were sent to detention.

Mogos and the other seven individuals were sent for so-called rehabilitation to Adi Gawel. All in the army knew that Mogos’s fate could not be good. This is because his superiors always looked at him with contempt. Certainly, those of you reading this will be saddened by the arrest of Mogos and the other seven individuals. But that’s not all. What is truly saddening is that Mogos Gebreselasee, the innocent youth, was trapped by Major Afwerki and was killed by an execution squad. Just like that: those in charge are warlords, killing and sparing people at a whim.

Eritrea is losing many of her innocent children like Mogos. And the exploitation and aggression continues throughout all of Eritrea. But tomorrow, they will tell a tale of how they [those they killed] were martyred heroically. A day will come when the story of all this aggression shall be told. But people like Major Afwerki and the government which is using them to vanish the people cannot have a moment of rest. [This is] because they are accountable for the blood of the innocent.

Elsa Chyrum is an Eritrean human rights activist. The original article was written in Tigrigna and is published by Awate. Translated to English by Awate staff.

Seminarium: Eritrea är“ mellan hopp och förtvivlan

Krig, enpartistat, diktatur och svåra förhållanden med svält och fattigdom. En svensk journalist Dawit Isaak sitter sedan tre år i fängelse för sina åsikters skull. När landet Eritrea förekommer i svensk massmedia är bilden mest elände och problem.

Men varför blev det så här och hur stimulerar vi bäst demokrati och utveckling i regionen?

Arrangörer: Silc (Svenskt Internationellt Liberalt Centrum) i samarbete med Eritrean Association for Peace and Democracy

Moderatorer: Birgitta Ohlsson, riksdagsledamot (fp) & folkpartiets biståndstalesman och Erik Jennische, generalsekreterare Silc
NÃr? Torsdagen den 9 mars
Tid? 17.00-20.00
Var? Sveriges Riksdag, Mynttorget 2, ledamotshuset, folkpartiets klubbrum
Anmmälan? Senast 9 mars 12.00 via erik.jennische@liberal.se (medtag ID-kort till riksdagen) 17.00-17.15

Inledning Ibrahim Abdella från Eritrean Association for Peace and Democracy och Birgitta Ohlsson riksdagsledamot (fp)
17.15-17.35 Mänskliga rättigheter i Eritrea Maja Åberg, från Amnesty ger en övergripande bild av läget vad gäller mänskliga rättigheter i landet.
17.35-17.55 Mänskliga rättigheter och Dawit Isaak Johan Karlsson, Silc-aktivist och författare till boken "Dawit och friheten - om den svenske samvetsfången och Eritreas inställda demokratisering" berättar om mänskliga rättigheter i Eritrea utifrån fallet Dawit Isaak.
17.55-18.15 Kvinnans situation i Eritrea Hayot Ibrahim berättar om kvinnors rättigheter och position i Eritrea
18.15-18.45 Eritreas framtid och demokratin Mr. Hussein Khalifa, Secretary General of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance
18.45-19.15 Civilsamhället och demokratin i Eritrea Dr. Numan redogör för hur man kan stimulera övergången från diktatur till demokrati och civilsamhällets roll i detta.
19.15-20.00 Paneldiskussion och frågestund

Varmt välkomna!

ሕጂኸ እንታይ ይገበር!!!!

ዝሓለፈ ሰሙን ኣብዚ ኣብ ከተማ ስቶክሆልም ዓቢ መዛረቢ ኣርእስቲ ኮይኑ ዝቐነየ ኣኼባ በዓል ስልጣን ህግደፍ ኣልኣሚን መሐመድስዒድ ዩኣልኣሚን ኣብዚ ናብ ህዝቢ ዝገበሮ ኣኼባ ከም ወኪል እቲ ኣረሚናዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ዘይኮነ ከም ወኪል ቅንጅት ናይ ኢትዩጵያን ናይ ሱዳን ተቓወምቲን ኩይኑ እዩ ኣምሲዩ..ኣብቲ ዝሃቦ መግለጺ ዶ ክንብሎ ወላ ባዶ ጃህራ ንልዕሊ 2 ሰዓታትን ፈረቓን ብዛዕባ ቅንጅት ተበዲልናዮ ዝብልዎ በደልን ነቲ ዝበደሎም መንግስቲ ኢህወደግ ኸኣ ስራት ህግደፍ ብኸመይ ከምዝቕጽዑ ካብ ቓል ኣልኣሚን መሓመድ ስዒድ ከምቲ ናብ ስልጣን ዘምጻኽሞም እስኹም ኢኹም ተልዕልዎም ትኽእሉ ኢሎም ቅንጅት ስለዝመጹናን ንሕና ኸኣ ሓባራዊ ረብሓና እምበር ካልእ ስለዘየገድሰና ነቲ መዓልቱ ዝቖጽር ዘሎ ስርዓት ኣሊና ቅንጅት መሪሕነት ከምዝሕዙ ክንገብር ኢና ብዝብል ስዲ ሕልሚ ዘይሚዛናዊ ገምጋም ዶ ክንብሎ ወላ ህውተታ ኣብታ ንበይኑ ዝነብረላ ዓለም ጥራሕ ዝሰርሕ ሎጂክ ብምቕራብ ነዚ ንምትግባር ናይ ዝኽፈል ኤርትራዊ ደም ኣብ ግምት ብዘይምእታው ጊዑሩ ኣሎ ሳዕቤኑ ኸኣ ብሓባር ክንርእዩ ኢናካብቲ ንልዕሊ 3 ሰዓታት ዝኸደ ኣኼባ ተጾሚቐን ፍርቂ ሰዓት ዘኮነ ጊዜ ጥራሕ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ ምዝራቡን ከምኡ እውን ነቲ ግፍዓዊ ኣማራራሓ ህግደፍ ብምቅዋም ኣብ ኣፍደገ ብሰለማዊ ኣገባብ ተቓውምኡ ዘስምዕ ዝነበረ ሓርበኛ ህዝብና በቲ ግዕዘይ መልሓሱ እዞም ኣኻልብ ክብል ክትሰምዖ ከለኻ ነቲ መንግስቱ ሃይለማርያም ኣብ ጊዜ ምውዳቑ ዝጥቀመሉ ዝነበረ ብዕሉግ ቃላት እንተስ ናብ ትግርኛ እንተስ ናብ ዓረብ ተርጉሙ ነቶም ክቡር ማህጸን ጀጋኑ ኣዴታትና ዝወለዶም የሕዋት ክዝልፎም ኣምስዩ ግን ሕሱር ማዕረ ነብሱ የሕስረካ ዩ ነገሩ.እስኹምስ ከኣ ሃገር ክትመርሑ!!!ካብ ኩሉ እቲ ዘስደምም ግን እቲ ኣብ ህቶን መልስን ዝሰዓበዩ3 ሰዓታት ዝለፍለፈት መልሓስ ኣልኣሚን ልዕሊ 5 ሕቶታት ክትምልስ ድልውቲ ዘይምኻናዩ.እቶም ሓተትቲ ንኽሓትዎ ዝተዋህቦም ሕቶታት ከጠፍኦም ዝሸምደድዎ ከመስሉ ኣካል ናይቲ ድሩስ ተዋስኦ ኮይኖም ግቡእ ገጸባህርያዊ ተርኦም ተዋሲኦም. ግን ማሸላ ዘሪእካ ስርናይ ስለዘይቦቅል ካብቲ ግዕዘይ መልሓስ ኣልኣሚን ዝተዋህበ መልሲ ወላውን ነቲ ጌጋታት ስርዓት ህግደፍ እንዳፈለጠ ዘስቀጠ ህዝቢዩ ጸቂጥዎ.ኣልኣሚን ንሓንቲ ካብተን ሕቶታት ንጠቅስኣብ ሃገርና ወለዲ ይእሰሩ ኣለው ንሰምዕ ኣለና ኣዚ ሓቂድዩ ንዝብል ሕቶነዛ ሕቶ እዚኣ ክትሕተት ዝፈቐዱ ነቲ ኣብኡ ዝነበረ ሰማዒ ራዕዲ ከእቱውሉን ንኣሽቱ የሕዋቱ ካብ ሃገር እንተወጺኡ ንወለዱ ማእሰርቲ ከስዕበሎም ምኻኑ ንምንጋርዩ ኔሩ.በቲ ግናይ እምበር ጥዑም ምዝራብ ዘይለመደ ልሳን ኣልኣሚን ዝወጸ ቃላት ግን ነቲ ኣብኡ ዝነበረ ሰማዒ ከኣ ኣን ናይ ጭንቀት ባሕሪ ከምዝጥሕል ጥራሕዩ ጌርዎ እሱ ክምለስ ከሎ ብዘይሕፍረት እወ ኣሲርና ኣለና ክንእሰር ኢናውን ኢሉ እዚስ ምስ ምንታይ ይቑጸር ወለድና ክንዲ ብጹሕ ውላድካ ኣይትምሓል ክብሉ ከለዎ ዘሕለፍዎ መልእኽቲ ንኹሉ ንቡር ኣተሓሳስባ ዘለዎ ዜጋ ብሩህዩ እዚኦም ግን ብገለ እዩም መጺኦሙና ሕልንኦም ዝሸጡ ክብረት መራሕቲ ሃይማኖት ዓበይቲ ዓዲ ሙሁራት ተማሃሮ ደቂ ኣንስትዩ ሓረስቶትን ህጻናትን ኣዴታትን ዝጋሃሱ ሰባት ስለዝኹነ ድሕር ሕጂ ዝኸፍኣ ጥራሕ ክገብሩ ምኻኖም ብሩህዩ.ኣብዚ ከይጠቐስናዩ ክንሓልፍ ዘይንደሊ ነገር እንተሃለወ ናይቶም ትሕዝቶ ዘረባ ከይተረድኡ ዘጣቕዑ ዝነበሩ መዳምቕቲዩ ኣብ ኩሉ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ዝተገብረ ኣኼባታት ጣቕዒት ንባዕሉ ከም ሓደ ኣጀንዳ ድዩ ኣትዩ ኢልካ ስጋብ ትጠራጠርዩም ዘጣቕዑ ኔሮም ሎሚ ግን!!!እወ ሎሚ ግን ዝለበሙ ይመስለኒ ነታ መዓልትን ለይትን ከነብርሃ ንጽዕረላ ዝነበርና ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ካብ ኣፍ እቲ ጉዕዙይ ጛሽኡም ምስ ሰምዕዎ ከየጣቕዑ ሱቕ ምባሎም ኣብ ህግደፋዊ ዓለም ዓቢ ዝላ ንቕድሚት ኣብ መስርሕ ምቅዋም ስለዝኾነ ድሕሪ ሕጂ እንታይ ንጽበ ንብሎም.ከምወዩ ዝብሃል ሓደሰብ ርእስኻ የላን እንተኢሉካ ሸለል በሎ 2 ሰባት ርእስኻ የላን እንተኢሎሙኻ ሃሰስ በላ ሰለስተ ሰባት የላን እንተኢሎምኻ ግን እመኖምዩሞ እቲ ናይ ሃገርና ሽግር ከኣ ብወለድኹም,ብየሕዋትኩም ብደቂ ሃገርኩም ተነጊርኩም ሸለልን ሃሰስን ክትብሉ ጸኒሕኩም ሕጂ ግን ካብቲ ዓንዴል መልሓስ ኣልኣሚን ሰሚዕክሞ ኣለኹም!!!

እሞ ኸ ደኣ ሕጂ እንታይ ይገበር!!!!

Eritrea's Unreported Famine: Report From Eritrea

By Name Withheld Feb 24, 2006, 05:26 PST

I am writing to share with you the famine news [I] am receiving from Eritrea where the seasonal rain has failed to be materialised for the people, farm and the livestock which the majority of the people depend for their livelihood [and which] have perished due to this prevailing drought. In addition to that, the government of Eritrea has decided not to distribute the international aid by banning the aid agencies and the government has not provided any alternative means of supply of food to the starving people.

The geographical area that is affected by this new wave of drought covers most of the country side of the country. However the eastern lowlands which stretch from the Qaruura at the border of Sudan to Buri which lies between Djibouti and the Eastern slopes of the Eritrea landscape are severely affected. The people who live in the traditional province of Sahel, Semhar, Dankalia, and part of Akelegusay and Senhit, Barka are starving and [have] started to die. Most of the victims are children, women and elderly as all youth population of the nation are in military.

It seems there is no one [to] witness the unfolding of this tragedy as the government news service concentrates on political events and there exists no international media living in the areas that are currently affected and those media correspondents of the BBC, VOA, RUETERS are all stationed in the capital and never make an effort to see what is happening outside Asmara, particularly rural areas.

This is my personal information which I have gathered through my contacts with family, friends and others in the affected areas. The population in these parts of the country are historically neglected as results there are few relatives living in exile to support the families. There are few educated members in the overseas to bring the situation to the attention of humanitarian organisations and governments.

It is due to this understanding in mind that I decided to write this note to share with those who care about Eritreans, friends and able Eitreans to appeal to you to make any effort possible on the behalf of our people who are perishing due to starvation, to call to the international community to help us alleviate this urgent situation.

I appeal to you to those who read this note to inform concerned bodies as I have little experience in dealing with this kind of matter and have no influence to contact them. If there is any doubt about the accuracy of the suffering that is taking place in the country, I urge you to make your own assessment of the people of the areas that I have mentioned by contacting the local population independently. Please bear in mind that I have no political affiliation to any political entity and I am sending this note purely from personal desperation I felt, and it is my attempt to highlight the problem