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Eritrea
- Panic over
UNSC-Sanctions & AU-Support
Abdullah
A. Ado – Email: abdullahadoa@gmail.com
Background:
On
December 23, 2009, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed arms
embargo on tyrant Afewarki and his military junta for illegally supplying
arms to Al-Shabab group, who are battling the internationally recognized
transitional government of
Somalia
. In his usual finger pointing at others, Afewarki repeatedly
kept on downplaying the sanctions as meaningless and even refuted as
futile and as a CIA-conspiracy until last week.
Suddenly, nearly a month later, in the 1st week
of February 2010, Afewarki’s calls for help from his Eritrean highland
Tigrinya supporters in Diaspora emerged after an AU-summit voiced its
unanimous support to the December 23, 2009 UNSC-imposed sanctions. The
AU-summit further condemned Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta for their
continuous unfolding
of destabilizing roles in the East African region;
and for persisting with destabilizing regional peace and security.
Particularly, the AU-summit pointed out Afewarki’s continued provision
of arms to Al
Shabab group in
Somalia
; including weapons of all types and sizes, ammunition, money and other
military equipment. Having based its final condemnation on the appeals
made to the summit by Djibouti and Somalia governments the AU-Summit indicated that,
despite the imposed sanctions, Afewarki still continues to send insurgents
via Djibouti and Kismayu; and urged the international community to further
establish stronger networking for enforcing the UNSC-sanctions including
those of the travel ban and an asset freeze to Eritrean military and
Afewarki’s officials; and block defiant Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta from
their sinister destabilizing efforts.
Consequently,
out of sheer panic, Afewarki came out from his hermit cocoon with the
following appeal to the Eritrean Diaspora and even sent along a sample
letter of petition to be signed and submitted to various agencies:
“Dear
fellow Eritreans & Friends, Add your voice to the February 22, 2010
March in Geneva (Switzerland), San Francisco & Washington, DC (USA) as
well as Melbourne (Australia). Tell members of the UN Security Council,
the U.S. Government and the International Community you want an immediate
annulment and Repeal of the Unjust, reckless and baseless sanctions
imposed on
Eritrea
on December 23, 2009! If you want your name to be added to the list of
supporters please fill the form attached below.
Dear
Ambassador Rice:
My
name is _______ from _____________. I am calling/writing/faxing to
denounce the unjust sanctions resolution you pushed through the U.N.
Security Council against
Eritrea
. At the same time I am also writing to urge you to reverse this unjust
measure against the Eritrean people based on fabricated information. I am
in support of the President’s policy of constructive engagement,
reconciliation, and partnership with the rest of the world. Sadly, your UN
team has orchestrated these sanctions on charges you know well to be
groundless. Why did you push for sanctions instead of engagement? Why
threats instead of reconciliation and why punishments instead of
partnerships? Your team should work to help the President implement his
clearly stated foreign policy program. Please try to exercise fairness and
carefully evaluate all the facts and evidence to find a lasting peace in
the Horn of Africa and you should avoid falling into the trap of those who
pretend to wish well for
Somalia
but instead are trying to destroy it. They are trying to kill two birds
with one stone, to destroy both
Eritrea
and
Somalia
. Act wisely; the lives of innocent people are at stake. You and I know
that this will not bring peace to the war ravaged Horn of Africa; in fact
this is a reckless act designed to reignite existing simmering conflicts
and to create new ones. Thank you … Sincerely …” (Source: http://dehai.org/images/UN-letter)
Tyrant
Afewarki’s recent panic and his previous weeks’ bluffing reactions in
defiance to repeated requests by the international communities are all
astonishing. Looking this episode from a closer context, let us resort to
serious discussions. Throughout January 2010, immediately after the
sanction became known world wide, Afewarki, his PFDJ-junta and Eritrean
highlander sympathizers alike were boasting of their contempt; claiming
that the UNSC-embargo has no impact on
Eritrea
and they care less about it. They even were belittling the Western
democracy as hypocritical and an unacceptable theme. These same people
along with tyrant Afewarki have suddenly turned 180-degrees around and are
pretentiously acting in the Western mode of democratic conferring as if to
say they accept the Western style of democracy; and even dare to hold
world-wide demonstration show-offs demanding to withdraw the
UNSC-sanctions. Cynical enough, at this very time, Afewarki is keeping the
salient and silent Eritrean rural majority population busy fortifying his
play grounds for war by shoving themselves deep inside bankers and
trenches for thousands of miles. The poor rural population are also
closely watched by the Gestapo like PFDJ-spies so that they don’t run
away or brew plots against Afewarki’s junta. So the silent majority are
prisoners kept isolated from urban areas and from exchanging and
expressing political views.
Although,
Afewarki & his PFDJ-junta are doing everything possible to extend
their stay in power by misleading the Eritrean public; at least it is good
to see them ultimately forced to bow down and admit for once to the power
of the silent and salient rural majority; and begging for Diaspora help to
be rescued from the serious UNSC-sanctions. But let me ask the following
to those Eritrean Tigrinya highlanders who blindly sympathize with
Afewarki & his PFDJ-junta while living in a free and fair world in
Diaspora. Why are you willing to give a blank-check approving whatever
Afewarki & his PFDJ-junta would like to do against the silent majority
of the Eritrean population? Had Afewarki & PFDJ-junta asked the
internally imprisoned salient and silent Eritrean majority whenever
Afewarki jump-starts his provocative terrorist wars left and right with
our neighbors thus far? Has the rural poor in Eritrea in general and those
of us living at the border and coastal areas within Eritrea been given any
occasion to have a say on what affects our daily lives in terms of
crafting policy reform or poverty reduction mechanisms? Have Afewarki and
PFDJ-junta ever thought of involving the salient and silent Eritrean
majority in discussions on burning community issues like why the whole
Eritrean population is exhausted of tyranny and on continuous exodus in
all directions and to all corners of the world? Have Afewarki & his
PFDJ-junta ever contemplated to allow the silent majority to express their
views by writing petition or by conducting pubic demonstration within
Eritrea
at all? Didn’t Afewarki & PFDJ-junta claim themselves as an
ideological group opposed to Western style of democracy? So how come all
of a sudden they want now to adopt Western democratic cultures in them and
ask Diaspora supporters to quickly organize demonstrations and even write
petitions in preparation for the February 22nd 2010
demonstration? And yet, why do Afewarki & his PFDJ-junta continue with
their defiance by generating one terrorist incidence after the other
within the region?
It
has been long since the salient and silent Eritrean majority of the Afar,
Beja, Bilen, Kunama, Saho, and other peasants and pastoralist groups
within Eritrea have been frustrated, sad and sour on tyrant Afewarki and
his PFDJ-junta; and his blind Eritrean Tigrinya highland supporters who
continue sending hard currency for his terrorist actions. Thanks to the
UNSC-powerful embargo exerted on Afewarki and his tyrannical junta and
thanks for the reinforced decisions by the AU and USA, the Afar, Beja,
Bilen, Kunama, Saho, and other peasants and pastoralist groups within
Eritrea are actually delighted and warm-heartedly in support of this
international sanction that will bring Tyrant Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta
to its demise. Likewise we are glad to observe Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta
knocking doors at this 11th our of their doom begging for help
and crying out loud to get rid of the UNSC-sanctions; the same sanctions
Afewarki was bluffing a month ago as toothless and ineffective let alone
to threaten his “strong”
Eritrean regime.
But
let Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta know the necked fact that diplomacy is not
a smear campaign. Diplomacy is not something that a tyrant appoints his
representatives from among his own kin and closer connections through
nepotism. On the contrary, career diplomacy needs networking with global
nations and effectively achieves the necessary diplomatic efforts. In the
case of
Eritrea
what we witness with Afewarki is his nepotistic style of hand-picking
Eritrean highland Tigrinya kin and appointing the same members of a given
family as ambassadors around the globe. Suffices to mention two highlander
kin names here: Ambassador Tesfamicheal Gerahtu (of
UK
,
London
) and Ambassador Tesfalem Gerahtu (of
Kampala
,
Uganda
).
At
the cost of becoming a laughing stock, Afewarki, his PFDJ-junta and his
blind Eritrean highland Tigrinya supporters in Diaspora were all bluffing
until recently, as if they aren’t scared by the U.S. policy against
Eritrea; and even dared to teach Democracy 101 to the Western world
especially to the State Department of the USA. But this time, there is no
way of deceiving the Eritrean people. Why do Afewarki & his PFDJ-junta
oppose the Western world so vehemently in most of your Medias and
websites; and yet beg Diaspora sympathisers to go out for public
demonstrations and beg for Western World’s support to reveres the
UNSC-resolution on
Eritrea
? One cannot have the cake and eat it too. Likewise, Afewarki and his
PFDJ-junta cannot roar and roam around within rural
Eritrea
like a lion; and suddenly act like a sad loyal dog to the outer world
(coiling its tails between its two rear legs) when they knew the
UNSC-sanctions are here for serious business.
Needless to say, those who do not respect the rights,
origin, belief and culture of others, will never genuinely defend theirs.
That being the case, I’m not sure if the hitherto upheld denial and
fabricated nationalism that persists in the highland Eritrean mentality
will ever hold water and remain sustainable as the signs of splinter
movements including RSADO are now underway among non-Tigrinya speaking
communities of Eritrea. Indeed, after 30-years of armed struggle and
20-years of de facto Eritrean independence, Tigrinya highlanders are
caught-up in a state of denial and in a myth of fiefdom forming that never
has been; and that will not materialize. And the whole Shaabia liberation
struggle and experiences gained there of point to Afewarki and Shaabia who
brew disillusion from the very start of the liberation struggle: (a) Both
the urban and the Diaspora highlanders still are caught up with deep
denial and utter confusion of what they see and hear.
Particularly, the much boasted talk about victory are
nothing but echoing quite unreasonable victory dances and dropping
crocodile tears for killings and for causing material losses through
banditry skirmishes carried out left and right thus far. These protracted
fights have, in fact, depleted the Eritrean rural population growth rate
in particular and it’s economic progress by significant percentage and
hampered the lowland society from potential recovery and progress. The
main reasons being the militaristic operations and banditry life styles
that were on the ground since the early 1960s; and still the periodical
skirmishes are immensely causing huge human, logistic, economic, and
environmental losses. Indeed, to this very day, the war tension and abrupt
events causing the usual interruptions from normalizing livelihoods are
still on the move firmly armed and alert for any likely ignition of
further skirmishes without borders. As such, Tyrant Afewarki’s and his
military junta are known for their immense brutality and Mafia-like
handling of civil affairs. Without any ado, Afewarki and PFDJ-junta are
pulling Eritrea down the drain while day dreaming and living in fantasies
of their own making; and prefer to remain at standby where projection of
“colonial legacy” has given them the excuse to impose a totalitarian
political pathway that leads solely to their terrorist Sawa military
garrisons; to which the salient and silent majority of the Eritrean poor
are saying: Enough is enough!
Eritrea
’s Survival
at Cross-Road:
Critical questions that come to mind include the
following: (1) Can
Eritrea
survive as a nation amidst its speedy move towards its total stagnation?
(2) How can Afewarki or his substitute regime stop the ongoing
PFDJ-regime’s endless forced labor, which has driven and continues to
drive thousands of Eritrean youth out of the country? [*See Gaim Kibreab,
Forced Labor in
Eritrea
, Journal of Modern African Studies, 47, 1(2009)]. (3) How can Afewarki or
his substitute reform
Eritrea
’s deeply troubled economy in shambles and on the verge of collapse?
There is no shame in siding with the truth. But those who have been burned
by Issayas Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta, and yet identify with Afewarki’s
tyrannical policy are always in a dilemma, not knowing the way out of the
trouble. But the naked question facing Eritrean peoples of all walks of
life is: For how surely can the PFDJ sustain
Eritrea
solely depending on Sawa training camp and its companion project, the so
called Warsai-Yikaalo Campaign, and consider them as the sole guarantors
of
Eritrea
’s security as Afewarki’s fiefdom? I have my serious doubts as things
are on shaky grounds and soon falling apart haphazardly.
Conclusive Remarks:
In summing up let me still ask the following: Is
“independence” worth all the sacrifices that the Eritrean rural poor
have been dearly paying in limbs and lives thus far? Is “independence”
as an all-consuming-50-year-long odyssey and as the only bloody path thus
far worth enduring? I can only suggest three fear-factors as likely
scenarios. Firs of all, the rural Eritrean population has been living and
continues to live behind trenches all along the non-demarcated
long-border-lines; this being the case; it is still too early for the
rural poor to claim having benefited from Eritrean “independence”.
Secondly, since
Eritrea
has unequivocal state of collective serfdom; a fiefdom where military
garrisons and guerrilla warfare camps dominate the rural scene; and where
the nearly 4-million rural Eritrean peoples are held incarcerated in
military garrisons. That means Eritrean populations are no where near to
fully claim that they are free people in the true sense of the word! The
burning heat of oppression from Afewarki and his PFDJ junta circle is felt
everywhere. Failure to resolve the Eritrean rural populations’
discontent and disputes could exacerbate governance, health, and
humanitarian problems further. Yearning for lasting solution remains in
the distant future. After all, the Eritrean revolution was waged
haphazardly, by folks with divergent aspirations and banditry culture in
mind. And I may not be astonished if some of the pastoralist and peasant
communities renounce their citizenship in silence.
Tyrant Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta are commonly
fighting for what they cynically term as “territorial integrity”
within
Eritrea
proper; while at the same time preaching self-determination up to
secession of nationalities elsewhere within the neighboring nations. But
let Afewarki and his PFDJ junta know the fact that: ‘a person living in
a house made of glass does not throw stones on others’ glass windows’.
Hence it is justifiable that the UNSC-sanction enforce to stop Afewarki
from his proxy-war tactics. Ultimately, Diaspora Eritrean youth must know
the following: ‘Don’t look where you fall, but where you slipped’.
Dwindle the empty pride; face the naked reality; break out differences;
and build bridges with the rural masses. These are the likely alternatives
that can reduce
Eritrea
’s militaristic stand, halt the Eritrean youth mass-exodus and help
Eritrea
move towards its eventual maturity.
A
message to
Canada's Nevsun Resources Ltd other
investors
Afewarki
knows well that he and his junta cannot survive without the resources from
Afar, Beja, Bilen, Kunama, Saho, and other peasants and pastoralist groups
within Eritrea Indeed it is geologically a known fact that key mineral
deposits are located along the coastal areas of the Red Sea and in Kunama
land areas in Western Eritrea. Among these spots recently mine projects
are in exploration within Bisha located in Kunama land areas in Western
Eritrea run by
Canada
's Nevsun Resources Ltd, mainly with strategic focus put on gold
production. If all goes silently well, the company expects to start gold
production by the end of 2010 or by the beginning of next year. Similarly
at Zara, a gold project is being run by
Australia
's Chalice Gold Mines who are expecting to start producing gold by the end
of 2011. Similar projects in search of vast oil and other mineral deposits
have been lined up all along the Red Sea coral and coastal areas where
rich mineral deposits including Quartz,
feldspars, rock fragments, mica, heavy minerals, clay minerals, sulfide
minerals, aragonite, Mg-calcite, proto-dolomite, dolomite, quartz, and
chalcedony are known to be available. To
this effect, tyrant Afewarki is already promising investors claiming he
will relax his commercial and business laws. We say to the these companies
and to others aspiring to join the exploration mission to withdraw their
actions instantly in support of the UNSC-sanctions and in order to help
the Afar, Beja, Bilen, Kunama, Saho, and other peasants and pastoralist
groups within Eritrea to free themselves from Afewarki’s tyrannical
rule.
A
message to Tyrant Afewarki and PFDJ-supporters:
If
Diaspora supporters continue to act against internationally decided and
well-deserved UNSC and AU consensus, and go out to rally on February 22,
2010 as instructed by the tyrant, then you are in fact demonstrating
guilty of treason for opting to rescue tyrant Afewarki (a known terrorist
at home and exporter of terrorism to Al-Shabab as identified by the UNSC
and AU thus far). Likewise, you are in agreement with tyrant Afewarki and
his accomplices for keeping the silent and salient rural poor in
Eritrea
under his terrorist subjugation. By proxy, it means, you too are guilty by
association for aiding him and his PFDJ-junta to remain in power and
continue their subjugation without borders. As a result, you too must be
charged for collaborating with tyrant Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta who give
deaf ear to international condemnations and continue with their crime
actions indefinitely. We are
definitely sure, most Diaspora demonstrators, if at all there will be any,
are no other than our Eritrean Tigrinya highlanders, who want to assure
their supremacy on power, as ever before, regardless of observable and
accounted injustices by the international community thus far. Let the
global public know, we, who side with the oppressed silent majority of the
Afar, Beja, Bilen, Kunama, Saho, and other peasant and pastoralist groups
within Eritrea, strongly support the UNSC-sanctions against tyrant
Afewarki and his PFDJ-junta. Consequently, let Eritrean highland Tigrinya
remnants in Diaspora know, our absence from the demonstration show-case on
February 22nd 2010 as we don’t believe in tyranny at all.
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