ሓላፊ ትካል ሰብኣዊ ረዲአት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ማርቲን ግረፊት ሓገዝ ዝጸዕና መካይን ናብ ትግራይ ክንቀሳቐሳ ሓቲቶም። እዞም ኣብ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ናይ ህጹጽ ረዲአት ሓላፊ ማርቲን ግረፊት፡ ኣብ ትግራይ ጥሜት ጉድኣት የውርድ ከም ዘሎ ከም ዝርድኡ ንማዕከን ዜና ሮይተርስ ሓቢረምዎ።

እቶም ሓላፊ “ኣብ ትሕቲ ወግዓዊ ዘይኮነ እገዳ  ናብ እትርከብ ትግራይ”፡  ክበጽሕ ካብ ዝግበኦ ሰብኣዊ ሓገዝ 10% ጥራይ ናብቶም ሓገዝ ዝጽበዩ ሰባት ከም ዝበጸሐ ነቲ ማዕከን ዜና ሓቢረምዎ። ኣተሓሒዞም ከኣ ህጹጽ ሕተኦም ሓገዝ ዝጸዓና መካይን ናብ ትግራይ ዝንቀሳቐሳሉ ኩነታት ክፍጠር ምዃኑ ኣመልኪቶም።  እዚ ጸገም ሰብ ዝሰርሖ ስለ ዝኾነ መንግስቲ ክፈትሖ  ከም ዝግበኦ  እዞም ሓላፊ ሰብኣዊ ረዲአት ኣመልኪቶም።

 ኣብ ትግራይ ቅድሚ 10 ኣዋርሕ ውግእ ካብ ዝጅመር ንነጀው፡ ብኣሸሓት ዝቑጸሩ ሰባት ከም ዝሞቱን ብሚልዮናት ዝቑጸሩ ድማ ህጹጽ ሰብኣዊ ሓገዝ ከም ዘድልዮምን ዘመልከት ጸብጻባት ክቐርብ ከም ዝጸንሐ እውን ኣብ መግለጺ ናይዞም ሓላፊ ተጠቒሱ።  እቶም ሓላፊ ዓጸቦ ዘጋጥሞም ሰባት ክሳብ 400 ሺሕ ክበጽሑ እዮም ዝብል ግምት ነይሩና ኢሎም። እዚ ግና ከኣ ስሩዕ ሓገዝ ክቐርብዩ ብዝብል ሕሳብ ዝቐረበ ግምት እዩ ነይሩ ኢሎም።

ግረፊትስ፡ ኣብ ትግራይ ናይ ጥረ ገንዘብ፡ ነዳዲ፡ ተሽከርከርትን ወግዓዊ ዘይኮነ ናይ ሰብኣዊ ሓገዝ እገዳን ኣጋጢሙ ከም ዘሎ ጠቒሶም፡ ብሰንክዚ ሕጽረታት’ዚ  ኣጋጢሙ ዘሎ ጥሜት ከጋጥም ዝግመት እዩ ኢሎም። ፈደራላዊ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ብወገኑ ኣብ ትግራይ ዝኾነ ናይ ሓገዝ እገዳ ከምዘይተግብረ  ሓቢሩ፡ እኳደኣ መስርሕ ምቕራብ ረዲአት ንምቅልጣፍ 7 ዝነበረ መቆጻጸሪ ነቑጣታት ናብ 3 ከም ዘውረዶ ክገልጽ እዩ ጸኒሑ።

መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ በወገኑ ናብ ትግራይ ሓገዝ ጽዒነን ምስከዳ ዘይተመልሳ ተሽከርከርቲ ኣብ ትግራይ እንታይ ይሰርሓ ከም ዘለዋ ኣይነጸረለይ ዝብል ስምዕታ ኣቕሪቡ። ክልላዊ መንግስቲ ትግራይ ብወገኑ እተን መካይን ዘይተመልሳሉ ምኽንያት መምለሲ ነዳዲ ስለ ዝሰኣና እየን ዝብል መልሲ ምሃቡ ዝዝከር እዩ። ነዚ ዝምልከት ጸብጻብ ሑቡራት ሃገራት ብወገኑ፡  እተን ተሽከርከርቲ ኣብ ጉዕዞአን ክልተ ግዜ ተኹሲ ከም ዝተኸፍተንን ደቂ ትግራይ መራሕቲ መካይን ኣብ ክልል ዓፋር ዝተኣስርሉ ኣጋጣሚ ከም ዝተፈጥረን ይሕብር።

 

Wednesday, 29 September 2021 18:39

መጽሔት ሓርነት ሕታም ቁ.81

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ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ሰዲህኤ

ኣብዚ ሰሙን ኣብ ሚድያታት ህግደፍ ላዕለዋይ ኢድ ሒዙ ዝቐነየ ዜና፡ መራሕቲ ህግደፍ “ሓንካስ ብምርኩስ” ከካብ ዝነበርዎ ጐዳጉዲ ወጺኦም፡ “ናይ ህዝቢ ኣኼባታት ኣካይዶም”  ዝብል እዩ። እዞም ኣኼባ ከካይዱ ዝቐነዩ፡ መራሕቲ ኣይኮነንዶ ናይ ህዝቢ ኣኼባታት ከካይዱ፡ ናታቶም ኣኼባታ ካብ ምክያድ እውን ንነዊሕ ግዜ በዂሮም ዝጸንሑ እዮም። እቲ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ህዝባዊ ኣኼባታት ምክያዶም፡ ዋላ ተሓቢኦም እንተጸንሑ ሕማቕ ኣይመኾነን። እቲ ቀንዲ ናይ ኣኼባታቶም ኣጀንዳ መሰረታዊ ፖለቲካውን ማሕበር-ቁጠባውን ጸገም ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንምፍታሕ ዘይኮነ፡ ሎሚ እውን ናይ ክተት ንውግእ ነጋሪት ንምድሳቕ ምዃኑ ግና የሕዝንን የተዓዛዝብን። ኣጀንደኦም ዋላኳ ክኸዋውልዎን  ባዛዕባ መጻኢ ልምዓት ከምስልዎን እንተፈተኑ፡  ናይ ውግእ፡ ክተትን ርድኡናን ምንባሩ ግን ካብ ህዝቢ ኣይተኸወለን።

ኣብዚ ቀረባ እዋን ጸሓፊ ህግደፍ ኣልኣሚን መሓመድ ስዒድ ላዛ ብዝጉደሎን ብዘይተኣደበን ኣብ ሕድሕዱ ዝጓነጽን ዝሃቦ መግለጺ፡ ቀንድን እዋናውን ኣጀንዳ ናይቲ ብስማዊ ደረጃ ዝመርሖ ግንባር፡ “ሓድነት ኢትዮጵያ ምዕቃብን ንህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ ምጥፋእን” ምዃኑ ከም ዝኣወጀ ዝዝከር እዩ። ናይዚ ዝጠቐስናዮ ናይቶም መራሕቲ  ወፈራ ናብ ኣኼባታት  ዕላማ ከኣ ነዚ ኣልኣሚን ዝበሎ ዘይኤርትራዊ ዛዕባ ንምስራጽን ንምዕማቕን እዩ ተኻይዱ። እዚ ኣካይዳ ብመሰረቱ ነቲ ዝያዳ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዘገድሶ፡ ሃገር ናይ ምድሓንን ምህናጽን ዕማም ዝጓሰየ እዩ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ናይቲ ጉጅለ ኣብ ናይ ካለኦት ጉዳይ ኢድ ኣእዳውነት ሓድሽኳ እንተዘይኮነ ዝያዳ ዘዕዝዝ እዩ።

እቲ ኣዝዩ ዘገርም እቲ ጉጅለ ሎሚ እውን ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክድህለለለይ ይኽእል እዩ  ዝብል ተስፋ ምሕዳሩ እዩ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ሕቶታቱ ስለ ዘይመለሰሉን ኩሉ መሰላቱ ገፊፉ ይድህኾ ስለ ዘሎን ከምዝተቐየሞን ይቃለሶ ከም ዘሎን ህግደፍ ዝተሰቆሮ ኣይመስልን። ኣይኮነንዶ ኣብ ኣርዑት ህግደፍ ናይ ምንባር ኣዝዩ መሪርን ሃብታምን ተመኮሮ ዘለዎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡  ዝኾነ ህዝቢ ካብ ተመኩሮኡ ተማሂሩ ፈታዊኡን ጸላኢኡን ከም ዘለሊ እውን እቲ ጉጅለ ኣብ ግምት ኣየእተወን።  ናይዚ ቀንዲ ጠንቂ ከኣ ክቱር ትዕቢትን ንዕቀት ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝብን እዩ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ብሰንኪ ህግደፍ በብግዜኡ ዝጻሕተሮ ህውከት ብናይ ውግእ ጐስጓስን ክተትን፡ ብወረ ዘይኮነ ብተግባር ከም ዝላደየ ይፈልጥ እዩ።

ክሳብ ክንድዚ ሃብታም ተመኩሮ ንዘለዎን መሰረታዊ ሕቶኡ ስለ ዘይተመለሰሉ ኣዝዩ ዝተቐየመን ህዝቢ፡ ሎሚ እውን ኣብ ትግራይ፡ ጐንደር፡ ወሎን ዓፋር ኢትዮጵያን ከይደ ክዋጋእ እየ’ሞ፡ ነቲ ውግእ ንረብሓ ህዝብን ሃገርን ኤርትራ ዝካየድ እዩ ኢልኩም ፍለጡልናን ሰብኣውን ንዋታውን ሓገዝ ከኣ ኣበርክቱለይ ዝብል ጻዋዒት ካብቲ ጉጅለ ምስማዕ ምስ ምንታይ ከም ዝቑጸር ኩሉ የስተንትኖ። እቲ ጉጅለ ዓቕሉ ስለ ዝጸበቦ እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ እዚ ጸዋዒት ኣብ ቅድሚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ተቐባልነት ክረክብ’ዩ ካብ ዝብል እምነት ነቒሉ ዝብሎ ዘሎ እዩ ምባል ኣዝዩ የጸግም።

ህግደፍ “ብዕራይሲ ዝበልዖ ሳዕሪ እምበር፡ ዝጽበዮ ገደል ኣይረኣዮን” ከም ዝበሃል፡ እቲ ብዘይሕሳብን ሳዕቤናቱ ብዘይምርዳእን ብናይ ሕነ ምፍዳይ ክቱር ቅርሕንቲ  ዘሊሉ ዝኣተዎ፡ ምውጻኡ ጸጊምዎ ዘሎ ውግእ “ንህልውና ኤርትራ” ዝካየድ ዘሎ ኣምሲሉ የቕርቦ ኣሎ። እቲ ሓቀኛ ምስጢርን ትርጉምን ናይቲ ውግእ ግና፡ እቲ ጉጅለ ኣብ ልዕልቲ ሕነ ናይ ምፍዳይ ህርፋን፡ እንተተኻኢሉ ኣብ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ጐብለል ክኸውን እንተወሓደ ከኣ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዕድመ ልክዕ ስልጣን ንምድልዳል ዝመሃዞ እዩ። መሪሕቲ እቲ ጉጅለ ነዚ ሓደገኛ ምህዞ ከም ዘለዎ ፊትንፊት ናብ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ምቕራቡ ተቐባልነት ከም ዘይረክብ ኣዳዕዲዖም ይፈልጥዎ እዮም። ስለዚ ንህዝቢ በታ እተሕምሞ “ሃገር ኣብ ሓደጋ ትወድቕ ኣላ’ሞ ነድሕና” እትብል መዝሙር ምቕራብ ጽብቕቲ መሕብኢት  ገይሮም ስለ ዝርድእዋ  ኣብቲ ኣኼባታት ከኮማስዕዋ ቀንዮም።  ሃገር እትድሕን ግና ኣብ ዘይጉዳይካ ዘሊልካ ብምእታው ዘይኮነ፡ ንዘቤታዊ ጉዳይካ ቀዳምነት ብምሃብን ሓባራዊ ረብሓን ጣልቃ ዘይምትእትታውን ዝመሰረቱ ዝምድና ብምምዕባል ጥራይ እዩ።

እዚ ህግደፍ መሬት ከም ዕንቊ ምስ ጸበበቶ ዘርእዮ ዘሎ ጠንበርበር ዝተለምደ እምበር ሓድሽ ኣይኮነን። ዝሓለፈ ተመኩሮን ባህርያትን ህግደፍ ዳህሲስና ንዕዘቦ ዘለና ተርእዮ እንጽበዮ እምበር ዝሕደሰና ኣይኮነን። ህግደፍ ከኣ እቲ ባህሪኡ ዝፈቕደሉ እዩ ዝሰርሕ ዘሎ። ንመጻኢ እውን ከከምቲ ከጋጥም ዝኽእል ምዕባለታት መልክዓቱ ክልውጥ ይኽእል እምበር ተግባራት ህግደፍ በዚ ዝኸዶ ዘሎ መንገዲ ጥፍኣት ካብ ምቕጻል  ወጻኢ ኣይክኸውንን እዩ። ስለዚ ህዝብን ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታትን ኤርትራ ክንግደሰሉን ግዜ ሂብና ክንሓስበሎን ክንሰርሓሉን ዝግበኣና ንኤርትራ ካብቲ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ኣንጻራ ዝስሕሎ ዘሎ ናይ ጥፍኣት ሴፍ ምድሓን እዩ። ድሕሪ ሕጂ ናይቲ መመሊሱ ናብ ጥፍኣት ዝዕዘር ዘሎ ጉጅለ ኣበሳ ክንጽብጽብ እነባኽኖ ግዜ ክህሉ ኣይግባእን። ካብኡ ዝተፈለናን “ሃገርና ንሕና ኣለናልኪ”  እንብልን ምዃና ብመርገም ዘይኮነ፡ ብግብሪ  ሰሪሕና ከነርኢ ኣብ እንሕተተሉ ወሳኒ ግዜ ከም ዘለና ነስተውዕል።

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝሓለፈ ተመኩሮ ናይቲ ጉጅለ ግጉይን ዘይህዝባውን ምዃኑ ጠፊእዎ ዘይኮነ፡ “ጽባሕ ደኾን ዝሓሸ ይመጽእ ይኸውን” ብዝብል ብተስፋ ዝተጸመሞ ግዜ ሓጺር ኣይኮነን። እቲ ጉጅለ ግና  ቀዳምነት ዝወሃቦ ኤርትራዊ ኣጀንዳ ጓስዩ፡ ምናልባት እውን ነቲ ዝተመዝገበ  ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ልኡላውነት   ንድሕሪት ከይመልስ ዘስግእ ናይ ጥዑሳት ምርጫ እዩ ዘታቲ ዘሎ። ስለዚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ክንዲ ብቃልሱ ናብ ራህዋ ምስጓም ንቐጻልነት ናይዚ ጉጅለ ንብረቱን ህይወት ደቁን ክግብር ኣይግበኦን። ነቲ እዚ ጉጅለ ዘወጣውጦ ዘሎ ናይ “ክተት ናብ ውግእ” መጸዋዕታት “ስለምንታይ? ንረብሓ መንከ?” ዝብሉ ሕቶታት መሊሱ ተስፋ ዘቑርጽ መልሲ ሂቡ ንጠንበርበር መራሕቲ ህግደፍ ከምክኖ እዋኑ እዩ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ እቲ ጉጅለ ተግባራቱ ንምጽብባቕ  ዝዝምሮ መዛሙር ተቐቢልካ ምቅላሕ፡ ነቲ ጉጅለ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ንዘስንቕዎ፡ ዘዕጥቕዎን ንኺድ ጥራይ ዝብልዎን እውን ጽባሕ ዘሕትቶምን ዘጣዕሶምን  እዩ።

Sunday, 26 September 2021 20:41

Dimtsi Harnnet Sweden 25.09.2021

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Press Conference given by Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael, President of Tigray government

  • They’re doing everything to exterminate us through starvation and sickness. It’s not just by the bullet that they want to kill us. After we destroyed the [ENDF] force that was in Tigray and after the rest fled, they have shut off the whole of Tigray.
  • The lies and defamation they are concocting about the Tigray government doesn’t even have coherence. They are engaged in non-stop defamation campaign. It’s not just defamation, [they are saying] we are not human. They go as far as boldly saying we came from hell and that our place is in hell. They are saying day and night ‘we will put them to their place [hell]. And recently they are even saying we should be erased from history. Whether it is the devil or something else, we don’t understand what [the cause of this is]. We have heard them say that we should be erased from history. Their hatred for us is limitless. If our difference was [only] political, we could base on our respective [political] stances and carry out dialogue. You may fight; you may resolve it peacefully. But saying they should be erased from history and they should not be remembered is [absurd].This shows the severity of their hatred. It is with those that we are fighting. It makes you look back and wonder with whom you have been living all this time. The propaganda they are disseminating on the people of Tigray is baffling.
  • A huge campaign is underway to disrupt the unity of the people of Tigray. They are working day and night to cause division among us.
  • The main aim of the people and government of Tigray is to conclude the people’s war which we are confronted with in a short time.
  • We have accepted the executive order signed by President Biden because we believe it is of benefit to the people.
  • Many things may be raised on its implementation details and that is going to be taken care of through dialogue. The basic essence of it [agrees with] what the people of Tigray had been fighting for. It has condemned the atrocities and [called for] those deeds that ought to be investigated, to be investigated; for humanitarian aid to become accessible; that we should come towards peace; that Eritrea [army] has to withdraw; that things ought to be resolved through dialogue. They have included the fundamental things. The preconditions that we had set for ceasefire, that all services that have been discontinued – electricity, telecommunication, banks should resume – they have put it in a different way; in their own way. We have supported it because we believe its basic essence is beneficial. But there are issues which we would have to discuss with their representatives.
  • Fascist Abiy, on the other hand, has rejected it. We have to know that. Why? Because it must believe that he can do what he wants through force. It is because he thinks ‘I am gathering recruits, I’m importing weapons so I  can change it through force’. We have to understand that this is what he believes. It’s not just for bragging or to instill morale [on his forces]… therefore we shouldn’t be caught off guard. [We may wonder] ‘once the aid comes through will it come to an end through this?’ We will strive to bring an end to it [peacefully]. But our main task even now is to intensify our ‘Mekete’ [defensive endeavor]. He is seeking [to end it] through force, then we have to end it through force. Of course it cant be concluded through force. [But] he still wants [end it through force]. It means he has not yet lost hope [of resolving it militarily]. Therefore we have to make ourselves strong. Because there is a supportive worldly condition, we can’t [afford] to do things that cool down our preparations; that cool down our struggle. We have to learn from this. We are in our beliefs. We have accepted it not because we don’t have force [military strength]. It is not because we think he can’t be destroyed through force. He is on the verge of a cliff. He can be destroyed. How did we sweep it out of Tigray? It is because we destroyed it. We followed [its footsteps] and destroyed it. We can destroy what is left – whatever manpower he brings. We work taking even that into account.
  • There is a solution to large manpower too. The weapons he brings will also make little difference. There is an answer to everything. We also have military solution. We can solve it as such. We are dealing with it even now. However [we accepted peaceful dialogue] because we believe in peace and dialogue. We were like that before, we are like that now. This can be resolved peacefully. The political issue too can be dealt with politically. But this is not like that. It is genocide. Since it is genocide, unless we are exterminated it won’t be resolved. But this won’t happen. That’s why we have to be strong and destroy their forces. We have to make him yield. If it gets to that point, then it means it has ended. When we get near [to that point] he may accept peace and negotiation. If so, that’s good too. We won’t insist on destroying them all. It is genocide that they want; we have to show them that [carrying out] genocide is not possible.
  • Therefore we are accepting it because our aim is not to completely destroy and wipe them out. It is to secure our existence and safety. If there is a [non-military] process that can secure for us that, then that’s good with us. We accept. If it doesn’t benefit us, we will say ‘it doesn’t benefit us’. But his [Abiy’s] aim is not like that; his aim is extermination. And a peaceful negotiation can’t serve to exterminate. Either he has to succumb or he has to be destroyed entirely. Or he may remain and come to negotiations. It is through our [military] strength that we can bring him to negotiations. If we hammer him and show him [his sun] is setting, he will say ‘save me’. So ultimately, it comes down to our strength. Our might has brought about many changes".
  • They don’t care about anything but power. They don’t even aim at bring about victory. They merely want their army make us finish our ammunition and to exhaust us. It is to make us shoot day and night. Overwhelming with numbers won’t work; we have shown them and we will show them. Let alone now, this army has not defeated us during the times of darkness. We have paid dearly and we will pay sacrifice; but it doesn’t have a posture that can conclude the war in victory. It doesn’t have that at all. It will be destroyed.
  • We have to make it [PP] give itself up through force. When we come nearer, it may accept peace [negotiation]. But we will not insist on destroying it as long us the safety and security of the people of Tigray is secured. Either we have to destroy [and] subdue it, or we have to hammer it enough to make it come to peace [negotiations]
  • The government of Tigray is working on the avenues of diplomacy and peace; fascist AbiyAhmed, however, is insisting on solving it through its might. But though it wants to continue the genocide it has started, we will show them that that won’t happen.

The plot of besieging Tigray and making it succumb will not work either now or in the future. We will break out of this siege through  our martyrdom and will make them never dare [even] stare at Tigray.

Thursday, 23 September 2021 23:25

Dimtsi Harnnet Kassel 23.09.2021

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Thursday, 23 September 2021 22:48

US takes Ethiopia’s adviser to task for hate speech

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Deacon Daniel Kibret

Source: AFP

US blasts ‘dangerous’ rhetoric by ally of Ethiopia PM

The United States on Monday condemned a speech by a prominent ally of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed which compared Tigrayan rebels to the devil and said they should be “the last of their kind”.

“Hateful rhetoric like this is dangerous and unacceptable,” a State Department spokesperson told AFP in response to the speech last week by Daniel Kibret, who is often described as an adviser to Abiy and was nominated to the board of the state-run Ethiopian Press Agency last year.

Since fighting broke out in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region last November, thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced into famine-like conditions, according to the UN, and the war has recently spread to the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions.

The UN and US have recently voiced concern about hate speech and dehumanising rhetoric in the conflict, but Daniel’s comments were the first to draw specific criticism from Washington.

At an event in Amhara attended by high-ranking officials, Daniel called for the total erasure of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which dominated national politics for nearly three decades before Abiy took office in 2018.

“As you know, after the fall of Satan, there was nothing like Satan that was created… Satan was the last of his kind. And they (the TPLF) must also remain the last of their kind,” Daniel said.

“There should be no land in this country which can sustain this kind of weed.

“They should be erased and disappeared from historical records. A person who wants to study them should find nothing about them. Maybe he can find out about them by digging in the ground,” he said to applause.

Asked to clarify his comments, Daniel said in a text message to AFP: “‘They’ refers to the terrorist TPLF group.”

Abiy’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum dismissed Washington’s criticism.

“There continues to be a gross misreading of statements issued by various entities without understanding the nuances of Ethiopian languages. TPLF sympathiser translations cannot be the basis of declaring statements as ‘hateful rhetoric’,” she told AFP.

“Statements made against a terrorist organisation are purposely translated to make it seem that it has been made against our people of Tigray. That is a regrettable position of those who choose not to look beyond TPLF propaganda,” she added.

“The Ethiopian government is first to stand in guard of the people of Tigray.”

– ‘Truly disturbing’ –

But Simon Adams, executive director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, told AFP that Daniel’s remarks were “truly disturbing and reckless”.

“Given the surge in deadly ethnic violence in Ethiopia it is hard to take at face value the claim that he was only talking about the TPLF rather than Tigrayans in general,” he said.

“The references to people as weeds that need to be removed, or as monsters that must be erased, is classic hate speech. And calling for the total extermination of any political party and its supporters is tantamount to incitement to commit war crimes and other atrocities.”

Other groups also sounded the alarm.

“The chilling speech and calls expressed, from a powerful figure, do not deserve a platform and should be swiftly and unambiguously condemned at the highest levels,” said Laetitia Bader, Horn of Africa director for Human Rights Watch.

“Such statements can increase the risk of mass killing of civilians and targeting people simply because of who they are, where they live or where they were born,” said Nicole Widdersheim of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The State Department spokesperson told AFP that Washington was “concerned about bellicose rhetoric on all sides of the conflict”.

US President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order allowing for sanctions against the warring parties in northern Ethiopia if they fail to commit to a negotiated settlement.

Source=US takes Ethiopia’s adviser to task for hate speech – Martin Plaut

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021  NEWSTIGRAY

The Eritrean authorities have been holding what is being described as a “Seminar on national development programs.”

Sources in Asmara suggest the meetings at Asmara Expo site have little to do with the official subject.

Rather, the gathering – almost exclusively male and mostly elderly – has focussed mostly on the war in Tigray and the threat posed by renewed USA sanctions.

Eritrea is bogged down in what was initially meant to be a quick and easy war to rid President Isaias and Prime Minister Abiy of the Tigrayans.

But rather to the surprise of Asmara and Addis Ababa, the Tigrayans managed to fight back and thousands of Eritrean troops are now engaged in a war with apparently little end in sight.

Rather, there are reports of clashes between the Eritreans and their allies –  the Amhara militia – as Eritrean soldiers plunder areas they are deployed to.

At the same time President Biden is threatening further sanctions against anyone who perpetuates the conflict.

The head of the Eritrean military, General Filipos Woldeyohannes, is already personally sanctioned.

Hence the increasing nervousness in the Eritrean ruling circle.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021  NEWSPOLITICAL PRISONERS

The Forgotten Prisoners

During the commemorative event marking the 20th anniversary since the disappearance of 11 Eritrean parliamentarians, an online event that took place on Monday, 20 September 2021, organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, Hanna Petros Solomon made the following speech. 

Hanna Petros Solomon

How can we discover the state of freedom in Eritrea today? Someone once said, “If you want to establish some conception of a society, go find out who is in jail.”

Sadly, this advice does not apply to Eritrea, because it never welcomed any enquiries about the Prisoners of Conscience or any other prisoners it holds behind bars.

Sep 18 2001 was the day when President Isaias Afwerki turned on his closest friends and allies who fought alongside him for three decades. The same group formed the ruling party. They were all members of the Central Council of PFDJ and members of the National Council. All had sacrificed their lives and given their youths to fight for the freedom of Eritrea.

Sep 18 2001 was the day when the unelected President Isaias Afwerki choked the voice of Eritreans and condemned the country and its people to ruins.

Yes, this Sep 18 of 2021 marked 20 years since Eritrea started going down a slippery slope which changed the trajectory of the country completely.  Dreams were foiled, expectations were blighted, and democracy was ripped to shreds.

The tragic consequences of that day did not stop there; it upended many lives, it affected the next generation. My family is one of many that were devastated by that incident on that fateful day.

During the liberation struggle both of my grandmothers witnessed their children join the front at a young age.  Years later, when the fighters returned home after liberating the country from Ethiopia, my grandparents thought the situation was going to get better. Unfortunately, the country went to war once again against Ethiopia – a war that consumed tens of thousands of young lives and much of the country’s resources.

Just when they sighed with relief, one’s son, my father, and the other’s daughter, my mother, were imprisoned. The elderly women watched with anguish as their children and grandchildren struggled with the harsh reality that the people of Eritrea have to live with. They prayed every day that the youth would survive the ordeal of leaving the country. My grandmothers have yearned to embrace their exiled children and regret never having met their new grandchildren and great grandchildren. So many lives ruined, so many dreams foiled.

Twenty long years have passed since the disappearance of Eritrea’s Prisoners of Conscience. Since then Eritrea began, rather openly, to move towards totalitarianism.

This is what happened …

Back in 2001, having observed the wrong path that President Isaias Afwerki was pursuing, a group of 15 parliamentarians, known as the G15, wrote an open letter to the president which admonished his ways.

The open letter was a result of long process that the G15 pursued in setting things right within the government which went unheeded.  When the president blocked efforts to reconvene the PFDJ leadership and the National Assembly, the G15 went public in May 2001 with an “open letter.”

The open letter criticised the president for his undemocratic behaviour and called for structural reforms of the party and the state, as well as a full and open assessment of the Border War with Ethiopia.

The letter was met with cruelty. Soon after, government security agents imprisoned 11 out of the 15 members; and the president started to adhere to rigid and inhumane measures to keep Eritrea under his control.

Luckily, three of the signatories were inadvertently spared because they happened to be abroad at the time; and one recanted under pressure.

What happened afterwards …

As the level of government propaganda and brutality spiked in 2001, people became very anxious and alarmed; the ex-freedom fighters themselves became fearful of the government; the general public lost faith and became wary of one another; the diaspora became so distant they all stayed in their host countries.

Eritrea became hostile and its future went bleak. A country is truly ruined when its youth, the future of the country, is spent.  Seeing no alternative to the hapless life that awaited them in Eritrea, the youth began to flee to neighbouring countries (and beyond) in masses. The number of Eritrean asylum seekers tripled and quadrupled in the last 20 years.

It causes me great distress to state that my beloved country is now one of the top refugee producing countries on earth. I was once one of those wanderers who managed to escape from that stifling condition in Eritrea. Eritrea has a full-fledged totalitarian government now. It is isolated from the international community, and it continues to feign as if it offers a rewarding life for its citizens.

The 11 war heroes

The president knows the sudden disappearance of the 11 war heroes, former high government officials, has left a scar on the national psyche which he cannot erase. His aim is to say nothing, ignore the scandal hoping the next generation would simply forget them altogether.

However, remaining tight-lipped and ignoring the cruelty will not erase the memory of the unjustly incarcerated former government officials who are thrown into unknown dungeons.

The prisoners’ family members are desperately hanging on to hope. For instance, mamma Mezgeb, my grandmother (from my mother’s side) whose eldest daughter is languishing in jail, laments the life her daughter missed out and the opportunity she was denied to raise her own children.  She still hopes, even if she is losing heart, to reunite with her daughter.

My other grandmother, mamma Mihret, prayed every day that her son would come back to her until her passing in 2016.

Mamma Demekesh is another mother who is hanging on for her dear life at the age of 88. She too is waiting for the return of her beloved daughter.

Humanitarian organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others have fought hard on behalf of the prisoners for decades. Institutions such as IPU have also done their bit in keeping the story of the prisoners alight.

The Open Letter the prisoners wrote was just an expression of their wishes for reforms.  According to Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, “everyone has the right to freedom of expression.”

Even though their ideals didn’t do well within the halls of government offices, the prisoners can stand tall in the knowledge that they drafted one of the best manifestos of our generation.

As for me, not a day goes by that I do not think of my mother and father. It is heart-breaking to contemplate the lives that my parents were robbed of. And the void that their absence has left in me as well as in my brothers and my sister is enormous.

It is this unresolved bereavement which I would like to share with you today. With your help I am telling the world the unjust incarceration of my parents has to come to an end. I will continue to keep their memory alive. As Pope Francis said, a little bit of mercy would have made the world less cold and more just.

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded more than 130 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 179 national Member Parliaments and 13 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced and more diverse. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world. Twice a year, the IPU convenes over 1,500 parliamentary delegates and partners in a world assembly, bringing a parliamentary dimension to global governance, including the work of the United Nations and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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