ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ታሪኹ ንመጀመርታ፡ ናጻ ሃገር ዝወነነ፡ ባዕዳዊ መግዝእቲ ኤትዮጵያ ካብ ሃገሩ ምስ ሰጎገ ኢዩ። ቅድሚኡ ብዝተፈላለዩ ገዛእቲ ወይ ብሙሉኡ ወይ ብከፊል እናተገዝአ ዝነበረ ህዝቢ ኢዩ። ኣብ ታሪኽ ንመጀመርታ ግዜ፡ ሙሉእ ኤርትራ ሓደ ማእከላይ መንግስቲ መስሪቱ ክገዝእ ዝኸኣለ መንግስቲ ኢጣልያ ጥራይ ኢዩ ነይሩ። ካብዚ እዋን'ዚ ንደሓር ኢያ ድማ ኤርትራ፡ ከምተን ካልኦት ሃገራት፡ ከም ውጽኢት ኮሎኒያልዝም ሃገር ክትከውን ዝኽኣለት፡፡

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ቅድሚ ምምጻእ ገዛእቲ ከከም ባህሉን ቦታኡን ብሕግታቱ ዝመሓደር ዝነበረ ህዝቢ ኢዩ። ገዛእቲ ግን፡ መለለይ መንነቱ ክድምስስዎ ስለዝነበሮም፡ ከዘውትሮን ከማዕብሎን ኣይገበርዎን። ኣብ ትሕቲ መግዛእታዊ ምምሕዳር፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ተቖሪኑ፡ ተመሪሑ ክኸይድ'ምበር ርእሱ ከመሓድር ኣይተፈቕደሉን። ስለዚ ባዕዳውያን ካብቲ ቀንዲ ዝቐተልዎ ትሕዝቶ ሃገር፡ ህዝብና ዝነበሮ ናይ ምምሕዳር ክእለትን ባህልን ኢዩ ኔሩ። ባዕዳውያን ንዝገዝእዎ ህዝቢ፡ ርእሱ ኣድኒኑ ክነብር፡ ዝበልዎ ጥራይ ዝፍጽም ክኸውን ካብቲ ኣውራ ዝሰርሑሉ ጉዳይ ኢዩ። ህዝብና ፋሽስቲ ጣልያን ኣብ ዝወልዖ ኩናት፡ ናይ እቶን ሓዊ ክኸውን ተቐሲቡ ተወሲዱ ግዳይ ሞትን ህልቀትን ኮይኑ ኢዩ። መግዝእቲ ኢትይጵያ ድማ፡ መለለይ መንነት ህዝብና ንዝነበረ ምዕቡል ባህልን ስልጡን ምሕደራን ንክድምሰስ ዝከኣሎ ገይሩ ኢዩ።

ኤርትራ ነጻ ምስ ኮነት፡ እቲ ባዕዳውያን ሒዘሞ ዝነበሩ ስርዓተ ምሕደራ፡ ኣብ ኢድ ደቁ ምስ ኣተወ፡ ብርግጽ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ብባዕዳውያን ዝተነፍጎ ርእሱ ናይ ምምራሕ መሰላት ክረኽቦ ሙሉእ እምነት ኢዩ ኔርዎ። ተልእኾን መብጽዓን፡ ናይቶም ናጽነት ሒዞምሉ ዝመጹ ደቁ ውን ከምኡ ኢዩ ነይሩ። ህዝባዊ መንግስቲ ከነቕዉም ኢና፡ ህዝብና ዝርብሓሉ ስርዓተ-ምሕደራ ክንተከል ኢና ኢዩ ዝበሃል ነይሩ። ኣብ መንጎ ህዝብን ተጋደልትን፡ እዚ ሓድ-ሕድ ምትእምማን ስለዝነበረ ኢዩ ውን፡ ህዝቢ ነቲ ነጻነታዊ ተጋድሎ ብምሉእ ዓቕሙ ዝተቓለሰሉ።

ንህዝባዊ ግምባር፡ ብፍላይ ኣብቲ ዳሕረዋይ ናይ ቃልሲ መድረኽ፡ ህዝቢ መሪሑ ጉዕዞ ሃገራዊ ናጽነት ምዝዛሙ ክብሪ ኣውሂብዎ ኢዩ። ነዚ ካብ ቅኑዕ ሚዛን ዝነቐለ ኣኽብሮት ናይ ህዝቢ ግን መራሒ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ መዝሚዝዎ። ንግደ ህዝቢ ኣብ ቃልሲ ከናኣእሶ ድማ ተራእዩ። ዲክታቶር ኢሰያስ ከይሓፈረ ነዚ ክብል ተሰሚዑ "ንቀልዓለም ክንብል እንተዘይኮኑ፡ ነዚ ሃገር ናጻ ዝገበሮ በይኑ ህዝባዊ ግምባር ኢዩ" ብምባል ንተሳትፎ መላእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ዝነበረ ቃልሲ ኣቆናጺቡ።

ግዚያዊ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ድሕሪ ምርግጋጽ ናጽነት ክቐውም ከሎ፡ እቲ ንመጀመሪያ ዝተሃርመ ውሳኔ፡ ናይ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ካልኣይ ውድባዊ ጉባኤ ውሳኔታት ኢዩ። ኤርትራ ብኣብዝሓ ሰልፋዊ ስርዓት ዝመሓደር መንግስቲ ክህልዋ ዝተውሰነ ኢዩ ነይሩ። ነዚ ውሳነ'ዚ ቀንዲ ከኽብርዎን ክሕለቕሉን ዝነበሮም ማእከላይ ሽማግለ ህዝባዊ ግምባርን ላዕለዎት ሓለፍቲ ውድብን ኢዮም ነይሮም። ነቲ ዲክታቶር ኢሰያስ ኣብ 20 ሰነ 1991 "ካብ ሎሚ ንደሓር ናይ ውድባት ሓሸውየ የለን" ዝበሎ፡ ንመትከል ምምስራት ኣብዝሓ ሰልፋዊ ስርዓት ዝጻረር ኣባሃህላ ክቃወሙስ ይትረፍ ክነቕፍዎ ውን ኣይከኣሉን። እዚ ዘመልክቶ ድማ፡ ሃገር ምስ ሓዙ ክሳብ ክንደይ ሓላፍነቶም ፍጹም  ከም ዝደርበዩ ኢዩ።  ንኢሰያስ ሃገር ድላዩ ክገብራ ዘይተመልእ ቸክ ከምዘረከብዎ ኢዩ ድማ ዝቑጸር።

ንዲክታቶር ኢሰያስ፡ ንሰበ-ስልጣናቱን፡ መሳርሕቱን ብናይ ንዕቀት መንገዲ ክሕዞም ዝገበሮ ባዕሎም እቶም ሰበ-ስልጣናት ኢዮም። እቶም ክሳብ ሕጂ ምስኡ ዘለዉ ላዕለዎት ሓለፍቲ፡ ትካላት ክፍርስ፡ ሓባራዊ ውሳኔታት ክጥሕስ፡ መሳርሕቱ ክኣስር ትም ኢሎም ክርእይዎ እንተኾይኖም፡ ነዚ ኣሰራርሓ'ዚ ከም ንቡር ኣመራርሓ ሃገር ክኸውን ምፍቃዶም ኢዩ ዘመልክት።

በዚ ከኣ፡ ዉልቀ-መላኺ ኢሰያስ እቲ ናይ መጀመርያ ንዕቀቱ፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ሰበ-ስልጣናቱን መሳርሕቱን ኢዩ ጀሚርዎን ኣዘውቲርዎን። ሰበ-ስልጣናት ኤርትራ፡ ዉልቀ-መላኺ ኢሰያስ ብዘይ ሓጋውን ትካላውን ኣገባብ ክሰርሕ፡ ከም ልሙድ ኣሰራርሓ ተቐቢለሞ ኢዮም። እቲ ንዕኦም ዘይንቡር ዝኸውን፡ ሕጋዊ ትካላዊ ጠባይ ዘለዎ ኣሰራርሕ ክረአ ከሎ ኢዩ። ብምግራም ኢዮም ድማ፡ "ወዲ ኣፈወርቂ ድኣ እንታይ ሓሲቡ ኢዩ" ብማለት ነታ ሕጋዊት ኣሰራርሓ ይፈርሕዋን ይጠራጠሩላን። እዚ ድማ ክሳብ ክንደይ ስልጣኖም ኣሕሊፎም ከምዝሃቡን፡ ብክንድኡ ድማ ኢሰያስ ኣብ ልዕሊኦም ንዕቀት ከምዘለዎን ዘገምት ኢዩ። ክሳብ ብጽፍዒት ዝልእኮም ሰብ-ስልጣናት ከምዘለዉ ተደጋጊሙ ዝንገር ኢዩ።

ውልቀ-መላኺ ኢሰያስ ንሰበ-ስልጣናቱን መሳርሕቱን ብክንድዚ ካብ ነዓቐ፡ ንታሕተዎት ኣካላትን ሓመደርቲ ሓፋሽ ህዝብን ክሰምዕን ከኽብርን ከመይ ኣቢልካ ትጽቢት ክግበረሉ። እቶም ለውጢ ክድግፉ ይኽእሉ ኢዮም ዝበሃሉ፡ ሰበ-ስልጣናትን ላዕለዎት ሓለፍትን መንግስትን ሰራዊትን ኤርትራ ድንን ኢሎም ምኻድ ነቲ ለውጢ ብዓቢ ጎዲእዎ ከምዘሎ ሓቂ ነገር ኢዩ። ነቲ ናይ ኢሰያስ ኣመራርሓ ኣሚኖምሉ ይኸዱ ከምዘየለው፡ ከናፍሮም ክረማጥጡን "ምስ መን ኮንካ'ሞ ክግበር"፡ "ከምዚ ኢልካ ክንበር ኣይክእልን ኢዩ" ክብሉ ይስምዑ ኢዮም።

ህዝብና ሰማዕን ኣማንን ኢዩ። በቲ ካልእ ሸነኽ ውን፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ ነዊሕ መግዛእቲ ዝጸንሐ፡ ርእሱ ናይ ምምሕዳር ርእሰ-ተኣማንነት ገና ዘየጥረየ ህዝቢ ኢዩ ኮይኑ ጸኒሑ። ስለዚ ከኣ ኣብ መራሕቱ ክህልዎ ዝኽእል እምነት ዓቢ ክኽውን ከምዝኽእል ስነ-መጎታዊ ኢዩ። እንተኾነ ግን፡ ውልቀ-መላኺ ኢስያስ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ብዝገብሮ ዘሎ ተደጋጋሚ በደልን፡ ናብራ ህዝቢ ከማሓይሽ ብዘይምኽኣሉን ከም መራሒ ተጸሊኡ ኢዩ። ኣብ ልዕሊ'ቶም ካለኦት ሰብ-ስልጣናት ዘለዎ ጽልኢ ግን ብክንዲቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኢስያስ ዘለዎ ዘይክኸውን ይኽእል። ደሓር ድማ፡ እቲ ሰብኣይ ኢዩ "ጌርዎ"፡ "ኢልዎ" እናበሉ ሓላፍነት ዝወስድሉ ነገር ስለዘየለ ተጸላእቲ ዘይክኾኑ ይኽእሉ ኢዮም። በቲ ህዝቢ ተጸላእቲ እንተ ዘይኮይኖም ድማ፡ ንለውጢ ትጽቢት ዝግበረሎም  ክኾኑ ይኽእሉ። ብመራሒኦም ክብሪ ዘይረኸቡ፡ ኩርሲ ስልጣን ንክሕዙ ጥራይ ዝተመደቡ ሰበ-ስልጣናት ኤርትራ፡ ንዘይሕጎስሉ ናብራ ንክነብሩ ብዋጋ ዝብደል ዘሎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ስቕታ መሪጾም ምቕጻሎም፡ ከም ዝኸፍአ በደል ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ዝፍጽሙ ዘለዉ ኢዮም።

ስለዚ፡ ከምቲ ታሕተዋይ ክፍሊ ሕብረተሰብ ኮይኖም፡ ክሓምዩን ከዕዘምዝሙን ኣብ ክንዲ ዝውዕሉ፡ ዘለዎም ቦታን ሓላፍነትን ንምኽሓስ ዝተበደለ ህዝቢ ከውዕልዎ እዋኑ ሎሚ ኢዩ።

By David Kode• 6 October 2019 

Sport is a major unifier among all nations and the plight of Eritrean athletes should be enough to force the international community, particularly states that now host many Eritreans, to exert pressure on President Isaias Afwerki to implement reforms, 26 years after taking power.

Not many people outside sporting circles were familiar with Ethiopian marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa or the plight of the Oromo people in Ethiopia before the 2016 Rio Olympic games in Brazil.

As Feyisa crossed the finish line in the men’s marathon on the final day of the Olympics, winning a silver medal, and fully aware of the glare of the international community and media, he lifted his hands over his head and crossed his wrists in a symbolic anti-government protest. He repeated the gesture as he received his silver medal – the gesticulation is a trademark sign of protest, often used by the Oromo from where Feyisa hails, against the violent repression of the government.

At the time Feyisa made this gesture the Oromo territories, home to more than a third of the population of Ethiopia, was under siege from the Ethiopian military. More than 400 Oromos had been killed and thousands arrested during protests by the Oromo in the space of several months when Feyisa demonstrated the plight of his people to the world. Feyisa knew full well that such open protest was dangerous and admitted that he could be killed if he returned home. Speaking to the media after the race, he said:

“The Ethiopian government is killing my people, taking their land and resources, so I stand with all protesters everywhere as Oromo is my tribe. My relations are in prison and if they talk about democratic rights, they are killed.”

The intersection between sport and human rights highlighted above brings me to the main issue of this article – how Eritrean sportsmen and women indirectly reveal the state of human rights at home, but how very few people are taking notice.

A few days ago, five players from the Eritrean under 20 football team absconded from their hotel in Jinja, Uganda in the middle of the Council of East and Central African Football Associations Challenge Cup. The players are likely to seek asylum in Uganda and turn their backs on Eritrea for good if the political situation remains the same.

While there is a long history of African athletes abdicating from national sports teams while representing their nations at international sporting events, the peculiarities that force many Eritreans to do so are quite different.

Many of the sportsmen and women from other African countries who leave their camps during international sporting events target mainly countries in the global north with buoyant economies and sometimes better policies on asylum seekers. They do so mostly to seek green pastures and better economic opportunities. Admittedly, some also do so to escape conflicts and civil war. Eritreans for their part have used sporting events as a means to escape from compulsory military service that has been described by some as a form of slavery.

In October 2015, 10 players from the Eritrean soccer team the Red Sea Camels defected after playing in a World Cup qualifying match against the Botswana national team.

Military service is compulsory for all Eritreans at 18 years old and above. While the policy governing this stipulates military service will be done for 18 months, in practice the military service is indefinite.

For example, since the practice was made official by the government in 1994, no Eritrean has been officially released from military service. Conscripts receive meagre monthly wages (approximately $60 on average) that do not cover basic living expenses and others are not paid. Many spend months at the infamous Sawa military camp with limited food and water, often in very high temperatures. Those who violate even the most basic instructions are subjected to harsh punishment. Others work in mines and construction sites and females are often forced to do domestic work and sometimes subjected to abuse and ill-treatment.

Eritreans, therefore, face two options – undertake military service or flee. Until recently, the Eritrean government often cited the existential military threat from its neighbour Ethiopia as the main reason it continued the policy, but even after the two countries signed a joint declaration of peace, friendship and comprehensive co-operation in July 2018, forced conscription continues.

The compulsory military service and the abuse that comes with it should not be viewed in isolation and must be seen within the context of the nature of the Eritrean state.

Eritrea became a closed state in 2001 when the government shut down all independent newspapers, arrested journalists and government representatives that called for democratic reforms and who were critical of the government of President Isaias Afwerki. The whereabouts of most of those arrested in 2001 are not known and many have not been in touch with relatives since. There has been no election since independence from Ethiopia in 1991, the rule of law is absent, the state is heavily militarised and a constitution approved in 1997 has never been implemented.

Forced conscription is the main driving force pushing Eritrean sportsmen and women to abdicate and not return to Eritrea, but the propaganda of the Eritrean government and the conflict “fatigue” experienced by the United Nations and African Union often preoccupies the international community and limits discussions on actions against the Eritrean state that will force it to implement reforms.

After all, they argue, it is a sovereign state and not at war, so other countries engulfed in intra-state conflict should be prioritised. The closed nature of the Eritrean state and the absolute control of the media by the government means up-to-date information on the state of human rights is mostly obtained from Eritreans who have fled from home.

Eritrean authorities have used diplomacy and coercion to force governments of countries where Eritreans have abdicated, to force them to return home. The Eritrean government has also adopted some stringent measures to ensure Eritrea’s presence at major sporting events by recruiting Eritrean athletes who hold dual nationality into its national teams. It has also now imposed compulsory financial bonds on Eritrean professional soccer players who intend to represent Eritrea in international sporting events to deter sportsmen from abdicating and to guarantee they return after sporting events.

Sport is a major unifier among all nations and the plight of Eritrean athletes should be enough to force the international community, particularly states that now host many Eritreans, to exert pressure on President Afwerki to implement reforms, 26 years after taking power.

As a first step, all states should respect the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and provide Eritreans with the administrative, social, and psychological support they need to enable them to settle when they abdicate. Family members of those who abdicate sometimes face the wrath of the Afwerki regime. Anyone who may be forcefully repatriated after they abdicate may never be seen or heard from again once they arrive in Eritrea.

The long-term solution is for other African states, the African Union and the United Nations to stop treating Eritrea like a normal state because it is not. The joint declaration of peace, friendship and comprehensive cooperation signed between Ethiopia and Eritrea last year seems like a missed opportunity for the international community to hold President Afwerki accountable for his human rights record.

Many Eritreans will continue to flee as long as the status quo remains the same but where politics has not been enough to jerk the international community into action against Eritrea, perhaps sports can. DM

David E Kode, advocacy and campaigns lead, Civicus.

Source=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-10-06-exposing-human-rights-violations-through-sport-in-eritrea-is-anyone-taking-notice/