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Jun 22

Eighteen Eritrean mutineers interned in a refugee camp in Afar

Source: Africa Intelligence

With the agreement of the Eritrean general staff, 18 of the 52 soldiers who had fled from Eritrea to Ethiopia were transferred to the Asaita refugee camp. 

Issue dated 22/06/2022

On 16 June, 18 mutineers from the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) were presented to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) in Semera, the capital of the Afar region. They were transferred to Asaita refugee camp, 55km south-east of Semera.

The 18 were part of a group of 52 soldiers involved in a mutiny at the end of May in the 67th EDF division based in Badda, Eritrea, 25km from the Ethiopian region of Tigray, and less than 15km from the border with the Ethiopian Afar regional state (ARS). They had crossed the border with the ARS and taken up position at Badda Admurug in Dallol district. The soldiers had taken up arms and mutinied as a result of Eritrean military leaders' decision to prohibit Muslim soldiers from observing prayer.

Karikare, a favoured interlocutor

Eritrean Afar elders were sent to attempt to talk with them, and to try to make them reconsider their decision, but this move was in vain. On 2 June, Asmara finally sent Major General Houmed Mohamed Ahmed, known as "Karikare", himself an Afar, accompanied by two officers to the mutineers. The latter reportedly promised the soldiers that the issue of prayer would be reviewed and that no proceedings would be taken against the mutinous soldiers. Thirty-four of them agreed to return to Eritrea.

The remaining 18 were apprehended, with Karikare's agreement, by local militas and taken to Semera. Karikare, the highest-ranking Afar in the Eritrean security organisation, is the privileged interlocutor of the LRA authorities in Semera, and makes frequent trips to the region (AI, 08/04/22).

ቻይና ዝወደበቶን ዝመወለቶን ቀዳማይ ኮንፈረንስ ቻይናን ሃገራት ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃን ብ20-21 ሰነ 2022 ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ከም ዝተኻየደን ኤርትራ ከምዘይተሳተፈትን ጋዜጣ ዋሽንግተን ፖስት ሓቢራ። ፍሉይ ልኡኽ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ቻይና ዙ ቢንግ፡ ኣብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ኣብ ዘስምዕዎ ቃል፡ ሃገሮም ኣብ ዞባ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ዘሎ ጸገማት ብሽምግልና ብምፍታሕ፡ በቲ ሓደ ወገን ጽልወኣ ንምሕያልን ቁጠባዊ ወፍራ ንምዕቃብ በቲ ካልእ ወገን ከኣ ሃገራት  ጸጥታአን ከውሕሳን ልምዓትን ቅኑዕ ምምሕዳርን ንከሕይላን ክትሕግዝ ቅርብቲ ከም ዝኾነት ኣፍሊጦም። ኣተሓሒዞም ከኣ  “ኣነ ንገዛእ ርእሰይ  ሃገራት ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ብዝደልየኦ ኣገባብ  ሽምግልና ከዳሉ ቅሩብ እየ”  ከም ዝበሉ እቲ ዜና ሓቢሩ።

እቶም ፍሉይ ልኡኽ ብምቕጻል፡ እዚ እስትራተጅያዊ ኣገዳስነት ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ፡ በታ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ብሰንኪቲ  ኣብ ትግራይ ዝተጀመረ ውግእ ኣብ ሓያል ወጥሪ ዘላ ኢትዮጵያ እዩ ዝምእከል ኢሎም። ኣብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ብደረጃ ወጻኢ ጉዳይ ሚኒስተራት ወይ ምክትላት  ዝተሳተፋ ሃገራት፡ ሱዳን፡ ሶማሊያ፡ ደቡብ ሱዳን፡ ኬንያ፡ ኡጋንዳን ጅቡትን ክኾና እንከለዋ ኤርትራ ግና ከምዘይተሳተፈት ዋሽንግተን ፖስት ኣብቲ ዝዘርግሓቶ ዜና ሓቢራ።

እቲ ዜናዊ ጸብጻብ ኣተሓሒዙ እዛ ኣብ ውግእ ትግራይ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ወጊና ዝጸንሐት  ኤርትራ፡ ኣብ መጀመርታ እዚ ሒዝናዮ ዘለና ዓመት ወጻኢ ጉዳይ ሚኒስተር ቻይና ኣብ ዝበጽሕዋ ኣብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ንክትሳተፍ ተዓዲማ ከም ዝነበረት ጠቒሱ። ሚኒስተር ዜና ኤርትራ ነዚ ብኩራት ሃገሩ ካብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ብዝምልከት ተሓቲቱ መልሲ ከምዘይሃበ እውን ኣብቲ ዜና ሰፊሩ።

ነዚ ብኩራታ ካብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ዝተዓዘቡ ወገናት፡ ጸገም ኤርትራ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ድዩ ወይ ምስ ቻይና? ዝብል ሕቶ የቕርቡ ኣለዉ።

ርእሰ ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

ኤርትራውያን ብዙሕነትና ብዝተፈላለየ መልከዓት ዝግለጽ እዩ። ሓደ ካብኡ ናይ ፖለቲካዊ ኣተሓሳስባ ብዙሕነትና እዩ። ኣብዚ እዋንዚ እቲ ዝለዓለ ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ  ብዙሕነትና ብደረጃ “ተቓወምትን ደገፍትን ምምሕዳር ህግደፍ” ዝግለጽ እዩ። ኣብ ዝርዝሩ ከይኣተና ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ’ዞም ዝተጠቕሱ ኣተሓሳስባታት ዝሕቆፉ፡ ብፍላይ ኣብቲ ናይ ተቓወምቲ ወገን ኣብ ጉዳያት   ዘለዉ ኣረዳድኣታት ብዙሓት እዮም። እዚ መሰረታዊ ዘይኮነ ናይ ኣረዳድኣ ፍልልያት ኣብዚ እዋንዚ’ውን ኣብ ክንዲ እንዳወሓደ፡ እንዳሰፍሐ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ምዃኑ ዘተሓሳስብ እዩ። በብግዜኡ ብዝሒ ሰልፍታትና፡ ውድባትና፡ ማሕበራትናን ምንቅስቓሳትናን ናይ ምውሳኹን ምፍንጫላቱን ምስጢር ከኣ ካብቲ እናሐደረ ዝጫጫሕ  ኣተሓሳስባታት ዝነቅል እዩ።

ናይ ሓሳብ ብዙሕነት ጸጋ እምበር ሓጥያት ኣይኮነን ንብል ኢና። ከምኡ ካብ ምባል ሓሊፍና እቲ ኣብ መጻኢት ኤርትራ እንምስርቶ ዲሞክራስያዊ ስርዓት ከረጋግጾም ካብ እንጽበዮም ረቛሕታት ሓደ ምውሓስ ብዙሕነታዊ ኣተሓሳስባ እዩ። እዚ ክበሃል እንከሎ ግና እቲ ብዙሕነት ዝምርኮሰሉ፡ ብፖሊሲ ናጽነት መሰል ምውዳብን  ርኢቶኻ ምግላጽን ዝቃነን ብሕጊ ዝግዛእን ምኽንያታዊ ክኸውን እንከሎ ጥራይ እዩ። ካብዚ ወጻኢ ብውልቃዊ ስምዒትን ረብሓን ተደሪኹ ከም ኣሜባ ዝራባሕ ብዙሕነት ግና ንድሕሪት ዝጐትት እዩ።

ብዙሕነት ብሓላፍነት ዝመሓደር፡ ምክእኣልን ምጽውዋርን ዝቕበል፡ ኣብቲ ብዙሕነት ዝወዳደሩ ኣካላት ከምቲ ናቶም ርኢቶ ተቐባልነት ክረክብ ዝደልይዎ፡ ንናይ መወዳድርቶም ካብ ናቶም ዝተፈልየ ኣተሓሳስባ  ኣፍልጦ ናይ ምሃብን ምኽባርን ግደታ ከም ዘለዎም ኣብ ዘይርድእሉ ብዙሕነት ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ሃሳዪ እዩ። እዚ ጐዳኢ ተርእዮ ብሓፈሻ ኣብ ኤርትራውያን ብፍላይ ከኣ ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞ ዝረአ ዘሎ እዩ። እቲ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ኣተሓሳስባኡ ንዘይቅበሉ፡ ብሓሙሻይ መስርዕ፡ ብከደዓት፡ ብወያነን በብግዜኡ ብዝረኣዩ ኣሉታዊ ዝብሎም ተርእዮታትን እዩ ዝገልጾም። ከምቲ “ጸላኢ ጸለሎ ቀባኢ” ዝበሃል፡ ካብቲ ኣጸላሚ  ጉጅለ ካልእ  ስለ ዘይንጽበ ኣይሕደሰናን፡ እኳደኣ ክሳብ እንስዕሮ እንቃለሶ እዩ። ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞ እውን ካብ ናትካ ርእይቶ   ንዝተፈልየ፡ እሞ ብሓሳብ ምምካቱ ምስዘይትኽእል፡ ክሳብ ንዋናታቱ ኤርትራውነቶም ክትነፍግ ናይ ምድንዳን ሃቐነ ይረአ እዩ። እዚ እዩ ከኣ እቲ ቀንዲ ንሓቢርካ ምቅላስ ኣዳኺሙ፡ ህግደፍ ዕድመ ስልጣኑ ንከናውሕ ዝሕግዞ ዘሎ። ካብዚ ስለ ዝነቕሉ እዮም ድማ  ንተመኩሮ ተቓውሞና ብጽሞና  ዝከታተሉ ወገናት “ዕድመ ህግደፍ ብብቕዓቱን ተቐባልነቱን ዘይኮነ፡ ዝያዳ  ብድኽመት ተቓወምቱ እዩ ዝነውሕ”  ክሳብ ምባል ዝበጽሑ። 

ተቓወምቲ ህግደፍ ናይ ምቅዋምና ምኽንያት ነዊሕ ዝርዝር ኣለዎ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ሕገመንግስታዊ ስርዓት ዘይምህላዉ፡ መሰረታዊ መሰላት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ስለ ዘይክበር፡ ህዝብና መምርሒኡ ብዘይፈልጦ መራሒ ይግዛእ ምህላዉ፡ ብሰንኪ ጻሕታሪ ባህርያት ናይቲ ዝገዝኦ ዘሎ ጉጅለ ህዝብና ኩሉ ግዜ ራህዋ ሓሪምዎ ብስግኣት ዝተዋሕጠ ምዃኑ፡ ደቁ ኣብ ገዛእ ሃገሮም ምንባር ስኢኖም ስለ ዝተሰዱ ብዕድመ ዝደፍኡ ወለዲ ጠዋሪ ስለ ዝሰኣኑ…..ወዘተ፡ እናበልካ ነዊሕ ዝርዝር ምቕራብ ይከኣል። ዓወትና ከኣ ኩሉ ዓቕምና ኣወሃሂድና እቲ ናይዞም ኩሎም ጸገማት ጠንቂ ዝኾነ ጉጅለን ናይ ጭቆና መሳርሕታቱን ሓንሳብን ንሓዋሩን ከነወግዶ ክንበቅዕ እንከለና ዝረጋገጽ  እዩ።

ደገፍቲ ህግደፍ ብዘይካቲ በብግዜኡ ካብቲ ጉጅለ ብመርዚ እናተላዕጠጠ ብጉሁድን ብስዉርን ዝወሃቦም፡ ንዓኡ ንኢዱ ንካልእ ዘጸልም ዘይሓላፍነታዊ ሓሳብ ምንዛሕ፡ ናቶም ሃለዋት ሃገርናን ህዝብናን ኣብ ግምት ዘእቱ ሓሳብ የብሎምን። ምናልባት ኣብ ውሽጦም ዝተሓብአ፡ ካብቲ ዝድግፍዎ ሓይሊ ስለ ዝፈርሑ ብውሽጠ ውሽጢ ዝሓምይሉ፡ ካብቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ውድዕነት ዝነቅል ዘይግሁድ ሓቂ ኣይህልዎምን ኢልካ ምድምዳም ግና ዝከኣል ኣይኮነን። እቲ ሓሓሊፉ ዝስማዕ፡ ኣብ ዕላል ምስ ኣሕሊፉ ኣይህበንን እትብሎ፡  “እንታይ ኢና’ሞ ክንገብር፡ እንድዒ ብገለ ግዲ ለውጢ ይመጸልና ይኸውን’ምበር ከምዚልካስ ክሳብ መዓስ፡ ሎምስ ትጽቢት ነዊሑ” ዝብል ምዕዝምዛማት መልእኽቲ የብሎምን ማለት ኣይኮነን። እቶም ቀራናት ዓው ኢሎም ካብ ዘስምዕዎ፡ ንህግደፍ ናይ ምድጋፎም ምኽንያት ግና “ነዛ ሃገር ብዘይካኡ ዝሕልዋን ዘድሕናን የለን” ዝብል ይርከቦ። እሞ “ኤርትራ ብህግደፍከ ትድሕን ድያ ዘላ ትጠፍእ? ኢልካ እንተ ሓቲትካዮም ግና መልሶም ዕንይንይ እዩ ዝኸውን። ምኽንያቱ እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ኩነታት ብልሳን መራሒ ህግደፍ ከይተረፈ ብተደጋጋሚ “ኣብ ኤርትራ እንታይ ኣውንታ ኣሎ?” ኢልካ እንተ ሓቲትካ እትረኽቦ መልሲ“ጥፍኣትን ንድሕሪት ምምላስን ኤርትራ፡ ህዝባን ትካላታን” ስለ ዝኾነ። ስለዚ ዝምድና ተቓወምትን ደገፍትን ህግደፍ፡ ተጻራሪ ኮይኑ፡ ፍልልያቱ ናይ ድሕነትን ጥፍኣትን እዩ።

ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ኤርትራ ብሰንኪ ግጉይ ምርጫ ናይቲ የመሓድራ ኣሎ ዝበሃል ጉጅለ ዝያዳ ኣብ ዓይኒ ብዙሓት ኣትያ ከምዘላ ምልክታት ንዕዘብ ኣለና። ድሕሪ ሩሲያ ንዩክረይን ወሪራ መሰል ህዝባ ምግሃሳ  ፖለቲካዊ ኣሰላልፋ ምምሕዳር ኤርትራ ምስ ወራርን ግህሰትን እዩ ወጊኑ ዘሎ። እዚ መሪጽዎ ዘሎ ኣሰላልፋ ንመሰልን ክብርን ህዝቢ ዩክረይን ዝጻባእ ኮይኑ፡ ኣንጻር ሓያላት ሕነ ናይ ምፍዳይ ስምዒት ዝደፋፍኦ ኢዩ። እዚ ስጉምቲ ነቲ ኣሜሪካ እትርከቦ ምዕራባዊ ዓለም ኣብ ምጽባእ ዘትከለ ምዃኑ ትንተና ዘድሊዮ ኣይኮነን። ስለዚ ኣብዚ ኩነታት በቲ ውሱን ዓቕሚ ዘለዎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ በቲ ኣንጻሩ ተሰሊፉ ዘሎ ሓይልታት እውን ይጥመት ኣሎ።

ኣብዚ ቀረባ ግዜ ፈጻሚ ጉዳይ ኤምባሲ ኣሜሪካ ኣብ ኣስመራ፡ ኣብቲ ብኤሪሳት ዝተወደበ ሲምፖዝየም ንህልዊ ኩነታት ኤርትራ ዝዳህሰሰ ቃል ኣስሚዖም ድምጺ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ምዃኖም እንታይ ከም ዘመልክት ምግማቱ ዘጸግም ኣይኮነን። ህግደፍ ድሕሪኡ ብጩቕ ዘይምባሉ ከኣ ስግኣቱ ሰማይ ዓሪጉ ከም ዘሎ የርኢ። ስለዚ እቶም ኤርትራ ክትጠፍእ ዘይኮነ፡ ክትድሕን እንቃለስ ዘለና፡ ንከምዚ ዓይነት ተበግሶ፡ ከምቲ “ሓጋዚታ እንተረኣየትስ መዲዳ ትሓብእ” ዝበሃል፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ንኸስሮ ናይ ሓባር ድምጽናን ተግባርናን እነበርኸሉ መድረኽ ንግበሮ።

UNCATEGORIZED

Discussions are due to get under way in Brussels today (Monday) which could shape the relations between the EU and the Horn of Africa for years.

Below, Human Rights Watch’s Laetitia Bader lays out what is at stake. The meeting comes after a visit to Eritrea by EU representatives at a higher level than has taken place for years.

It would appear that the EU is attempting a “reset” after abandoning its disastrous road building programme that used National Service conscripts in what amounted to slave labour. The EU promised to end the programme in September 2020.

EU and UK Ambassadors inspect Ethiopia-Eritrea Road, 2020

Today’s Brussels talks have got Ethiopia worried and they mobilised their diaspora, who have appealed to the EU not to increase sanctions against the Addis government.

Twelve Ethiopian Organizations wrote a letter to the European Parliament  objecting to draft resolution (2021/2206 INI). [See below] They rejected the use of “Western Tigray” arguing that it is a Tigrayan term. And they are particularly worried about suggestions that there should be “an urgent deployment of an AU-led international peacekeeping force with a robust civilian protection mandate to Western Tigray,” to help end the war.

Clearly there are major sensitivities for all concerned, but the EU has been silent on the war in Tigray for far too long. Brussels needs to come up with a robust proposal that will support the AU/Kenyan mediation efforts to bring this tragic conflict to an end.  

EU Should Press Ethiopia for Tangible Rights Progress

Today’s Brussels talks have got Ethiopia worried and they mobilised their diaspora, who have appealed to the EU not to increase sanctions against the Addis government.

Twelve Ethiopian Organizations wrote a letter to the European Parliament  objecting to draft resolution (2021/2206 INI). [See below] They rejected the use of “Western Tigray” arguing that it is a Tigrayan term. And they are particularly worried about suggestions that there should be “an urgent deployment of an AU-led international peacekeeping force with a robust civilian protection mandate to Western Tigray,” to help end the war.

Clearly there are major sensitivities for all concerned, but the EU has been silent on the war in Tigray for far too long. Brussels needs to come up with a robust proposal that will support the AU/Kenyan mediation efforts to bring this tragic conflict to an end.  

Government Should Ensure Access to Aid; End Arbitrary Detentions

Laetitia Bader

Ethiopians wait for food distribution in a small town north of Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, May 7, 2021. © 2021 AP Photo/Ben Curtis © 2021 AP Photo/Ben Curtis

The future of European Union engagement in Ethiopia will be high on the agenda of EU foreign ministers gathering next Monday in Brussels. This meeting takes place 19 months into an armed conflict originating in the northern Tigray region that has been devastating for the civilian population.

The Ethiopian government in February lifted a state of emergency used to arbitrarily arrest thousands of Tigrayans, and since April has permitted greater numbers of aid convoys to enter Tigray. Still, abuses and suffering remain rife in northern Ethiopia. For nearly a year, the government has maintained an effective siege of Tigray, limiting food, fuel, and other critical supplies while also shutting off communications, banking, and electricity. While more aid has been allowed in, the amount remains far less than the population’s needs. The lack of drug supplies and services in particular means that people with chronic illnesses, along with survivors of abuses, including wartime sexual violence, do not have essential care.

Human Rights Watch in April released a report with Amnesty International documenting an ethnic cleansing campaign against Tigrayans by officials and security forces from the neighboring Amhara region. While the authorities restrict access to rights monitors and aid agencies, hundreds and perhaps thousands of Tigrayans are arbitrarily detained there in life-threatening conditions.

In a May 26 letter to the EU and member states, Human Rights Watch called for clear human rights benchmarks to underpin relations with the Ethiopian government. These include ending mass arbitrary detentions and allowing independent monitors’ access to detainees, the restoration of basic services, and unhindered and safe humanitarian access throughout conflict-affected areas.

There has been no meaningful accountability for war crimes and other serious abuses committed in Amhara, Tigray, and neighboring Afar regions. Government investigative processes and outcomes lack transparency, and international investigations continue to be hampered.

Federal authorities have for years conducted mass arrests and prolonged arbitrary detentions in Oromia, and have more recently detained thousands in Amhara.

For EU pressure to carry weight, the focus needs to be on ending harm to civilians. Diplomatic engagement and access with Ethiopia’s government should not be an end in itself, but a tool to achieve tangible progress in protecting civilians countrywide.

As the world watches the EU take robust measures against those responsible for war crimes elsewhere in the world, it shouldn’t settle for less in the Horn of Africa.