EPDP Leadership Urges AU, UN to Help Bring Justice in Eritrea; Wishes Peace for Ethiopia

2016-09-21 12:58:13 Written by  EPDP information Office Published in EPDP News Read 2827 times

At the end of its 7th regular session on 18 September 2016, the 33-member Central Council of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) commended the decisions and recommendations of the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council and urged concerned UN organs to seriously follow up the matter and bring to justice all those perpetrators of "crimes against humanity" in Eritrea. The Council also called upon the African Union to fulfil the responsibility given it  by the UN Human Rights Council  to bring to justice those who gravely abused human rights in Eritrea during the past 25 years.

 

Regarding the current developments in Ethiopia, the EPDP leadership felt deep concern about the impact to Eritrea and the region as a whole  of any break down of peace and order in the country with nearly 100 million people and hoped that "the Government and the fraternal people of Ethiopia will resolve the problems in a peaceful and democratic manner that can guarantee lasting peace and stability in the whole region.”

The annual session of the EPDP Central also deliberated and decided upon a good number of internal party matters and questions related to the ongoing struggle for change in Eritrea. Full version of the final statement of the session is published below).

 

 Final Statement of the 7th Regular

Session of EPDP Central Council

 

The Central Council of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) wound up its 7th regular session on 18 September 2016 after holding a chain of meetings which, among other things, scrutinized and adopted executive committee reports that would be  shared soon with party members as well as with the general public. Based on the documents it evaluated, the Council decided upon a good number of issues related to internal party life as well as to hot Eritrean and regional questions.

The disturbing situation in Eritrea was one of the issues given special attention in the reports and deliberations by the Council, which underlined the urgency of finding a speedy solution to the heartbreaking predicament of the people. The regular session commended the efforts being made by Eritrean justice seekers and supportive members of the international community in exposing the generalized gross violations in Eritrea, in particular the abuses of human rights, and encouraged those actors to redouble their endeavours for final triumph.

Nonetheless, the Central Council admitted the overall failure of Eritrean forces of change to measure up to the challenges of the hour and expressed the full commitment of the EPDP to do what it can by playing its part to help manage the prevailing differences and clear the path that can open a common platform for joint work. Likewise, the party leadership urged all Eritrean political entities, civil movements and interested individuals to continue intensifying their roles in the current struggle for change.   

The session renewed its conviction that the unholy relations forged in the region by the illegitimate clique in Asmara are the sources of misery to our people and affirmed that the  fundamental solution will be realized only through the effective participation of all Eritrean forces of change. Thus, springing from its belief in the critical importance of joint work of justice seekers, the EPDP reiterated its absolute commitment in this task. The Council also wished to remind members of the Eritrean Defence Forces and other compatriots inside and outside the country to recognize that their interests lie with the aspirations of the people and not with the repressive regime and that they should  abandon the autocratic Isaias clique and stand on the side of their people. 

The Central Council also discussed the recent developments in Ethiopia, which it believed can have their impact in the Horn of Africa, in general, and in Eritrea in particular,  and hope the Government and the fraternal people of Ethiopia will resolve the problems in a peaceful and democratic manner that can guarantee lasting peace and stability in the whole region.

Being fully cognizant of the uphill struggle required from every citizen to overcome the big challenges facing Eritreans at home and abroad, and, in particular, taking account of the open-ended "national service" that caused the disastrous dispersal of Eritrean youth while trying to escape from slave-like forced labour and other human rights violations, the party leadership renewed its resolve to try to address the problems in conjunction with all interested forces, and called upon the nascent Eritrean youth movements to continue the momentum they started and become positive factors for a solution.

 Meanwhile, the Council formed special task forces to address certain key issues; elected in a democratic manner a party chairman and members of the executive committee; adopted future work programmes and urged the total party membership to continue by redoubling their commendable past roles in the struggle.

In conclusion, the EPDP Central Council expressed its satisfaction with and support to the decisions and recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council  that identified the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity committed in Eritrea and agreed that  perpetrators of those crimes be brought to justice. In particular, the EPDP called upon the African Union to duly address the responsibility mandated to it by the Human Rights Council to bring an end to the acts of injustice that have been going on in Eritrea for the past 25 years.    

7th Session, EPDP Central Council,

18 September 2016

Last modified on Thursday, 29 September 2016 09:21