Joined in recent months by over 100 young members in the Middle East and North America, EPDP grassroots everywhere are heating up their day-to-day regional and local activities and party renewal tasks, all focused on more effective role in the struggle for democratic change in Eritrea. Following the first ever historic meeting on 27 April of the recently formed EPDP Zone in Israel, other party grassroots also held constructive meetings in North America and Europe. The Preparatory Committee for Eritrea Festival 2018 has also been on the move at full gear.

 

EPDP NA Membership Meeting

On 6 May 2018, the EPDP North America Zone held a total-membership meeting mainly for a briefing on the recent successful party mission to Israel that lasted between 31 March and 16 April 2018. Mr. Tuku Tesfai, EPDP Central Council member who led the two-person delegation, recounted in great detail the contacts the delegation made with Eritreans and humanitarian service actors supporting refugees in Israel. In the meantime, he said the delegation collected over 75 duly filled membership forms from young Eritreans in Israel who are determined to struggle for democratic change as EPDP members.

 

The EPDP NA Zone meeting warmly congratulated and commended the delegation members for their successful mission and called upon the party leadership to organize similar delegations to other places where Eritreans are present. (These may include places in Africa like Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, South Africa and others). In a historic move, the NA Zone meeting also initiated an additional fund-drive for the party in honor of CC members Tuku Tesfai and Feven Gideon so that similar future party missions could be launched on time.

 

EPDP Oakland-San Jose Members Meet

On 5 May, EPDP members in Oakland and San Jose, California, held a meeting to review developments in their region and the entire North America Zone. The meeting was pleasantly surprised by the new wave of mobilization within the party and voiced their full satisfaction with the outcome of the recent party mission to Israel as well as the activities of new EPDP members in different parts of Canada, and the return to party ranks of former freedom fighters in several regions in North America.

2nd Sweden Branch in Action

Also on 5 May 2018, the second EPDP Branch for Southern Sweden held its fifth regular meeting electronically and discussed different agenda items related to internal branch and party matters as well as developments affecting the ongoing struggle for democratic change. The branch leadership to time to explain the situation of each branch member and what he/she is able to contribute in branch activities. Also explained were joint projects with sister associations like the 'Eritrea in Our Hearts' group and the local authorities. Eritrean refugees in the Gothenburg region are granted different free services and also recently got a new meeting place.

Festival 2018 Preparations Are Underway

On First of May, the 9-person Preparatory Committee of Eritrea Festival 2018 held its second regular meeting since its formation this year. The meeting was headed by Mr. Tesfamariam Kibreab, who is the chairman of the Eritrean Democratic Association (EDA), a non-profit association that organizes the annual politico-cultural Eritrea Festival in the German city of Frankfurt. The meeting allotted responsibilities to each Committee member and listed Committee's expectations from the EPDP Europe Zone and its branches who are co-organizers of the annual event.

 

A press release of the meeting confirmed that Eritrea Festival 2018 will be held between 3 and 5 August this year at the usual place in Frankfurt (Die Studierendenschaft der Johann Wolfgang Goethe – Universität, Mertonstr. 26 – 28, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main).

ብዕለት 1.05.2018 ኣሰናዳኢት ሽማግለ ናይቲ ብኤርትራዊ ዲሞክራስያዊ ማሕበር ኣብ ጀርመንን ጨናፍር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ኤውሮጳን ዝዳሎ ፈስቲቫል/ሰፊሕ በዓል ኤርትራ ፍራንክፎርት 2018 ካልኣይ ኣኼባኣ ኣካይዳ። ኣሰናዳኢት ሽማግለ ፈስቲቫል ፍራንክፎርት ኣብ ዝተፈላለየ ጽፍሕታት ካብ ዘሎው ትሽዓተ ኣባላት ማሕበርን ሰልፍን ዝቆመት ሽማግለ ኮይና፡ ቀንዲ ዕማማ ድማ፡ ነቲ ብሓልዮት ኤርትራዊ ዲሞክራስያዊ ማሕበር ኣብ ጅርመንን ጨናፍር ሰዲህኤ ኣብ ኤውሮጳን፣ ኣብ ፍራንክፈርት ህዝብን መራሕቲ ፖለቲካዊ ውድባትን፡ ሰልፍታትን፡ በርጌሳውያን ማሕበራትን ብምርኻብ ሃገራውን ህዝባውን ጉዳያት ንምርላዛብን ሓሳባቶም ንምልውዋጥን ዝካየድ ዓምታዊ በዓል ኤርትራ ንምዕዋት ድሮ ስርሓ ጀሚራ ትርከብ።

እዚ ብዕለት 01 ጉንበት 2018 ዝተኻየደ ኣኼባ ሽማግለ፣ ብኣቦ-መንበር ሽማግለ ኣቶ ተስፋማርያም ክብርእብ ተኸፊቱ። ኣኼባ ንኣጀንዳታቱ ሓደ ብሓደ ድሕሪ ምርኣይ፣ ክሳብ’ቲ ዕለት’ቲ ዝተሰላሰሉ ዕማማት ገምጊሙ። ድሕርዚ ንዝትረፉ ዕማማት ንምስልሳልን ኣብ ምሉእ ፍጻመ ፈስቲቫል ንምብጻሕን ሽማግለ ኣብ ውሽጡ ነብሰ ስርዕን ኣርባዕተ ክፍልታት ዝሓቖፈ ምምቅቃል ዕዮን ገይሩ፣ ናይ ስራሕ መደባቱ ሰሪዑ ተበጊሱ ምህላዉ ተሓቢሩ።

ፈስቲቫል ፍራንክፎርት፣ ሎሚ ዓመት እውን ኣብቲ ልሙድ ቦታ ኣብ ቦኮንሃይም ቫርተ ዝርከብ ኣደራሽ ናይቲ ዩንቨርስቲ ፡

Die Studierendenschaft der Johann Wolfgang Goethe – universität

Mertonstr. 26 – 28 60325 Frankfurt a. Main

ካብዕለት 03 ክሳብ 05 ነሓሰ 2018 (August 03 – 05.2018) ኣብዘሎ እዋን ክጋባእ እዩ።

ሽማግለ ፈስቲቫል 2018

ብዕለት 27 ሚያዝያ 2018 ዞባ ሽማግለ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እስራኤል ናይ ኣባላት ኣኼባ ኣካይዱ። ኣብዚ ኣኼባ መደብ ስርርዕ ጨናፍር ተሊሞም። ከምዝዝከር ዞባ እስራኤል ካብ ዝቀውም ወርሒ ኣይመልኤን።

ጸበባ ህዝቦምን ሃገሮምን ንምፍታሕ ዘለዎም ናይ ቃልሲ ሸውሃት ግና ደረት የልብሉን። መደቦም ጥርኑፍ ዝኾነ ምስ ኩሉ ደላይ ፍትሒ ጐድኒ ንጐድኒ ኮይኖም ንጨፍጫፊ ስርዓት ህ.ግ.ደ.ፍ ካብ ስሩ ሞቅሚቅካ ምእላይ እዩ።

ክንዕወት ኢና!

ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ዑደት ናብ ዘካየዱ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽነር ሰብኣዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣቶ ዛይድ ኣል ሁሴን መዘክር ልኢኹ። ሰዲህኤ ኣብዚ መዘክሩ እቶም ኮሚሽነር ንሕብረት ኣብፍሪቃ ብዛዕባቲ ብባይቶ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ካብ መጀመርያ 1990ታት ጀሚሩ ንክከታተሎ ሓላፍነት ዝተዋህቦ ኩነታት ሕሰምን ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ኤርትራ ንከዘኻኽርዎ ጸዊዑ።

እዚ ናብ ኣቦመንበር ኮሚሽን ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ኣቶ ሙሳ ፋቂ ማህማት ቅዳሑ ዝተላእከ ናይ 26 ማዝያ 2018 ህጹጽ መዘክር ሰዲህኤ፡ ኩሎም እቲ ጉዳይ ዝምልከቶም ኣካላት ሕቡራት ሃገራትን ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃን ብመንጽርቲ ውጽኢት መርማሪ ኮሚሽን ሕቡራት ሃገራት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ኣንጻርቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝፍጸም ዘሎ ግህሰታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላታን ጥሕሰታት ሕግን ስጉምቲ ዘይምውሳዶም ገሊጹ። ምስዚ ብዝተተሓሓዘ፡ ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ብወገኑ ኣብ ኤርትራ ይፍጸም ብዛዕባ ዘሎ ግህሰት ሰብእዊ መሰላት ብገበን ዝሕተቱ ኣካላት ሓላፍነት ዝወስድሉን ምእንቲ ፍትሕን ሓቅን ዝሕተትሉን ኣገባብ ከነጽር ይግበኦ ነይሩ ኢሉ።ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ብመንጽርቲ ብባይቶ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ዓመት ዓመት ዝቐርብ መተሓሳስብታት ክሳብ”ዚ ግዜዚ ዋላ ሓንቲ ስጉምቲ ኣይወሰደን።

ኣቶ ዛየድ ኣል ሁሲየንን ኣቶ ፈቂ ማሃማትን ብ24 ማዝያ 2018 ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ዘካየድዎ ርክብ ከም ሓደ መርኣያ መደልደሊ ዝምድናን ምትሕብባርን ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃን ሕቡራት ሃገራትን ዝውሰድ እዩ። እዚ ናይ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ርክብ ክልቲኡ ኣካላት፡ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ብሓባር ንምክልኻል መሰረት ዘንብር እዩ።

In a memorandum sent to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who is currently in Addis Ababa, the Eritrean People's Democratic Party asked him to kindly remind the African Union about the mandate given them by the UN Human Rights Council in regard to the grave human rights violations in Eritrea which went on unabated from the early 1990's to the present.

 

The urgent EPDP message of 26 April 2018, also copied to the African Union Commission Chairman, Mr. Moussa Fakai Mahamat, regretted that all relevant UN organs and the African Union have not acted on the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea that required urgent action to stop those violations and to serve justice to past abuses. 

On its part, the African Union was recommended to set up "an appropriate accountability mechanism" in order to "hold perpetrators of crimes against humanity in Eritrea accountable to secure justice and truth."

 

To this day, African Union has not acted on those annually repeated recommendations for action by the UN Human Rights Council.

EPDP Asks UN HR Commissioner to Talk to AU 27.04.2018 2

 

Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein and Mr. M. Faki Mahamad on 24 April co-chaired in Addis Ababa the first AU and UN High Level Dialogue on Human Rights as part of the commitment to strengthen ongoing collaboration between both institutions. The Addis Ababa AU-UN Dialogue reportedly presented a platform to explore and develop joint approaches to preventing and addressing human rights abuses and violations and building mechanisms in defense of human and peoples' rights.

EPDP delegation composed of Party Chairman Menghesteab Asmerom and UK Branch Chair Goitom Mebrahtu, met and discussed Eritrean issues on Monday, 23 April 2018, at Whitehall with Mr. Nick Hackett, head of the East Africa Division in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Emphasis was given to the need for UK and international action to find lasting solution to the no-peace-no-war situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia by seizing the new political opportunity opening up in the region.

The delegation explained in great detail the plight of Eritrean refugees scattered all over the globe because of the unbearable situation in their country. In particular, the delegation underlined the urgency of help to thousands of Eritrean asylum seekers still left in limbo in Israel which continually threatens to forcibly send them to any third country or back to Eritrea where they are not welcome.

In the memorandum submitted by the delegation for the attention of UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Her Majesty's Government, the EPDP expressed its strong belief that the UK could "initiative and lead the world community" towards implementing several international decision in regard to the extremely bad situation in Eritrea. The memo, among other things, stated that "the EPDP and the rest of the pro-democracy forces in exile also deserve the attention and support of the UK Government in empowering them towards becoming alternative democratic actors" and build a stable state in post-dictatorship Eritrea.

ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ)፡ ሓው መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም ዝመርሖ፡ ሓው ጐይትኦም መብራህቱ፡ ኣባል ሽማግለ ዞባ ኣውሮጳን ሓላፊ ጨንፈር ሰዲህኤ ዓባይ ብሪጣንያን ዝርከቦ ልኡኽ ሰልፊ ብ23 ሚያዝያ 2018 ምስ ኣቶ ኒክ ሃከት (Nick Hackett)፡ ሓላፊ ክፍሊ ጕዳያት ምብራቕ ኣፍሪቃ ኣብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ወጻኢን ሓባራዊ ዕዳጋን ዓባይ ብሪጣንያ ንሓደ ሰዓት ዝወሰደ ርክብ ኣካይዱ።

ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ፡ ዘልዓሎል ጕዳያት፡ ንስደተኛታት ኤርትራ ብሓፈሻ፡ ኣብ እስራኤል ዝርከቡ ስደተኛታት ድማ ብፍላይ ዘጋጥሞም ዘሎ ጸገማት ብዝርዝር ገሊጹ። ንኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ናብ ዩጋንድ ይኹን ሩዋንዳ ወይ ዝዀነ ሳልሳይ ሃገር ምብራሮም ቅኑዕ ከምዘይኰነን፡ ኵለን ናይ ስደተኛታትን ዑቝባ ሓተትን ውዕል ዝኸተማ ሃገራት ሓላፍነቶም ክስከም ከምዝግባእ ተማሕጺኑ።

ቀጺሉ፡ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ናብ ሃገሮም ክምለሱ ይኹን ኣብ መደበራት ተዳጕኖም ንእስነቶም ከሕልፉ ስለዘይክእሉ ኢዮም ንህይወቶም ኣብ ሓደጋ ዘእቱ ምርጫታት ክወስዱ ዝግደዱ ዘለዉ ኢሉ። ነዚ ሽግር’ዚ ንምቅላል ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ናይ ስራሕ፡ ናይ ሞያን ኣካድያማዊ ስልጠናን ዕድላት ክውሃቦምን ኣዘኻኺሩ። ኣብ ርእስ’ዚ፡ ኣብ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ዝርከባ ብኤርትራውያን ዝካያዳ ኣብያተ-ትምህርቲ ሓገዝ ክግበረለን ተላብዩ።

ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ፡ ነቲ ኣብ መንጐ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ተኸሲቱ ንዝጸንሐ ጐንጺ ኣመልኪቱ፡ ኣህጕራዊ ማሕበረ-ሰብ ነቲ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ተፈጢሩ ዘሎ ናይ ለውጢ ዕድላት ተጠቒሙ፡ ነቲ ክሳብ ሕጂ ንረብሓታት ክልቲኡ ኣህዛብ ዘየገልግል ናይ ኣይሰላም ኣይኵናት ኵነታት ብዘላቒ ሰላም ክዛዘም ኵሉ ዝከኣሎ ጸቕጥታት ክገብር ኣተሓሳሲቡ።

A delegation of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) currently on mission to the UK, on 22 April 2018 held a public meeting in London attended by prominent figures and leaders in the prolonged Eritrean struggle for democratic change.

Headed by the EPDP Chairman Menghesteab Asmerom, the delegation consisted of Central Council members Assefaw Berhe, Haile Woldu, and the EPDP UK Branch Chairman Goitom Mebrahtu.

Following introductory remarks by Mr. Goitom Mebrahtu, the EPDP Chairman conveyed his and his party warm greetings to meeting participants whom he also called for a minute of silence in memory of all Eritrean martyrs, and in particular in memory of EPDP Central Council member Mohammed Asselo who passed away early this month in Kassala, Sudan.

Opening his presentation by quoting Mr. Abdurazaq Mussa, who was one of the speakers at the recent London conference of the Eritrean National Dialogue Forum, , the EPDP Chairman underlined the importance of giving topmost priority to vision and method of leadership and definitely not to the person or group of persons in leadership posts. Looking at the identity (ethnic etc) of the leaders in our organizations will only serve the interests of the dictatorship in Eritrea which uses fear and mistrust as its main tools to prolong its stay in power.

EPDP London Meeting 24.04.2018 2

 

He lists the commonly shared visions of the Eritrean people all Eritrean justice seeking organizations and movements and confirmed that their success will depend only on common and harmonious struggle based on mutual respect, trust and sincere dialogue. In further expounding the 4 June 2017 EPDP proposal for joint work, he called for starting joint work in areas like information work, diplomacy public mobilization.

EPDP Chairman Menghesteab Asmerom also re-affirmed his party's full support to the popular movements being initiated in several world regions because, he said, "No cause can success without the active participation of the broad masses".

He also alluded briefly to the true origins of the latest hiccups in his party which he said was harmful to the ongoing struggle for democratic change in Eritrea.

On his part, Mr. Assefaw Berhe, Central Council member and Deputy Head of Organizational Affairs, explained the Party Renewal programme underway in EPDP and the progress being made in identifying the shortcomings and strengths in the party institutions. He also seized the opportunity to call on Eritrean intellectuals to play a tangible work in correcting mistakes in the opposition camp by identifying wrong doings.

London Meeting 4

Meeting participants further enriched the discussions by engaging in frank-talk about the assumed strengths and shortcomings of the opposition organizations, including EPDP, and what could be done to overcome them.

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