A discussion paper communicated to the European parliament briefing,

1 July 2008, Brussels, Belgium

Do everything legally possible to break the suffocating finical-political and organizational control of EPLF/PFDJ over Eritreans … No battle is too small to be left unattended. We cannot defeat tyranny in one political battle. We have to take the Salami approach. Cut the task down to manageable pieces. Do everything with purpose and do it to the best of your ability. It is a shared responsibility and it is a shared task … cooperation in all aspects of the struggle. No victory is too small to be celebrated. Pass the glory to others and take the blame. Million needles will bleed a tyrant to death! You can handle a needle. I can handle a needle. Speak, write, agitate just do something. Let the tyrant know that you refuse to submit to his will. That itself is your first big victory. Defeat your fear and you have defeated tyranny … dare to speak up and own your own voice. Think big and be willing to make big mistake in the process of struggling for Justice and Human Rights for your people and for yourself. Defy the tyrant and his barking bullies. Timidity and self-imposed paralysis in the face of naked brutality against your own people is not a mark of great people. Stand up slowly but firmly and lend your clear voice, in your own way, to the cause of the people. Your role is critical and important. Try to be a solution-searching-concerned citizen. Do not underestimate your talent and your potential to contribute. Speak your own mind. Free mind is the best antidote for tyranny … (Seyoum Tesfaye, 29 May 2008)

The evening was the launching of Dr. Gaim’s amazing book at Birkbeck University of London on May 15, 2008. The title of the book is, 

“Critical Reflection on the Eritrean War of Independence: Social Capital, Associational life, Religion, Ethnicity and sowing seeds of dictatorship”

EMDHR, in collaboration with students of the Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria, developed a flier, titled "Africa is Silent" and distributed 75 copies of it during the 43rd Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) that was held during 7-15 May 2008 in Swaziland. The flier, enclosed with the report presented by the Center, was also formally being submitted to the Commission. Consequently, Eritrea's case got registered, once again. The flier can be found on here.

The following short essay describes about the experiences of EMDHR members in South Africa. It appears in one of the chapters of a book, titled Old Wrongs, New Rights, (pages 29-33) produced by the students of Simmons College and edited by Dan Connell. The book is release on 14 April 2008, contains candid personal essays by Simmons students about the "new South Africa," based on their visits and interviews with a cross-section of South Africans living in the post-apartheid country. The book is published by African World Press, Inc.

ጻውዒትና ቖሊኻ ብልዓዮ

ኤርትራዊ ምንቅስቃስ ንዲሞክራስን ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን (ኤ.ም.ዲ.ሰ.መ.)፡ ብዕለት 3 መጋቢት 2008፡ ኣብ ከተማ ጆሃንስበር፡ ብ “ዘመተ-ቶኽሲ-ደው-ምባል” ተባሂሉ ዝፍለጥ ኣብ ደቡብ ኣፍሪቃ ዝመደበሩ ሲቪካዊ ማሕበር ዝተዳለወ መኣዲ ዘተ ተሳቲፉ። እዚ መኣዲ ዘተ ኣብ ትሕቲ “ጻውዒተይ ቖሊኻ ብልዓዮ” ዝብል ቴማ ዝተኻየደ ኮይኑ፡ ንኣብያ መንእሰያት ኣብ ልዕሊ ወትሃደራዊ ኣገልግሎት ዘተኮረ ኣርእስቲ ዘካተተ እዩ ኔሩ።

ምቕንጃው ገድሊ

ኣይ ውግእ ኣይ ሰላም፥ እንታይ ደኣ፡ ጉልባባት ናይ ውክልና ውግእ

ብልጫ ውዕል ሰላም ኣልጀርስ፡ ኣብ ውሽጡ ካልእ ርእሱ ዝኸኣለ፡ ኣብ መስርሕ ትግባረ ውዕል ክትዝትየሉን ክትዘራረበሉ ዘኽእል ስምምዕ ዝሓቆፈ ምዃኑ እዩ። ጽኑዕን መህደሚ ዘይነበሮን ሰነድ ኮይኑ፡ ንዕድል ዝግደፍ ሃጓፍ ኣይነበሮን። ካብ ምፍራም እቲ ሰነድ፡ ክሳብ ኣብ ባይታ ምሕንጻጽ ዘጠቃለለ፡ ቀጥታውን መስርዓውን መስርሕ ዝኽተል እዩ።

17 March 2008 

We, in the Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR), 

• Being delighted to learn about the conduct of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) congress on the 30^th of March 2008;
• Taking note of the fact that we, including our political organizations, concerned individuals, media associations and other social groups, remain deprived of our rights to carry out our respective endeavors from within our home country;

ደረት-ኣልቦ ዕስክርና: ምኽኑይ ድዩ፧

ሰራሕቲ ፊልም፥ ንዛንታ ዕስክርና ኤርትራዊት ህጻን ትገልጽ ፊልም ይጣበቑ

“ነበልባል ልቢ” ኣብ ፈለማ፥ ብመልክዕ ፊልም ክትቅረጽ ኣብ ዝጀመረትሉ እዋን፥ መብዛሕትኦም ተዋሳእታ ካብ ፍርሒ ዝተላዕለ ስርሖም ከቛርጹ ተገዲዶም። ተሰሪሒ ካብ ዝወድኣትሉ እዋን ኣትሒዛ ድማ ብዙሕ መጥቃዕቲ ከጋጥማ ጸኒሑ። ከም ሳዕቤኑ፡ ቀንዲ ተዋሳኢት እታ ፊልም ኣብ ኤውሮፓ ዕቑባ ክትሓትት ተገዲዳ ትርከብ። ሰራሕቲ ፊልም ግን “ይቕረ በሃልቲ ኣይኮኑን” ክብል ሮይተርስ ሓቢሩ።

Meeting with UNHCR - Italy

Rome - February 14^th, 2008

The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) Regional Delegate, Dr. Walter Irvine, has received in Rome a delegation of the Italian Committee for Peace, Democracy and Justice in Eritrea.

An urgent letter of appeal briefing the predicament of around 250 Eritreans asylum seekers who at present are facing imminent danger of deportation to Eritrea is submitted in person by Simon M. Weldehaimanot to the current Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, her Excellency Madame Sanji Mmasenono MONAGENG. Simon was induced to file the appeal after receiving a cell phone text message from Egypt from one of the asylum seekers facing deportation. Simon, who is now in Banjul, was also able to shortly brief her Excellency on the phone on the real risk of ill treatment when the asylum seekers return to Eritrea. Full text of the letter appears below.

On January 30, 2008, the UN Security Council passed a resolution extending UNMEE's mandate for another six month occupation of Eritrea. The resolution also carried a one-sided condemnation of Eritrea for hampering UNMEE's activities in Eritrea. 

This resolution was passed under Libya's chairmanship of the UN Security Council. Moreover, Libya didn't even object or attempt to modify the resolution to put pressure on Ethiopia. But again, the relationship between PIA and Libya is one of servitude. When our 'independent minded' leader is shuttling to Tripoli and Serte every couple of weeks, the Libyan leader has visited Eritrea only once; this is can only be a one-side relationship. It is like you visiting your friend's house every other week, but your friend has never thought of you worthy enough to visit you while this very friend is busy visiting his other powerful friends. Libya's acceding to the other members of the Security Council's strong resolution against Eritrea is yet another manifestation of our diplomatic incompetence and isolation. If PIA can't convince even his supposed friends, who can he convince?

ሕጊ ብወለንታ ውልቀሰባት

ላምባ፡ ኮታስ ነዳዲ ዝብሃል ብሓፈሻ ኣብ ኣስመራ ደሃዩ ሃጢሙ፤ መካይናት መንግስቲ’ውን እንተኾነ ኣገልግሎት ካብ ምሃብ ተሰናኺለን፤ ኮታስ ኩሎም ዓይነት ምንቅስቃሳት ደው ንኽብሉ ተገዲዶም ይርከቡ።

እቲ እንኮ ዕዳጋ ነዳዲ፡ እቲ “ብወትሃደራዊ ኮትሮባንድ” ተባሂሉ ዝፍለጥ ጸሊም ዕዳጋ ኮይኑ፡ ንሊትሮ ክሳብ 30 ናቕፋ ይሓትት። እቶም ነዊሕ ጉዕዞ ክኸዱ ዝደልዩ ሰበስልጣን መንግስቲ፡ መብዛሕቱ እዋን ንባህላዊ ጉዳት ማለት ንምብጻሕ መርዓ ቤተሰቦም፡ ነዳዲ ካብቶም ብኣዘዝቲ ሰራዊት ዝውነኑ ጸሊምቲ ዕዳጋታት ንኽሽምቱ ይግደዱ።

ብርግጽ፡ ኣብ መዓልታዊ ሕይወት ኤርትራና፡ ፍልልይ ኣብ መንጎ ዘለዎምን ዘይብሎምን ዜጋታት ካብ ግዜ ናብ ግዜ እናገፍሐ ይኸይድ።

ንኹሎም ኣብ እስራኤል ዝነብሩ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት

ናይ ስራሕ ወረቀት ንክወሃቦም ተወሲኑ

100 ዝኾኑ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ካብ ውሽጣዊ ጉዳይት እስራኤል ናይ ስራሕ ወረቀት ተዋሂብዎም ክብል ሃርትዝ ዶት ኮም ዝተባህለ እስራኤላዊ መርበብ ሓበሬታ ብዕለት 9 ጥሪ 2008 ገሊጹ። ካልኦት 1000 ዝኮኑ ኤርትራውያን ድማ ኣብ ዝስዕብ መዓልታት ፍቃድ ክወሃቦም ምዃኑ እቲ ምንጪ ይገልጽ።

1. Introduction 

At present, inevitable question two or more Eritrean youths meeting outside Eritrea ask each other is how each one of them left Eritrea - ‘Bhgawi dika kab Ertra wetsika’ which means ‘did you exit Eritrea legally’. It is a question with an obvious answer but it has been nonetheless asked. It serves as a starter anyway; and most often leads to a common experience. The rights to leave and to return to Eritrea and to be provided with passport or any other travel document of thousands of Eritrean youths and other ‘politically undesirables’ – a right clearly provided by Article 19(9) of the Eritrean Constitution and other sacrosanct international human right documents – is severely curtailed together with other fundamental rights. Leaving Eritrea legally, as opposed to ‘illegally’ has become the exception of the exception for Eritrean youths. ‘Cross giere ember wetsie’, they proudly respond. To the contrary, those few who exited Eritrea ‘legally’ tend to feel mortified for getting the rare ‘favour’ from the government in Asmara.

ኣብ ትሕቲ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣብ ኤርትራ፤ ንምንታይ የገድሱ ዝብል ኣርእስቲ ብዕለት 15 ጥሪ 2008 ኣብ ፕሪቶሪያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ (ደቡብ ኣፍሪቃ) ህዝባዊ ኣስተምህሮ ተኻይዱ። እዚ ኣስተምህሮ ብናይ ሓባር ጻዕሪ ኤርትራዊ ምንቅስቃስ ንዲሞክራስን ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን (ኤ.ም.ዲ.ሰ.መ) ናይ ፕሪቶርያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ማእከል ምርምር ንሰብኣዊ መሰላትን እዩ ተዳልዩ። ዕላማኡ፡ ብዛዕባ ኣብ ኤርትራ ገኒኑ ዝርከብ ምግሃስ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣፍልጦ ኣህጉራውያን ትካላትን ኣፍሪቃውያን መንእሰያትን ክብ ንምባል እዩ።

A public lecture on “Human rights in Eritrea: why do they matter” was held at the University of Pretoria on the 15^th of January 2008. The lecture was organized by Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR) and the Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria. It aimed at raising the awareness of international actors in general and African youth in particular about the growing human rights violations in Eritrea.

Report of the International Workshop on Legislative Drafting in Africa(Organized by Africa i-Parliaments Action Plan, an Initiative of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in conjunction with the Faculty of Law, University of the Pretoria10-11 December 2007(Pretoria, South Africa)

EMHDR participated in the International Workshop on Legislative Drafting in Africa which was held on 10-11 December 2007 at the Faculty of Law, University of the Pretoria.

EMDHR has recently participated in the Africa Human Rights Day Commemoration 2008. The commemoration took place in Banjul, the Gambia on 21 October 2007.

Do you feel paralyzed? You want to take any measure your capacity can afford to help improve Eritrea’s situation, but you’re caught in some analysis-paralysis and fear that your action might do more harm than good? We’re all wedged in this vicious “damned if I do, damn if I don’t” circle.

It has been reasonably a while since I became suspicious that Sophia is a cadre and a paid-writer of the ruling party in Eritrea (the PFDJ). However, I decided to fight back my instincts and give her the benefit of the doubt to exercise her freedom to write. As the time elapsed and as she continued to write more and more articles, I begun to believe my instincts and inclined to sense the danger of her insincere and far from reality articles. Although the PFDJ has trained a bunch of her likeness, Sophia’s naked lies and calculated manipulations of the truth are indeed peculiar yet typical of her style. Over the years, she has become a championed con artist and an efficient lie-machine fabricating unsubstantiated fairy tales.

ሓድነት ህዝቢ ውሕስነት ሃገርን መጻኢ ወለዶን እዩ!

ኣብዛ እንነብረላ ዓለም ንዘልዓለም ተተኺሉ ዝነብር ስርዓተ-መንግስቲ የለን። ባህርያቶም ብዘየገድስ፡ ኩሎም ስርዓታት ምስ ግዜ ይቕየሩ እዮም። እቶም ባህርያቶም ግዕዘይን ዘይፍትሓውን ኮይኑ፡ ደገፍ ህዝቢ ድማ ዝሓጽሮም ስርዓታት ንነዊሕ ክጸንሑ ኣይክእሉን እዮም፤ ኣዝዮም ተነቀፍቲ ኸኣ እዮም፤ ብእዋኑ ኸኣ የብቕዑ። ብቐንዱ ኣንጻር ተፈጥሮኣዊ ምዕባለ ወድ-ሰብ ስለዝኾኑ።

 እትንስሕሉን: ንህዝቢ እትክሕስሉን ግዜ ኣኺሉ እዩ!!
 

ኣብ ወርሒ ጥቅምቲ: ሓንጎል ዝበዝሐ ኤርትራዊን መርበብ ሓበሬታ ኤርትራን ፍቕረማርያም ዝብሃል ነጋዳይ ተቐቲሉ፡ ኮሎኔል ስምኦን ገብረድንግል ተወጊኡ፡ ሳምሶም ዝብሃል ነጋዳይ ተቐቲሉ፡ ዓፋን ዝብሃል ጀነራል ኣብ ቐይዲ ኣትዩ፡ ጀነራል ገረዝጊሄር ዓንደማርያም (ውጩ) ከይተኣስረ ኣይተርፍን፡ ፕረሲደንት ኢሰያስ ንሂወቱ ስለዝሰግአ ሃገር ገዲፉ ወጺኡን ካልእን ብዝብል እዩ ተባሒቱ ቀንዩ። እዚ ንሃገርን ህዝብን ኤርትራ እንታይ ማለት እዩ? ጠንቒ እዚ ኹሉ ኸ እንታይ እዩ? ቐንዲ ተሓታቲ ኣብዚ ጉዳይ መን/ብዓል መን እዮም? ዝብል ሕቶ ክልዓል ግድን ይኸውን።

መን’ዩ ንኤርትራ ኣብ ሓደጋ ዘውድቃ ዘሎ፡

ኣብዚ ቅንያት ጀነራል እከለ ምስ እከል ጽቡቅ የሎን፤ ኮሎኔል እከለ’ውን ካብ ሞት ወጺኡ፤ እከለ ድማ ክሃድም ይሓስብ ኣሎ፤ ዝብሉ ዜናታት ንከታተል ኣሎና። ወረ ገለ ሰባት’ሲ እዛ ዓዲ፡ ሶማል ክትከውን እያ ዝብል ስግኣት ኣሕዲሮም ኣለው። እምበርከ ሃገር ዓመጽን ተበላጽነትን ዝዓብለሎ፤ ናይ ግበረለይ ክገብረልካ፣ ሓውኻ ግፋዕ ጽሩራ ክበዝሓልካ፣ ብሓሶት’ውን መስክረለይ’ሞ ከርብሓካ ዝመለለይኡ ግዕዙይ ስርዓተ ምምሕዳር እንዳተሓመሰት ደኣ እንታይ ኮይኑ’ዩ ከምዚ ዓይነት ተርእዮታት ክኽሰት ዘይክእል፧ ብሕጂ’ውን ከምዚኦም ዓይነት ተርእዮታት ብዝለዓለ ደረጃ ከጋጥሙ ይኽእሉ እዮም።