Liberty Bi-Monthly English Organ of the

Eritrean People’s Democratic Party - EPDP

January-February 2014 Issue # 25

MESFIN HAGOS URGES IPU, ICRC, UN IN GENEVA TO ACT ON

BEHALF OF G11 AND OTHER PRISONERS IN ERITREA

EPDP AT TUNIS MEETING OF PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE ASKS

SUPPORT FOR ERITREANS OPPOSED TO REPRESSION

G11: Most senior Eritrean officials in prison since 18.09.2001. Could they still be alive?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EPDP Tells Tunis Conference of Progressive Alliance

About Worsening Situation in Eritrea ………………………………………….3 – 6

In Geneva, Mesfin Hagos Urges International Community

To Act on Behalf of G11 and Other Eritrean Prisoners:

- His Presentation at IPU Headquarters …………..…...………..……..……6– 10

- Meeting with International Committee of the Red Cross…………………10– 11

- Meeting with UN Human Rights Office………………………………………11-12

EPDP Draws UNHCR, EU Attention to Plight of

Eritrean Refugees in Israel………….....…….…………………………..………12-13

Eritrea: The African North Korea…………….……………..………........………13-14

Outcome of Consultation Meetings of 15 Eritrean Organizations…………15

From Activities of EPDP Branches, World-Wide……. ………..……………..16-17

Mohammed Ali Ibrahim Not Yet Traced…………………………………………18

EU PRESIDENT BARROSO’S RESPONSE

MESSAGE TO EPDP CHAIRMAN On 13 January 2014, Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Union Commis-

sion, told EPDP Chairman Menghesteab Asmerom that the tragedy at Lampedusa “has brought to public light long-standing problems in Eritrea” ant that the EU is committed help “to mitigate the root causes of migra-tion” out of Eritrea. Mr. Barroso also stated that EU is “looking at ways to increase support to [Eritrean] civil society”. Mr. Barroso’s letter, a response to an earlier EPDP letter, added that EU “has established a Task Force for the Mediterannean to come up with concrete proposals for a more efficient use of European policies” and that the Commission envisaging specific assis-

tance” within the region and outside it to Eritreans and others originating from the Horn.

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EPDP TELLS TUNIS CONFAB OF PROGRESSIVE

ALLIANCE ABOUT SITUATION IN ERITREA A delegation of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) which attended the Conference of the Progressive Alliance held between 21 and 22 February in Tunis made strong points about the ever worsening political, socio-economic and human rights situation in Eritrea and urged all democ-ratic forces to support Eritreans struggling against repression in the country. A call was also made for special attention to Eritrea to prevent its becoming another failed state in the Horn of Africa. The EPDP delegation, consisting of Mr. Menghesteab Asmerom, the Chairman, and Mr. Wolde-Yesus Ammar, head of the Foreign Relations Office, asked member parties of Progressive Alliance to consider organizing a special conference on the situation in the Horn of Africa region, with empha-sis on Eritrea.

EPDP Chairman signing the Tunis Declaration establishing Social Protection as a Human Right. The delegation also urged conference participants to assist Eritrean non-state actors in diaspora with the aim of guaranteeing smooth transition to democracy in post-dictatorship Eritrea. The EPDP delegation conveyed its calls and messages by addressing the plenary session of the conference as well as in bilateral side-talks with various delegations. Following the steering committee meeting on Friday 21 February, the over 200 delegates from over 40 democratic, social democratic, labour parties and affiliated associations from all continents were granted a dinner party and at which Mr. Mustafa Ben Jaafar, Secretary General of the Ettakatol party and President of the Tunisian National Constitutional Assembly, welcomed his guests to Mohammed Bouaziz’s Tunisia. Also at the opening session of the plenary conference on Saturday, 22 February, Mr. Ben Jaafar expressed his party’s and country’s pride to host the first meeting of the Progressive Alliance in Africa at a time when Tunisia has successfully promulgated on 27 January 2014 a new democratic constitution acceptable to all parties and social segments in the country.

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A panel discussion on the “Challenges of the Arab Region in a Changing World” followed after two inspiring speeches delivered by the leaders of the Tunisian General Labour Union and the Tunisian Labour Party. Taking part in the lively panel discussion on the problems of the region were senior party leaders from Tunisia, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon and Yemen. The panel was moder-ated by a leading member of the Democratic Party of Italy.

 

Plenary session discussion on social growth, decent work, migration and related issues was fol-lowed after lengthy presentations on the subject by Mr. Hannes Swoboda, leader of the Group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, and Mr. M. Llamas of the Philippines. Four-teen interventions by delegates from African, Asian, European and Latin American were entertained before the conference participants were assigned to three working groups whose inputs were pre-sented and at the late afternoon session. .

Newly designated Board Members of the Progressive Alliance

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The conference adopted its “Tunis Declaration” that consisted of expression of solidarity with Arab Social Democratic Movement, Social Protection as Human Right, and on resumption of promising negotiations for unity in Cyprus. Conference participants also signed on a document entitled a Call for Action before proceeding to a reception hosted by Mr. Hannes Swoboda of the European Parlia-ment. Printed below is the full text of the EPDP Chairman’s statement distributed to participants of the con-ference of the Progressive Alliance in Tunis: *** Distinguished Conference Participants, Our delegation representing the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an opposition party struggling for change and democratization in Eritrea, is honored to attend this Tunis meeting of the Progressive Alliance (PA). The EPDP was a founding member as signatory of the PA declaration at the Leipzig meeting of May 2013. We were also pleased to have attended the Stockholm meeting of 24 October 2013 and endorse the commitments of this networking to promote human rights and the joint pursuit of freedom, justice, social equality, sustainability and international solidarity. Dear PA Conference Participants, As you know, Eritrea, a former Italian colony, was rendered a pawn in Cold War politics after World War II when it was handed over to the then Ethiopian Emperor under a sham 10-year federal ar-rangement. When Eritrea’s costly 30-year armed struggle ended in 1991, many people hoped to see a model new democratic country emerging in Africa. Unfortunately, it has not been the case because Eritrea was turned into a one-man dictatorship for the last 23 years and remains the only African country without a constitution, without an elected government, without freedom of press, religion or association and its people subjected to the worst types of violation of human and political rights. President Isaias Afeworki’s government in Eritrea is today characterized as one of the topmost re-pressive regimes in the world. It leads Africa and the world in being the number one jailer of journal-ists, refugee producer and violator of basic human rights of its own people by turning the country into an open prison.. The Lampedusa tragedy of 3 October 2013 that caused the death of 366 Eritreans in the Mediter-ranean is only a tip of an iceberg of the untold sufferings of our people. The tragedies include an on-going mass human trafficking for huge ransoms and for human organ harvesting by which over 10,000 Eritreans have been affected. An open-ended national service is one of the causes of un-checked flight of people from the country. But the worst may be in the making for Eritrea. The soci-ety is collapsing and consequences of a total breakdown will be harmful at least to that already frag-ile region of Africa. Dear PA Conferees, We recall the fact of progressive forces playing significant roles in supporting liberation movements in the second half of the last century. But when those former colonized peoples attained territorial independence, those peoples were left to the mercy of new domestic tyrants. No effort was made to support alternative forces that would promote democratic values and institutions in those regions. For the past 23 years, Eritreans opposed to the repressive regime faced the same predicament of abandonment by progressive and democratic forces of the world. We strongly support the PA principle of promoting Campaigns to assist social democratic and labour parties to win elections. But to this Campaign must be added the need to support alternative forces to regain power in states under dictatorial regimes, especially in Africa. The EPDP is repeatedly appealing for support from progressive forces to non-state actors in states

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under repressive regimes. Progressive forces need to engage in identifying democratic forces and civil society groups in those states under extremely repressive regimes, like the one in Eritrea, and give non-state actors anywhere, include those in diaspora, some support for capacity-building for democracy thus empowering them to bring about change through non-violent and people-centered struggles. It is this same message that my delegation wishes to convey to this Tunis meeting of PA which can make an effort to help empower democratic forces in Eritrea and similar cases where peo-ples still cry for solidarity of others to enjoy freedom, human rights, justice and social equality. We therefore ask this forum to organize a special meeting on the problem of peoples in the Horn of Africa, with emphasis on Eritrea, and try to help extremely distressed peoples. Menghesteab Asmerom, Chairman, the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party/EPDP

In Geneva, Mesfin Hagos Urges IPU, ICRC and UN to Help Release G11 and Other Prisoners

During a mission to Geneva between 16 and 17 January 2014, Mr. Mesfin Hagos, Eritrea’s former Defense Minister and currently a senior leadership member of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), held meetings with organs of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as with the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Hu-man Rights (UNOHCHR) and urged them to make concrete actions that can lead towards the re-lease of Eritrean prisoners, including G11, and also give due attention to the ever worsening politi-cal, social, economic and human rights situation in Eritrea. Summary reports on his three meetings in Geneva are given below.

Hearing at IPU Mr. Mesfin Hagos was in Geneva upon an invitation extended to him for hearing by the IPU which repeatedly issued resolutions and statements on imprisonment of Eritrean parliamentarians known as G11. In IPU resolutions and statements, the imprisoned Eritrean legislators are listed as follows:

CASE No. ERI/01 - OGBE ABRAHA CASE No. ERI/02 - ASTER FISSEHATSION CASE No. ERI/03 - BERHANE GEBREGZIABEHER CASE No. ERI/04 - BERAKI GEBRESELASSIE CASE No. ERI/05 - HAMAD HAMID HAMAD CASE No. ERI/06 - SALEH KEKIYA CASE No. ERI/07 - GERMANO NATI CASE No. ERI/08 - ESTIFANOS SEYOUM CASE No. ERI/09 - MAHMOUD AHMED SHERIFFO CASE No. ERI/10 - PETROS SOLOMON CASE No. ERI/11 - HAILE WOLDETENSAE

G11: they are kept incommunicado at Era-Ero prison. Their situation is not known save to the dictator.

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On 16 January 2014, Mr. Mesfin Hagos made an extensive presentation in Geneva at the plenary meeting of the Human Rights Committee of the 180-member IPU about the G15 movement that challenged the dictatorship in Eritrea in 2001. He was one of the leading figures in the G15 move-ment.

In opening the session, Mr. Juan Pablo Letellier of Chile, President of the IPU Human Rights Com-mittee, welcomed the invited guest speaker for coming to give the committee a short background on the democratic demands of 15 members of the Eritrean National Assembly in 2001 before the arrest of most of them; their situation today, and what the speaker would wish the IPU do to be helpful in this case.

At the outset, Mr. Mesfin Hagos expressed profound gratitude to IPU and its bodies for their contin-ued interest in the case of the imprisoned Eritrean National Assembly members whose present situation is totally not known outside the prison walls of Erar-Ero. He told the IPU committee that only the Eritrean president and a medical doctor that reports to him know about them. No other high official of the regime is knowledgeable about their situation. The prison staff and guards are them-selves prisoners because they are not allowed to leave the area. They are encircled by a security cordon which itself is also watched by formations of army units. Farmers and nomads of the region have been evicted from the area which is now a desolate region hosting only the G11 prisoners and journalists. Some ex-guards of the prison have reported in recent years about who was dead and who was still alive. But this report and other rumours about the prisoners have not been corrobo-rated by other sources. Mr. M. Hagos added: “I personally am pessimist about finding many of them alive by taking into con-sideration the utter neglect of their health by the regime; the hostile prison environment they are in; continued lack of nutrient food; accumulation of untreated illness they had during the long years of the struggle in addition to their advanced ages of above 60”.

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Why were the 11 members of G15 Imprisoned? In the hearing, Mr. M. Hagos explained that 11 of the Eritrean National Assembly members were taken to custody simply because they voiced the urgency of taking action on previously drafted laws. They demanded for a meeting of the assembly in order to approve draft laws on formation of a multi-party system, national elections and activating various committees, including congress preparatory committee, all of which were left idle since their formation.

The president’s response was outright rejection to all the repeated calls for activating government functions through a peaceful and democratic process that was attainable using National Assembly decisions. When this group of 15 members of the assembly (G15) despaired of obtaining a response from the president, they started in May 2001 to make their position clear through interviews with the local press. All exchanges on this issue between the group and the president were shared with the general Eritrean public.

At the same time, the president and his supporters were engaged in negative campaigns and Intimi-dations against members of G15 whom they characterize as traitors working with the CIA and the Ethiopians. The president was claiming that state sovereignty was above everything else and that convening of National Assembly or practicing democracy was not timely while part of the country is under Ethiopian occupation.

He said the exchanges between the two sides continued for several months, and the regime was sharpening its accusations against G15 until it got the cover of the 9/11 incident of New York to take its planned measure against G15 members.

The 150-member Eritrean National Assembly consisted of 75 members from the ruling party and other 75 members selected from members of local assemblies. Today, in addition to the G11 prison-ers arrested September 2001; other six National Assembly members were also imprisoned in the past few years raising the number of assembly prisoners to 17. Other seven National Assembly members are currently outside Eritrea and six have died of natural causes. To give semblance of “legitimacy” to his action, the Eritrean president convened the National As-sembly on 14 February 2002 and had his action of 18 September 2001 “approved” by the rubber-stamp body. That was the last time the National Assembly met in the past 12 years.

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Process of Arrest of G11 In explaining the process of their incarceration, Mr. Mesfin Hagos said that arrest of 10 of the G15 members took place in the early morning hours of 18 September 2001 in an aggressive manner car-ried out by members of the special security personnel from the presidential guard. Some of the G15 members were in their pajamas and others putting up their jogging outfits for morning exercise. The security personnel handled terrorized family members with extreme harshness that including beating some of them. The 11th prisoner, Aster Fissehazion, was not in Asmara that morning but in her work place in Keren. She was arrested from here workplace in a couple of days. Other members of G15 escaped arrest mainly because of their presence abroad. The prisoners (G11) were first taken to Embatkala, about 30 kms east of Asmara, where they were kept under lock until the dungeon at Era-Ero was built for this purpose. Located some 70kms north of Asmara and 600 metres above sea level, Era-Ero is a dry and blisteringly hot zone where the temperature is nearly always above 40 degrees Celsius. He said he knew the area well because he stayed in it for quite long periods in the 1970s and in the 1990s. What Can Eritreans Expect from IPU? Mr. Mesfin Hagos told the IPU Human Rights Committee meeting that the IPU can appeal to its 180 member parliaments and governments to make more coordinated and effective pressure on the Eri-trean regime to tell about the situation of the G11 and other prisoners in Eritrea and demand that the prisoners are given justice by bringing them before a court of law. Secondly, the IPU is in a position to urge human rights and democracy advocacies the world over to push for visitations to Eritrea to see for themselves the situation of prisoners and try to protect their human dignity. Thirdly, the current struggle in Eritrea being a struggle for democracy, and since the promotion of democracy is one of the fundamental principles of IPU, Eritreans have the reason to expect the IPU to help in the empowerment of G15 members alongside other resistance organizations struggling to reclaim the betrayed promises of the Eritrean liberation struggle. He added that the G15 members outside Eritrea and their colleagues in struggle have little means to counter the distortions and misin-formation blackmails of the Eritrean regime against those opposed to it, including G15 members. Providing this opposition camp with radio, TV and other means of broadcast and awareness materi-als would enhance the cause for democracy and human rights in Eritrea. The fourth request he listed was support for Eritrean refugees everywhere. He said the mistaken policies of the Eritrean regime have disrupted the social fabric in the country and exodus displace-ment of its people, especially the young generation. He said IPU can take part in designing a pro-gramme of effective assistance to Eritrean refugees in Eastern Sudan and Northern Ethiopia that could have a long-term benefit to many refugees. One of the objectives of such a programme can be to provide vocational and higher education to young refugees. Funding of this huge programme could come from the technical assistance money suspended by many countries from reaching the Asmara regime because of its human rights record. Mr. M. Hagos said IPU is in a position to help through its member parliaments in the world.

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Since the IPU is committed to help settle regional conflicts which are causes of instability and inse-curity and hindrances to the promotion of democracy and human rights, help to settle the border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia could be one important issue that deserves IPU’s attention. The final and binding ruling of the border arbitration commission between the two countries has not been fully accepted by one of the conflicting parties and that making pressure to have it settled is of paramount important to Eritreans because the Eritrean regime is hiding behind the unsettled border conflict. .

During the discussion session, Mr. Mesfin Hagos welcomed a number of ideas that aimed at keep-ing alive the demands of G15 and the situation of the imprisoned G11. Attending the IPU Human Rights Committee Hearing were delegates from several member parliaments, and the IPU Secretary General Anders Johnsson with his Geneva office staff. Accompanying Mr. Hagos at the hearing was Mr. Wolde-Yesus Ammar, head of EPDP foreign relations office. Meeting at ICRC Headquarters On 17 January 2014, Messrs Mesfin Hagos and Wolde-Yesus Ammar met a high official of the Inter-national Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva who was urged by Mr. M. Hagos to exert more efforts to visit and find out about the fate of 11 former Eritrean government officials and about the situation of the thousands of Eritrean prison inmates.

Mr. Mesfin Hagos, a leading figure in the Eritrean liberation struggle, explained to the ICRC official many details about the peaceful and democratic contents of the movement and the multifaceted abuses of the one-man dictatorship in Eritrea. He felt that the ICRC was expected by many Eritreans to do more pressure on the regime especially in regard to knowing the situation of the imprisoned G15 members and many other prisoners in the country who are denied the most elementary rights including family visitations, healthcare, sufficient food and acceptable prison environment.

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The ICRC official appreciated the visit to their headquarters for adequate exchange of notes on the human rights situation in Eritrea and reassured the delegation that the ICRC has been trying to give due attention to the human rights situation in Eritrea and that it will try to do more in the future. The official did not hide the fact that the Eritrean authorities have not been cooperative with ICRC and the rest of the international community in regard to prisoners and human rights situation in the country. He made references to the annual report of ICRC on Eritrea and hoped the authorities in Eritrea change course and start to do good to their own people and country. The latest ICRC annual report on Eritrea issued in June 2013 stated that there always have been “difficulties in the implementation of ICRC’s planned activities” because of the lack of cooperation of Eritrea. Even ICRC finds it difficult to work with the Eritrean Red Cross “owing to government instruc-tions for it to cease receiving support from international organizations”. However, the ICRC contin-ued to do what it can in Eritrea while always “seeking to persuade the authorities that it was in their interest to recognize the applicability of the 1949 Geneva Conventions to the Eritrean context”. Meeting at the UN Human Rights Office Messrs Mesfin Hagos and Wolde-Yesus Ammar in late afternoon of 16 January met with senior rep-resentatives of Ms. Navanethem Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Ms Sheila Keetharuth, the UN Human Rights Rapporteur for Eritrea and paid gratitude for the continued attention their offices have been giving to the disquieting human rights situation in Eritrea. The EPDP delegation told the UN side headed at the meeting by Mr. Mahamane Cisse-Gouro, high official in the Africa Division, that both Ms Pillay and Ms Keetharuth have been effectively vocal on the ever worsening political and human rights situation in Eritrea and hoped they will continue the international pressure they have so far achieved to build on the reckless regime in Asmara. The adoption by the UN Human Rights Council last year of the report and recommendations for action by the UN Human Rights Rapporteur for Eritrea was one of the latest promising achievements men-tioned at the meeting.

EPDP delegation meets representatives of Ms Pillay and Ms Keetharuth who were out of Geneva

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The EPDP delegation explained in adequate detail the situation of political prisoners and the rest of the population suffering under the dictatorial regime. Among other things, the delegation asked if Ms Pillay’s office – the UN Office of the High Commis-sioner for Human Rights, UNOHCHR – could organize within the shortest time possible an interna-tional conference focused on the unbearable human rights situation of an entire population in Eritrea and thus help in avert worse happenings in the region. The UN officials assured that the international community is gradually but surely getting aware of what is happening in Eritrea and measurable actions are underway at several places and levels. They hoped that the pressures being made on the regime could bear fruit soon.

EPDP DRAWS UNHCR, EU ATTENTION TO

PLIGHT OF ERITREAN REFUGEES IN ISRAEL The State of Israel is one of the countries that deny basic rights to refugees. Over 35,000 Eritrean asylum seekers are among the victims of Israeli government policy against refugee rights. The over 60,000 Eritrean and Sudanese refugees in Israel have staged demonstrations for several days dur-ing the first week of January 2014 asking for an international attention to their plight.

In an urgent message on 4 January 2014 to the High Commissioners of the UN refugee agency and the EU Human Rights office, the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) called for an appropri-ate attention to the difficult situation of Eritrean asylum seekers in Israel.

Addressed both to UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Gueterres and EU High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks with copy to Israeli Government through its permanent mission in UN, the message informed that the Eritrean asylum seekers in Israel were calling for their action by stag-ing protests for three days starting on Sunday, 5 January, against the inhumane treatment of the Is-

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raeli authorities.

The Eritreans were protesting against the latest Israeli legislation aiming to force all refugees to spends nights in designated concentration camps. This situation is intended to be replaced by more strict measures after one year unless the Israel Supreme Court decides otherwise.

The EPDP memorandum called on the UNHCR and the EU Commissioners to intervene on the side of distressed Eritrean asylum seekers in Israel. Likewise, it called upon concerned Israeli authorities to treat Eritreans as legitimate refugees and not as illegal migrants until the situation in Eritrea is changed.

ERITREA: THE AFRICAN NORTH KOREA WHICH THOUSANDS WILL RISK ANYTHING TO ESCAPE

Quite a good number of journalists continue to report the sad Eritrean story of this decade whose cause is none other than the erstwhile “liberation” fighter Isaias Afeworki and now the worst dictator in Africa, if not in the entire world. During February 2014, one of the best read article was authored by Martin Plaut, a former BBC journalist who used to cover Eritrean events extensively. His latest article is on the widespread financial extortions of the regime collected in the form of subtle threats on the Eritrean diaspora. (http://www.harnnet.org/index.php/news-and-articles/top-headlines/6004-eritrea-how-the-london-embassy-forces-eritreans-to-pay-the-illegal-2-tax-full-report. It is a must read. Another must read article appeared in the press during the last months of 2013 by David Blair of the Telegraph. Under the title: Eritrea, the African North Korea which Thousands Will Risk Anything to Escape. Full text is copied below. *** Every year, many thousands of Eritreans go to extraordinary lengths to escape their country and start new lives elsewhere. This small nation in the Horn of Africa, with less than 6 million people, is one of the world’s biggest providers of desperate refugees.

Eritrean refugees look through barbed wire at Sudan's Shagarab refugee camp. AFP

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There is no civil war in Eritrea: its people flee because their isolated homeland could pass as an Afri-can version of North Korea. Like the Kim regime in Pyongyang, President Isaias Afewerki keeps Eri-trea on a permanent war-footing. Most adults are conscripted into the army or forced to perform compulsory labour of some kind. To-day, one Eritrean in every 20 serves in a bloated army with 320,000 soldiers. Mr Isaias justifies this eternal mass mobilisation by claiming that neighbouring Ethiopia is scheming to re-conquer Eritrea. Just as the fictional state of “Oceania” was always at war in George Orwell’s “1984”, so Mr Isaias presents his repression as essential to guarantee the survival of the nation against outside enemies. That message has some resonance because of Eritrea’s traumatic history. The country broke away from Ethiopia in 1993 after waging a brutal 30-year struggle for independence. The two neighbours have remained bitter rivals ever since, fighting a border war between 1998 and 2000 that claimed perhaps 70,000 lives. Today, the armies of Ethiopia and Eritrea still confront one another across a closed and fortified fron-tier. Mr Isaias, who led Eritrea to independence, thunders that Ethiopia continues to occupy a few patches of the sacred national territory. He has duly turned his country into a vast armed camp, frozen into a state of permanent antagonism with Ethiopia and much of the rest of the world.

A few survivors of the Lampedusa disaster of 3 October 2013

Many Eritreans will do almost anything to leave. There are three principal routes by which they try to escape – and all are exceptionally dangerous. Some make contact with people smugglers and pay for passage across the Red Sea to Yemen, from where they try to slip into Saudi Arabia and reach the wealthy kingdoms of the Gulf. Others head westwards, over the border into Sudan and then north across the Sahara into Egypt. Here, they have two options, both fraught with peril. Some turn east and try to cross the Sinai Penin-sula with the aim of reaching Israel. Along the way, they run the risk of being kidnapped by Bedouin gunmen, who often try to extract ransoms by torturing their captives. Others turn west and head over the frontier into Libya, from where they board overloaded boats of the kind that sank on Thursday. If they remain afloat, these vessels carry their huddled passengers across the Mediterranean to Sicily, the Italian mainland – or, more frequently, the island of Lampe-dusa where migrants are then detained. The fact that so many thousands are willing to take these risks shows just how desperate they must be to escape from Eritrea, a supposedly peaceful country that resembles an African Sparta.

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Outcome of Consultation Meetings of 15 Eritrean Opposition Organizations

The consultation forum discussions of 15 Eritrean opposition organizations that were launched in late August 2013 and continued through monthly meetings at the level of chairpersons, were concluded after a wider meeting of 45 leadership members held in Addis Ababa between 31 January and 4 February 2014.

The latest wider meeting that included chairmen and other leadership members re-viewed and adopted important points of understanding earlier reached by the forum of chairmen. Shortcomings of previous alliances in the Eritrean opposition camp were considered with candor and transparence and their possible remedies pointed out.

The political organizations also agreed to “come out of their boxes” and try to estab-lish workings alliances to be directed by the political organizations. The first step was to form a working coalition for the political organizations. The second task was to or-ganize an all-inclusive umbrella. This initial agreement was made public in an official statement released on 7 February 2014.

However, in a follow up meeting of the chairpersons convened to give clear interpreta-tion to the initial agreement, the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) reiterated its understanding that the chairpersons in the Consultation Forum are the ones who will have direct responsibility for the establishment of both the coalition for political parties and a wider umbrella for the entire opposition.

On the other hand, majority of the meeting participants reverted to their old position that the already existing preparatory committee of the Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change (ENDC) will be responsible for the creation of an umbrella while the Consultation Forum of the 15 chairmen will be limited to the establishment of their own political coalition. In view of the surfacing of these two divergent viewpoints and misunderstandings, the EPDP duly informed the Eritrean public that it has been obliged not to be part of the processes of forming umbrellas under the conditions ex-plained above. Meanwhile, the EPDP wished to reiterate its conviction that the con-sultations that have been going on between political organizations in Addis Ababa since last August were helpful in forging common viewpoints on many important is-sues and that can be useful in designing of future joint tasks. The EPDP also ex-pressed its commitment and willingness to continue its relentless struggle to realize the formation of a viable national umbrella that includes every stakeholder in the cur-rent struggle.

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EPDP BRANCHES IN MANY COUNTRIES CONTINUE

HOLDING REGULAR AND SPECIAL MEETINGS Branches of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), found in several countries in Africa, Australia, Europe, Middle East and North America continue holding their regular meetings as well as special gatherings as occasions deem it necessary.

The Frankfurt branch is one of the party organs that holds regular monthly meetings without fail. For instance, the branch held its second monthly meeting for this year on 9 February 2014 and its third monthly meeting is scheduled to be held on 9 March.

Meanwhile, the Addis Ababa branch called a special meeting of its members on 16 February 2014 and was addressed by the EPDP Chairman, Mr. Menghesteab Asmerom, on latest developments in the Eritrean political landscape.

The EPDP Frankfurt branch at its second meeting on 9 February 2014. The branch’s 3rd monthly

meeting for this year, expected to be addressed by Mr. Wolde-Yesus Ammar of the Foreign Office, will take place on 9 March.

A special event for a freedom fighter in Perth, West Australia

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  The different EPDP branches in Brisbane, Melbourne and other localities in Australia gathered in Perth, western Australia, on 26 January 2014 for a lively public seminar led by Central Council mem-ber Haile Ghebru. On 27 January, the EPDP members and compatriots gathered for a special event to honour a steadfast freedom fighter, Desta Tekle, who was marking his 70th birthday.

The Norway branch members joined other Eritreans in Oslo to conduct a solidarity meeting which aimed to mobilize the public for common action. The Norway branch also held its regular meeting on 23 February and considered many issues of the hour. EPDP members in many localities were en-gaged in different events other than regular branch meetings. For instance, party members took part in organizing a public meeting on 4 January of the non-profit charity in Germany known as Eritrean Human Rights and Refugee Advocacy (EHRRA). Party members were also active in the organiza-tion of the ENDF (Eritrean National Democratic Forces) seminar in London on 26 January in com-memoration of the 1st anniversary of the Forto army uprising of 21 January 2013 in Asmara. Party members in the Bay Area of California, in Indianapolis, Washington DC and other regions of North America were actively joining other compatriots in mobilizing a wider movement against the dictator-ship in Eritrea.

Norway branch at its regular meeting on 23 February 2013

On 15 February 2014, party members in Sweden joined other compatriots in holding an event re-lated to helping the Association for Disabled Eritreans (ADE).

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  MOHAMMED ALI IBRAHIM IS NOT YET TRACED SINCE HIS

DISAPPEARANCE IN KASSALA TWO YEARS AGO

The 14th of February 2014 was the second anniversary of Mohammed Ali Ibrahim’s disappearance in Kassala, Sudan. The Sudanese authorities, UNHCR and other concerned bodies could not help trace him. The main suspect for his disappearance is the Eritrean regime whose security person are known to be able do do what-ever they wish in Kassala and other Sudanese cities. A member of the Cen-tral Council of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), Mohammed Ali Ibrahim had left his home in the morning hours of 14 February 2012 and was never seen again. However, there were two clues about his being kid-napped by forces of darkness.

About the time of his disappearance, a vehicle without a plate number and with opaque windows was apprehended inside Kassala and was seen driving towards the road that leads to the victims residence zone. Another clue was a phone call using Mohammed Ali’s cell-phone and telling his friend that Mohammed Ali is not going to be traced easily. The Sudanese security office in Kassala was urged to help but nothing came out of it. Also both President .Omar al-Bashir of the Sudan and the then Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the late Meles Zenawi, were requested to help.

Mohammed Ali Ibrahim was a close friend and work colleague of Woldemariam Bahlbi and Tekle-berhan Ghebresadiq (Wedi Bashai), both executive committee members of

the then ELF-RC who were kidnapped by the Eritrean regime on 22 April 1992 and whose fate is not known to this day.

 Both kidnapped 22 years ago and still without trace

As the world knows well by now, it is a large number of Eritreans who have been kidnapped by the Eritrean regime and disappeared without trace. Add to this the relatively well publicized prisoners at Era-Ero and other prisoners languishing in the over 300 prisons of the regime, the figure climbs to tens of thousands.