ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ)፡ ብሓፈሻ ንኹሎም ኣብ ሃገር ይኹን ኣብ ወጻኢ ንዘለዉ ኤርትራውያን፡ ብፍላይ ድማ ንኣመንቲ ክርስትና እንኳዕ ናይ ወርሓት ክረምቲ  ክብደትን ተጽዕኖን ሓሊፉ   ሸዊት ናብ ዝብለዓሉ ብርሃነ-መስቀል ብሰላም ኣብጸሓኩም ኣብጸሓና ንብል።

መጻኢና በቲ ሓደ ወገን  ሓረስታ ኤርትራ ብሰላም ዘራእቱ ዝእምርረሉ፡ በቲ ካልእ ወገን ድማ ኩሉ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝባና ተጻዒኑ ዘሎ በደላት ህግደፍ ብቃልሲ ተሳዒሩ  ዘተኣማምን ብርሃንን ሰላምን ዝሰፍነሉ መጻኢ ክኾነልና ብስም ኩሎም ኣባላት ሰዲህኤ ሰናይ ትምኒትና ንገልጽ።

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ገረዝጊሄር ተወልደ

ኣቦመንበር ሰዲህኤ

26 መስከረም 2024

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Eritrean activists face legal battles in America

National Security Journal

September 23,

After North Korea, Eritrea is the world’s most repressive and totalitarian country. Independence leader Isaias Afwerki rules with an iron fist. He rejects elections, and treats the country as his personal fiefdom. Unlimited conscription and national service transformed Eritrean citizens into unpaid slaves and made the country Isaias’ plantation. In response, many Eritreans flee. The routes are perilous; many die of thirst in the desert or drown crossing the Red Sea or Mediterranean. Tribesmen, criminals, and slavers prey upon them. Isaias is fine with the flight as Eritrea relies not only upon remittances from those who make it to Europe and the United States but also extorts a two percent “tax” based on ethnicity rather than citizenship. If an Eritrean renounces their citizenship, Isaias does not care. If they do not pay two percent of their income back to his treasury, their relatives will suffer back in Eritrea.

Other members of the diaspora, I would argue, advocate for the government for either privilege or, as possible, intelligence officers who spy on the Eritrean community. This is a strategy ripped from the North Korean playbook. Some experts argue that various ‘front groups’ regularly promote Pyongyang positions in Washington, seeking to confuse policy or, on occasion, win a propaganda coup when they can convince a representative to parrot their talking points without looking behind the curtain.

Indeed, Isaias considers pro-government diaspora to be a “fourth front” to supplement the country’s Western, Central, and Eastern fronts. Eritrean embassies often coordinate with diaspora front groups to lionize Isaias and celebrate festivals important to his rule. Eritrean front groups usually seek to intimidate those who favor freedom and democracy. In recent years, clashes and violence have become commonplace as pro-regime Eritreans attack those who do not share their views.

The pro-freedom diaspora has now responded. Over the past two years, diaspora groups across Europe and the United States have rallied behind the so-called “Blue Revolution.” Many of this pro-freedom, anti-Isaias Eritreans counter-protest at pro-regime festivals. This infuriates Isaias and pro-regime organizers as it takes the shine off their events and undermines the image of Eritrean solidarity they promote.

The pro-Isaias community in the United States now appears to be experimenting with a new strategy: Using U.S. courts to target anti-regime protestors. Earlier this year, the Eritrean Association in Greater Seattle sued several Eritrean democracy activists at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma. While the case remains mired in its early procedural issues such as service, it sets a dangerous precedent.  Many cases have no merit—and reading the complaint, this appears to be one of them. The Eritrean Association says they serve more than 7,000 local Eritreans and openly acknowledge they organize events such as Eritrean Independence Day and Martyr’s Day celebrations. These parallel government holidays that lionize Isaias. The complaint then suggests that for their advocacy, they have become the target of hate crimes. This, of course, elides “hate crimes” with political dissent as those whom they accuse share the same ethnicities.

The root of the Eritrean Association complaint is that protestors disrupted their event by protesting and caused participants to cancel hotel reservations. They allege violence, but the complaint appears exaggerated. What the complaint alleges to be severe violence and destruction of property, the local police spokeswoman acknowledged tents tipped over. She described them as scuffles “that have quickly ended.”

It is understandable that the U.S. government prefers to remain aloof. After all, the judiciary is an independent branch of government, and the executive branch has no business interfering. At the same time, though, this can play into Isaias’ hijacking of the courts. He can channel unlimited funds to his front groups and lawyers to try to use court procedures and hearings to intimidate and bankrupt the Eritrean opposition.

The courts should be interested in not allowing themselves to be used by a dictator or groups that, by their actions, appear to act as his proxies. The State Department should also file a brief with the court explaining Eritrea’s methodology and strategies to target and neutralize opposition. Lawfare is simply its latest tactic.

Make no mistake: Freedom is on trial in Tacoma. Not only is Isaias watching its outcome, but dictators from Beijing to Moscow to Addis Ababa to Caracas will also seek to use U.S. courts to do their dirty work.

ኣብ ኤርትራውያን ጉዳይ ፖለቲካ ክለዓል እንከሎ፡ ኣዛረብቲ ካብ ዝኾኑ ጉዳያት ሓደ፡ ኣብ መንጎ ሰልፊ/ውድብን ህዝብን ክህሉ ዝግበኦ ዝምድና እዩ። እዚ ዛዕባ ዝያዳ ኣዛራቢ ዝኸውን ነቲ ዝምድና ብሕግን ስርዓትን ዘይኮነ፡ ብሸፈጥን ዓመጽን ዝብለጽሉ ዘይሓላፍነታዊ ውዳበታት ኣብ ዝዋስእሉ መስርሕ እዩ። ብኣውርኡ ድማ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ናይዚ ሸፋጢ ኣገላልጻ ዝምድና ህዝብን ግንባርን ኣብነት ኮይኑ፡ ዕድመ ስልጣኑ ንምንዋሕ ካብ ዝጥቀመሎም ስልትታት ሓደ እዩ።

ውድብ ወይ ሰልፊ፡ ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ ንጥፈታት ዝተግህ፡ ከዕውቶ ዝቃለሰሉ ሸቶ ዘለዎ፡ ናይ ኣባላቱ ድሌትን እምነትን ጥራይ ዝውክል ትካል እዩ። እቲ ዝሕዞ መልክዕ ውዳበ ከኣ ከከም ምርጫ ናይቶም ወደብቱ ዝተፈላለየ ክኸውን ይኽእል። ዜጋታት ፖለቲካዊ ዕድል ህዝቦምን ሃገሮምን ኣብ ዝውስን ቃልሲ ንምስታፍ ኣብ ዙርያ ንኣተሓሳስባኦም ዝውክል ትካል ናይ ምውዳብ መሰል ኣለዎም።  መሰረታዊ ዕላማ ናይ ምውዳቦም ኩለ-መዳያዊ ዕቤት ሃገሮምን ህዝቦምን ምብራኽን ተነፊጉና ዝብልዎ መሰላት ንምውሓስን እዩ። ናብኡ ንምብጻሕ ዝተፈላለዩ ኣተሓሳስባታት ስለ ዝሕዙ፡ ከከም ምርጫኦም ናይ ዝተፈላለያ ውዳበታት ኣባላት ይኾኑ።  እቲ ዝተፈላለየ ኣተሓሳስባታት ዝወልዶ   ውዳበታት ክበዝሕን ክውሕድን ይኽእል። ኣብ ሓንቲ ሃገር ዝህልው ብዝሒ ውድባት “ክንድዚ ክኸውን ኣለዎ”  ዝብል ገደብ’ኳ እንተዘየለ፡ ሓደ ፖለቲካዊ ውድብ ጥራይ ምህላው ናይ ሓሳብ ምርጫ ስለ ዘስእን ኣይምረጽን። ንስለ ምብዛሕ ኢልካ ውዳቤታት ምምስራት’ውን ኣይተባባዕን። ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ምርጫ ንምህላውን ዓቕምታት ንዘይምብታንን ክልተ፡ ተወዳዳሪ ሰልፍታት ምህላው እኹል እዩ ዝብሉ ወገናት ኣለዉ።

ኣብ መስርሕ ቃልሲ ናይ “መን ርኢቶኡ ብዝያዳ ናብ ህዝቢ ኣስረጸ”  ውድድር ክህልው ናይ ግድን እዩ። እቲ ውድድር ነቲ እትመርጾ ኣታሓሳስባ ንከተዕውት “መን ይምራሕ” እውን ዘጠቓልል እዩ። መሰረታዊ ሕቶ ህዝቢ ብዝምልስ ኣተሓሳስባ ዝምራሕ ውዳበ፡ ናይ ምዕባይን ምስፋሑን ዕድሉ ሰፊሕ እዩ። ናይ ሓደ ውድብ ምዕባይን ዘይምዕባይን ካብ ዘርእዩ ረቛሕቲ ሓደ  ካብቲ ትቃለሰሉ ክሳብ ክንደይ ብኣባልነት ከተሰልፍ ምብቃዕን ዘይምብቃዕን እዩ። ሓደ ውዳበ፡ እቲ ዝኽተሎ ኣተሓሳስባ ቅኑዕ ኮይኑ፡ ኣባላቱ ኣይውሕዱን ማለት ኣይኮነን። ጠንቂ ዕላምኡ ህዝባዊ ክነሱ፡ ናይ ሰዓብቱ ምውሓድ ክኾኑ ካብ ዝኽእሉ፡ ሓሳብካ ብግቡእ ኣብቲ ተጠቃሚ ህዝቢ ክተስርጽ  ዘይምብቃዕ እዩ። ስለዚ ምስ ቅኑዕ ዕላማ ንዓኡ ዝምጥን ምንቅስቓስን ጐስጓስን’ውን ወሳኒ እዩ።

ብሰንኪ ዘይህዝባዊ ዕላማኦም፡ ተቐባልነት ብምስኣኖም ዘይዓበዩ፡ ግና ድማ ዓበይቲ ናይ ምዃን ህርፋን ዘለዎም፡ ከም ህግደፍ ዝኣመሰሉ ውዳበታት ዝጥቀምዎ ስልቲ፡ ሰላማዊ፡ ሕጋውን ውሑስን መወዳደሪ ሜዳ ምዕጻው እዩ። ድሕሪኡ ከምቲ “በይኑ ዝጐዪ ዝቕድሞ የብሉን” ዝበሃል፡ ተወዳዳሪ ኣብ ዘየብሉ ብሑት ፖለቲካዊ ሜዳ፡ “ፈተኹም ጸላእኩም ኣነ እየ ናትኩም” ብምባል ሰባት ብዜግነቶም ክረኽብዎ ዝግበኦም መሰላት ምስ ናይ ውድብ ኣባልነት ኣተኣሳሲርካ ምፍርራሕ እዩ። ኣብ ርእሲዚ “ኣነ ህዝቢ እየ፡ ህዝቢ ከኣ ኣነ እዩ”  ክሳብ ምባል እውን ይብጻሕ እሞ፡ እቲ ምልኪ ይስዕርር። እዚ ከምዚ ህግደፍ ጸረ ህዝቢ ባህርያቱ ክሓብእ፡ መብጸዓታት እናቐያየረ፡ “ንሕና ሃገር ንሕና ህዝቢ” ዝዝምሮ ማለት እዩ። እዚ ኣካይዳ ካብ ድሌት ህዝቢ ወጻኢ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ተግበርቱ ወትሩ ኣብ ስግኣት፡ ሻቕሎትን ምሽቑራርን እዮም ዝነብሩ። ከይወዳደሮም ንዝሰግእዎ ከኣ ብምእሳር፡ ምስዋርን ምቕታልን ስቕ ከብልዎ ይፍትኑ። ሃጽ ኢሉ ኣርሒቑ ክጠፍኣሎም ከኣ ድሌቶም እዩ።

ህዝቢ ብባሕሪ እዩ ዝምሰል። እታ ሃገርን ጸጋታታን ከኣ ናቱ እዮም። ኣባላት ውድብ ይኹኑ ሰልፊ ካብዚ ባሕሪ እዮም ዝቕድሑ። ህዝቢ ኣብ ዘየለወሉ ውድባትን ኣባላተንን ኣይህልዉን እዮም። ህዝቢ ግና እዘን ውድባት ኣብ ዘይሃለዋሉ’ውን ህያውን ነባርን እዩ። ዜጋታት ናይ ሓደ ውዳበ ኣባላት ክኾኑ ኣብ ዝመረጹሉ፡ ኣብ ክሊ ናቱ ምንቅስቓስ በቲ ዝተቐበልዎ ሕጊ ክቕየዱን ክሕተቱን ግድን እዩ። ናይ ሰልፊ ይኹን ውድብ ኣባላት ዘይኮኑ  ዜጋታት ግና፡ ብናይተን ውዳበታት ውሽጣዊ ሕጊ ኣይቅየዱን እዮም። ናይቲ ውዳበታት መራሕቲ እውን ነቲ ኣብ ክሊ ውዳበኦም ዘሎ ኣባል እምበር፡ ንዝኾነ ዜጋ ናይ ምግዳድ መሰል የብሎም። ኣብ ከም ናይ ኤርትራ ዝኣመሰላ ካብ ሕገ-መንግስቲ ጀሚርካ ኩሉ ሕግታት  ዝበኾረሉን ህግደፍ ዝበሃል ኢደ-ወነናዊ ግንባር በይኑ ኣብ ዝዕንድረሉን፡ ኣባሉ ይኹን ኣይኹን  ብኣልማማ በቲ ዘይምልከቶ ናይ ግንባር ሕጊ ምቕጻዕ፡ ምምሕዳርን ጸጋታቱ ምርሳይን ዝተለመደ እዩ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ብፍላይ ከኣ እቲ ኣብ ሃገሩ ዝነብር ዘሎ ድማ በዚ ህይወት’ዚ እዩ ዝሓልፍ ዘሎ።

ከምቲ ተመኩሮ ብዙሓት ሃገራት ዘርእዮ፡ ኣብተን ውዳበታት ዝስለፉ ዜጋታት ካብቲ ጠቕላላ ህዝቢ ውሑዳት እዮም። ንኣብነት ስልፊ ባራትያ ህንዲ 12.7%፡ ኮምኒስት ሰልፊ ቻይና 7%፡ ሃገራዊ ሰልፊ ህንዲ 6.7%፡  ምንቅስቓስ ንፍትሒ ፓኪስታን 12.24%፡ ሰውራ ጋና 25%፡ ሰልፊ ብልጽግና ኢትዮጵያ ድማ 11% ካብ ህዝቢ ናይተን ሃገራት ብኣባልነት ከም ዘሰለፉ ኣብ ማሕበራዊ መራኸቢ ካብ ዝሰፈሩ ሰነዳት ምርዳእ ይከኣል።

እቶም ውሑዳት ኣባላት ውድባትን እቲ መላእ ህዝብን ብሓባር ዝራኸቡ፡ ኣብቲ ንኹሎም ዝውኪሉ፡ ሽግራቶም ዝፈትሕን ዘመሓድሮምን መንግስቲ እዩ። ሰልፍታት ኣብቲ መንግስቲ ከከም ስፍሓቶም እጃም ኣለዎም። ኣብዚ ሰፊሕ መድረኽ መንግስቲ ንኹሎም ዜጋታት ብሓደ ዓይኒ ናይ ምርኣይ ሓላፍነት ኣለዎ። ኣብ ከም ኤርትራ ዝኣመሰላ ብሓደ ግንባር ጥራይ ዝተባሕታ ሃገራት፡ ዋላ ንይምሰል ምርጫ ዘይተኻየደሉ ኩነታት ግና ኣብ መንጎ’ቶም ነናቶም ሓላፍነትን መሰልን ዘለዎም ህዝቢ፡ መንግስትን ውድብን ክህሉ ዝግበኦ ፍልልይ ኣይረኣይን። ስለዚ እዩ ድማ ንሓደ ውዳበን ንሱ ዘቑሞ መንግስትን ምቅዋም ማለት ክድዓት ሃገርን ህዝብን ኣምሲሎም ከቕርብዎ ዝፍትኑ።  

ኣብዚ እዋንዚ መብዛሕትአን ሃገራት ፍልልይ ህዝብን ፖለቲካዊ ውዳበን ብሕጊ ኣብ ዝተነጸረሉ፡ ብሰልፋዊ ብዙሕነት እየን ዝመሓደራ። ሳላ’ቲ ናይ ሓሳብ መማረጽታት ምህላዉ ከኣ ዝሓሸ ምኽባር ዲሞክራስን ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ኣለወን። ኣብተን ብሓደ ሰልፊ ጥራይ ዝምረሓ ከም ኤርትራ፡ ቻይና፡ ሰሜን ኮርያ፡ ቬትናምን ኩባን ዝኣመሰላ ሃገራት ከኣ ህዝበን ብብኩራት ዲሞክራስን  ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ይሳቐ። ስለዚ ኣብ ናይ ጽባሕ ኤርትራ ሕገመንግስታዊ፡ ትካላት መንግስቲ ኣብ ዝተነጸረሉን ርክብ ህዝቢ፡ መንግስትን ሰልፍታትን ሕጋዊ መልክዕ ዝሓዘሉን ስርዓት ንምትካል ቃልስና ብሓባር ንቐጽል።