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“As far as we are concerned, these are members of the Eritrean Defense Forces”. Sawa military camp commander COLONEL DEBESAI GHIDE, in an interview with TV program ‘Wefri Warsai Yikaalo’, referring to 12th graders currently in Sawa. <›Hqq ¢D÷}?... †sï'N …©öL †£> (No questions? … Well, this is sheer mutiny!). PFDJ SECRETARY, ALAMIN MOHAMMED SAID, reacting to the eerie silence of Ministry of Information staff at the end of a lecture he gave. <…KUŠ mkkqU †¥ oA{ðÄ;” (America was built by the power of the stick). ISSAYAS AFWERKI, addressing national service corps in Sawa; July 12, 2003. “Yes, children of foreign nationals are also welcome. Actually, many expatriates, including some Indian teachers, have expressed their willingness to send their children”. MINISTER OF EDUCATION, OSMAN SALEH, in an ERI-TV interview, explaining that the Warsai-Yikaalo school in Sawa, would, henceforth, be the only institution that would give 12th grade classes in the entire country. <…q} kE—oñ ´n> (You bribe takers!).
MAJOR GENERAL WUCCHU “I am well past my 80th year in this world, and I don’t think I would lose anything by telling the truth. What I will tell you, my dear, is only what the people are saying about you [the government]. How the people are struggling to make ends meet no longer touches your heart. It’s not a matter of concern to you that many a family is surviving on just one meal a day! The people are now left with nowhere to turn to, but God. Degim hzbi k’Eebukkum yu.” (The people now scorn you more than ever). An ELDERLY MAN addressing Ms. Askalu Menkerios, Minister of Labor and Human Welfare, who was conducting a meeting for local elders in Mendefera. “When they needed them, they entered each house and took whoever they wanted to take. Now, when it came to telling us their fate, they feel too lazy to go to every bereaved family and tell them the news in private.” A GRIEVING MOTHER dismayed at the cruel and insensitive way of informing families of the death of their loved ones in showy public meetings rather then allowing them the dignity to mourn in private. “Even if the rains come, what is the use when nobody is around to plough the fields?” An ERITREAN WOMAN in the rural highlands talking to VOA reporter (now in jail) Aklilu Solomon. “Why should somebody in Washington be more concerned about an Eritrean citizen?” [near verbatim] ALI ABDU of/from the Ministry of Information, (this is his other official title, which the official Eritrean news media use alternately with the title of ‘Acting Minister’), irritated by a question from VOA’s Tigrigna program presenter regarding the disappearance of their reporter, Aklilu Solomon. “What more miracles do you expect? He has already accomplished his miracle. He made everybody walk empty-pocketed!” A sarcastic YOUTH upon being told by his friend that, judging by the way Issayas was spending considerable time on the so-called Massawa tourism project, he was probably up to something important – a grand scheme of sorts, a miracle. “At home I was placed in detention because I am a Jehovah's Witness, a religion that is unacceptable to practice in my country. In jail I was raped and beaten so badly that I still have problems walking. … In Eritrea I didn't know whether I would die by the knife or by the bullet. If this [UK Home Office’s] policy continues, some of us who hoped to find a safe haven in Britain risk dying of cold and hunger.”
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