Eritrea: An Unlikely Issue In American Politics

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Gedab News

By Gedab News
May 23, 2006, 14:11 PST

Bob McEwen, a former lobbyist for Eritrea, now campaigning to be a Congressman representing an Ohio district, has been accused by his opponent, Congresswoman Jean Schmidt, of working for a government that persecutes Christians.

Gedab News attempted to reach Alan Freeman, the congresswoman’s campaign manager, but has thus far not been successful.

The lobbyist, Bob McEwen, was paid about $15,000 a month by the Eritrean embassy in Washington, DC in 2004. Mr. McEwen, a former congressman who is trying to return to the House, used to work for Advantage Associates, a lobbying firm in Virginia. The firm received nearly $100,000, presumably to improve the image of the government of Eritrea and assist in its border dispute with Ethiopia.

The basis for the accusation is the annual US Department of State report which has, for 3 consecutive years now, accused the government of Eritrea of persecuting “religious minorities” derisively referred to as “Pente” in Eritrea, but includes Rema, Faith Mission, Mulu Wengel, Qale Hiwet, Seven Day Adventists, Orthodox Reform as well as so-called fundamental Muslims.

Although all of the “minority religions” have been in Eritrea for decades, the government of Eritrea outlawed the minority denominations in May 2002 on the pretext that they are not registered. It promised that they would re-open as soon their registration is complete and they satisfy government rules—which include a comprehensive questionnaire on the religion’s fundamental tenets, organizational structure, hierarchy, funding source and list of all membership. The government has yet to respond, via approval or rejection, to any of the application forms that were submitted.

This has forced the religious groups to go underground and worship secretly—and the Eritrean government has responded by conducting sweeps at social gatherings including weddings, arrests, a demand that they recant their faith and, according to testimonials, torture.

Congresswoman Jean Schmidt gained national notoriety when she criticized Congressman John Murtha’s call for US withdrawal from Iraq by stating: “Cowards cut and run but Marines never do.”

Prior to engaging Advantage Associates, the government of Eritrea had also hired the lobbying firm Greenburg Traurig at $50,000 a month for a 12 month period between mid 2002 and mid 2003. At the time, the government of Eritrea was aggressively seeking the establishment of an American military base in the port of Massawa.

Greenburg Traurig’s most famous employee is Jack Abramoff, who has been convicted of fraud and given a 5 year sentence.

Congressman Dana Rohrbacher, a close and unapologetic friend of Jack Abramoff who represents a congressional district in Orange County, California, has also been accused of showing favoritism to Eritrea in its border dispute with Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota’s 4^th District, an Eritrean-American has been endorsed by the Republican Party in its campaign to unseat the incumbent Democrat, a three-term congresswoman who is favored to win.

A spokesperson for the Eritrean Anti-Tyranny Global Solidariy disclosed that his group and concerned American friends are preparing questionnaires that will be sent to heavily contested districts where the outcome might be decided by few votes. The questionnaire will ask candidates their position on the human rights record of the government of Eritrea.

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