The youth in Eritrea are literally being hunted by the regime in Asmera. In the Gedli era, the youth were commonly known as Manjus with some endearment. A deceptive mask hid the ugly deeds perpetrated on this demographic group. The terror on this age group was long hidden from the public in the Diaspora. So much so, that what the people in the Diaspora knew was only about the "benign" appearing Bet Temherti Sewra-- The Bet Temherti Sewra, where several hundred keyahti embaba (red flowers) were indoctrinated.

In the early 70s, the Selfi Nasnet armed units were isolated and scrounging for their life in the Kebessa. The sudden rupture of their group from the "mother" ELF organization left the dozen or so fighters clueless and insecure. Long before it established contacts with the towns in Eritrea and proper Ethiopia, Selfi Nasnet recruits were mostly gebar from the Kharneshim locality. Even these were few.

The recruitment campaign were less successful. The peasants at the edge of the Bahri area were well represented in the Ethiopian commando unit, known "Kommands." The pull factor had not dissipated yet. Take, for example, Endekur, now a retired colonel, who joined the Selfi Nasnet units, after the "commands" found him unfit, due to his short stature. Furthermore, organizationally, the ELF had a head start and the Selfi Nasnet faction was no match to it. To compensate for this shortfall, shepherds and hired farmers of Tigrai origin were encouraged to join them.

For publicity, it had to rely on Zegenfo, a semi-crazed farmer, often seen entertaining Asmera crowds in 1972.

Due to the harsh living conditions, and armed clashes of various sorts, the turnover rate was high. In 1971 a peasant recruit from the Kharneshim area defected to the Ethiopian Army. He was subsequently active in the Ethiopian irregular units, such as nechi lebash. Irked about his act, his former comrades raided his village, and kidnapped his young sibling Foto, who was watching the family's goats. This teenager shepherd was forcefully taken with them, and his goats were confiscated.

The terror inflicted on this family precedes, the cruel deeds of the current sessions of the special court in Eritrea. The authors remain the same characters. The difference is it did not raise an outcry. The goats consumed and the shepherd boy was drafted into the army. And was probably the first manjus in Sefli Nasnet. Foto did a forced march with other recruits into the Sahel Mountains for over two weeks.

The vast Sudanese plains were hosting Eritrean refugees for several decades. They were also often used as a safe haven for the guerrilla armies. Sadly, these places were often battle grounds. Running from the ceaseless pursuit of the ELF, the Selfi Nasnet, Obelline, and Sabbe groups in tandem, crossed the Sudanese border in 1972, and regrouped at Gereger.

The attack from the ELF, and the threat from the Ethiopian army garrison at Kerora stopped for several months. The hiatus enabled all the factions to organize and moblize for resources from abroad, and particularly from the versatile Sabbe. Aware of the ominous developments, ELF detachments launched an attack in 1973 at Gereger. Possibly hundreds of fighters died. Most of them ELF combatants, for they were on the offensive position.

Soon after, the Sudanese army intervened to stop the carnage. It arranged a cease fire, and took the wounded of both camps aboard its trucks for medical treatment into the closest towns. The dead who were being feasted on by the hyenas and vultures were a health threat to the nomadic inhabitants in the vicinity. The Sudanese, therefore, brought bulldozers to dig huge graves, and interned them.

Having had enough of it, the host country ordered both combatants to vacate the area and leave for Eritrea. They deployed a Sudanese army convoy to separate the two insurgent groups, and created a safe corridor towards Geli. While overseeing this, Sudanese army officers observed several teenage fighters among the Selfi Nasnet units. Foto was amongst them. Deeply affected by this, some of the officers reportedly asked for their custody, and eventually schooling in the Sudan. They were refused.

The fate of Foto did not remain unique. Likewise, countless of his age group were to face similar conditions in the early 80s. The EPLF, which was vehemently condemning forced recruitment in the Seraye region in the late 70s, suddenly reversed its position. After the retreat from the towns, its retreating and dwindling army in Sahel was in a crisis. A committee called Shimagele Biddeho was established, and mandated the task of drafting people en masse.

The Shimagele Biddeho assigned its fighting units and agit prop behind the enemy lines to execute this policy. Villages celebrating traditional festivals, and burials were often targeted. Agit prop will also launch a guayla to lure the village and trap the youths. Often the then non-performing elementary schools of the villages were used to corral the unfortunate victims.

The soft whimpering of UNICEF in Eritrea, against the separation of families from their youth is amusing. The public outcry against the actionwas ignored for ten years. I do not want to appear cynical, but I would surmise their latest reaction has more to do with the anguish and distress of their local staff of the UN agencies than by the angush of the suffering population.

Foto did not survive the war. Like many of his age group, he remains a paradox: a manjus, an abductee and a martyr in the annals of Eritrea's armed struggle.