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Eritrean Canadians Deny Meeting Venue To PFDJ Spokesman |
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By Gedab News -
Feb 25, 2006
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The venue for Mr. Hagos Kisha Gebrehiwets seminar in Toronto, Canada was moved after members of ECDHR (Eritrean Canadians for Democracy and Human Rights) alerted the host, the St. Clair Parish, of the government of Eritreas human rights record. After learning of the Eritrean governments record of closing churches, the St Clair Parish denied the use of its space to the seminar organizers. The organizers of Hagos Kishas seminar have found a creative way to explain the change of the venue. In announcing the change of venue, www.dimtsi.com, a pro-government website reported that the change was due to the size of the hall and our expectations the location of the seminar has been changed to a new location. Background
Hagos Kisha Gebrehiwet is the financial boss of PFDJ, Eritreas ruling and sole legal party. Party-owned corporations dominate all sectors of Eritreas markets, including insurance, commodities, construction, housing, shipping, banking and currency exchange. They achieved this monopoly due to their tax-exempt status and access to unlimited supply of cheap labor (the conscripted army.) Dimtsi.com is a website operated by Mr. Fnan Araya, who is the son of Ambassador Araya Desta. Araya Desta used to be Eritreas ambassador to Canada in the early 1990s but was accused of harboring backward thinking and sentiment to Akeleguzay region and sent to China in 1995, to be replaced by Nura, the wife of the late Ibrahim Affa and the PFDJs Whip in Canada. Mr. Araya Desta eventually became Eritreas amabassador to Sweden where he rehabilitated himself by pledging total allegiance to President Isaias Afwerki and accusing his former colleagues, the G-15, of defeatism and regionalism. He has since been rewarded with a new position as head of Eritreas permanent mission to the UN. |
