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In Salem, Massachusetts, they used to throw suspected witches into a lake: if they floated, that proved they were witches and if they drowned, then they were dead witches. In our region, the Anteregna faced almost similar mistreatment.
Axum owes its glorious civilization to the artists of the time: the masons, the wood-carvers, iron-smiths and goldsmiths. But the peasantry despised craftsmen; those who created things had to be practitioners of witchcraft. Of the lot, goldsmiths were the most despised- they were known as Anteregna, a reference almost synonymous with witches. Superstitious people believed Anteregnas controlled evil spirits and possessed people and were not allowed to intermarry with the rest of the society that sometimes tried to destroy their alleged ability to control evil spirits. The method for doing that was weird…but we will get to that at the end of this story…: ccc
Everything that glitters in Bisha is gold ccc
Gold is bright yellow, expensive and glitters. Eritrea has abundant gold deposit. If not for the PFDJ, the conqueror of Eritrea, this would have been a blessing. But now, in the absence of freedom and justice in the country, the gold will prove to be a curse. And where there is gold, there is an Anteregna. This time, the Antergna is a Canadian company: Nevsun Mining Corporation.
Canada is a great country: Democratic. Tolerant. Prosperous. Peaceful. Civilized. Welcoming- say anything positive and you won’t miss. Nevesun is a Canadian corporation: Legal. Hopefully honest. Hopefully understanding. Hopefully run by a board that doesn’t think of itself as The British West India Company of the old British Empire. ccc
A mini history of decolonization
The last century witnessed the most extensive struggle by colonized people. The idea of getting rid of a master who hauls the bounties of the country in order to become a master of your own land seemed very attractive. The colonized world found an inspiration in the “anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist” rhetoric of socialism where slogans assured the people that under socialism the earth would become a paradise.
Socialism had developed the most effective agitation rhetoric in the history of modern politics. Armed with red books and violent class-consciousness, the elite mobilized the people. They pedaled true-sounding goals to liberate their people. Sometimes the land was liberated; in many other cases the colonizers just packed and left leaving nations to cope with the control of the much talked about “exploited resources”.
But even where the resources were controlled by the indigenous population, wealth was not forthcoming and miseries worsened. Resulting violent struggles added more wounds that are still crippling many nations. De-colonization attracted the localized oppressors who now rule with impunity. These local tyrants, most of whom were liberators-turned-dictators, are often empowered and emboldened by interest groups: conglomerates and multi-nationals who unfortunately care too much about maximizing profit and too little about its cost. The un-elected governments -the elite who rule helpless societies guard oil fields and mineral-mines in exchange for profit-sharing or kickbacks from the corporations. And when the movers of the free economy do not consult their moral compass and are not compassionate, the result is disaster. And the citizens lose.
So much sacrifice and years of struggle seem to have produced nothing but a local tyranny that replaced a foreign tyranny. The question is: how do dictators get away with the crimes they commit against their people? Where do they get the power to do that? I believe they are all (including the Eritrean dictator) being empowered by “pragmatic” politicians of the West and adventurous or corrupt multi-nationals who lack so much in the moral department.
NEVESUN: Anteregna Corp. ccc
I have been following the developments of Nevsun for several years. To get a grip of the issue, I studied their press-releases, their financials and other related documents. I started to research materials and books on the environmental impact of mining (heap-leaching and specially open-pit mining that Nevsun is using in Eritrea) and the use of Cyanide. I have an idea of the revenue the PFDJ is expecting to get from the deal. Yet, I still remain a layman, albeit an informed layman. And now, with the little information that I have, I can see that an illegitimate deal is passing under our noses: this deal stinks. It is anti-freedom and is pro-tyranny, and something worthy of a determined fight—which I intend to wage peacefully. ccc I am beginning my fight by telling Nevsun (and my readers) that the gold coins they are about to collect are blood stained. They are dirty. And whoever is making a deal with them from the Eritrean side is not authorized to broker any deal. The concession of development land where they will mine is stolen property and its original owners did not have a say in the deal. The PFDJ may deny the existence of indigenous people: “There are no indigenous groups located in the project area (National Museaum of Eritrea, personal communication, April 2006)”.1 But Nevsun should know that the owners of Bisha are a people called Baria (renamed Nara to fit the sensitivities of the ethnocentric rulers). They are either languishing in refugee camps in the Sudan and elsewhere since the massacres of Ad Ibrahim in the late sixties. The much celebrated ‘liberation of Eritrea’ didn’t bring those people back to their ancestral home. Instead, it enabled the conquerors, the PFDJ, to own their properties which are now given to Nevsun, whose excavators and earthmovers are already digging the land. The local people in Eritrea, like the rest of the population, are helpless; in a country where the price of dissent is heavy, they do not have a voice to object. The promotion of the government media of such projects and Nevsun’s “Cartoon Brochures”, “3D presentations” and “coffee shop discussions” does not give the deal any legitimacy. And I wonder: why does a company that carries the nationality of a peaceful, free and democratic nation deal with a dictator on stolen property? ccc Buying A Stolen Car Is Illegal ccc If someone bought a stolen car in Ottawa and was caught driving it, the police will certainly arrest him. If he proved he didn’t know the car was stolen, he might escape with a warning to be careful and not to deal in stolen goods again. However, if he bought the stolen car knowingly, he would certainly go to jail for being an accomplice to a thief. Which one is the case of Nevesun?
Our dictator is stealing the resources of our country and Nevesun is buying it from him. Nevesun is empowering him with hard currency that will not be spent on the welfare of the people. A chunk of the proceeds reinforces the tools of oppression against Eritrean citizens and the rest fattens the pockets of arms dealers to the tune of about US $ 150 million yearly or, 25% of Eritrea’s GDP2 and in 2000 the Financial Times reported of a growing Eritrean fiduciary deposits in Swiss banks– one more proof that the gold coins are blood-stained!
Nevesun wanted to buy a gold ring, the PFDJ sold them a bloodied ring together with the hostage’s severed finger.
Nevesun is not a mom-and-pop outfit and knows the illegitimate nature of the Eritrean tyranny- Eritrea is simply conquered by the PFDJ. The tyrant doesn’t hold a deed title to Eritrea and is continuing to rule with the power of the gun. So what are the owners of the resources supposed to do? Watch silently while their lives are becoming worse by the day and their jailer is being empowered by rich corporations? Why does Nevesun choose to be caught in the middle of a struggle between a people determined to be free and a tyranny determined to enslave the people indefinitely? Though the tyrant has a military force composed of forcefully conscripted youngsters wasting their lives like slaves, they are not dependable on this specific task because they are stake holders themselves. Nevsun is acting like a daredevil pitching a tent in the middle of a battleground where tyranny and freedom are facing each other. This is serious and I wish it would stop – many Eritreans are taking it as an in-your-face provocation. ccc
The majority of Eritreans are struggling to end tyranny and all forms of oppression. The Eritrean struggle aims to establish a just, stable and prosperous democratic nation on the ashes of the authoritarian regime. Eritreans are aspiring to establish a free-market economy where entrepreneurship would be rewarded and where creativity and the resourcefulness of the people will be set free. An economy that would protect and encourage investments. They are struggling for a day when deals will be negotiated and signed by elected representatives of the people. A day when the press will keep an eye on issues of public interest and dig deep and investigate corruption. A day when the people will debate openly whether to endorse a deal or not. That day is not very far away. ccc When this dream is realized, as many dreams are, and Eritreans take hold of their country, I don’t wish companies like Nevesun to be viewed as an extension of the demised dictatorship. I don’t wish them to be blacklisted in the minds of Eritreans in the future for being supporters of a tyranny that chocked them for too long. I wish that Nevesun would respond positively and stop operations in Eritrea until there is a democratic government, until it can do business with the real owners and elected representatives of the people. I wish Nevesun would establish goodwill with Eritreans, a gesture that Eritreans would never forget and be grateful for. Such noble, civilized and humane decision would earn Nevesun a special respect in the eyes of Eritreans and the freedom loving people of the world. So what should Eritreans do about this?
1- Eritrean Anti Tyranny Global Solidarity We have been talking about this with many friends for a long time. As soon as the October 30 demonstration is wrapped up, the Eritrean Anti Tyranny Global Solidarity should launch a campaign to deal with the Nevesun assault on Eritrean freedoms. There are several steps that we are planning to take including a legal avenue. A lawsuit against Nevsun in relevant courts in Canada. Pro-bono lawyers are needed to help in building this case. 2- Eritrean Scholars and Academicians Should research the matter and advice ways of confronting this threat of Nevesun on the struggle for the democratization of Eritrea. Lawyers, scientists and historians are asked to come up with a strong case to confront Nevesun. ccc 3- Politicians ccc Should initiate a dialogue with Nevesun and reason out with them to stop operations until Eritrea establishes a just and elected government that truly represents the people. The Canadian government should be approached and complaints lodged against the actions of Nevesun to persuade them to cease operating in Eritrea. It is in their best interest to cease the unlawful operations in Eritrea and there is no reason to believe they would want to continue dealing in stolen property from the hands of a dictator. 4- General Public On November 26, 2006, there will be a high profile function where select speakers will speak on investment and stock related issues including Gold Stock. Nevsun is one of the exhibitors. The address of the venue is: 55 4th Street, San-Francisco, CA, 94103. We need to demonstrate there to show our disapproval of the Nevesun actions. If Nevesun shows arrogance and disregard for the silent plea of many hurt Eritreans, I think we should shame the company all around the world by exposing its greedy actions, the irresponsibility of its board of directors and appeal to its share holders to boycott the company. We must focus on the environmental aspects, the violation of minority rights (in this case the Baria and Kunama). And the enabling of a tyranny by partnering with it financially. Demonstrating in the heart of the New York stock exchange, at Wall Street, would certainly punish the company. This is our herald for a peaceful fight. Now back to the story: The Anteregna would be lured to a place and would be directed to sit on a chair that has a huge concealed mesfe, a nail-like sharp tool mainly used to part hair during braiding. The unsuspecting Anteregna would sit on the nail that would pierce his buttocks and he would certainly cry of pain. That was supposed to be the cure! This was common in many parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Do you see any similarity between how Salem and the Axumites dealt with their “witches”?
Saleh Gadi
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1 Interim Public Consultation Report (page 5) prepared by AMEC Earth & Environment of Canada for Nevsun) http://www.nevsun.com/Social%20Responsibility/Final%20interim%20PC%20report%205%20July2006.pdf
2 Library of Congress- Federal Research Division country profile: Eritrea, September 2005: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Eritrea.pdf#search=%22military%20spending%20Eritrea%22 Suggested reading:
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (A Book by Jared Diamond) Chapter on mining in Montana http://www.tdsecurities.com/web/eqreslist.nsf/monthlist?openform&1xJune_2006 http://www.theaureport.com/cs/user/print/co/222?x-t=pub.view&id=100815 http://www.wallst.net/news/news_search_result.asp http://www.na-investor.com/hosting/NSU/default.asp http://www.ceoclips.com
http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/gold/cyanide.htm http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/alerts/gold.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-pit_mining
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heap_leaching |
