A Nepalese doctor performed cataract operation on 250 blind North Koreans.  A few days later, he removed all their bandages and their eyesight was restored. Excitement filled the hall and the grateful patients rushed to express their gratitude to, no, not the Nepalese doctor, but the two pictures on the wall: the current and former dictators of North Korea.  A lady talked to her cult leader and promised that she would work harder in the salt mines so that she can give the leader "more salt." Another patient, with a bowed head, swore in a typical Awet Nhafash bravado "to kill all Americans with the gun" that the leader gave him. The despicable scene went on and on with nobody bothering to thank the Dr. who cured them.*

A Cult Averted

This is the direction we were headed to in Eritrea a few years ago. The merchandisers had been giving it their best shot for decades: remember how they tried to auction off Isaias' photographs for "fund raising" of "dirar Tegadalay"?  The man responsible for the death of more Tegadeltis than any other Eritrean was selling his image to raise funds for their well-being?   A short-sighted Eritrean in San Jose, California was the top bidder--$1,500—for a picture of Isaias Afwerki.  Remember the stories of how Isaias drives a used Toyota , lives in his parents' household and wears plastic sandals?  That he is a simple, stoic man of humble taste? He never drinks, never pursues the pleasures of the flesh? All he did was read books and rarely spoke?

The deification of Isaias Afwerki was stopped cold by the opposition. Stand up, take a bow: all this cult-creation was reversed by the opposition and the media that Isaias cannot get to. Ridicule is a powerful weapon: here's a picture of the cult-leader-wanna-be with his $1,000 Italian suits; here he is with his designer glasses.  Here he is trying to look 20 years younger with his crew-cut hair style and tinted hair.  Here he is in his black Mercedes Benz and Landcruisers.  Here he is in a state of constant drunkenness.  Here he is making a pass at every woman, younger and older, single and married.  Here he is at a dance club with kids half his age. Here's a man who has no self-restraint—a man addicted to the pleasure principle. Here's a man that does not read anything except his press clippings.

Al Mot Bai Tegaday

Justice Warriors, put down your gun and move on to something else. I am not calling for a ceasefire: just a repose and a re-direction. Let's stop the aimless shooting at the supporters of the PFDJ regime and attend to more pressing national matters.  In the grand scheme of things, they really do not matter.

There is no need to beat on the helpless and agonizing PFDJ foot soldiers, more accurately the PFDJ droppings, just like it is not a good idea to beat a dead horse- or mule for that matter. Without the punching bags, without their lopsided logic that makes you laugh and without the comical bravado, life is duller.  But fighting the pro-PFDJ group is just like wrestling a child: they invoke pity, not wrath.

They have learned the hard way: those who expected to enrich themselves by piggybacking the PFDJ financial conglomerate lost their money. Even the creative and honest businessmen who wanted to make a change in Eritrea by investing their hard- earned money and create jobs were stripped of their properties. Many are being victimized again and again in an effort that bankers call 'putting good money to save the bad money'. Please have pity on them. They have crumbled and are putting masks to hide their shame. Indeed, they are what the Amhara would call, "al mot bai tegaday".

Forget them and instead focus on those who matter and that which matters: the clique and the risk.

The Enforcers

Often, those in the opposition are criticized for being fixated at and obsessed with Isaias. There is validity to this criticism—but correction is not to overreact and target the "PFDJ," a hollow organization, but a more focused group within it. Isaias is just a single person and though he is the director of all injustices, he has enforcers executing his orders and enabling him.   It is Isaias and the enforcers that we should focus on—not just Isaias Afwerki, and not some amorphous group called "PFDJ."

Who are the enforcers? Let's pursue it via the process of elimination:

The "PFDJ Central Committee": This body and its steering power, the politburo, has now become a material for the history books and lives in our memories. The last time it met was in 2000. With the exception of a few honorable men who are struggling to uproot the oppressive regime, and a significant number who are jailed, this body is now dead. Some have distanced themselves from the system, some are frozen or neglected and some are literally dead. The few who remain are the inner circle of loyal assistants to the PFDJ emperor.

The "National Assembly": Composed of 75 members of the PFDJ central committee and 75 fillers from the public, the last time this body met was to rubber stamp the decision of Isaias to jail the G15 five years ago. Just like the Federation-era Sembelia of Assfeha Weldemichael that out of fear collaborated to dissolve the Eritrean Assembly, Isaias' Sembllia is living on the allowances that they receive from the PFDJ exchequer, Hagos Kisha. If they were presented to a court of law today, they would be accused of being cowards, unprincipled and for giving a morale support to a criminal clique; the former two do not hold water in a court of law but shame in public, the latter would probably warrant a slap in the hand and a miserable life until death.

The "Cabinet of Ministers":The cabinet of ministers, formerly known as the "council of ministers" are a group of people who serve at the pleasure of Isaias.  They are hired, named, promoted, rotated, demoted, frozen, resuscitated, frozen again, promoted again, transferred again, at his sole discretion.  They have no constitutency and pose no threat to Isaias Afwerki.  They are a bunch of people who have sold their conscience (and in many cases their history) in exchange for morsels that PFDJ throws at them. They are characterized by their uncontrolled spending: they ride the typical sign of prestige in today's Eritrea, the land cruiser, and they spend lavishly on expensive liquor and they all live in stolen villas.

The "President's Office":  In a land where there is no functioning institution—no press, no legislative branch, no independent judiciary, no military that owes its loyalty to a functioning constitution—the center of gravity is the President's office. And when the president has no legitimacy and is ruling by terrorizing the people, the second most important post is that of the Enforcer—whether the enforcer is called "national security director" or "interior minister", or "director of intelligence."

The PFDJ central committee does not exist; the National Assembly is in name only; and the Cabinet of Ministers are what the Amhara would call, "Majrat Mechi." The appendages of Isaias Afwerki, the ones who are a party to the secrets, the executions, and the secret jails are the ones who were hand-picked by Isaias Afwerki for posts within the President's Office, and posts within Intelligence—civilian and military. If we are to avoid our habits of attacking Isaias only or, worse, lumping the pathological criminals with the petty and cowardly, then we need to do a better job at focusing on, and chronicling, their crimes.

Numbering about two dozen, these are the people who are responsible for inflicting torture on our youth; arresting parents for the alleged crimes of their children; throwing people in jail and throwing away the keys; making scurrilous charges without presenting any evidence;  and turning Eritrea into a police state. They control Eritrea's finance, security, military, intelligence, economy and everything in between.

Resistance to injustice is a legitimate right of anyone who suffers from it. It is a natural reaction expected from any human being and any citizen who suffers from it would naturally resist in his own way. International legal structures should be the main venues to pursue the culprits. This is an action oriented project of resistance for those who believe in peaceful struggle.

At the forefront of this project should be the young people who escaped from the hell of Isaias Afwerki and his Enforcers.  It's disappointing to witness that young people who have managed to escape from the hell are still terrified to come out and testify against their tormentors in public. Those of you who know the tens of hundreds of victims should encourage them to come out openly- this is not a project that can be pursued only with the help of articles authored by people who insist on using pen names. With the exception of a few who are brave enough to speak out on camera, a big chunk of the crime committed has not been exposed yet. The only shinning example in this kind of struggle is the story that Elsa Chyrum exposed in a documentary. Why would the victims who are abused and tortured speak out to immigration officers only?   That is opportunistic and unfitting for the Eritrean pride of resilience and it should change.  They should be naming names: they owe it to the Eritreans who are languishing in prisons and being tormented.

Many Eritreans have reviewed the actions of the Enforcers and concluded, "these people cannot be Eritreans.  In fact, they must harbor some deep-rooted hatred against Eritreans—because no Eritrean would condone such kind of cruelty against his own people."

Whether this assessment is fact-based or not, it makes no difference to our task of identifying them and chronicling their crimes.   What we have to understand is that as far as Isaias and his Enforcers are concerned, there is no Plan B: they have gone beyond the Point of No Return years ago and they have no intention of creating a society of democracy and justice because they know they would be its first victims.  We do not expect them to institute a system that, if pursued to its logical end, will most likely result in them serving life-long sentences, do we?

Their loyalty is not to the country, nor the people, but to the regime of which they enjoy much privileges and one, the only one, that absolves them of their crimes.

The Risk

In 1998-2000, this writer constantly reminded his readers (then at Dehai) that war would be disastrous for Eritrea, that it should be ruled out as a means to resolve the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict and only diplomatic solution should be pursued. I was drowned out--hotter heads prevailed, and the war claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Eritreans and Ethiopians.

Here's how I view things in mid-2007:

For the moment, Ethiopia is busy with its Millennium Celebration and reportedly it is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors with hard cash. The coming three months are not good for any war: our region is in the middle of the rainy season when countries that do not have good road network wait for the dry season to roll their fighting machines. The Western rim of Ethiopia along the Sudanese border on Begemeder has become impassable for traffic and vehicles have often to be accompanied by the army due to the presence of armed Ethiopian rebels (sponsored by Isaias & His Enforcers) among them. This action would certainly invite a reaction. The Eritrean and Ethiopian armies are amassed around the border and there is constant mobilization and maneuvering of troops.

By next November the legal life of the EEBC will expire. The rainy season will be over; so will Ethiopia 's millennium celebrations. Leaving bravados and Zeraf aside, wars often bring about unexpected results. The final outcome is destruction and unpredictable future consequences and almost inevitably, change from the present status quo.

Change that comes out as a result of a border conflict or foreign involvement is catastrophic to any nation. The best the able muscles of the Eritrean people, those who carry shiny brass stars on their shoulders,  can do is bring about a change for Eritreans by Eritreans—a change that makes diplomatic solution seem as inevitable as war looks now.

This change is badly needed now--a change that will prevent further devaluation of the Eritrean pride and help the people to regain their self confidence and confidence in their country. It is time to bring an end to the illegitimate and cruel governance ushered upon the independence of Eritrea and herald an era of a true freedom for Eritreans.

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* You can read about the Nepalese doctor and his North Korean patients  here. http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/channel/blog/2007/02/explorer_korea.html 

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