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Add Mr. Semere Kesete to the long list of evidences that the Eritrean government is very hard-working.
“What?” You say. Obviously, you are not familiar with PFDJ logic. If you make mistakes, that is evidence that you work. If you make big mistakes, it means you work very hard. If you make tragic, irreversible mistakes, then you are an incurable workaholic. This is like saying that falling is a sign of walking but that is the logic of the PFDJ, which makes it the only legal logic.
Still Ratified; Still Un-Implemented
Our workaholic government has done it again. This time, it is the President of the Students Union of the University of Asmara who was nabbed on July 31st “at 7:45 A.M.” Those who have family members whose whereabouts are unknown recognize this: the security officers come in the morning, they don’t tell the abducted or his family members why s/he is being arrested, where s/he is being taken to and where the family members can report to inquire.
There are differences, however. Unlike the cases of the others, Mr. Semere Kesete is a public figure, an elected one at that. He has people who can speak on his behalf: student unions, colleagues, and intellectuals, and soon, no doubt, Amnesty International. He has even managed to raise the ire of writers who are usually associated with giving the government wide latitude. Another difference: unlike the other victims, he cannot possibly be accused of being caught “red-handed” planting a bomb or raising funds for “Fifth Columnists”: he is a student. Another difference: the government cannot possibly say it was using some proclamation or another: we have a ratified constitution.
In a previous edition of The Pencil, we asked the Eritrean student body to play a role historically played by Eritrean students. We stopped short of calling for demonstrations because we did not want to be remotely associated with any bloodshed in a confrontation with an easy-to-provoke government. Remember Omer Abdulkadir Omereddin? He is the gentleman who wrote the moving Letter of Appeal (“Be Compassionate to Those on Earth; And the one on the sky will be compassionate to you”) to President Isaias Afwerki and Sherifo on behalf of the parents of twenty Eritrean teachers who had (and have) been in jail since December 5, 1994. We have recently been informed that the government had showed compassion the way it knows how: by adding him to the list of prisoners.
We fear the escalation of this latest situation and we call on the government to abide by the Eritrean Constitution and:
(a) If Mr. Semere Kesete is being held without charge, he should be released immediately and whoever is responsible for the “hard work” should be held accountable.
(b) If there is a charge against Mr. Semere Kesete, he should be presented to a competent court of law and the government should respect all his constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Once the government does this, it should get hard at work and apply the exact same standards to the scores of unknown and unspoken for Eritreans who are languishing in jail either without charge or with charges that were “proven” in a military tribunal or a “special court.”
A footnote: the “neutral” Dehai.org, which was eager to post the leaked letter of “G-13”, did not post the letter from the Asmara University students, just as it did not report the arrest of Mattewos, the editor on Meqaleh, just like it refused to post the “Open Letter” from the Reformers, etc. In its “Dehai-News” segment, it is very selective about what it allows in and what it censors. Very neutral, that website. The website is perfectly within its rights to do that; we just don’t want to hear pretense of “Eritrean Baito” and “unmoderated” anymore. Reverse Mortgage Goes National
In the United States, residential real estate loans usually have terms of 30 years. People take out loans, usually loans far in excess of their ability to have a meaningful life, and, for thirty years, they labor, they scratch, they claw, they brown-bag their lunch, they clip coupons and feed the penny jar. Thirty long years later, if they have been making their monthly payments—their mortgage—month-in-month-out, 360 times, they get to own the house and once the Title of Ownership is transferred to them, they can dispense with it however way they want. Back in the 1990s, some smart banker who thought of a better way to milk the system other than the usurious interest, figured out the perfect way. After thirty years, most people have absolutely no savings except for the equity on their house. No retirement income other than the puny social security payments. What if, thought the clever banker, what if we were to come up with something called Reverse Mortgage? Here’s how it works, he explained eagerly. What if we, the bank, started making monthly payments to the homeowner, over a time period that the actuarial tables tell us (the life span of the homeowner) and, after he kicks the bucket, the title of the house transfers to us? Brilliant, huh? For the bank…and for the homeowner…but it is very sad for the family of the homeowner, wouldn’t you say? We have a nation, a free nation that is the result of ten years of political struggle and 30 years of continuous armed struggle. It is the glorious story of thousands of events of self-denial, martyrdom, sacrifice, injury, maiming and exile. That was the mortgage. The title was officially transferred in 1993, having been in escrow since 1991. There was, apparently, no floor plan, no blueprint of the property, which was overlooked by the jubilant new owners. What has been troublesome since then is a series of events: some substantiated, others mere rumors: (1) In 1996, we found out that there were some islands, the Hannish Islands, which were also claimed by Yemen. We went to war over them. Then to arbitration, which largely ruled in favor of Yemen. (2) In 1998, we found out that there was land, swathes of several hundred square kilometers, whose “administration” had been tolerated, if not unofficially approved, by our government. We went to war over them. Then to arbitration…whose outcome is expected to be determined soon(*). (3) In 2001, we are hearing rumors of a talk about a long-term “lease” of Asab, one of our two major ports, to Ethiopia. True, the Eritrean Embassy emphatically denied this. But is there any doubt that if the Eritrean Government wanted to do dispense with it, it has the power to do it without consulting with the Eritrean people? Would it not be able to justify it using economic arguments and good neighborliness? And would it not dismiss any objection to that as “emotional” and “noisy barrel”? (4) The land proclamation that the Eritrean Government issued—without sufficient study and consultation--is in deep freeze. To address the crisis of housing and the need for food-sufficiency (as well as the need for hard currency), the Eritrean Government has been leasing/selling land using questionable criteria. (5) Since 1991, the Arab media has been talking about Eritrea “leasing” the Dahlak Islands to Israel or the United States government or to some American business mogul. This off-again-on-again rumor is surfacing once more and, according to the Indian Ocean Newsletter, has been the subject of discussion between the Israeli Prime Minister (Sharon) and the American President. Some say that the Eritrean Defense Minister (Sebhat Ephrem)’s latest visit was to explore this subject further.
(*)In response to the previous issue of the pencil where we expressed concern about the ineptness of the Eritrean diplomacy, many concerned Eritreans wrote us to inquire about the work of the boundary commission that is deliberating on the Eritrean-Ethiopia border dispute. Not withstanding the bungling efforts of our diplomats, we believe that the case here is so clear cut that, if there is any justice in the world, the commission should rule in favor of Eritrea. The question here is not whether these are prudent decisions or not. In fact, when it comes to America, the undisputed and lone superpower of the world, the old joke of “Question: Where does a 600 pound gorilla sit? Answer: Anywhere he wants to” seems appropriate. Nor is it in the interest of Eritrea to pick a fight with the US; in fact, we shouldn’t pick fights with even the weakest nations. Nor is the itemization above meant to support or oppose the steps taken; people can have honest differences on all of them. To us, that is of less importance than the larger issue of: Who Is Making The Decisions? By What Authority? Do we not have so-called representatives in the so-called National Assembly? Do they not have the “political maturity” to make decisions? Or is the Eritrean political maturity to be trusted only when its sentiments coincide with the view of the government? In short, is the President and his office acting like they have the Title to the Deed called Eritrea and are they, knowingly or unknowingly, getting us into a “reverse mortgage” situation without consulting the family members?
Give Us Water
“Love, children, is just a shadow away,” said Mick Jagger. Well, annoyance, children, is just a click away. Click on to Shaebia.org.
One article tells us about the “Sign of political maturity of Eritrean people” in Senafe. Apparently, the government rounded up some people to express their displeasure at the “handful” Opposition members (must be ghosts, since they don’t exist) who came on the heels of TPLF. Perfectly fine propaganda piece and an effective tit-for-tat because, a few weeks earlier, the Opposition outlet, Meskerem.net, had posted a Reuters article telling us of what perfect gentlemen the “opposition” were, after they hitched a ride with the TPLF to Senafe. Both articles did what they were intended to do: rally the true believers into unrestrained joy. What is quite telling, for us, is the choice of the phrase “political maturity” as a heading. Who is mature and who is immature? The government’s view seems to be “Since you agree with our conclusions, then you are politically mature. Woe be unto you if you disagree with us” because the Eritrean jails are full of politically “immature” folks. How condescending. We half expected a picture of a government official (the father) patting the heads of the Senafe folks (the children) in congratulations for the maturity they showed. Good little boys, quite premature for your ages.
“Political maturity” is an old phrase, with distinctly Marxist odor. “Political hiccup,” first popularized by an UNMEE official and now translated to tigrigna and repeated by President Isaias, is relatively new. We think there should be a “hiccup” in the use of the “political maturity.” There is a solution to both “hiccup” and “immaturity”: Give us water, the water of accountable governments: it cures hiccup and it helps living organs grow and mature. Incidentally, we were curious about how long it would take for something said by government officials to trickle to the pro-Government website (Dehai.org.) On a slow afternoon, the Awate Team members had a bet. Using our own version of “lexis-nexis”, we counted 17 uses of these phrases within two weeks. The winner was the one who predicted 20. For punishment, the losers got to read the official website of the Wedinis and the Skunis: “the Dehai message board” where unfortunately, few bright citizens are wasting their energy to educate the hopeless Wedinis. What Reconciliation? Back to Shaebia.org. The next article was “Tilmet diyus beleS: (Betrayal or Self Aggrandizement)” an article by someone who shares the same family name as one of our favorite Dehaiers. This article is written in classic Shaebia lingo: not a word or phrase of self-doubt, complexity, or intricacy. It reads like an edict. A lecture. And, without the benefit of polls or elections, the writer tells us that his sentiments are shared by Eritreans. Many pro-GoE folks do that. The only difference with this article was there was no “Awet nHafash” at the end. The writer seems to believe that governance is a drug and that Shaebia has a patent on governance and it is heretical to discuss introduction of generic drugs before the patent expires. When will the patent expire? At some unknown, undetermined date when we show political maturity as judged by the PFDJ. The article is (unintentionally) funny: for example, he talks about the different kinds of corruption—including corruption that is the result of love of power—and forgets to state the obvious: that the Reformers are actually accusing the President of exactly that infraction. He also tells us that the conflict is not just between 15 vs 60 central committee members. No. It is 15 vs 3.5 million people. Sometimes the article is Dickensian—when 19th century writers used to get paid by the word—and needlessly redundant. For example, some of the critics of the government—you know who you are—are not just like lice, they are: qumaln, qunchin, tKwann, qurdidn, Aleqtn. He forgot HaseKan. So there. Finally, there is this wide-spread assumption shared by many pro-GoE writers that if you disagree with the direction the government is taking the country and you are critical of the government, then your motive can only be hate. You are not just hateful, you are “marinated in hate”; you are stewing in it. After all, according to this logic, only the hateful could criticize such a loveable government. It is like calling a child “ugly.” Unthinkable. This is bunk, of course. We have just been critical of the writer of “Tilmet…” but we don’t hate him. In fact, we think that once we get to know him, we would really like him, while disagreeing with him. And that is the meaning of “reconciliation”: I disagree with you, in fact I have grievances against you, but I will listen to you and accept you as a citizen who loves his country as much as I do. But it is hard to reconcile with people you disagree with if you equate them with pests.
War Drums, Again From the annoying to the depressing. Over at Imbatkala where the PFDJ was conducting its retreat, President Isaias Afwerki gave an address regarding the obstacles in implementing the Peace Treaty. The president said that that the Peace Treaty is not going well because the TPLF believes that as long as Shaebia is in power, there can be no peace. And, he added, in light of these developments, and given that our priority is to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty, all plans and developments of the PFDJ should be seen within this perspective. The president is a politician, which means we are forced to begin our statements with “if his statements are true…” If his statements are true, then that is quite depressing. We have to believe that both Eritreans and Ethiopians are tired of war and do not want to be dragged to another “senseless” one by their governments, who may, for self-perpetuating and self-serving reasons, be accusing each other of being stubborn with no socially redeeming qualities. If Ethiopians are reading this, please do us no favors: we would like to solve our own problems and we don’t need your “help” in trying to bring about “lasting peace” by trying to remove our government. We have our mess; you have yours. We each have more than enough to keep ourselves busy; let’s try, for instance, to move our nations from the two poorest nations on the face of the earth to, say, the 5th and 6th poorest. That would be progress. In fact, it is high time for democrats in the region to abandon real politick and work together to reign in an era of peace, democracy, justice and prosperity. If the president’s statements are not true, then that is quite depressing too. It would be importing yet another bad feature from American politics: the never-ending negative campaign. President Clinton was said to be responsible for a period of non-stop campaigning but at least the people got a reprieve occasionally: an election. The Eritrean government seems to be enthusiastic about negative campaigning but lukewarm about elections, which leads one to think that perhaps it is campaigning against elections and governance with accountability. We believe this is wrong and we believe that this is not what the Eritrean people want. Not because we have taken any polls or because we claim to have the heartbeat of the Eritrean people; but because we believe elected governments who are accountable to those they govern is the yearning of people all over the world.
Special Court For Special People
Say there are two Eritrean corporations. The owner of one company, call him Gebar, obeys all the rules, employs a few people and pays his taxes on time. With whatever is left, he makes a modest living, always teetering near bankruptcy. The owner of the other company, let’s call him Anter, employs lots of people, doesn’t obey all the rules and, because his friend is a high-ranking official in the government, pays no taxes but is a generous contributor to many government campaigns. A clear case of law-breaking and corruption. Right? Right. You can expect Anter to be hauled to the Special Court and, given the court’s 99% conviction rate, they can expect to live there for a long time. Hooray for swift justice. Now, what if the “Anter” is a company owned by the PFDJ? In fact, what if “Anter” is the Red Sea Corporation and its many offshoot PFDJ business empires? Wouldn’t that make the entire PFDJ business conglomerates corrupt? At this stage, the PFDJ business empire has two choices: (1) it can show us audited financial statements that prove that it, like any other Eritrean business, pays taxes or (2) it can show us some proclamation that (may be we have missed) exempting it from paying taxes. The correct answer of the PFDJ is and has been since 1993, none of the above. The choice is (3) we will do neither because we don’t owe you any damn explanation. We have stabilized prices and controlled inflation and who can argue with results? The government has gotten away with this answer because the “Anter” can do anything. But now we are in a different arena. We are in a world where poor countries are at the mercy of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And unlike the Eritrean people, these institutions are not good at unconditional love. Their love and generosity comes with strings attached: audited financial statements and competent managers as well as a plan on how you intend to spend the money once they give it to you. These “world” institutions are actually run by the United States and, for years, because of the love affair the Clinton administration had with the “clean” governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia, they had looked the other way. But no more. There are new bosses in the US and they don’t seem to be very fond of the governments. The Ethiopians know how to play the game and all the pledges that were given by these institutions for post-war rehabilitations, have actually translated to American dollars. But not in Eritrea. Months after the end of the war, we still have to receive the cash. And we probably won’t until the Eritrean government does what it has refused to do for ten years: prepare a budget and make its expenditures transparent. These institutions will make the Eritrean government do what the Eritrean people are still struggling to have it do: do away with your secretive ways, be accountable, and be transparent.
Isn’t Globalism great? the awate team |
