Submitted as press release in asmarino.com under Eritreans for Facilitating National Dialog (EFND) and Eritrean Global Solidarity (EGS)
Nevsun is a Canadian gold
mining company operating in Eritrea – a country that has been ruled through
fear and terror for the last 25 years. And recent investigations by
a UN Commission of Inquiry (COI), confirmed the ruling junta has been committing
“crimes against humanity” against its own people (10).
In reaction to this UN
report, Ms. Bronwyn Bruton from the Atlantic Council, downplayed the severity
of these crimes in a piece titled “It's Bad in Eritrea, but Not That Bad” (9).
She criticizes the COI of “selection bias” for not interviewing “Western diplomats or
UN staff based in Eritrea”.
Money is the only reason
Ms. Bruton is defending the regime. Here is why.
(1) Nevsun’s contribution to
Atlantic Council (Ms. Bruton’s employer) in 2015: $100,000 to $249,000
(2) Contribution by Eritrean
victims to Atlantic Council: $0
Not surprisingly,
Nevsun’s VP of Social Responsibility (a terrible misnomer), also says the UN
report is “biased and selective” because “it only included people from outside
the country” (6).
This almost identical
language is not coincidental and one should be forgiven to assume Nevsun’s
money is talking through Ms. Bruton’s mouth. Additionally, both Nevsun
and Ms. Bruton are not being honest because COI’s numerous requests to visit Eritrea
were repeatedly denied. Eritrea’s foreign minister says “we will not give them”
visas (3).
To be fair, Ms. Bruton
also says Eritrea’s indefinite military service does include “digging ditches
for a mining company” (7) – which appears to be a direct reference to Nevsun
and the nature of her “research trips” to Eritrea. In spite of that admirable
admission, however, her attempts to whitewash the criminal role Nevsun’s money
is playing in the continued subjugation of the Eritrean people is very cruel
indeed.
To be clear, Nevsun is
driven by profit motive -- which is perfectly fine. But when it’s
CEO, Cliff Davis, falsely claims “we are bringing an awful lot of good to this
country” with “significant tangible benefits to the people of Eritrea” (6), he
steps into a very important moral space he has willfully excluded himself from.
Is Nevsun's presence benefiting the junta? No doubt. But there is also
absolutely no doubt that Nevsun’s leaders have been and continue to be very
prominent enablers of crimes against humanity the COI’s findings have finally
exposed.
In her VOA interview of
April 27, 2015 (7), Ms. Bruton says her sources of information are high
government officials. She admits being “very impressed” by the president – the
very criminal who is directly responsible for the disappearance of thousands.
And, like Nevsun’s leadership, she continues to parrot the regime’s propaganda
– falsely saying only 5% of the people in the indefinite national service have
been there for more than 18 months -- for example.
Why accuse the COI of
“selection bias” then – a lapse Nevsun and Ms. Bruton so abundantly exhibit
themselves?
In continuing to defend
the regime, Ms. Bruton says the COI “discarded
tens of thousands of testimonials from Eritreans defending the Isaias regime,
claiming these were irrelevant or inauthentic”.
But the COI has very good
reasons to discard these. First, there are tens of thousands of Eritreans in
the Middle East and Africa who are at the mercy of the regime to have their
passports renewed in order to continue working in those countries. These
Eritreans are routinely blackmailed into doing whatever the regime wants them
to do – hardly a case of free will. Secondly, Ginbot 7, an Ethiopian opposition
group operating in Eritrea and financed by Eritrea’s junta has openly
participated in signing petitions against the COI (4). These Ethiopians have
absolutely no right to submit pro-regime petitions for COI’s consideration.
Third, the COI did do its due diligence by calling a representative sample only
to find out they were of boiler plate variety where, in some cases, the so
called "submitters" were not even aware something was submitted in
their name.
In spite of these, Ms.
Bruton says the U.N. Human Rights Council “should vote against” COI’s recommendations for “otherwise, it
will only help prolong the repression it was set up to prevent.” And that is after saying “No doubt, the human rights situation
there is frightful, and hundreds or thousands of cases of torture, rape or
unjust imprisonment probably escaped the commission’s attention. “
This is like saying let’s
not make an attempt to stop Hitler because we may anger him into committing
more crimes. Luckily, reason prevailed and the U.N. Human Rights Council
accepted COI’s recommendations.
In future trips, one
hopes Ms. Bruton and others who enjoy full personal freedoms in their own
countries – freedoms Eritreans also cherish and aspire for -- will conduct
their “research” with a bit more respect for the truth and for the victims of
criminal regimes. Here are a couple of suggestions.
a) Be curious and expand the scope of your “research” beyond the junta’s inner circles. This is one of the most vicious criminal gangs on earth and its entire existence is based on covering up the truth. Just listen to its foreign minister’s interview (3). Such a brutal massacre of truth in a 7 minute interview is quite amazing. On your next visit, ask this foreign minister (or any other official) to allow you to visit his former colleagues who have not been heard from for 15 long years. After all, he does say “they are in good hands”. Incidentally, one of those victims is a former foreign minister like himself.
b) Explore why people are terrified of their own government (8).
Why, in spite of severe housing shortages, does the regime bulldoze homes again
and again? Consult with Eritrean civic leaders (5) before your trip to shake
off residues of conscious or unconscious “selection bias” you might be
harboring.
Over the last 25 years,
just about every Eritrean family has experienced the regime’s excesses in one
form or another. COI’s validation, although belated, is a welcome development
for the victims and their families. But hired hands in the West – Ms.Bruton
among them -- are also out in full force to mute the voices of justice and
reason. Listen to Ms. Bruton and Nevsun’s leadership falsely painting a
positive image of the criminal regime -- all at the expense of the Eritrean
people (6,7,9).
The good news is the COI
did a thorough job. To show their support and gratitude over ten thousand
Eritreans marched in the streets of Geneva. There was a massive turnout in
Israel as well. Using this new momentum, the hundreds of thousands of Eritreans
around the globe, in collaboration with good people in our host countries, can
raise our voices jointly to drown out the dwindling number of regime operatives
and their highly paid lobbyists. Doing so, will in turn, boost the morale of
justice seekers inside Eritrea -- where it matters most – to stand up and bring
these criminals to justice. Stronger together!
References
(5) Kubrom Dafla, Elsa Chyrum, Selam Kidane, Dr.
Daniel Rezene, EFND, EGS, Dr. Alganesh Fessaha, Meron Estifanos, Arbi Harnet,
Father Mussie Zerai who was nominated for 2015 Nobel Peace Prize …..
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