Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Unfiltered Notes: Where are we and where are we headed?

 

 

Tewelde Stephanos, 31 July 2012

21 years after Eritrea’s geographic sovereignty, the things that really matter -- like individual freedoms, economic vibrancy, quality education and Eritrea’s long term viability as a respected member in the community of nations still lag far behind. Measured against the high hopes Eritreans had in 1991, the disappointments are far too many; accomplishments scanty little. There is hardly a family that has not been negatively impacted by the regime’s brutality against innocent citizens, disappearances, modern-day slavery, growing poverty, mass exodus that is hollowing out the nation of precious human capital critical to its rebuilding – just to list a few. And the self-delusion that we are, somehow, “number one” continues.


On the brighter side, action oriented movements by the younger generation are warming up. Tireless efforts by fearless individuals like Elsa Chyrum, Meron Estifanos, Aaron Berhane and others (bless your hearts!!) continue to keep the candle lit against the forces of darkness. Renewed challenges against the regime’s various intimidation schemes and innovative approaches by Arbi Harnet team to expand the scope of the resistance inside Eritrea are gaining momentum. But much more remains to be done.


There are serious shortcomings that are impeding the progress towards true freedom. We need expanded and inclusive dialog to replace the unproductive chatter and fratricidal wars of the past (why the movements of the younger generation are relevant). Do we really need 30 plus opposition parties, for example? That this is the best government and the best opposition we are able to assemble so far, in spite of the severity of our problems, is not reassuring. We can and should do better.


First, stop the blame game and own our failures


It has so far been an endless game of shifting the blame away from us; that we are somehow not responsible for things we actively or passively brought on ourselves. The regime blames external forces for its massive failures. Its supporters parrot its claims and falsely label their compatriots who are fighting for justice as traitors and sell outs. And those in the opposition almost exclusively assign the blame to a few in the ruling elite. What is our joint responsibility as people then? Some even reach out to the fringes of psychology to point out Isaias is intentionally destroying Eritrea because he is not Eritrean. That is silly and dishonest at best because it fails to address the other side of the coin. How about the so-called ‘full blooded’ Eritreans (whatever that means), who are enabling or committing horrendous crimes against their fellow Eritreans? What psychological explanations do we have for their despicable acts?


I believe the answer is far simpler than the overly complex scenarios being painted. Isaias is an ill-mannered Eritrean who lacks the grace to cherish the boundless love and respect that was so graciously given to him. He is doing what he has always been able to get away with; where any outrageous act he commits meets no resistance and he goes on to the next outrageous act. Nothing happens when he turns children of his fellow tegadelti into orphans, or when he denies burial rights if that is what pleases him (hint: the message is not for the dead but for the living dead). So, it is really not his problem, is it? It is time to stop blaming him to cover up our failures. The right thing to do to brighten Eritrea’s future would be to remove his abusive regime and to erase the legacy of brutality, poverty and lawlessness it has put in place. Let’s also not forget Eritrea is a small country of 5 million (if that) and fragmenting it through exclusions based on silly ‘blood-tests’ will only deepen the failed state it is trending to become. As team Arbi Harnet put it eloquently: “We either make injustice in Eritrea obsolete or we risk Eritrea becoming obsolete”.


Do we have an ‘environment’ that breeds tyrants?


My first inclination would be to say “no”. But that ‘no’ is put to serious doubt when recent experiences are thrown into the mix. A despot is worshiped as god; as witnessed when Isaias visited the U.N. last year. The timing was particularly significant because the brave people of the Arab world were fighting tooth and nail to rid themselves of failed leaders like him at the time. Essentially, we saw privileged Eritreans giving their unconditional support to one who is victimizing millions. And if not them, who do they think will speak for the victims? (Thanks to the outnumbered member of EYSC, some seeds of hope were also planted then).


We still see highly educated diaspora Eritreans becoming willing instruments of oppression; where we have misused the luxury of our own freedoms to kill freedom itself. We raise funds and hold demonstrations to prop up a regime that we know allows no such rights in Eritrea. Such uncanny adulation for tyranny is deeply demoralizing to those fighting the regime’s injustices everywhere but especially so to those inside Eritrea. Lies and raw propaganda are spread daily through regime owned media and repeated thoughtlessly as eyes witness something entirely different. Richard Pryor’s “Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?” would have been a fitting tag line for EriTV. Of course, it has to be Orwellian and “serving the truth” is what we have instead.


Disturbingly, one also sees similar undemocratic tendencies in the opposition camp. We see potential allies often undermining each other and breaking short-lived alliances acrimoniously. Severely divided, they pose no threat to the regime and they have unwittingly become the best allies the ruling elite can ever hope for.


Eritrean womanhood and motherhood, normally the core of Eritrea’s good-heartedness, has been one of the regime’s strongest support bases. This happens, in spite of continuing abuses against women and growing single-parenthood (a new phenomenon) perpetuated by the regime’s failed policies – keeping families apart and driving them deeper into poverty.


The heroic tegadelti who made independence possible, can’t seem to help the beautiful baby they helped deliver either. The tegadelti, the only group who could have said ‘enough!!’ with unquestioned authority and credibility to reverse the betrayal, didn’t – at least not with sufficient voice to make a difference. So, maybe there is something about the Eritrean ‘environment’ that breeds tyrants after all. Why do we so miserably fail to raise our voices TOGETHER to protect the country we profess to LOVE from crimes no one denies are taking place, but many either find lame excuses or blame others for?


But an apology before going further: I do admire and acknowledge the brave men, women, tegadelti and diaspora Eritreans who have been at the forefront of the fight for justice and freedom. They have paid dearly - some with their lives – and of course, this broad brush does not apply to these fearless few. They are the ones whose fearlessness we need to honor and emulate.


Do we have what it takes to expand the dialog and to get along?


It is time to find new and better ways to rectify the mess we have gotten ourselves into. Making genuine attempts to listen to the ‘other side’ and forgiving others (as well as ourselves) for past mistakes would be a good place to start. No matter which group we belong to, the fact that we have the same hopes and aspirations for a better Eritrea should not be in question. We can challenge the effectiveness of the methods we want to pursue to get there but not the end goal. It is okay to support the regime, for example, but only conditionally -- especially when the crimes are so egregious.


I once tried this logic of all of us having common national goals with one of the regime’s supporters. He fired back saying ‘Hade zeykone Elamana!’ asserting “patriots” like him and people who publicly disagree with the government of the day that is behaving badly cannot have the same goals. Such self-appointed ‘super citizens’ will always be there to impede good dialog but the focus should be on how to engage the vast silent majority that is hedging, reserved, doubtful or afraid to stand up and to demand better – an accountable government with adequate checks and balances to tame a rogue regime from destroying the nation.


A severely weakened Eritrea with no clear succession plan should be an issue of deep concern for everyone. But a great opportunity to expand the dialog was missed recently when Isaias was rumored to be gravely ill or dead. And a precious moment to elevate the dialog to a relevant national issue of common interest was squandered. The regime had full control to stop the rumors at any time but it chose to create mini-dramas within the drama instead. No surprises there. What was truly surprising, however, is the rest of the population did not demand to know why Eritrea still has no clear succession plan either. As it turned out, Eritrea’s future remains shackled to one sick man’s whims and we are back to the grand strategy of waiting for him to die. Then what? Wait for the next tyrant to die too?


There are probably more good reasons in Eritrea than in the Arab world to legitimize mass uprising. What could be the chances of that? But this article is too long already. Time to wind it down by repeating team Arbi Harnet (who deserve everyone’s support!!): “We either make injustice in Eritrea obsolete or we risk Eritrea becoming obsolete”. The rewards of not allowing Eritrea to become obsolete are massive -- if we can only learn how to get along!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Unfiltered Notes: Rays of Hope with EYSC’s Freedom Friday

By T. Stephanos              Email: testifanos@gmail.com
April 13, 2012

It is refreshing to see EYSC’s (Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change) Freedom Friday initiative launched with the stated goal of eradicating dictatorship in Eritrea. According to EYSC, 10,000 robocalls and 2000 personal calls have been made so far (listen to recorded message here: http://eysc.net/pr/arbi_harnet_voicemessage.WMA). Could we be witnessing a long overdue tipping point building up that will finally free Eritrea from the string of negatives it has been subjected to?

Although Eritrea has been a source of bad news for a long time, the news over the last few years has gotten consistently worse. Eritrea being one of the top exporters of refugees, about 400 drowning in the Mediterranean last year, Eritreans raped or murdered for organ harvesting in Egypt, the sadistic regime mocking those facing these horrific crimes as ‘people going on a picnic’, sanctions that have left the country isolated and friendless, an impoverished and severely weakened nation on the brink of irrelevance are just a few of the negatives Eritrea is unfortunately known for. Regime supporters routinely point out infrastructure development as a major accomplishment, which is true. But building roads, schools and clinics -- although a good thing -- should not be mutually exclusive with freedom and justice. Our roads have failed to become arteries of vibrant commerce and free movement; and our schools have failed to become centers of excellence ( click here to read journalist Amanuel Mahdere’s excellent summary and the tragedy of students begging for bad grades and teachers threatening misbehaving students with good grades as punishment ). Instead of waking up people’s conscience for Arab spring type of uprising, however, we have a population that is numbed into paralyzing inaction on one hand and a vicious but lucky dictatorship comfortably holding on to power on the other.

In spite of the ruling elite’s habitual tendencies to self-destruct, it faces no threats from the opposition which continues to be severely divided. Additionally, the tolerance for suffering by the larger population has been unnaturally high with no apparent threshold for outrage. And whenever we get to a point where we think it can’t get any worse, it does. Latest case in point: after Yemane, Osman and ‘wedi Gerahtu’ assured the late Naizghi Kiflu’s family the regime will take care of his burial expenses, Isaias got totally unhinged and blocked the burial from taking place in Eritrea. The stalemate with the dead body is over two months old now. The family is still waiting but Isaias, unfortunately, holds all the cards. The shame continues.

ምስ ሬሳ ዝረባረብ ፈዅሱ ድዩ ተጸሊሉ
ተጸንቂቐየ ጉሓፉኒ ይብለና ድኣ ከይህሉ።
አምበር ሬሳ ኣውዲቐ ኢልካ ፈኸራስ ኣይጥዕናን
ኤርትራ ተዋሪዳ ሓፊራ ነውሪ'ዩ ኣይባህልናን።

Could this be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back? If the notorious Naizghi was buried in Eritrea as the regime’s three officials promised, the petty grudges would have been buried with him and Eritrea would have been spared another embarrassment. Getting into a duel with a corpse only illustrates yet again that Africa’s so-called “strong men” are indeed a sorry lot who never fail to find deeper bottoms to sink their countries to. Will the ruling elite’s messengers finally get it that as far as Isaias is concerned, everyone is disposable (kedemti, in the regime’s vulgar vernacular). If he does this to his friend and once trusted partner in crime, why would anyone’s fate be different?

EYSC To The Rescue?

Whether EYSC’s robocalls will spark positive change to come from within Eritrea remains to be seen but the approach is refreshingly brilliant. Of course, the regime will unleash all its dirty tricks to divide the movement as it has so successfully done with other groups before. This time, for Eritrea’s sake, the new wave better be strong enough to live up to the task. There will be challenges and missteps along the way. The important thing is to learn from them and to regain the stride quickly. Here are some random thoughts for EYSC and supporters to consider as the struggle continues.

• Keep it young. This doesn’t mean the older generation has nothing to offer but given our track record so far, we have very little to show for the noise we generate. Based on past experiences, if we are given two hours to come up with serious plans for the future, we (the older generation) will waste one hour and 55 minutes re-hashing the past. More often than not, nothing enlightening comes from such exchanges. Let time take care of those who won’t let go. Keep it young, keep it action oriented and keep going.

• Embolden people inside Eritrea. That is where the center of gravity for real and durable change should be. Boost the morale of change agents inside Eritrea by challenging and exposing the regime’s messengers (minus inappropriate insults) and foiling its events (legally). Illegality is the regime’s domain, don’t go there.

• Be humble and listen to other voices. Give credit to others when credit is due. Share successes and take responsibility for mistakes. Extreme arrogance as personified by the ruling elite (complemented by our gullibility to be fooled almost all the time) is one of the root causes of Eritrea’s total lack of self-reflection and inability for self-correction – so far.

• Be very clear about what you are for and what you are against. The reason why Eritrea’s independence is devoid of freedom and justice is because almost all attention before independence was focused on getting rid of Ethiopia. Necessary time and energy was not invested to develop a vision of what a free Eritrea should be like. We should not repeat the same mistakes again by focusing all attention on just getting rid of hgdef’s dynasty. Will we allow injustice and lawlessness to be the norm again under different players?

• Prepare for things to get worse before they get better. Previously functioning laws and community-based problem-solving practices have either been destroyed or severely weakened denying Eritrea a roadmap for quick recovery. When the regime goes (and it will go), the void can trigger unpredictable events a future dictator in waiting can hijack. How will such events be contained? That is when good leadership from EYSC and from change agents inside Eritrea will be most needed.

• Engage the YPFDJ positively. Challenge them to live up to the ideals of their name -- Democracy and Justice. Many are misguided and/or misinformed but are smart enough (and hopefully humane enough) to see the irony of their ‘royal’ treatment at the expense of Eritreans their age who are doomed to a life of servitude. Based on its actions so far, the regime will have no qualms repeating the devastating ghedli-era civil war by pitting Eritreans against each other just to stay in power. Anticipate this and deny it its habitual addiction to sadistic pleasure.

• Reject the temptation to associate someone’s bad deeds with what percentage of their blood is Eritrean or with their religion or region. Such mindset diverts attention away from real issues that need to be addressed urgently. Repeating this mistake will only contribute to Eritrea’s backwardness, making it look more like Somalia and less like the civilized nation it should be.

• Refocus attention to the economy and good education ( the negatives Amanuel Mahdere has identified must be reversed). With hyperinflation and existing anemic economy (with exports estimated at $20 million annually), no one in Eritrea can afford day-to-day living with honest earnings today. Even higher revenues from gold over the next decade or so, will not change the situation much without fundamentally changing our educational and economic realities.

• Stay focused on the real issues. The regime has perfected the art of diverting people’s attention away from its failures by blaming others (CIA, Ethiopia etc). So much so that we easily recognize and condemn injustice with exaggerated moral indignation when we see it done to others only to fall silent or fish for incoherent excuses as we witness worse injustices committed by our own against our own. We don’t stop to think that the CIA did not mow down the disabled veterans in cold blood, embezzle money from families by holding aging parents hostage, create havoc in society by deposing and promoting religious leaders, or make Astier Yohannes and countless others disappear. And more recently, we know Ethiopia or the CIA did not shame Eritrea by picking a fight with a dead body.

With action-oriented and renewed energy, EYSC is on the right track to accomplish its stated goal to end dictatorship in Eritrea. Such worthy goal deserves our full support. If done well, Eritreans will finally be able to enjoy true freedom and justice which independence was supposed to have brought along 21 years ago.