http://ascenteq.com/project/epdp

EPDP Information Office

In a response letter dated 16 April 2015, the office of Ms. Federica Mogherini, the EU Commission Vice-President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stated that the EU shares EPDP concerns “about the difficult rights situation in Eritrea” and that it “will continue to press on the Government of Eritrea” to improve its handling of human rights issues and “provide assistance to the people”. 

The letter tried to justify why the EU is about to help the Asmara regime this year because “EU’s overall objective remains to help the people in Eritrea to have a peaceful, sustainable and rewarding life”.

Written in response to the EPDP memorandum of 31 March 2015 protesting about the intended EU support to the incorrigible regime in Eritrea, the EU letter believed that political engagement with Eritrea “remains valuable for two reasons”. It says the first reason is to help EU “press for improvement in human rights and reform across the board”, and the second reason for EU’s support to the Asmara regime is “to support the Eritrean people through EU development projects”.

The lengthy letter, signed on behalf of Ms Mogherini by Ms Claudia Wiedey, the Division Head for EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS), further stated to allay Eritrean fears that “strict monitoring procedures make sure that EU aid is for the benefit of people, creating jobs and reducing poverty”. According to the letter, “currently, EU support is focusing on food security enhancement through the improvement of agricultural production and yields, and on strengthening the rule of law in Eritrea by supporting community courts at grassroots’ level”. It was also stated that the support will benefit non-state actors inside Eritrea but did not specify which civil society organizations.

The message further stated that EU is sharing EPDP memo concerns about refugees. It explained that EU is fully behind the Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative (HoAMRI), also called the Khartoum Process, established in November 2014 to fight human trafficking and people smuggling in the region.

In a memorandum addressed to Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) once more urged the regional body to save refugee lives from drowning in the immediate shores of Europe.

The EPDP Chairman, Mr. Menghesteab Asmerom, asked the EU Commission President to “join us in mourning yet another tragedy, another Lampedusa that occurred this week in the Mediterranean Sea – your sea”.

Copied also to Ms Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the Council of EU; Mr. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, as well as to Permanent Missions of 28 EU Member States, the EPDP memo of 17 April 2015 also urged the European organization no to go ahead with its intention of rewarding the dictatorship in Eritrea because doing so will not solve the problem. Printed below is the full text of the memorandum.

***

Your Excellency Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker,

I, the undersigned chairman of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an organization in exile struggling for democratic change in Eritrea, am addressing this message to Your Excellency, with copies to your close work colleagues, to ask you to join us in mourning yet another tragedy, another Lampedusa, that occurred this week in the Mediterranean Sea – your sea - claiming over 400 lives. And as usual, many of them were from my distressed country, Eritrea.

Mr. Juncker,

Eritrea has become a human disaster and a situation similar to what is going on in Syria and other war-torn regions of the world. As you very well know, the cause of human displacement and suffering in Eritrea is not an ongoing war but the total absence of the rule of law and respect to human rights.

This week and in recent years, the vast majority of victims in the Mediterranean Sea were not “migrants” but genuine asylum seekers fleeing humanly intolerable situations in Eritrea, Somalia, Syria and a few other places. And needless to say, they are people who deserve protection until the situation that forced them to escape from home is changed to the better. Unfortunately, Sir, the EU is not responding appropriately to the plight of refugees. Instead, it joins others to describe asylum seekers from Eritrea, Syrian, Somalia and similar hard hit regions as “migrants” and wrongly believes that the death of many more of them will stop others from taking the risk. .

Dear Sir,

This memorandum aims to once again call upon your esteemed office to review the EU policy of not actively engaging in saving lives in the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, we request the EU

To kindly come with a meaningful operation like the now defunct Mare Nostrum to save lives.

We also believe that EU must launch a major support programme for Eritrean refugees with package programme in the Horn of Africa. As explained many times to the EU, this programme can provide academic education, skill training and scholarships and prepare young and disadvantaged Eritreans for a better future in post-dictatorship Eritrea. It can be financed mainly by the technical assistance funds suspended for over a decade by many countries because of the Asmara regime’s bad human rights record.

Your Excellency,

Allow me also to take this opportunity to reiterate our utter disappointment about the intended EU support to the incorrigible regime in Asmara that failed the EU and all well intentioned donors in the past several years. The money EU is intending to give to the regime will not stop the suffering of Eritreans, and their flight will continue until a positive change is realized in the country. We, therefore, ask the EU to reconsider and drop its intention of rewarding the dictatorship in Eritrea for its appalling human rights record as attested by experts of the UN Human Rights Council.

ጨንፈር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ከለንን ከባቢኣን ብ11 ሚያዝያ 2015 ኣብ ከተማ ከለን ክፉት ህዝባዊ ኣኼባን ሙዚቃዊ ምሸት ብኣጋጣሚ በዓል ፋሲካን ኣዳልዩ ምንባሩ ዝዝከር ኢዩ።

ሓው ዓንደብርሃን ዮውሃንስ፡ ኣቦ መንበር ጨንፈር ሰዲህኤ ከለንን ከባቢኣን፡ ንኣኼበኛታት እንቋዕ ደሓን መጻእኩም ድሕሪ ብምባል፡ ብምኽንያት ፈሲካ ንተሳተፍቲ ይኹን ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ብሓፈሻ፡ እንቋዕ ጾመ ልጓምክኩም ፈትሓልኩም፡ ርሑስ በዓል ፋሲካ ድማ ይግበርልኩም ብምባል ኢዩ ነቲ ኣኼባ ከፊትዎ። ብድሕር'ዚ መድረኽ ንሓው መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም፡ ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤን ንሓው ተስፋማርያም ክብርኣብ፡ ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤ ንኡስ ዞባ ጀርመንን ኣመሓላሊፍዎ።

ሓው መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም፡ ብዛዕባ ህልዊ ኵነታት ሃገር: ኵነታት ደምበ ተቓውሞን ንጥፈታት ሰዲህኤን ሰፊሕ መግለጺ ኣቕሪቡ። ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤ ኣብ ዝሃቦ መግለጺ፡ ዲክታቶርያዊ ስርዓት ኤርትራ ሕጋውነት ዘይብሉ፡ ብሓይሊ ኣብ እንግድዓ ህዝብና ተጻዒኑ ዘሎ ስርዓት ምዃኑ ኣብሪሁ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ'ዚ ስርዓት፡ ብስእነት መግቢ፡ ማይ፡ መብራህቲ፡ ፍትሒ ትምህርቲ፡ ሕክምና ወዘተ ይሳቐ ምህላዉ ውን ኣብነታት ብምጥቃስ ገሊጹ። ሕጂ ድማ፡ ገዛውቲ ኣብ ምፍራስ ተጸሚዱ ምህላዉ ጠቒሱ።

ብዛዕባ ደምበ ተቓውሞ ወይ ደምበ ፍትሒ ብዝምልከት ከኣ፡ ንለውጢ ዘድሂ ወይ ዝጽውዕ ድምጽታት እናወሰኸ ይኸይድ ምህላዉ ገሊጹ። ካብ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ክሳብ ሕጂ፡ እቲ ተቓውሞ እናበረኸ እምበር እናነከየ ከምዘይከደ ኣብሪሁ። ካብ'ቶም ዝተራእዩ ተቓውሞታት ድማ፡ ናይ ተጋደልቲ ናይ 93 ኣድማ፡ ናይ ኣካለ ስንኩላን ተቓውሞ፡ ናይ ጕጅለ 13ን ጕጅለ 15 ተቓዉሞ፡ ናይ ወድዓሊ ናይ 21 ጥሪ ምንቅስቓስ፡ ናይ ካቶሊካውያን ጳጳሳትን ናይ ኦርቶዶክሳዊት ቤተክርስትያን ገዳማትን ተቓውሞታት፡ ናይ መንእሰያት ሰላማዊ ሰልፍታትን ምጥርናፋትን፡ ናይ ህዝባዊ ምጥርናፋት፡ ናይ ዓርቢ ሓርነት ተቓውሞታት ከም ኣብነት ጠቒሱ። ሕጂ ድማ፡ ኣብ'ዚ ቀረባ እዋን ንምፍራስ ኣባይቲ ብምቅዋም፡ ኣብ መንጐ ህዝብን ኣብ መንጐ ወተሃደራትን ሰራሕተኛታት መንግስትን ዝተፈጥረ ኣምባጓሮ፡ ልክዕ ከም'ቲ ፍልስጤማውያን ንኣባይቶም ከፍርሱ ዝመጹ ወተሃደራት እስራኤል ብኣእማን ኢዮም ተሳሂሎሞም ኢሉ።

እንተዀነ ግን፡ ኢሉ ሓው መንግስተኣብ፡ እቲ ተቓውሞ ጥርኑፍ ዘይምዃኑ ማዕረ'ቲ ትጽቢት ዝግበረሉ ለውጢ ክኸውን ከምዘይከኣለ ድማ ኣስሚርሉ። ነዚ ሽግር'ዚ ንምፍታሕ ኣሳታፊ ዝዀነ፡ ግሉጽ ልዝባትን ርክባትን ናይ ተቓወምቲ ሓይሊ ዕዙዝ ኣድላዪነት ከምዘለዎ ኣሚቱ። እቲ ተቓውሞ ኣድማዒ መታን ክኸውን፡ ናይ መንእሰያትን ደቂ ኣንስትዮን ተሳትፎ ክዓቢ ከምዘለዎ ኣረዲኡ። ኣብ ውሽጥን ኣብ ግዳምን ዘሎ ተቓውሞ ተሓባቢሩን ተወሃሂዱን ዝኸደሉ መንገዲ ምንዳይ ናይ ኵሉ ተቓላሳይ ተሳትፎን ጻዕርን ዝሓትት ምዃኑ ኣተሓሳሲቡ።

ምስ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ዘሎ ዝምድና ናይ ቋንቋ፡ ባህሊ፡ መበቆል፡ ታሪኽ፡ ቅርጻ-መሬት (ጂኦግራፍ) ኣብ ግምት ዘእተወ፡ ኣብ መትከል ሓባራዊ ረብሓን ሕድሕድ ምድግጋፍን ኣብ ውሽጣዊ ጕዳያት ናይ ካልእ ዘይምትእትታውን ዝተሰረተ ክኸውን ኣድላዪነቱ ዕዙዝ ምዃኑ ገሊጹ።

ብዛዕባ ሰዲህኤ ብዝምልከት ድማ፡ ኣብ ታሪኻዊ ፍልልያት ምንባር ነጺጉ ንቕድሚት ክጥምት ዝተበገሰ፣ ኣብ መንጐ ተቓወምቲ ሓይልታት ዝተፈላለየ ብርክታት ዘለዎ ምሕዝነታት ክቐውም ዝድግፍ (multi-level alliances)፣ ሃይማኖት ካብ መንግስቲ ዝፈሊ፣ መሰረታዊ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ዝኽበሩላ ዲሞክራስያዊትን ቅዋማዊትን ሃገር ንምምስራት ዝቃለስ ሰልፊ ምዃኑ ብሰፊሑ ገሊጹ።

ንንጥፈታቱ ብዝምለከት ድማ፡ ተዓዛቢ ኣባል ሶሽያሊስት ኢንተርናሽናል፡ መስራቲ ኣባል ገስጋሲ ምሕዝነት ኰይኑ፡ ኣብ ኒጀር፡ ቱኒዝያ፡ ጀርመንን ሽወደንን ዝተኻየደ ኣህጕራዊ ኣኼባታት ከምዝተሳተፈ ሓቢሩ። ከምኡ'ውን፡ ካብ 15 ሃገራት ደቡብ ኣፍሪቃ ዝመጹ ኣባላት ዘለውዎ ምስ ጕዳይ ኤርትራ፡ ፍልስጤም፡ ምዕራባዊ ሰሃራን ስዋዚላንድን ዝደጋገፍ ሲቪካዊ ማሕበር ብዝገበሮ ዕድመ መሰረት ወከልቲ ሰልፍናን መድረኽን ተረኺቦም ብዛዕባ ሃለዋት ኤርትራ መግለጺ ሂቦም፣ ናይ ረድዮ ቃለ-መሓትት ኣካይዶም፣ ምስ ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ደቡብ ኣፍሪቃ'ውን ተራኺቦም ኢሉ።

ኣብ ርእስ'ዚ፡ ንጕዳይ ስደተኛታት ብዝምልከት ሰልፍና፡ ናብ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት፡ ናብ ኣውሮጳዊ ሕብረትን ዝተፈላለዩ ትካላቱን፡ ናብ ሰብኣዊ ማሕበራት፡ ናብ ተጣበቕቲ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት፡ ናብ መንግስታትን ሰልፍታትን ዓለም ብርክት ዝበሉ መዘክራት ልኢኹን ብርክት ዝበሉ ርካብት ኣካይዱን ኢዩ ኢሉ።

ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ ካብ ኣኼበኛታት ዝቐረቡ ሕቶታት ድሕሪ ምምልሳስን ርእይቶታትን ለበዋታትን ድሕሪ ምስማዕን ኣኼባ ብዝኽሪ ናይ ስውኣት ተዛዚሙ።

ስዒቡ፡ በቶም ወናማትን ዘይደኽሙን ደረፍትን ሙዚቀኛታትን ዝተዳለወ ናይ ወጋሕ ትበል ለይቲ መደብ ተኻይዱ።

هناك جائزة سنوية تمنحها مؤسسة ( مو ابراهيم ) التابعة لرجل الأعمال السوداني محمد ابراهيم منذ 2007م لأفضل رئيس افريقي حكمةً وأداءاً راشداً، وذلك عبر شروط ومعايير لابد من توافرها فيمن تمنح له الجائزة، أهمها مدى تمسكه بالعدل وحكم القانون والدستور والمؤسسية.

منحت المؤسسة جائزتها للعام 2014م للسيد/ هفكبيوني بوهامبا (Hifikepunye Pohamba) رئيس ناميبيا لدوره المتميز في تعزيز ونشر الوحدة والمصالحة الوطنية، تعميق عملية التحول الديمقراطي وتحقيق إصلاحات اجتماعية واقتصادية ملموسة علي حد قول المؤسسة.

تمتعت ناميبيا في عهد الرئيس/ بوهمبا بالاستقرار والحكم الراشد والديمقراطية التوافقية وصحافة قوية ومستقلة، فضلاً عن احترام حقوق الانسان.

أيضاً توهب الجازة للرؤساء الذين جاءوا الي السلطة بانتخابات شعبية حرة ثم يتركون السلطة عن طيب خاطر للحزب الفائز في الانتخابات إذا لم يحالف حزبهم الحظ. هذا وقد كان من أهم أسباب منح بوهمبا الجائزة هو أنه بعد فوزه بدورتين رئاسيتين رفض المسوغات والإغراءات التي حاولت أن تزين له الترشح لدورة ثالثة نزولا علي حكم الدستور الناميبي الذي لا يسمح للرئيس بالترشح لأكثر من دورتين.

قيمة الجائزة خمس ملايين دولار تدفع للرئيس الفائز خلال 10 أعوام بالإضافة لألفي دولار تدفع له سنوياً حتى مماته.

منحت الجائزة في عامها الأول (2007م) للرئيس الموزمبيقي/ يواكيم بيسانو وللبوتسواني/ فستوس موقايي (2008م)، ولكلٍّ من بدرو بيرس رئيس الرأس الأخضر والرئيس مانديلا (2011م)، وتم حجبها للأعوام 2009، 2010، 2012، 2013م لعدم العثور علي من تنطبق عليه شروط الجائزة من الرؤساء الأفارقة.

عند المقارنة بين رئيس بلادنا الدكتاتور/ إسياس أفورقي والرئيس الناميبي/ بوهمبا نجدهما يسيران في خطين متوازيين لا يلتقيان. ففي عهد إسياس تدهورت أحوال بلادنا ووحدة شعبها ولا يسودها الوئام الوفاق، شعبها والشباب منه بالذات يتشرد بعشرات الآلاف. لا تتمتع بدستور ولا صحافة مستقلة ولا انتخابات متعددة الأحزاب، أما الأداء الإداري فيعمه الفساد.

وعند المقارنة بين الطباع الشخصية للرجلين، نجد أن تواضع الرئيس/ بوهمبا الشديد وبالتالي هروبه من البهرجة والأضواء تسبب في عدم شهرته والجهل حتى باسمه من بين الرؤساء الأفارقة. بينما أفورقي رغم فشله الشامل والدائم في كل شيء نجده يملأ الأرض ضجيجاً بشتم وتحقير نظرائه من الرؤساء الأفارقة والسخرية من النظام الديمقراطي والدستوري. هذا والعالم كله يعرف رئيسنا كأحد أبرز المشاغبين ومثيري القلاقل في المنطقة والعالم. كما يحاول إسياس الظهور بمظهر الملم بكل شيء في العالم ويبذل كل ما في وسعه أن يعرفه العالم بهذه الخاصية. إنه لا يسمح حتى لوزرائه بالتعبير عما يعلمونه من شؤون واختصاصات وزاراتهم، فهو كما يرى أعلم منهم بشؤون وزاراتهم وبالتالي يقرر بشأنها دون استشارتهم أو إشعارهم، يحاول الظهور بأنه العلامة وخبير الخبراء في كل الميادين، الأحوال الجوية والاسفيرية، المعادن، الزراعة، الصحة والطب، الاقتصاد، الحرب، بناء وتخطيط وهندسة المنازل والمنشآت وحتى الخزانات.....الخ.

إسياس أفورقي تشبثاً ببقائه في الحكم ضحـَّـى بالدستور والصحافة ورفاق نضاله وشركائه في الحكم، فحجب الدستور والمنادين بتحكيمه. أما الديمقراطية والحكم الراشد فلم يأت علي سيرتهما إطلاقاً، إنه دكتاتور استبدادي لا يرى في المرآة إلا نفسه ولا يرى خارجها إلا ظله.

إذاً شتان بين بوهمبا الحاكم الراشد الرؤوف بشعبه والملتزم بدستور وقوانين بلاده وأفورقي الذي يبيد ويبعثر ويشرِّد شعبه صباح مساء.