Viewpoint

When the Eritrean people struggled for their independence for 30 years, it was with a vision and aspiration for Liberty, Equality and Prosperity. Unfortunately the result is One Man Rule. Today Eritrea is not only one of the few countries ruled by one (dictatorial) party system, but it is suffering from an autocratic regime. Eritrea is one of the top human rights violating list countries. Mass arrest, torture and missing are daily activities of the regime. Many of the victims are dying in prisons. The economic situation of the people is deteriorating from time to time. The people in the cities and towns should stand on line for a piece of bread for several hours. Our youngsters are leaving the country for exile and many of them are dying while crossing the deserts of Libya, the Sudan and the Mediterranean Sea. Their poor parents are forced to pay 50,000 Nakfa as punishment. Otherwise, they should be imprisoned. Shortly, the Eritrean people openly prefer to have the late DERG’s regime than PFDJ regime. This is the fruit of the bitter thirty years struggle.

The Eritrean people are not the only unfortunate to deal with such a despotic regime. It is quite a long time since the PFDJ regime has been engaged in subversive acts in the region. First, this aggressive regime occupied the Hinesh Islands in Yemen. Twelve young Eritreans were killed and probably the Yemenis might have equally lost too in this war. Then Essayas made conflict with Djibouti. Fortunately, the French soldiers were there he did not dare to open war. Then in 1994 he created conflict with Sudan. .Meddling in the internal affairs of Sudan, sometimes he supported the Southern issue, the other time he created the Eastern Front and invaded the country several times. On the other hand he acts as a negotiator between the government of Sudan and the front. Now he is doing the same thing in the western part of the country (Darfur). One can say Sudan has become a political play ground of Essayas.

Surprising and amazing to many people, the PFDJ regime occupied Badme. None can deny that Badme was under the Ethiopian administration. The cause of this starting conflict was not a border issue. It was pure an economic interest. When the Ethiopian government was conscious of the economic exploitation by the regime in Asmara and tried to stop this means of exploitation such the flow of hard currency, coffee etc. to the state of Eritrea, then Essayas chose a military confrontation. For me it is a simple logic. If Essayas hadn’t occupied Badme by force and did not refuse when he was asked to leave it, there wouldn’t have been any war. Those 80,000 or may be more beloved people from both sides, would have existed today and the International Justice System has proved this too.

Since then Mr. Essyas hasn’t slept a single day from thinking of committing subversive acts against Ethiopia. He has done and will do everything possible to disintegrate Ethiopia. He has tried to create fronts in all directions of the country: to the North, South, West and East. Even in Somalia where Eritrea does not have a common border with. Many reliable sources informed that this evil regime was training Islamic extremists in Barka (Eritrea) and transported them to Somalia. The UN research Group on Somalia gave clear evidence that the regime was supplying military hardware to the Islamic Court Union (ICU). Is this all to help the Somali people? It is only to weaken Ethiopia and overthrow “the woyanie” (the ruling party).

When Mr. Essayas was defeated in Somalia, now he is engaged in kidnapping business. When a friend of mine told me the first day over the kidnapping in Denkalia, on the border with Eritrea, I told him that this event can not be without the involvement of the regime in Asmara. A group of gunmen, with military uniform, modern radio communication, kidnapping people from the Ethiopian territory and crossing to the Eritrean border; now the kidnapers appeared on Eri-TV and clamed the kidnapping. Is the PFDJ regime free from this crime? Even a child of Mr. Essayas can’t believe this tale.

The question is: Why did this regime engage in this kidnapping? Many people believe this for publicity purpose. But I have other strong points. A) to sabotage the coming Ethiopian Millennium Festival, concerning tourism. B) to get money from ransom.

The bottom line is, the Europeans are freed while the eight Ethiopians are not. Isn’t it shame to discriminate people in this way? Even the international media was talking only about the five Europeans. Shame enough, these kidnapped eight African (Ethiopians) were born equal, have children (parents) and aspiration to live.

The question now is: What will the Ethiopian government do to get these men released? I would like to leave this question to the ruling party.

However, I wouldn’t like to pass without mentioning my criticism on the Ethiopian ruling party concerning the regime in Asmara. It is obvious that the Eritrean and Ethiopian peoples are equally sharing the unpredictable evil acts of the PFDJ regime. At the same time it is not secret that the regime in Asmara is organizing all odds to destabilize Ethiopia. When this regime is spending so much money and energy for an evil purpose, why doesn’t the Ethiopian government try to give effective support for the Eritrean opposition for a genuine cause? We know the Eritrean opposition is weak. But we believe that the Ethiopian government can put pressure to bring the various political organizations to form a strong united front to liberate the Eritrean people.

Finally, one question to my fellow Eritreans: Do you think what the rogue (the regime in Asmara) is doing is in the interest of the Eritrean people? It is really naïve to think that the regime is protecting the sovereignty of Eritrea. In fact Mr. Essayas is putting the sovereignty of the country in risk due to his arrogant and rigid behaviour. Therefore, being silent or supporting the regime does help solve the problem. It is always better to see things objectively and try to be part of the solution than being part of the problem.

Peace and stability to our region.