Isaias Afworki has turned the Eritrean young soldiers into Killer Robots
By Petros Tesfagiorgis
Isaias Afeworki has become a war lord moving Eritrean troops from one place to the other to kill and get killed instead of promoting and keeping peace. In the past thousands have died in the war against Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti and now thousands are dying in Tigray region of Ethiopia. Today the world is just waking up to the reality that Isaias is up to exterminate the Eritrean youth. He is also a liability to Africa.
Meles Zenawi, then Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and President Isaias Afework of Eritrea ended the 1998 senseless Ethio-Eritrean war by signing peace in Algeria on December 12, 2000. Soon members of the ruling party, PFDJ central committee, raised the issue of implementing the overdue constitution and the need to hold country-wide election.
The private media at that time covered the issue and brought it to the attention of the public, particularly the youth and students. The youth and students were talking about it with passion believing that they will have a bright future in a democratic Eritrea.
But Isaias had another idea. He did not want to give power to the people. On the morning of 18 September 2001 those who raised the issue, the G-15, were rounded up and put to prison never to be seen again. Next all the editors’ of the booming private newspapers were arrested. Isaias carried out a well-crafted coup d’état against the PFDJ/EPLF.
Although Isaias succeeded to win absolute power, he has never felt safe. His nightmare is that one day the people of Eritrea, particularly the High School and University students, will rise up and campaign to end his rule. In order to pre-empt the threat and to control the population he unleashed gross human rights violations and is ruling by fear.
First, the regime closed the highest learning institution of the country, the Asmara University. Next the high school leaving year, 12th grade, was made to take place away from the care and guidance of their parents in a remote place called Sawa where academic freedom is banned. When the students finish their 12th grade they remain in the camp to do a six months military training. After that they are assigned in the army or in various construction sites, extractive mines, farms etc. While they are studying, in military training or in civilian jobs their movement is under surveillance. When they take leave to visit their parents they have to have a permit, a system of pass laws applied during in South Africa during the Apartheid rule. When these young people are doing civilian jobs they are still considered as soldiers and are expected to obey orders from their superiors. Literally they are enslaved and dehumanized. Anyone who showed independent thinking or dissent faces severe punishment – such as torture, solitary confinement and other forms of human rights violations.
The Government owned television, ERI-TV, demonised the TPLF/Tigray day in and day out for many years, sawing the seeds of hate. The TV’s popular slogan is “Serving the truth” while in reality it is serving lies and disinformation. At the same time it built the personality cult of Isaias, The regime turned the youth into programmed robot to accept his orders blindly. This is hidden crime. European External Programme with Africa (EEPA) has reported that Abiy is paying one billion US dollars in 2 instalments to participate in the war. This is sending the Eritreans troops to fight and die as mercenaries in order for Isaias to fill his pockets. These 2 leaders are morally bankrupt and are enemies of humanity.
Today the world is watching with horror the Eritrean army joining the ENDF (Ethiopian National Defence Forces) and Amhara militias in killing civilians, raping women, looting and destroying factories and private properties, including historical sites such as the ancient Church of Mariam Zion in Aksum and Nejashi Mosque in Shire. .
They also attacked their fellow Eritreans, 100,000 of them living in the 4 refugee camps in Tigray, supposedly under the protection of UNHCR. It was reported that as soon as the Eritrean soldiers entered the refugee camps they started killing and looting. They kidnapped refugees to take them to Eritrea. The UNHCR has reported that 20,000 Eritrean refugees are missing when the two camps, Shimelba and Hitsat, were destroyed. It is also reported that angry Tigrean Militias have also killed some Eritrean refugees.
In this moment in time the international community are calling for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray. This is a positive development that the entire African and International community has to push and make it happen.
The end:
To continue on part 2: The call by USA to withdraw Eritrean troops from Tigray and the refusal of Isaias presents a formidable challenge to the Democratic movement in Diaspora: What should be the reaction?
Some people are talking about establishing Government in exile. I think it is not wise. Most governments particularly African Governments would not recognize it. That will divert the campaign to bring Isaias to ICC based on the report of the UN Inquiry Commission on Eritrea.
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What is happening in Tigray is heartbreaking to say the least, however, is there any surprises there knowing those waring personalities at the helm for decades up close and personal? or are we playing clueless? these boy soldiers who are committing gruesome atrocities by crossing over a sovereign nation young enough to be your grandchildren, do they remind of yester you zooming through Tigrayan towns in overloaded commercial trucks with jericans hanging from the rails?…. this could have been averted decades ago if we had trained our guns in the right direction, this is deja vu, we have been through it, just look at today’s medieval Eritrea, back then there was no sawa concentration camp for the youth, but there was denden, alghena and arag… I will quote you “Isaias Afworki has turned the Eritrean young soldiers into Killer Robots”… the same character who invented the killing enterprise, he did it then and he is doing it know and you wouldn’t find a gunpowder residue in his hands if you dust it for forensics.
In my opinion, this is an editorial without an iota of hard truth. The burden of proof is on the writer but, the writer elects to base his avowal on hearsay. Sorry, sir, it is understood that there is a challenge getting true even tangential information from Northern Ethiopia. The news coming is tinted at best overwhelmingly slanted by the supporter and follower of TPLF. Editorial of this detail should be based more on facts and substance, not on hearsay. I am afraid, your readers perceived this as propagandizing the terrible crime committed by TPLF I am afraid this will have a cumulative effect.
To me, I see the crime on the Northern Command through a long lens and put in a perspective. I always wonder how someone thinks of these criminal gangs if this person put him/her self in my shoe. I will never forget the night my parents are escorted out of our house while myself and my sibling watching and confusing and trying to make sense of what had happened. PS: I am not advocating pay-back. I leave that to karma.
As to your writing, I simply ask what is happening to morality, respecting, and giving credit to readers?
Political opposition is noble but a political chase playing with an end game in mind is a crime on the peace-loving decent Eritrean. I say you fail miserably.
I concur, we all failed our people miserably especially those who were present in those critical turning points of our history who failed to act heroically against the internal enemies of our people. What you saw is what you reap, if the menace to our society was dealt with early on when the little boy soldier was warning you, the youth you depicted in the picture above would have been engaged in building our country and attending universities of their choice instead of ransacking places of worship, raping and stuffing foreign bodies in private parts of their victims….. who is the guilty and who is the innocent here? who goes to ICC and who gets spared? in case you forgot, the Lord was there all along when the heinous crimes were being committed in the remote ravines of sahel upon the brethren.
k.tewolde
As usual, you always default to your rants and boundless hatred towards the president of Eritrea. You can hate our president as much as your emotional capacity can handle, but can you produce a single evidence instead of parroting’s Tigray Media House (TMH) talking points? BTW, the same outlet which recently admitted the looting and rapes in Mekele and other major cities in Tigray have been the work of Tigrayan gangsters who were let out of prison by the TPLF criminal gangs as their parting gift to the people of Tigray!
You are the evidence Salim don’t look further just peek in the mirror, you are the agar which sustains the life of the toxic mold, there is no hate here just raw facts, I wish your ‘president’ was the only problem to our enormous woes, it would have been an easy fix. BTW, when was the last time you cast your vote for your ‘president’?
I object to your use of religion as a metaphor. It was misplaced. You can argue your point of view by discussing and focusing on the topic of this guy’s editorial and perhaps my comment about it. Although it had some shortcomings, I do not think the leadership in Asmara is responsible for the dilemma TPLF found itself in now. The TPLF defaulted by its own making; I am relieved it defunct to the extent that it will not be seen in Ethiopian political theater for a very long time to come. To the contrary of your assertion, I found the leadership in Asmara to be mature and patient (too much) to act/react. I see nothing wrong to use this opportunity occurred now for a hostile takeover of Eritrea’s right full territory. As to I and my sibling suffering in the hands of TPLF in those VERY long nights and months after that, God had a plan for all of us; it worked out fine. I am not saying this so you feel sorry for us or too politicized. I just want you to understand real people on both sides are gone and will go through hell for no fault of theirs. TPLFs are criminal bandits, guess who lives in our house in Addis as soon as they evicted us, a member of the TPLF. One of these days, after our wounds, rehabilitated. I hope to start writing about the painful and horrific past experience. By the way, Eritrean SAWA folks are professional to involve in this crazy stuff TPLF spinners are putting out to the online world.
Dear Almaz, while I empathize with your tragic personal story, it was a commonplace in my homeland, as soon as HGDEF entered the capital from the woods– they evicted almost half of the population and took over their property, a 90 y/o men neighbor died a week later after they evicted him from his home which he raised 3 generations in the old campobolo area ,..so much for liberation ha!? their TPLF counterparts duplicated that a decade later and you became the victim, forget the pre ‘liberation’ era, 30 years of political hashewiye by these two organizations and the characters who spearhead them have been playing with the lives of the poor people on either side of the border, as the good old saying goes >> when 2 elephants fight or make love the grass always gets the beating.. now a third elephant (Nobel) joined the fray.. hell broke loose. I hope you get a reprieve from the ‘professional SAWA folks’.
ሰላማት ንኩሉኹም ኣሕዋት ደቂ ሃገር፣
ኣብዚ ሳዓት’ዚ ንእሰያስ ምውቃስ ፥ ቡዙሕ ጥቅሚ ዘለዎ ኮይኑ ኣይስማዓንን ። እቶም ክውቀሱ ዘግቦኦም ፥ ንዑኡ ኣብዚ ዘብጸሑ ሰባትን ዝተኸተሉዎ ናይ ጥፍኣት ስነሓሳብ እዩ።
ማዓስ እዩ እሰያስ ፥ ንኤሪትራን ህዝባን ዝግደስ ሰብ ነይሩ ?
ካብታ ንመዳ ዝኸደላ ዕለት ጀሚሩ ፥ ህውከት ፥ ጽልኢ ፥ ገበን እንተ ዘይኮይኑ ፥ ብኣዎንታ ዝዝከር ኣቦርክቶ ፥ (ኣብ ሰውራ ይኹን ብድሕሪኡ) ፥ ኣሎዎ ኢልካ ምዝካር ፥ ካብ ማሕላ ንምድሓን ኢልካ ዝጥቀስ እንተ ዘይኮይኑ ፥ ዳርጋ የለን ። ግን እሰያስ ፥ ኣብ ጽልእን ቅርሕንትን ዝሕንብስ ፥ ብስዉር ዝንቀሳቀስ ፥ ሞት ዝዕድል ጉጂለ ሰሪዑ ፥ ድሕነት ነብሱ ካብ ምውሓስ ሓሊፉስ ፥ ኩሉ ዘምሉኾ ጣኦት ኮይኑ ፥ ኣብ ልቢ ቡዙሓት የዋሃት ሰፊሩ ምጽኑሑ ዝሳሓት ኣይኮነን ። ንሱ እዩ እቲ ጸገም ። ሓደ በላዒ ሰብ ፥ ልክዕ ከም ዛር ዝመለኾም ኣይዋሓዱን ።
ሎሚ ተእዊዩ !! ፥ ኣበይ ነርኩም ?፥ ድሕሪ ማይ ናብ ባዓቲ !!
እዚ ሕቶ ፥ ንካድራት ህዝባዊ ግንባር እዩ ።
ወያነ ዓዲምኩም ኣብ መዳ ኤሪትራ ፥ ዘቅተልኩምዎ መንእሰይ ማኣስ ዉሑድ ኮይኑ ። ብሰንኪ ምስ ወያነ ዝገበርኩምዎ ጉሉጽነት ዘይብሉ ፍልልያት ተለኪሙ ፥ ንብረቱ ኣሕዲጎም ዝሰጎጉዎ ዜጋ ዉሑድ ዲዩ ? ። ብሰንኩኹምን ብሰንኪ መራሕቲ ወያነ ፥ ውግእ ናዓና ሓድሽ ነገር ኣይኮነን።
እቶም ክውቀሱ ዝግቦኦም ፥ ንሱ ይምራሓና ኢሎም ፥ ቀለብ ኣራዊት ክገብሩና ዝጸንሑን ዘለዉን እዮም ።
Kemey Qenika W.H. praying for the almighty to put an end to this deadly choke hold on our poor people.
ሰላማት ኩቡር ዶቶረ ፥ ጹቡቅ ክትህሉ እምነ ።
ህዝብና ፥ ግዳይ ሓደ ኣረመናዊ ጉጂለ ኮይኑ ፥ ካብ ከባቢ ኣርሒቁ ዝዕቆበሉ ሃገራት ኣብ ምድላይ ይርከብ።
ጨካናት ካድራት ህግደፍ ፥ ከም ባዓል ሰሊም ነጋሽ ፥ ብዘይካ ግላዊ ጥቅሞም ፥ ቅንጣብ ሰብኣዊ ርህራሀ ስለ ዘይብሎም ፥ ኣብቲ ተሰዲዶምሉ ዘለዉ ማዓስከራት ኣርኪቦም ይጨውይዎን ይቀትሉዎን ኣሎዉ ።
ብሰንኮም ህዝቢ ኤሪትራ ይጸንት ኣሎ ።
እዞም ከዳዓት ፥ ኢዶም ክትጸንሖም እያ።
MY DEAR BROTHER TWEOLDE and WAD HAGAR.. I LOVE U SO MUCH!!! RESPECT ALOT.
Don’t live in the past. This is a critical time to get organised to save the country. To say Eritrean troops out of Tigray, because the young soldiers are perishing in the war for nothing.. Justice seekers activists must put the pains and suffering of the Eritrean people at the central of the activities.
Dear Petros T.
Unfortunately, in Eritrea the past is always present . What happened in the past, in essence, is still happening today. It’s difficult to think the current events are not rooted in events of yesteryears. Nothing is happening out of the blue.
That said I agree we need to learn from it and look forward and move. The sad fact is, as long as we differ in understanding the past, the mutual trust we need to work together will be always in deficit.
‘as long as we (differ) in understanding the past’.. wise choice of words W.H., yes indeed, our homeland never moved an inch, in fact it reeled backward to unfamiliar territory which I can’t recall in my pleasant childhood memories, forget society as whole even in a person’s life span from birth to late adulthood, if the stage conflicts are not resolved properly, the individual keep regressing to the earliest behaviors of life which is age inappropriate. Do any of us know people like that? I know one– HGDEF.. behaves ,acts, sings, dances, dresses, thinks and resolves differences …. the same way.
In other words, it is an adult in toddler’s stage.
Wedi Beatay, do you think as Eritrean you will do the looting, rapping and killing innocent civilians. Never, I believe you will not. Our army is not irrational to do that, because our psychological makeup doesn’t allow us to exercise that. Nay aboy beatay Betekristian zreaye ayghebron eyu.
Down with the maphia group in Asmara.
In a war situation such things happen particularly where the Eritrean army has the reputation to accept the Shoot to kill policy of PFDJ.And the high ranking officers do organise safe way for Eritrean to cross to the Sudan to seek exile for money. We Eritreans know that. In the final analysis there will be independent investigation and those who committed crime against civilians will be accountable. Let’s wait until then. .
You and your disgusted sister from the very first time are the dead fish Woyane recruits. You are nonsense smelling afar as your master. So every you say and write is void. We Eritreans has great respect to our honorable PIA and our gallant Army.
ኣይተ ገዛኢ ፥ ናይ ብሓቂ ጨካን ገዛኢ ኢኻ ።
ንኣያኻ ኢሰያስ ዝኣመነ ህዝቢ ኤሪትራ ፥ ዘይ ኢዱ ረኹቡ ። ሓራ ኮይነ ኣብ ዝበለሉ ግዜ ፥ ኣብ ባርነት መሊስኩምዎ ።
ኣብታ ነጻ ክትኾውን ትጽቢት ዝተገብረላ ኤሪትራ ፥ ሕልሚ ዎሎዶታት ቂሂሙ ። ዳሃይ ዉሉድ ታሓሪሙ ። ዝሞተ ቀባሪ ሲኢኑ ። ዝተበደለ ፍትሒ ተነፊጉ ። መንእሰይ ባህሪሩ ፥ ኣብ ስደት ሰፊሩ ። ሰብ ዝሞቶ ፥ ሓዘን ተኸልኪሉ ። ቅጥፈት ኑቡር ኮይኑ ። ምጭዋይ ፥ ምቅታል ፥ ምስዋር ገኒኑ ። ሽፍታ ነጊሱ ፥ ስርዓት ተሳኢኑ ። ህዝቢ ፥ ሕልኑኡ ዓሪቡ ፥ ተጸባይ ሞት ኮይኑ ። ዝተጨውየ ፥ ዝተሰወረ ፥ ብህወቱ ፥ ኣብ ትሕቲ መሪየት ተደፊኑ ። ዝሞተ ኣብ ዓዱ ክቅበር ተኽልኪሉ ።
ዎዮ መራሒና ዝበሉዎስ ፥ ለካ ሑሱም ጸላኢ ኮይኑ ጸኒሑ ።
ኣይተ ገዛኢ ፥ ሃገር ፥ ኣብ ዕሸል ዕድሚኣ ቀቲልኩምዋ ።
ማዓልትኹም ተጸበዩ ።
Today’s Eritrea through the lens of her own beloved son. No one can paint a picture like these concise artifacts of wisdom. Thanks a million W.H. I never take you for granted.
ኩቡር ዶቶረ ፣
ንእስነትካ ዘወፈኻላ ሃገርካ ፥ ኣየቅሰነትካን ።
ከይታሓለልካ ኣሎኹልኪ ንምባልካ ፥ የቀንየልና።
ፋሺስታዊ ጉጂለ እሰያስ ፥ ንኤሪትራ ፥ብመደብ ፥ ከዕኑዋ ካብ ዝጅምር መዋእል ሓሊፉ ። እቲ ዘሕዝን ፥ ኣብ ክንዲ ሓቢርና ንቃለሶም ፥ ኣብ ዘይጠቅም ፥ ኣብ ጓል ነገር ፥ ግዜና ይሓልፍ ምህላዉ እዩ ።
ስርዓት ወይጦታት ፥ ነታ ብኩቡር ደም ጀጋኑ ዝተአረኽበት ልኡላውነት ኤሪትራ ንምፍራስ ፥ ስጉምትታት ኣብ ምውሳድ ይርከብ ። ኣዉራጃይ ፥ ሃይማኖተይ ክብል ዝውዕል ዕንኪሊሎ ፥ ልቢ ገይሩ ፥ ቅድሚ ኩሉ ሃገረይ ክብል ይግባእ ።
ኤሪትራ ኣብ ዓቢ ሓደጋ ወዲቃ ትርከብ ።
እዞም ጨዊዮምዋ ዘለዉ ከዳዓት ፥ ስልጣን ንህዝቢ ካብ ምርካብ ፥ ንኤሪትራ ንታሪኻውያን ጸላእታ ምርካብ ከም ዝመረጹ ንሪኢ ኣለና ። ብድሕሪ’ዚ እንታይ ንጽበ ?
Congratulations Gezae: Yes why did Isaias found to have committed crime against humanity by the UN Inquiry Commission on Eritrea. Why is Eritrea called Africa’s North Korea.. Why is he to be accused of war crime. PFDJ produced the highest refugees per capita in Africa. Thousands died crossing the channel in the Mediterranean Sea. Hundreds of your sisters are raped by traffickers in Sinai, Libiya .They are scattered all over the world as cheap labor. For you what matters is the survival of the dictator. For you the life of your people does not matter.. You don’t care about the people of Eritrea. You belong with those who are morally bankrupt. When Eritrea is liberated from PFDJ no body will notice you and you will be the first to switch.