Eritrea's 20th Anniversary - Haunted By Perceptions or Reality?
BY LAURA ANGELA BAGNETTO IN ADDIS ABABA,
english.rfi.fr 23 MAY 2013
http://www.english.rfi.fr/africa/20130523-Eritrea-20th-anniversary-haunted-b
y-perceptions-or-reality
Eritrea celebrates its 20th anniversary of independence on Friday with
state-run media describing festivities across the country. But Amnesty
International has decried the alleged human rights abuses committed by the
one-party government run by President Isaias Afewerki, asserting that some
10,000 people are being held in jails.
"There has been a concerted disinformation campaign from so many quarters
which are [doing] a cut and paste activity," Girma Asmeron, the Eritrean
Ambassador to the African Union, told RFI.
Calling the allegations on par with the search for weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq, Asmeron says that the prisoner story "has been spun so
many times, as though perceptions become reality".
Asmeron says that the Eritrean people are united, no matter what human
rights campaigners say. He says he took up the liberation struggle after
finishing his studies in the US, as Eritreans from all walks of life came
together to fight for independence, from nomads to intellectuals, students
and the working class.
"You will not find in Eritrea any family which has not lost somebody-a
cousin, an aunt, a brother, a friend," he says, on the sidelines of the AU
summit in Addis Ababa.
The ambassador maintains that there is no dissent, even in the Eritrean
army, even though reports surfaced in January that soldiers briefly took
over the Ministry of Information in Asmara.
"Those weren't army officers," he says. "In any society, even in any family,
there is a black sheep," he laughs. "There were about two to three officers
with their own grievances-it was a distortion, a deliberate distortion."
Eritrea is considered by some as one of the most isolated and authoritarian
regimes, which led commentators to wonder how the news leaked out. Reporters
Without Borders has classified Eritrea as the lowest-ranked country-at
179th-for press freedom in the world.
And while not the lowest ranked by the Transparency International on its
2012 corruption index, where it is placed between the Democratic Republic of
Congo and Guinea Conakry at number 150th, it has dropped lower since 2011.
Eritrea's active diaspora has been the bane of the Afewerki government,
using social media, publishing stories online and using other means to keep
the spotlight on the alleged abuses. Asmeron says otherwise, claiming that
95 per cent of the diaspora is pro-government.
"When people say there is a difference of opinion in the diaspora, I can
challenge them," says Asmeron. He says the sheer numbers of Eritreans living
abroad who participate in supporting the government are a lot larger than
what he alleges are the few dissidents who turn out for meetings.
"They come out in numbers, and to me, that is democracy, democracy is a
number. [It shows] which side you are on," he says.
But the diaspora is also forced to pay tax to the Eritrean government, a
move the United Nations has condemned.
As for the prisoners, Asmeron remains steadfast in his condemnation of the
Amnesty International report.
"Amnesty International has never been to Eritrea," he says. "There never has
and there will never be 10,000 prisoners ... I don't want to dignify it with
an answer because you did ask me a question ... their agenda is regime
change. Those people who have never been to Eritrea are the ones who are
saying it, it's a political agenda."
When contacted by RFI, Amnesty's London headquarters responded to Asmeron's
assertions: "Amnesty International has not been able to visit Eritrea for
more than a decade because the organisation's staff have consistently been
denied visas by the authorities. However, this repeated denial of access
does not mean Amnesty International cannot conduct valid human rights
research on Eritrea."
The rights group says that researchers have spoken with Eritrean refugees
and asylum seekers in more than 10 countries, gathering information and
accounts that have been cross-referenced and verified. It stands by its
assertion of 10,000 political prisoners but believes that the numbers are
likely to be higher.
As Eritrea celebrates its 20th independence day anniversary, Asmeron says
the day is important "because this is a day where we express our commitment
for the vision we fought for ... in terms of bringing a prosperous,
democratic and free Eritrea". Meanwhile, Amnesty has called for the
government to provide information on those detained as well as inform family
members of their relatives' whereabouts.
Received on Thu May 30 2013 - 11:09:12 EDT