"Dear Ms. McGuire,
*On* May 24, 2014, CBC News published an article online titled “*Despite
sanctions, Deputy Mayor celebrates conflict-prone state of
Eritrea*<
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/despite-sanctions-deputy-mayor-celebrates-conflict-prone-state-of-eritrea-1.2652565>”
that was neither balanced nor accurate. The article was in relation to a
letter sent by Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly acknowledging the achievements of
Eritrea’s people on the eve of its annual Independence Day celebrations.
The article unnecessarily creates controversy around Mr. Kelly’s protocol
letter through its seemingly innocuous negative portrayal of
Eritrean-Canadian relations, and leaves very little doubt about the
accuracy of the facts used to support it.
Your story relies on facts that bear significantly on its honesty and
balanced representation of Canada’s relationship with Eritrea. We wish to
bring the following facts and corrections to your attention in the hopes
you will balance your story by letting readers know about these
developments:
*1.* The article states in its opening paragraph that, “The Canadian
ambassador to Eritrea is not even in Eritrea, but a diplomatic outpost in
Khartoum, Sudan.” The CBC did not deem it relevant to mention that Canada
has never had an embassy or an ambassador located in Eritrea since the
latter gained independence. This fact is important because the reader would
otherwise infer that the lack of Canadian diplomatic representation in
Eritrea today is a result of poor relations and not done to save on
administrative costs. Also, the CBC did not deem it relevant to mention
that Canada has a long standing Consulate in Asmara with Canadian staff,
located at 745 Abeneh Street.
*2.* The article cites a speech made on May 18th 2014 by Ahmed Iman who is
falsely identified as “the head of consular affairs at the Eritrean embassy
in Canada”. This is inaccurate because there is no Eritrean embassy in
Canada. This is confirmed on the Government of Canada’s
website<
http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/sudan_south_sudan-soudan_soudan_du_sud/eritrea-erythree.aspx?lang=eng>which
states that Eritrea only has a consulate in Toronto.
Based on the close wording in your article, we think your staff writer
likely lifted this error from a secondary source article originating on
shabait.com<
http://shabait.com/news/local-news/17097-eritrean-community-members-in-canada-reiterate-readiness-to-mount-staunch-resistance-against-external-conspiracies->.
Furthermore,
the CBC article falsely quotes Mr. Iman, who at no material time stated in
his speech that ‘criticisms against his government were external
conspiracies.’ It is likely that your staff writer did not attend the May
18 event but instead relied on the aforementioned article from Shabait and
took the journalistic liberty in attributing some of the themes from the
article as actual quotes from a speech. What is said in the secondary
source article is the following, “Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ahmed Iman,
Head of Consular Affairs in the Eritrean Embassy in Canada, congratulated
the Eritrean people and their leadership, and expressed appreciation for
those who made remarkable input in organizing the ceremony.” [5]
The quote reported on CBC News states the following: “Ahmed Iman, head of
consular affairs in the Eritrean embassy in Canada, made an Independence
Day speech on May 18, in which he referred to criticisms of his government
as “external conspiracies.”
The quote cited by the CBC does not appear in the Shabait article nor were
we able to locate it through any other reputable media publication. In
keeping with the values of accuracy, integrity and fairness, we request
that CBC News correct these errors and provide us with an explanation for
the foregoing.
*3.* While relations have become strained between Canada and Eritrea, the
CBC did not deem it relevant to mention that bilateral trade between Canada
and Eritrea has increased. According to the government of Canada, two way
merchandise trade between the countries increased from $2.92 million in
2010 to $325.8 million in 2011. 6
*4.* Moreover the article states that Eritrea has similarly limited
relationships with other countries but the CBC did not deem it relevant to
mention that congratulation messages similar to the one written by Mr.
Kelly’s office were equally sent from numerous world leaders including
Shimon Peres of Israel, Pope Francis of the Vatican, Ban Ki Moon of the
United Nations, Lady Catherine Ashton from the EU, African Union leaders
and many others. We might also add that several mayors from major U.S.
cities have conveyed similar messages to the Eritrean people. None of the
foregoing letters have been labelled as controversial by any reputable
media outlets in North America or Europe.
*5.* In the article it is also written that, “Eritrea is one of the
poorest nations in Africa, yet Canada does not provide humanitarian aid to
it.” The CBC did not deem it relevant to mention that Eritrea has a unique
policy around foreign aid – it has maintained a cautionary approach to aid
since its independence due to risk of creating a culture of dependency that
today plagues other countries in the region. It has opted rather to pursue
a self-reliance policy with occasional partnerships with some donor
countries. This fact is important to mention otherwise the reader may infer
that Canada refuses to provide humanitarian aid to Eritrea because of
political differences between the two countries. Moreover, the Canadian
government admits that it provides regional funding to multilateral
partners, which may providebenefits to Eritrea. (see footmote 3)
*6.* The article states that, “Canadians are urged not to go to Eritrea”.
When we contacted the Eritrean consulate in Toronto we were informed that
the number of Canadians returning to Eritrea, based on the number of issued
visas, has increased in the last five years. The CBC did not deem it
relevant to inquire about this fact. I might add that, a day after the
publication of this article, the Eritrean Consulate also confirmed to us
they were not contacted by the CBC for comments. The CECCO and the 30,000
Canadians of Eritrean origin are determined to create a more fertile ground
for the betterment of relations between Canada and Eritrea. We are proud of
both our Eritrean and Canadian Heritage and will continue to promote
travelling to Eritrea.
*7.* Lastly, the article provides partial and imbalanced chronology of
important events in Eritrean history since its independence. It begins by
stating that, “Eritrea has a violent recent history with its neighboring
countries, with battles against Yemen and Ethiopia.” However, even
according to the International Crisis Group, a commonly cited think tank
funded by the Canadian government and headed by former Canadian Supreme
Court judge Louise Arbour, the international community erred seriously
after the Eritrea-Ethiopia war of 1998 in not putting greater pressure on
Ethiopia to implement the legally sanctioned international Boundary
Commission’s finding that granted disputed land to Eritrea. 7
This fact is important because Eritrea’s foreign policy is largely affected
by the resulting perception that Canada and its international partners are
behind Ethiopia, no matter what it does. It should be noted that like Mr.
Kelly’s letter to the consulate, Ms. Arbour’s organization also calls for
improved ties with Eritrea in spite of their strong reproach of the
Eritrean government. The report also calls on the UN Security Council to
pressure Ethiopia to accept the unenforced border ruling. We would like to
know why the CBC did not deem it relevant to report on the implications of
the non-implementation of the EEBC (Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission)
ruling and the negative impact it has had on the Horn of Africa’s
humanitarian and security situation.
We urge the CBC to balance its news reports and afford us respect as
Canadian readers. We are disappointed and dismayed that while your national
writing staff had readily available facts to help write an accurate and
balanced story, they chose not to seek them out. We request corrections to
the factual inaccuracies in this story and request an opportunity to rebut
the content of this article based on all the foregoing points.
Regards,
Lambros Kyriakakos
Acting Chairperson,
Coalition of Eritrean Canadian Communities and Organizations (CECCO)
CC.
Hon. Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
Mr. Hubert T. Lacroix, CBC President and CEO
Ms. Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman
Mr. Norm Kelly, Deputy Mayor of the City of Toronto"
http://www.tesfanews.net/eritrean-canadian-community-questions-cbcs-ethics/
http://www.eritreacanada.org/#!press-releases/cs4q
--
*Media & Information YPFDJ Canada*
Received on Wed May 28 2014 - 12:32:00 EDT