Unwarranted and Disrespectful Statements made by UNESCO's Irina Bokova, regarding Eritrea
Sophia Tesfamariam
I read the comments[1] made by Irina Bokova, UNESCO head and her unsubstantiated comments about the State of Eritrea and its people. What does she know about the journalists in Eritrea as the Government of Eritrea has never disclosed any information about them? It is not in the culture of Eritrea to detail the crimes committed by individuals whether they are big or small. It is also not the culture of Eritreans to falsely accuse others without any concrete evidence. It is also not the culture of Eritreans to pander to the west for validation or blessing of any of our decisions as we do not consider ourselves to be inferior to anyone. We, the people of Eritrea collectively have enough wisdom to go around the world a few times over!
As I was searching to find out who Irina Bokova was and her experiences with Eritrea, I found this interesting paragraph found in the Wikileak cable[2]. It was written at the time of her nomination to head UNESCO. The Embassy cable says:
"...A window of opportunity has opened for the United States at UNESCO. With the election of Irina Bokova, the U.S. has a favorably disposed Director-General ...The U.S. now has a unique opportunity to affect UNESCO's future course. Our successful efforts to influence the outcome of the Director-General selection at last September's Executive Board have demonstrated to other member states that the U.S. is a power to be reckoned with in this Organization, and in the person of new Director-General Irina Bokova, we have someone who is well disposed to the U.S. and who is clearly aware of how much she owes us. As of now Bokova is proceeding cautiously and consulting us frequently. She is focused on assembling her management team and has said relatively little about her programmatic priorities for the
Organization other than that she would like to do more on science and on inter-cultural dialogue. This is, therefore, the moment for the U.S. to make clear to Bokova and to member states what we would like UNESCO to do..."
We have seen what the US did at the UN Human Rights Council, using that body to advance its illicit agendas against the State of Eritrea. Reducing that organ of the UN into an appendage of the US Mission at the UN by providing funds and unfettered access to the UN Security Council and other forums for individuals and groups (family members of those recruited in Eritrea to overthrow the Government of Eritrea) that have been blackmailing and defaming Eritrea, while denying the Government and people of Eritrea, including the vast Eritrean Diaspora equal voice in any forums. But let us see what else the US envisioned for UNESCO, so that we are not caught by surprise by any of its future endeavors:
"...As we move forward with those of these ideas that Washington may approve, we will need to keep in mind that UNESCO often lacks sufficient, trained personnel to implement the projects it wants to undertake. Its personnel shortages are even more acute than its financial limitations. If we want important projects done quickly and according to our wishes, we will in many instances have to help provide UNESCO the manpower to do them. We will thus need to consider concluding an agreement with UNESCO to provide Associate Experts, who can be compensated out of our extra-budgetary funds. (Italy, UNESCO's largest donor of extra-budgetary funds, for example, makes extensive use of this mechanism to place Italians in positions of strategic importance to Italy.) We will also wish to make use of existing mechanisms to second staff to the Secretariat and to place Fullbright fellows or interns in offices involved in implementing our programs..."
So who are the proud recipients of these "Fullbright" scholarships? The list of Eritreans who have been provided this special scholarship is an interesting group and more on that on a later date. But more importantly, are these UN entities supposed to serve the interests of the US and its allies or the whole world?
As the above cable clearly shows, Irina Bokoba woman is subservient to the US and will do anything and say anything in order to advance US interests in the Horn of Africa. At a time when the whole world, especially Ethiopians are focused on the detentions and massacres of journalists in Ethiopia, when the US has itself detained over 80 journalists to date, it is disingenuous and downright hypocritical of this woman to single out Eritrea for her outrage.
No doubt she was told to say what she said as it is that time of the year-September 18, when all the world's presses stop and point their ugly bloody fingers at Eritrea, as if they were really concerned about the individuals that have been detained for treasonous activities. We have become accustomed to the unprecedented vilification and defamation campaigns emanating from Washington and the US Mission at the UN for the last 12 years. It is rather sad and unfortunate that the UN has been reduced, in its totality, into an extension of Foggy Bottom and the White House.
Eritreans do not need Irina Bokova's or any other individual or group to tell us what is good for our country and our people. In Eritrea, journalists are not above the law and inciting hatred, religious and ethnic conflicts is not considered free speech. You have your values and we have ours. We live in peace because we genuinely care for, respect and tolerate our fellow citizens, not because of some legislation. Our attitudes are borne out of a long and bitter struggle and we may be economically poor, but we are not intellectually deprived!
There are thousands of serious issues that this body could have resolved, but it chooses again to serve as the mouthpiece for Susan Rice and her shameful subordinates. How shameful!
The issue of the Independent Press in Eritrea in brief
The Government and people of Eritrea opted to close down the "independent press" that had mushroomed in Eritrea in 1999 for two reasons: they had seized being independent and were endangering the peace, stability and security in Eritrea and disrupting the unity of the nation. In addition, they had violated Eritrea's Press Proclamation No. 90/1996. Internal and external groups and individuals hijacked their "independence". They ended up becoming mouthpieces for forces that sought to destabilize Eritrea in time of war. The arrests of these persons in Eritrea had nothing to do with them being "journalists".
For a better explanation of who they were, I will refer to reports written by Neil Skene, an American journalist hired by the State Department to conduct "training seminars" for journalists in Eritrea between 1999-2001, during the Eritrea Ethiopia border conflict, to give the readers a bit of background and facts that neither Reporters Sans Frontiers (I call them reporters Sans Couth), or the State Department ever mention. In a matter of 3 years, the budding journalists turned from nationalists to enemies of the State. How did this happen? Well let us take a look at what Neil Skene has to say.
On 24 April 2002 Neil Skene wrote the following about the detained journalists:
"...I know most of them, because they were my students in three weeklong training programs financed by the US State Department over the past three years. What they lacked in experience they made up for in dedication to learning to be journalists in a country that had no experience with journalism. During breaks, we drank cappuccino in a cafe downstairs from the American Cultural Center. They took me to their favorite places for dinner and invited
to me to their offices, which were usually drab rooms with peeling paint, sparse furnishings, a couple of computers and sometimes a single window ..."
So far so good...there is more.
On 01 October 2001 Neil Skene wrote:
"...On my first visit, in October 1999, the mood was very different. The journalists were novices. Patriotism among them was high. They were eager to form a press association to organize further training sessions...By my second visit a year ago, the journalists were more skeptical about the failure of the government to introduce democracy. They were still something of a ragtag band and retained the mild manner endemic to their culture, but they were no longer naive. They discussed continuing to meet informally..."
It was in May 2000 that the Ethiopian regime launched its third offensive causing the displacement of hundreds of thousands from their homes and villages. I suppose Neil Skene is talking about the National elections, which were postponed, for obvious reasons. Why would that raise the skepticism of these journalists, if they were truly nationalists? What did Neil Skene discuss with his students in their "informal" meetings? When two of the "journalists" in his class, Milkeas Mehreteab and Semere Taezaz, escaped in 2001, they contacted Neil Skene and within days, the State Department arranged for their entry into the USA at a time when the country was still recovering from the terrorist attacks of September 11. Soon after the arrival of the two journalists Milkeas Mehretteab and Semere Taezaz, the anti-Eritrea media campaigns began with CPJ in the lead and Neil Skene working in tandem with them.
Here is what he writes about Dawit Isaac, one of the detainees that the US and Sweden have attempted to portray as an innocent "journalists":
"...Dawit Isaac, was one of my students. He worked for the largest and most pro-government of the papers, Setit. It was his newspaper that most clearly signaled the end of naivete about President Isaias' democratic intentions. The paper wrote an editorial gently suggesting it was about time to implement the six-year-old constitution..."
There was nothing na•ve about Dawit Isaac or the "journalists" courted by Neil Skene and they are not detained for their gentle suggestion to implement the Eritrean Constitution. He neglects to mention the role of the journalists in the campaign against the State of Eritrea and its people, including the vast Eritrean Diaspora, whose reputation is being blemished, whose members are being harassed, intimidated by their sponsors in the Diaspora, of which he is one.
Let us see what has become of Neil Skene's "journalism students" who managed to leave Eritrea under suspicious conditions:
Milkias Mihretab, was awarded the Percy Qoboza Award from the U.S.-based National Association of Black Journalists and also Amnesty International's 2002 Special Award for Human-Rights Journalism Under Threat. He was issued a US visa in Sudan and brought to the US just weeks after the September 11 attacks. He was the most vocal "journalist" in exile and stayed in close contact with Neil Skene.
Khaled Abdu, co-founder and former editor in chief of Admas, became a recipient of Human Right Watch's Hellman/Hammett grant. He was one of those that attended the recent meeting organized by Meles Zenawi in Debre Zeit Ethiopia, in which a member of the UN Secretary general's office, Haile Menkerious also participated
Aaron Berhane, writer and editor at Setit, now living in Canada is also a recipient of Human Right Watch's Hellman/Hammett grant. He now serves as a spokesperson for a criminal Eritrean youth group that has been vandalizing Eritrean Communities in Oakland and other US cities. Its members also attended the conference in Debre Zeit organized by the minority regime in Ethiopia with the full knowledge of the US State Department and the US Embassy in Addis Ababa.
Kidane Yibrah Beyene, a reporter is also a recipient of Human Right Watch's Hellman/Hammett grant.
Semere Taezaz Sium, a reporter at Keste Debena was brought to the US and was awarded Human Right Watch's Hellman/Hammett grant.
I could go on and on...
What were they being rewarded for? After all, they were not established "journalists" with any record to speak of.
What was Neil Skene teaching these Eritreans? How did the "nationalists" turn into runaway defectors and informants? Whose interests were they serving with their publications? A lot of unanswered questions remain. If there is one thing that Eritreans have, it is patience. We will wait as long as it takes to make decisions that benefit our peoples long term interests, and not for political expediency.
The advent of the Internet, and opportunity it allows for all citizens to play an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information has diminished the role of the mainstream media, as we know it. In my opinion, the issue of the independent press in Eritrea neither warrants the attention of nor is it of any concern self serving organizations who have contributed to its closure in Eritrea. Eritrea is a very young nation and for those who have been watching the institution building process in Iraq and Afghanistan, at a cost of several billions, will appreciate the growth and progress in Eritrea, considering its limited financial and human resources, not to mention the incessant interference by those seeking to destabilize the young nation.
[1] http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42868&Cr=journalist&Cr1=#.UFMpt7KPVK0
[2]http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/12/09UNESCOPARISFR1666.html) accessed 14 September 2012
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Received on Fri Sep 14 2012 - 15:25:07 EDT
