Eritrean-SMART!

(a) “There is no evidence that Eritrea is supporting al-Shabaab in Somalia”. With all its shortcomings, the SEMG asserts this cardinal fact without equivocation.
(b) As emphasized above, the Eritrea-Djibouti dispute is under a mediation process and does not, otherwise, constitute a threat to regional and international peace and security.
(c) In the event, the two reasons for imposing unjust sanctions on Eritrea are nonexistent. As such, lifting the sanctions immediately and unconditionally can only be the right course of action by the UNSC. The logical corollary of this action is the termination of the mandate of the SEMG. And in any case, as the SEMG has concluded its work concerning Eritrea, the Eritrean Government strongly feels that the SEMG has outlived its purpose and its mandate should not be renewed.

ብሽደን ሳሙኤል፡ ኣብ መንጎ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ዝተፈረም ስምምዕ ሰላም ኣልጀርስ፡ ብምልኣት ከይተተግበረ እንሆ መበል 13 ዓመት ዕድሚኡ ይዛዝም ኣሎ። ልክዕ ንምዃን ዕለት 12 ታሕሳስ 2000 ዓ/ም፡ እቲ ስምምዕ ብወግዒ ኣብ ከተማ ኣልጀርስ ዝተፈረመሉ እዋን’ዩ። ካብ’ዚ ዕለት’ዚ ንዳሓር ጥራይ፡ ኢትዮጵያ ንልዕሊ 4745 መዓልታት፡ ላኣላዊ መሬት ኤርትራ ብምሓዝ፡ ኣብ መሬትና ተኾይጣ ንውሳኔ ኣህጉራዊ ቤት ፍርዲ ብምርጋጽ፡ጎበጣኣ ከተርግእ…

The Special Rapporteur Report on the situation of human rights in Eritrea was expected to be the result of a thorough, accurate and impartial investigation in line with the mandate from the Council. However, it falls far short of that goal. The report affirms that the SR depended wholesale on tons of misinformation and disinformation manufactured and circulated over the last decade and half by the sworn historical enemies of the Eritrean people—the same forces now shedding crocodile tears about human rights in this young, struggling African nation. It clearly tries to advance a political agenda designed by those who used all their resources to deny the Eritrean people their basic rights for nearly six decades. This is just another ploy—war by other means—aimed at Eritrea’s sovereignty to reverse the rights for which the Eritrean people have paid so much in blood and treasure. We therefore urge members of the UN Human Rights Council to reject this politically motivated report which falls far short of the goals set for it. The Council has an obligation to ensure a thorough, accurate and impartial process of investigation by its rapporteurs into the conditions of human rights in any country to protect the integrity of its mission. It shouldn’t allow the process or the outcome to be politicized. Unfortunately, the work of the Special Rapporteur in this case was neither thorough nor accurate or impartial.

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea in her report submitted on May 28, 2013 has made hundreds of wild charges, yet she was unable to verify any of these. It looks she never made an attempt to know the reality of Eritrea and the Eritrean people, yet she didn’t hesitate to make any charge under the sun about things she herself admits she didn’t know anything about. She was selective in her choice of neighbors to visit or individuals and groups to meet. Given her anti-Eritrean disposition, we expected her report to be another cut-and-paste of the disinformation compiled over the last 15 years by Eritrea’s sworn enemies and their supporters. But, this report is even worse than our expectations. See for yourself. Her below is a paragraph-by-paragraph rebuttal of the report.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 23, 2013

On March 22, 2013, as thousands of Swedish citizens of Eritrean origin were demonstrating in Stockholm, Sweden to condemn the criminal and cowardly acts of terrorism that burned three of their community centers, Eritrean Americans across the United States visited the Swedish Embassy in Washington DC and Swedish Consular offices throughout the United States.

On 25th February 2012, the 10-year long and well-coordinated vilification and defamation campaign against Swedish-Eritrean citizens culminated in a late night firebombing of three Eritrean Community Centers in the heart of Stockholm. This heinous crime followed by the conspicuous media silence, and alarming inaction by the Swedish authorities is prompting us to visit your office and voice our concerns.

The Eritrean community in Philadelphia, Pa, held on December 1, 2012 a successful seminar, which drew several noted speakers and a large audience from across the Mid-Atlantic states. Yohannes Andemichael, chairman of the Philadelphia hzbawi mekete, introduced the speakers—Dr. Asgede Hagos, Dr. Yacob Fisseha, Dr. Berhe Habte-Giorgis, and Dr. Ghidewon Abay Asmerom. Also included, but…