November 20, 2010
CONTACT: Sophia Tesfamariam, Phone number: 703-964-6190
email: Sophia_tesfamariam@hotmail.com
Eritreans Kick Off Worldwide “30 Days of Action for Eritrea”
For 30 days, Eritreans to call on the UN and US to repeal sanctions against Eritrea
To draw attention to the urgency of the timetable, and to ensure that the Obama administration does all it can to annul and repeal the illegal, unfair and unjust sanctions imposed against Eritrea on 31 December 2009 with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1907 (2009). To mark the one year anniversary and bring awareness to this injustice, a global grassroots campaign has been launched encouraging every single Eritrean around the world to take action over the next 30 days.
The first action is to write letters to President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon. Actions will also be taken via Twitter, Facebook, phone and email as well as offline actions throughout the 30 day period. Eritreans and friends of Eritrea around the world will be calling upon administration officials including President Barack Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and select members of the UN Security Council, US lawmakers, academicians and others to call for the immediate and unconditional annulment of the illegal, unfair and unjust sanctions.
“This is a campaign that seeks to mobilize every Eritrean in every country, to join hands to collectively demand justice,” states Freweini Tekeste, Chairperson of the Washington, DC popular campaign. 23 December will mark the first anniversary of the passing of the illegal, unfair and unjust US sponsored Resolution 1907 (2009) that imposed sanctions on Eritrea. Almost a year later, the Security Council has yet to provide any concrete evidence to prove its allegations against Eritrea.
As the recent clearly shows, the said evidence is based on faulty intelligence and that the report used to justify sanctions against Eritrea was, “compiled by US representatives to the UN” and that and “the USA was highly instrumental in writing the passage which it now quotes, providing what amounts to self-corroboration the UN report that, in producing its Somalia document”.
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30 Days of Action for Eritrea is a campaign led by Eritrean youth around the world and are calling on President Barack Obama and UN Secretary Ban Ki Moon to uphold the UN charter and international law by taking action to annul and repeal sanctions against Eritrea. Several Eritrean community and civic organizations are participating in the campaign.