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Why did PFDJ Send its Top
Official, Mr. Yemane Gebreab, to London?
Eritreans for Human and Democratic Rights – UK
London, 02 April 2003
PFDJ must be desperate to send
its top political ideologue to the UK to garner support for the government.
It is common knowledge that PFDJ has been losing ground very fast in the
UK. A catalogue of evidences can be presented to prove this fast decline
of the PFDJ in the UK.
1.
The moral bankruptcy of the PFDJ was exposed
during the October 2001 incident when Ato Mesfin Hagos, a well-respected
veteran fighter, was attacked by PFDJ thugs in London. He was physically
attacked but escaped serious injuries.
2.
As a consequence of the above-mentioned
incident, a lawsuit was falsely filed by one of the hooligans against an
Eritrean citizen who tried to protect Ato Mesfin from physical injury. A
British judge dismissed the case after the defendant, in order to prove
his innocence, produced a video clip of the incident.
3.
The PFDJ was forced to transfer its UK representatives
elsewhere as people began to avoid them in public places.
4.
The number of people attending PFDJ or Embassy
functions has dramatically dwindled, signalling to the PFDJ officials
that the Eritrean people are not easily fooled by their tricks and intimidations
any more.
5.
Money that PFDJ officials used to rake in from
members and supporters has been reduced to almost nil. The only income
PFDJ is generating is through blackmailing of citizens with considerable
investment and those who own land/property or business in Eritrea. In
short, these citizens are exploited because firstly, they have become
hostages of their own possessions and secondly, they have little means to
resist PFDJ’s menacing postures.
6.
Eritreans in the UK are freer than ever now.
More and more citizens are exercising their rights to speak freely and
put their freedom of association to practice. They are confronting the
PFDJ operatives in every occasion.
7.
Eritreans in the UK, like their compatriots in
other parts of the world, have taken a clear stand regarding the famine
in their country. They have stopped paying in PFDJ’s coffers and are
sending their contributions through independent channels.
8.
Eritreans in the UK, like those in other
countries, have risen up to actively search for alternative ways, one of
which is by joining civil societies like ours, in order to save their
country from destruction.
9.
Increasingly, ex-EPLF fighters and former PFDJ
members are running away from Eritrea and applying for political asylum
here in the UK.
It is against the
afore-mentioned backdrop that Mr.Yemane Gebreab visited the UK. His
mission is to turn the tide in favour of the government not realising the
above mentioned facts. EHDR-UK learned that he spent three days of
intensive political education to his dwindling group of cadres before
announcing the date for his public seminar. In all probability his private seminars were conducted
to draw up false impression and produce fabricated success. After members and trusted
supporters of the PFDJ secretly received invitation letters to attend his
‘public’ seminar on Sunday, March 23rd, 2003, many were
surprised of the short notice that was given and subdued way it was
organised. To many observers that alone told a story of sorts that PFDJ
has lost its confidence in organising public gathering.
We find it
appropriate to mention the interview Mr Yemane Gebreab gave to IRINnews.org, the UN office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on 27th May 2002. When asked as to what was the
role of PFDJ in Eritrean politics, he answered by saying that ‘PFDJ’s
main job is to ensure that the population in Eritrea remains engaged in
the affairs of the nation.’
How does PFDJ ensure our engagement remains steadfast in our
country’s affairs when we do not even have constitutional, human and
democratic rights? How can
Mr Yemane Gebreab reach such a delusional conclusion at the time when
Eritreans are continually being persecuted by PFDJ operatives inside and
outside the country? One can
learn a great deal from the simple fact that in this day and age more and
more ‘engaged citizens’ are running away from PFDJ’s stranglehold.
Here are some facts,
excerpts from his address and Q&A session:
·
Attendance: the figure varies from 500-1200, depending who is
doing the counting.
·
Open to Public: although the invitation
leaflets called for a public meeting, the meeting was not open to the
general public. We know of
Londoners who were denied access to the seminar and those who have been
targeted and forced out of the auditorium.
·
On democracy: We think it is worth mentioning that according to Mr
Yemane Gebreab’s beliefs ‘democracy works nowhere in the world’. This is
really very frightening and it is an attestation to the fact that the
PFDJ has no intention of democratising the country ever.
·
Prisoners: Mr Yemane Gebreab tried to dismiss
the question regarding prisoners as if it is not important. Some members
of the audience persistently asked questions until he was forced to
address them. He stated that the imprisoned ex-government officials will
be tried by the very laws of the EPLF/PFDJ they themselves helped set up. More frighteningly, he talked
about special court and the need to ‘court-martial’ the prisoners. This
illustrates that Mr Yemane Gebreab is oblivious of the fact that the
prisoners find themselves behind bars just because they tried to change
the very system that are in place now.
·
Demobilisation: Mr Yemane Gebreab dismissed the fact demobilisation
could lead to economic recovery for the country. Eritrea is a country
with a severe shortage of manpower and it needs to demobilise the
majority of armed forces as soon as possible. The threat of war cannot be
used as an excuse indefinitely as long as there are peace-keeping force
between the Eritrean and Ethiopian borders. Currently over 150,000
youngsters remain mobilised in the fields of Eritrea. They are kept out
of the country’s economic, social and political activities.
The above paragraphs
are a summary of Mr Yemane Gebreab’s address. To the trained mind, and as
it is customary in PFDJ’s meetings, many of the questions were rehearsed
and those who asked the questions were pre-selected. Be that as it may, there
were hard questions and counter questions. Eritreans in the UK realise
they have to put up a fight to get their message across, and they are
doing just that. Our members
are at the forefront in the fight for our human and democratic rights to
be respected.
From what we could
gather from Mr Yemane Gebreab’s visit, the PFDJ government has intense
antipathy towards democratisation of the country. EHDR-UK will continue to
peacefully frustrate PFDJ’s ill-intentions and campaign against its
inhumane and undemocratic activities.
ERITREANS for HUMAN
and DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS-UK
Board of Directors
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