May 24 Message
Independence for Whom?
Eritreans for Human & Democratic
Rights – UK
The
title, ‘May 24, Independence for whom?’ may sound alarming but we
believe it is relevant to the current state of affairs in Eritrea. It is
commonly held belief that the historical significance of May 24, 1991 and
the referendum of 1993 are dates we Eritreans will always remember as
major turning points in the history of the country. However, after 12
years of independence, we are making an assessment of those years gone by
and are seemingly trying to come up with a definition of the term
‘independence’. We are
morally obligated to reflect on the current impasse by asking the right
questions: what is the meaning of independence for my livelihood? How have I, or the majority of
the Eritrean people, benefited from independence? Are there any chances
that the future could be brighter for my family and myself in
‘independent’ Eritrea? Was
the material and human sacrifice worth the kind of independence we have
now? We will not attempt to
provide answers to those questions but for now we will focus on comparing
what the government said a while ago and what it is has been doing so
far.
It is to be remembered that the EPLF, being the
Front that led Eritrea to military victory in 1991, produced a political
programme soon after independence.
That programme, as EPLF held its congress and PFDJ emerged in the
scene, was altered and re-launched as the National Charter. To understand events of post-1994
era and PFDJ’s deceptions that ensued afterwards we would like to use the
National Charter as a reference point. So, what did the document say?
Under the title: “Building a democratic political
system”, the National Charter cites the following as some of its
objectives:
·
To establish a constitutional system drafted
and ratified with broad public participation, which respects basic human rights,
whose legislative, executive and judicial bodies check and balance one
another, in which the rule of law prevails throughout Eritrea and which
anchors the unity and development of the people of Eritrea.
·
On the basis of a constitution, to build a strong
government and society … to strive to uphold basic human and political
rights, which include freedom of faith and press, the right to political
organisation.
·
To ensure that the political system …
guarantees the participation of the people in decisions on local and
national affairs.
·
To make the political system a multiparty
system.
·
To strive to establish and develop democratic
institutions… a conscious civil society embracing trade unions and other
non-governmental institutions and a free, trustworthy, critical and
responsible press.
Beautiful
document and a clear love for Eritrea and its people!
The
objectives in the National Charter are the very essence of the
document. Eritrean citizens
would not demand more than what is stated there because that first
objective encapsulates the spirit of Eritrea’s independence. However,
during post-independence era, PFDJ made every effort to frustrate these
objectives. In short, PFDJ has defeated its own objectives successfully.
In Eritrea, every possible tragedy has occurred – death, imprisonment,
persecution, banning of the press, forced conscription of the
under-forty, closures of churches and Islamic centres, cracks along
ethnic and religious identities, and the most recent disaster has turned
Eritrea into a nation of beggars - waiting for handouts from
international aid agencies. And that is why we raise the question of ‘who is the independence
for?’ What is independence
good for if people are not at liberty to own their land, hold on to their
offspring and live in peace and harmony? If people disappear and/or are imprisoned and never
brought to trial, if a country’s economy is not governed by a budget, if
there is no national constitution at work and so forth, then we can
assume that only PFDJ must be enjoying the fruits of independence rather
than the Eritrean people.
At the present time, it is difficult to celebrate
May 24 as it should because the sacrifices that went into it have been
neglected and its promises have been clearly betrayed by PFDJ. This year’s observance must focus
on PFDJ’s betrayal of the promises handed to us by our gallant fighters.
We are continually reminded of the fact that our freedom fighters paid a
big price to free Eritrea from Ethiopia and gave us our inalienable
rights as citizens to mind our own affairs. Unfortunately, we are not in
a state to mind our own affairs yet. Therefore, May 24 must be remembered
in such a way that the cycle of independence is not complete yet. This deficient independence is
clearly frustrating people’s patience and many are coming to understand
that there is a limit to peoples’ tolerance. Naturally, history will repeat itself whereby the
Eritrean people will rise to peacefully reclaim their dignity once again.
Eternal
glory to our martyrs!
London,
19 May 2003
EHDR-UK
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