PRESS RELEASE
Failure of PFDJ festival in London
EHDR-UK,
July 2005
The
PFDJ festival that was held in London last weekend (1 3 July 2005) was
neither grand nor enthusiastically accepted.
To begin with not all of the guest singers made it to London and so
that was the first snag in the festivities.
EHDR-UK
was prepared to protest against the festival saying that "the cry of
our people's pain and suffering is lauder than the sound of the
festival" and by holding banners calling for justice, for the rule of
law and for the release of prisoners.
A
three days extravaganza of entertainments, films, cultural shows and a
seminar was planned not at Alexandra Palace but at the Coronet.
Before the evening's entertainment started, however, there was a
special exhibition at the London College of Communications.
But this exhibition was not advertised and details of the venue and
starting time were kept secret, only the selected few and invited PFDJ
supporters and British guests knew the details.
So much for a "festival of the people".
It is indeed in keeping with their traditions of telling the public
something and doing something completely different, no more illusions!
Few
days before the event was to take place, it was reported that the Coronet
had gone bust and events were rescheduled, but initially the events that
were affected were those that were held at the Coronet, and this affected
the protest planed and organised by EHDR UK in that venues were changed
and associated procedures had to be started from scratch.
Our enquiries later revealed that the Coronet was still taking
bookings, however we shall look into this further and report back later.
By
about Friday evening it was clear that at least one of the protests had
been cancelled. Part 1 of the
festival did take place at Camden Centre and reports indicate that less
than 200 people attended the event and most of them were children.
But that was not the only event affected, no one was clear as to
where the Sunday seminar was due to take place.
Word on the streets of London had it that the Union Chapel withdrew
the booking of the PFDJ seminar once it came to their attention that the
aim of the seminar was to disseminate propaganda of a regime with such an
appalling human rights record. Other
venues around the area were also not prepared to let their venue for such
regime.
The
only event that was mass communicated and happened in accordance (at least
in accordance to the second leaflet, at Vinopolis) was met by a lively
demonstration supported by a cross section of members and supporters of
EHDR-UK. It was touching to
see over 70 youngsters from cities outside London making the trip to join
their fellow Eritreans in London. Reports
from the venue indicated that there were less than 300 people and again
most of them were children.
The
explanation for all the setbacks faced by the PFDJ festival organisers was
that not only had the Coronet gone 'bust', but the Union Chapel was
'undergoing redecoration' or 'reconstruction' or something similar.
The seminar, we are told, did occur once a venue was secured and
participants were sworn into secrecy regarding the venue, until few hours
prior to commencement. Why all the secrecy? We understand this is due to
the fact that the organisers were fearful that the protestors would follow
them and protest outside objecting their propaganda. Either way this
weekend proved to be a demonstration of what people standing together
opposing injustice can achieve. No more heralding of events, no exaggerated extravaganza. The
mighty PFDJ was relegated into venues that cater for no more than the
average Eritrean wedding and even that had to be held amidst secrets.
PFDJ (the Organising Committee) reported that more than 1200 people
attended the meeting, but the venue's owners indicated that the building's
capacity was around 750.
Monday's
PFDJ organised demonstration was reported to have been attended by more
than 1600 Eritreans, however reports from the venue indicated that there
were only around 500 people. Reports reaching us also indicated that the British
government official told the representatives that the British government
believed the EEBC's ruling to be final and binding.
On the issue of condemning Ethiopia for its human rights abuse, the
official informed the group that the British government did condemn the
violations publicly. The
official further stated that the British government was also worried about
the human rights situation in Eritrea as Eritrean human rights groups have
been communicating the deteriorating human rights situation with the
Foreign Office.
EHDR
UK thanks all members and supporters for their tremendous commitment to
keep the Eritrean dream alive.
Board
of EHDR-UK
July
2005
info@ehdr.org.uk
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