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Speech by
the Coordinator Of EDA
Second
Festival In Seattle, Zemeheret Seare.
Ladies and gentlemen:
On behalf of the Eritrean Democratic
Association (EDA) and the preparatory committee of this festival I would
like to welcome every one here. Our community leaders and our community
members, our friends, neighbors and coworkers, I welcome you to our
Eritrean culture, our music and our traditional food.
I also would like to welcome my Eritrean/American
friends who are visiting from other US and Canadian cities, to my home
state of Washington and my beautiful city of Seattle.
I am hoping that we all will be able to
enjoy our time together this evening. I am hoping our American friends,
and community members will enjoy the culture and tradition we have
presented here, and I promise my American/Eritrean friends who are from
other cities that they will enjoy their stay in our beautiful city.
Where we are from? And where is
Eritrea?
·
We are from Eritrea, a
small country in the Northern East of Africa sitting in the horn of
Africa.
·
It is
bordered on the Northeast by the Red Sea, on the Southeast by Djibouti,
on the South by Ethiopia, and on the Northwest by the Sudan
·
Eritrea has a population
of about 3.5 Million.
It is said to be about the size
of the state of Indiana.
History
Because of its strategic geographical
location in the narrow straight of the Red Sea and because it is a small
country, many bigger and stronger countries have been interested in
acquiring, using or colonizing Eritrea. Because of this fact we find a
long history of colonization in the history of Eritrea. To list only the
modern colonizers:
·
Italy from 1889-until her
defeat in world-war II
·
From 1941-1952 for 10
years Eritrea was under British rule
·
And in 1952 Eritrea was
joined with Ethiopia under a federal autonomy arrangement guaranteed by
the United Nations.
After just ten years of the federation,
the then Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selasie decided to annex Eritrea by
force and without the consent of the Eritrean people. This in turn
triggered the armed resistance for independence in 1961. Many of us in
the U.S. are refugees who came here as a result of this conflict with
Ethiopia.
After 32 years of armed resistance,
Eritrea prevailed against all odds against a much bigger Ethiopian force
fully backed by the Soviet Union and all its allies, and gained its
national independence in the year of 1991. This independence was
sanctioned and sealed by a UN monitored referendum in the year 1993.
Present Government
However, the new state of Eritrea has
not been able to adopt a constitution that governs its citizens equally,
nor has it had an elected government. President Isayas, the current
president of Eritrea, has been the only president of the country since
it gained its independence. Though presumably he came to power as
transitional government which was supposed to have transferred power to
a constitutional government within two-to-three years, instead he has
betrayed the trust of his people and his colleagues by installing and
entrenching himself as the sole ruler of the country. Over the last 14
years the president has made himself the head of the army, the head of
the security, the head of the parliament and the head of the executive
branches. There are no independent branches of judiciary, legislative,
or press. In other words the president is the sole law and rule in the
country.
This new government has been dragging
the country from one crisis to another by getting into border conflicts
with its neighbors, including Yemen, Djibouti, the Sudan and finally
with Ethiopia. As such, the Eritrean Diaspora [what is Diaspora?],
especially our American/Eritrean community’s attention, has been on the
worsening conditions of our extended families back in the country of our
origin.
The Suffering of the Eritrean People
According to the reports of many
humanitarian and government agencies, including Human right watch,
Amnesty international, the US State department, the Red Cross, UNICEF,
Reporters without borders, and many other UN agencies, the Eritrean
people are suffering an astounding political repression.
The atrocities they suffer include
torture, the widespread rape of young girls by military generals, and
systematic killings in prisons, military camps, and labor camps. The
Eritrean regime is committing crimes against humanity on its citizens.
In Eritrea today there are tens of
thousands of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. 11
ministers have been jailed and kept incommunicado for the last 4 years;
no one knows if they are dead or alive. 14 journalists, owners and
editors of independent media are being kept incommunicado in the same
way. Churches are being persecuted. Many have been closed down because
their leaders have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith. Many
have gone as far as calling Eritrea a country that has turned into a big
prison cell for its citizens.
Because of the Eritrean president’s
policy of state terrorism on its people and his poor relations with the
international community, the Eritrean people have not been a beneficiary
of the development assistance in the past and we are afraid they may not
be a beneficialry in the current development assistance, that is being
worked out by the G-8 lead by president Bush and prime minister Tony
Blair,
The deceitful, systematic efforts of
divide and rule of the Eritrean regime designed to sustain the
dictatorship by stirring conflicts among the Eritrean people is not
limited to the Eritrean borders. In the face of all the facts of
eyewitness and the reports of credible international bodies, the views
of the Eritrean Diaspora about the regime and the conditions it has put
the country remain confused and divided.
There are Eritrean/Americans who are
apologists and supporters of the inhuman behavior of the regime. There
are Eritrean/Americans who try to hide the crimes of a government that
has gone mad. There are Eritrean/Americans who are scared to speak up
for the truth.
I hear that the Eritrean government has
instruments that report our American/Eritrean citizen’s voice of
opposition to the human rights violations against our brothers and
sisters back home. This intimidates some people and causes them not to
speak their voice. It saddens me when I hear that the Eritrean
Government is able to intimidate our American/Eritrean citizens who are
supposed to be free and enjoying their God given life and liberty here
in the USA.
More Information
My friends, before I forget I would like
to invite you to take the time to read the literature we have set out on
the tables, and to visit the websites we have listed, in order to learn
more about what some of the humanitarian agencies I mentioned have
written about the plight of the Eritrean people.
EDA / ELF-RC
With this backdrop the EDA was formed.
The EDA, or Eritrean Democratic Association, is a non-profit
organization. Its objective is helping the Eritrean/American community
to organize on national level and to work toward human development and
progress in human rights efforts. It also can be a tool to bring the
resources of Eritrean Diaspora together in their efforts to bring change
to the awful conditions the Eritrean people are exposed to.
It was only last year that EDA was
founded, and on this same month last year, on June 27, the EDA helped to
sponsor the first political gathering between the Seattle community and
the ELF-RC.
The ELF-RC is one of the many of
Eritrean political opposition organizations working to effect a
democratic change to the dictatorial government in Eritrea. The ELF-RC
enjoys a large support in the Eritrean/American community. ELF-RC has
branches and membership in more than a dozen US cities. This festival is
possible mostly because of the contributions of members of ELF-RC and
their participation from many cities and states. They helped us to have
this community gathering and celebration and tomorrow they will have
their private meetings and I wish them all the success.
Beginning this year 16 Eritrean
opposition political organizations, including the ELF-RC, have formed an
umbrella organization called the Eritrean Democratic Alliance. This is
giving hope to those who wish to see democracy in Eritrea. Because it
brings together political factions that were unable to work together for
the last twenty years. This is a new opportunity, introducing democratic
principles of tolerance and dialogue as ways of solving differences. It
is about finding a common ground, about abiding by and respecting a set
of common rules; rules which the regime in Eritrea fears like a sword.
The Eritrean Democratic Association (EDA)
is ready to work with the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (which is also
known as EDA). I want to warn the other EDA that our EDA will fight
them for the right of the name EDA. (Ofcourse I am joking)
The short-term objective and goals of (EDA)
Eritrean Democratic Association is to work with similar political and
non-political organizations to raise the awareness of the plight of the
Eritrean people in the world community. To assist Eritrean refugees, and
to advocate for the right of the Eritrean refugees where ever they may
be.
For its long term objectives
·
EDA will work for peace
and freedom in the country and the region. For democracy, for
sustainable human rights, and for development.
·
In the Diaspora community
EDA will work on national level for human development and to pass our
values to the next generation.
A Plea for help from the
international community
At this critical moment our people need
help from the international community to raise awareness of these
problems and to change the direction of this radically anti peace and
anti democracy regime and its supporters.
Tonight I would like to call on all
Eritrean/Americans and Eirtrean immigrants all over the world, to ignore
the blackmail, threats, and coercion from the human rights violators and
their supporters, and recognize them as useless tools designed to
sustain the dictatorship at the expense of our people and their freedom.
We are proud Americans and proud
Eritreans and we should let no dictatorship bully us. We shall stand on
the side of the truth and for the rights and freedom of our people back
home.
As Dr. Luther King JR. Said “An
injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
So this evening I ask every one in here
to join us in our fight against injustice in Eritrea and injustice
everywhere in the world, moreover the world shall not tolerate an
injustice of such magnitude. Please join us in helping the very proud
people of Eritrea who are at this moment in sad conditions because of a
bad government.
My friends, my fellow Americans and my
fellow American/Eritreans I would like to take this opportunity to ask
every one of you here to keep Eritrea in your thoughts and prayers.
I ask you to take action to help her
people by signing petitions and by calling your representatives in the
congress, the state department and president Bush. Please ask them to
apply pressure to the Eritrean government to treat its people humanely,
and to work toward a democratic change in Eritrea.
In his second inauguration speech
President Bush gave us hope by saying that he “ stands with those who
stand up for their freedom and liberty” and that he would stand against
dictators anywhere in the world. I am also very encouraged by the
president’s and Prime-minister Tony Blair’s desire and efforts of
helping the African people to come out of their dependent economic
situations.
Again I thank you very much from deepest
part of my heart for coming to support our Eritrean/American community
in Seattle, the Eritrean Democratic Association and the ELF-RC and the
opposition to the dictatorship in our country of origin and to share
your thoughts with us and to support us.
Thank you
God Bless you and God Bless America.
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