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A Criminal Regime Takes Way the lives of
Eritrean Youth
Department of Information and Culture
Eritrean People’s Party
Sept 9, 2008
Perhaps, you may have
read materials written by many writers, referring to ‘time is life.’
Yes, our life is measured by time: in time, we are born; in time, we
grow into adulthood; and then in time we die. If time is the life of
human being, then cannot we declare the current regime, which is wasting
the time of Eritrean youth, guilty of a crime?
The Eritrean People’s
Party considers the condition of Eritrean youth unique, which calls for
extraordinary action. Thus, the decision of Eritrean People’s Party to
designate a youth affairs office affirms the exigency of the matter
itself. Wasting the time of our youth and dismissing the values of their
responsibilities is the same as denying the values of our nation’s
chance to succeed.
Any government is
considered a failure if it does not meet its obligations to its youth in
the first twenty-five years of their lives. The future of any citizen is
shaped during the first twenty-five years of their lives. The type of
education they get and the experience they earn are all the dreams and
hopes of youth that begin to take shape in those first twenty-five
years. However, there is no such opportunity in Eritrea today for
Eritrean youth to dream and own their future hopes. Denied of their
freedoms, Eritrean youth are unable to determine or envision their
future freely. Nor do they have the right to determine how to lead their
own lives. Eritrean youth’s freedom has been stolen under guise of
national service; Eritrean youth are not free citizens but subservient
of the regime. Having unlimited power, the present regime owns and
controls the time and everyday life of Eritrean youth. Neither the youth
themselves nor their parents have a say on the lives of Eritrean youth.
The Eritrean People’s
Party believes the injustices being perpetuated upon Eritrean youth is
an act of injustice upon the nation of Eritrea. No doubt, the current
regime is squandering not only the opportunity and life of Eritrean
youth but also the prospects of our country. As is known, successive
generations of youth determine the future opportunities of any nation.
Would not the present regime know that the future of Eritrean youth is
closely related to the future of the nation of Eritrea?
Naturally, any youth
is a force that strives for change and new culture. This passion and
advocacy for change overtime poses a threat to existing regimes. For
example, when the present rulers entered Asmara as liberators, they gave
the impression that they were for renewal and change. Soon their true
color was unveiled and they came into conflict with the Eritrean youth
who raised an objection to the actions and practices of their rule.
Within short period, the regime had to come up with a grand scheme to
control and subjugate the Eritrean youth. Hence, the regime promulgated
the so-called national service scheme into law. As it turned out,
beneath the surface was the militarization of Eritrean youth that would
give the regime, unfettered control over Eritrean youth under its
military rules and discipline.
When one condemns the
entire youth of a country into becoming an army, the dynamics of the
relationships of a society change: rather than between a free citizens
and their governments, the relationship becomes between power and
submission. In other words, the relationship transforms and operates
within the sphere of military culture. Therefore, the purpose behind the
national service scheme is to quash any question or opposition that
might come from Eritrean youth. The point is Eritrean citizens should
have promulgated the national service into laws if the interest of the
country was at stake. But owning unlimited power, the dictator put the
national service in place without time limits in pursuit of the its
goals: to deny Eritrean youth the freedom they deserve, to curtail the
opposition and questions against its system and to take away the future
dreams of Eritrean youth.
Averse to opposition
and questions, the dictatorial regime went ahead, disbanded the regular
army, and replaced it with a new national service army under the name of
national emergency project. Many nationals had wondered and raised many
questions as to why the regime took such actions. Yes, who would have
thought such malicious scheme from a group known to have contributed and
played a role in liberating Eritrea?
One of the goals of
disbanding the army and replacing it by another army was designed to
control the opposition of the Eritrean youth. The ever-increasing
opposition of veteran fighters against the system also further
accelerated the project of establishing a national military service.
Hence, disbanding an experienced army and replacing it with civilians
under the concocted national military service was a blueprint to create
a highly militarized society. This is an ongoing plan. The strategy is
effectively being used to stifle all political freedoms and oppositions
in the country. In effect, there is no opposition of any type in Eritrea
that operates independent of the military rule. The regime does not
understand the wounded spirit of those who were unjustly demobilized by
its rule. Nor does it care about those who are unjustly and wrongly
serving and spending their whole lives in fruitless national service.
Even if the regime understands the condition, it does not want to
believe the situation exists.
The deplorable state
of affairs is that the regime has found a means to enslave consistently
both the demobilized and the new youth conscripted into the national
military service. Grounded in the pretext of border demarcation, the
repressive apparatus of the system continues to use the national
military service scheme to victimize and waste the precious time of
Eritrean youth. This is one of the many faces and pretexts that reveal
the true picture of the dictatorial regime. Of course, one finds
volumes and volumes of such evidences that show the criminal and
repressive practices of the regime. In fact, there is nothing the
repressive regime has not done to curtail every opposition against its
system of rule.
Strongly opposed to
questions and oppositions, the regime’s deep-seated antipathy against
Eritrean youth was finally exposed when it closed down the University of
Asmara (U of A). The regime’s decision to close down the U of A and
replace it with its own programs was nothing but a response and reaction
to quell the opposition raised by both students and faculty members. In
order to suppress the student’s opposition, the regime had to take an
all-out campaign, misguided, and inconceivable policy: closing down the
only higher educational institution in the country, effectively making
Eritrea the only country in the world without higher education. Left
without hope and gloomy future and denied their right to education, many
Eritrean youth are condemned to abominable conditions across Sahara
desert. However, the loss of their lives will continue to echo the cry
of justice in our country. In addition, the regime, which is responsible
for perpetuating the crimes against innocent Eritrean youth, may not
enjoy a peaceful night sleep. In all this, the instructors of U of A,
whose main goal and hope was to educate their own citizens, were
suddenly found themselves jobless. Today, no one believes that the
actions of the repressive regime are informed by decisions to promote
the welfare of Eritrean youth or their educators: As a result, the
Eritrean youths’ prospect is bleak. The hope of University of Asmara
instructors is dashed.
Strongly opposed to
questions and oppositions, the regime’s problem is not limited to youth
students and their instructors. It also jailed its own ministers who
questioned and opposed its rule. The goal is to curtail any opposition
to its repressive system. It shot and killed war injured veterans. Here
lies the overall picture of the country: that it is not hard to conclude
the function of the regime is not after the interest of the nation or
the welfare of its youth. The dreams, time, and life of Eritrean youth
are squandered; their prospects are impeded. Even though the regime
knows the future of Eritrean youth is associated and connected to the
future of their nation, it left no stone unturned to quell and curtail
any opposition against its rule. However, the reality might come down to
one point: a regime that does not have any future for itself cannot be
expected to ponder and reflect on the future of its youth and the
nation.
In the midst,
Eritrean youth should not be scared off by the actions of the repressive
regime and lose courage. The seemingly endless time of the regime will
come to a stop. No government exists in perpetuity. But those who
participate in the crimes of the regime thinking otherwise will count
their shame one day. When the hour comes, they will recognize how much
damage and destruction this regime has caused to the country. Now,
those who have freed themselves from the influence of the regime must
organize and help their people; the pillars of the regime must be
destroyed the same way termites destroy the foundation of a structure.
This will end the power of the criminal regime that has become the cause
of death of Eritrean youth. |
