“To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery”” – Octavia Butler
Introduction
Eritreans have struggled for their rights and freedom since the formation of Eritrea as an Italian
colony in 1890. During Italian colonialism, Eritreans were used as soldiers of the colonial army to
conquer Libya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The British Administration (1941-1952) opened political
space and granted freedom which enabled the formation of the first political parties in Africa. But
Britain’s efforts to divide Eritrea between Sudan and Ethiopia and the increased political and military
intervention of Ethiopia left deep divisions among the Eritrean people. Thus, the chance to create
an independent country in 1952 was missed, and Eritrea was federated to Ethiopia. Though
Eritreans accepted the Federation as a compromise, Ethiopia worked to dismantle the federation
piece by piece and annexed Eritrea. Eritreans, having exhausted all means of peaceful struggle, resorted
to military means forming the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in 1961. This was preceded
by the formation of the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM) in 1958. In 1991, Eritrean People’s
People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) victory over the Derg Military Junta was a culmination of the Eritrean
people’s peaceful struggle that spans for a century and the armed struggle initiated in 1961.
However, the toll of the 30-year war was tremendous, in terms of its human and material losses and
its accompanying psychological impact.
The dictatorship we see today in Eritrea was born in the womb of the armed struggle. The belief
that the Eritrean field cannot accommodate more than one front led to the military elimination of
the ELM by the ELF and the civil war between the ELF and EPLF. The war resulted in various political
factions and divisions. The victorious EPLF in 1991 declined to recognize other Eritrean political
organizations, and thus the political space was monopolized by it. After Eritrean independence was
ratified through a universal referendum in 1993, everyone aspired to transform Eritrea from a warravaged
country to an advanced, thriving and democratic society. People had hoped. that political
reconciliation would open up a new chapter in Eritrean history. As Isaias’s grip of power over the
EPLF increased, reformers within the Front (G 15) challenged the dictatorship in 2000, following
the devastating war with Ethiopia. In September 2001, Isaias took complete control over the Front
and the country. The country has been backsliding for the last 30 years on all fronts, and its devastating
effects have permeated nearly every aspect of people’s lives. In hindsight, it is obvious he had
a plan prepared which he administered gradually to disarm the Eritrean people and ultimately render
them helpless.
In this article, we will briefly discuss the past and the present state of Eritrea and the requirements
for a promising future.
Examining the Past to Understand the Present
Eritrea is on the brink of dissolution. A well-executed, existential war has been waged on the Eritrean
people for 60 years. The only difference is the viciousness and level of contempt with which
it is being implemented today.
The promise of independence, liberation, equality, and democracy motivated Eritrean youth to join
the liberation fronts and withstand all hardships and pay the highest price – life. During the revolution
era, the political system was built based on trust with no accountability or checks and balances.
The rank and file of the liberation front in good faith at the time accepted Isaias’ system. Besides,
both the ELF and EPLF had clandestine parties that claimed to be communist, but ELF did not have
much presence in the field after 1981. The EPLF’s clandestine Party used to police the organization
and cadres to enforce the party line controlled by Isaias. Little did the rank and file, party members,
and many of the leadership know that at the core of all this, was a plan to implement social reengineering
to ensure one ‘man’s absolute control of power. The architect and beneficiary of this
plan, Isaias Afwerki, exploited most young combatants’ naïveté to experiment with his plan. As a
result, he succeeded in surrounding himself with obedient combatants who forfeited the dictates of
conscience and ignored the fundamental human rights of their people. The defeat of the ELF in 1981
by the joint assault of the EPLF and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) removed the challenge
of another organization. It thus contributed to the reign of Isaias in the EPLF. This experimentation
was a precursor to the divide and rule policy he implemented at every level of the Eritrean
society and army from the day Eritrea became independent. After independence, Isaias used most
of the resources of the country to protect his regime. As a long serving dictator in the region, he has
excelled in siding with one country or another to pursue his personal interests. He has got the country
to be at war with its neighbors, at various periods.
The era after the revolution, the last 30 years, has been full of unimaginable and immense problems
for Eritreans and the country has devolved increasingly into poverty with one of the world’s most
repressive regimes. A lack of political, religious and social freedom continues to force Eritreans to
migrate en masse, leaving the tiny nation of roughly four million people with a broken social fabric,
dismantled economy, substandard educational system and annihilated justice system. All public institutions
of the country are either permanently closed or severely degraded. Most of all, thousands
of innocent Eritreans have been either killed, tortured or disappeared without regard to their God
given life and human dignity.
Henceforth, the dictator has exercised hegemony over all aspects of Eritrean affairs. He has condemned
the youth to a life of compulsory and permanent national service, forced them to spend
significant amount of time doing hard labor and subjected them to substandard living conditions
and low pay. The dictator stipulates unconditional loyalty for access to his widely available resources.
As such, his military generals are given free rein to exploit the conscripts as slave labor in
return for their loyalty to him and this loyalty model trickles down to the low-ranking officers to
keep the dictatorial system running.
It would seem Isaias vowed to dismantle and destroy Eritrea and Eritreans to exact his vengeance
supposedly for having been challenged to step down on several occasions. It reminds one of what
‘Somalia’s Said Bare said during the 1991 uprising in Somalia, when he was approached to step
down to save the country from fragmentation. His response (paraphrased) was “”I created Somalia
and put it on the world map and if I am not its leader let it turn to dust””. Isaias’s philosophy seems
to match Said Bare’s, turning Eritrea to dust.
Isaias thrives in war, poverty, and misery, while he also can’t rest without exacting vengeance if he
feels challenged by real or perceived opponents. This characteristic explains the type of war he is
currently waging in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. He has never forgiven the TPLF for robbing him of his
imperial dreams. He aspired to be the strong man of the whole region and beyond, extending up to
the Greater Lake Region. He is one of the main people who are responsible for the current chaos in
the Horn of Africa. However, as a narcissist and vindictive person, he can’t accept responsibility. He
has been plotting the execution of this war for the last two years (2018-2020) with Abyi Ahmed as
his co-conspirator to commit ethnic cleansing and genocide in Tigray. As a result, Eritreans are embroiled
in an illegal war, the troops are committing atrocities and looting while dying in their thousands
battling in Tigray. In addition, about 100,000 Eritrean refugees are caught in the crossfire and
the whereabouts of 20,000 refugees is still unknown. Some were abducted by the Eritrean regime
and taken back to Eritrea.
Back in Eritrea, the suffering of the Eritrean people is muted as they watch their children being used
in an illegal war. As if that’s not enough, many are dying in Eritrea because of loss of livelihood due
to the extreme measures taken to lockdown the entire nation asserting the spread of Covid-19. The
situation is dire, the Eritrean case is an undeclared silent genocide that has been going on for the
last 20 years.
This is the state of Eritrea, this is what we have come to, this is what we have become. A truly sad
state of affairs. Indeed, Octavia Buttler is right, by allowing a tyrant to rule us we have sold ourselves
and those we love into slavery.
Examining the Role of ‘We’ the People
So, what is the role of ‘We’ the People in all of this? Like many oppressed communities around the
world, we have been at each other’s throats instead of at the enemy’s, and we have been pointing
fingers at others instead of taking responsibility. We complain about Isaias being the cause of our
abysmal failure. We focused on individual or group interest instead of collective interests, we lacked
tolerance and the skills needed to resolve conflicts. We should have known that no one can help us
if we are not ready to help ourselves. If we had united and organized to get rid of our common enemy,
Isaias Afwerki and his enablers, and if we had a robust people’s organization, we would have
gotten the support we needed. Instead, we take extreme measures such as splitting and starting
new organizations or pulling out altogether. Hence, we are witnessing the proliferation of ineffective
organizations.
Necessities for a Promising Future
It is now evident to majority of Eritreans that the soul of our nation has been stolen by the dictator
and change is overdue. To translate this understanding into action, we should be able to set our
priorities to remove the regime in Asmara and ensure our collective survival. Here are some recommended
actions:
- Take Responsibility: The first step is to understand and rectify our shortcomings. Those of us
who have served in leadership positions should show humility and apologize to the people of
Eritrea for failing them. We should also examine our past and understand the need to examine
our perspectives of our roles and responsibilities in encouraging the young generation to take
over. - Focus on the Enemy: We should focus on speeding up the removal of the dictatorial regime with
full commitment and passion to organize and execute effective actions. The current situation is
that of life and death for our nation and it should be treated as such. We should realize that if
Isaias’s and Abiy’s plan succeeds, there may be no Eritrea in the future.1 It’s high time that we act
collectively to save what remains of Eritrea. That being the priority, all of our actions should lead
to reconciliation and the establishment of a system of governance that will guarantee equity, justice
and democracy for all Eritreans. Based on dialogue, consultations, reconciliation, and confidence
building, Eritreans who have denounced the old divisions should form an all-inclusive leadership
team to resolve the identity politics and unite our people. - Encourage People with Leadership Qualities to Come Forward: Over the last 60 years it has
been subtly inculcated in the Eritrean psyche that leadership skills, professional expertise and
talent are not important but political affiliation. This attitude must change. For people to revise
their views and arrive at a new outlook, we need to encourage and promote people with leadership
qualities to come forward and assume responsibilities. Consequently, we can benefit from
effective management of current and future challenges we face. - Take Collective Action: Our individual actions, while critical, are not enough to end dictatorship
in Eritrea. We must join our forces to act collectively against the regime. Our collective actions
will allow us to create synergy, consolidate our knowledge and resources, and pursue our common
goal together to achieve greater impact.
1 The undisclosed agreement between Isaias and Abiy which was doled out through informal statements
indicate that Ethiopia and Eritrea are one, that the border issue is a non-issue, and the establishment of an
Ethiopian Navy on the Eritrean coast is imminent. Isaias in his last interview said Eritrea is a failed State in
so many ways perhaps with the aim of slowly introducing the idea that Eritrea would be unable to stand
alone. - Create Strategic Alliances: The problems our country is currently facing have broad implications
for the countries in the region and beyond. For that reason, the Eritrean opposition should
continually strive to build strategic alliances with governments and organizations who share
common views with ours and whose actions are not at odds with our priorities and national interest. - The formation of Eritrean Research Institute for Policies and Strategy is a step in the right direction
to bring about the above mentioned recommendations.