CDRiE’s Conference: Towards making a difference

The people of Eritrea are subjected to extreme human rights violations by PFDJ; the institution of the family is put under extreme pressure as the most productive member of the family is forced to work for free under the Warsay and Yekealo development project for an indefinite period of time. The suffering of the population has become unbearable as evidenced by poverty in Eritrea and by thousands of people fleeing the country particularly the youth. The UNSC has passed a resolution of limited sanction alienating Eritrea from the community of nations. All these have raised the need for change and the question of: “Are we heading towards a critical mass of change?

The need for change:

Like every human being, at some point in life nearly every Eritrean asks himself or herself the question, “why me?” Why can’t I be free to pursue my education, to get a job I like? Why is the PFDJ forcing me to work for free in farms, construction sites denying me to exploit my potential for creative work and happiness etc? Why as a farmer can’t I sell my produce to the market to buy essential commodities? Why has my destiny become suffering, suffering, suffering with no end in sight? And why don’t I do something to change it? Is this a curse from God? Or man made? If it is man-made what can I do to change all that? What are the capabilities still hidden in my innermost being to bring change? Why shouldn’t I become active to change my circumstances?

The wish for change in Eritrea is everywhere, inside Eritrea or in the Diaspora population. One can easily sense the mood of the time even many supporters of PFDJ came to see the obvious need for change.

There is a fundamental problem:

Inside Eritrea the people are systematically made powerless, they are silenced. There is no rule of law, respect for human rights, in other words there is no democracy for people to voice for change. There is also the fear factor. But that is not the end of the story people rise up and do something even under such extreme situations. It needs a lot of sacrifice, it needs organisation and it needs collective work. These remain the most formidable challenges presented to all of us and the sacrifice would be a lot. The recent demonstration for democracy in Iran has cost many lives and all leaders are incarcerated.

The situation in the Diaspora is profoundly different. But the Diaspora is not doing its share efficiently. As members of the Diaspora, we have a role to play and unlike the people in Eritrea we are in a position to do so. The Diasporas have all the rights to voice their voice and to voice the voice of the voiceless. They can be visible in their activities. But the majority chose not to do so. They are not guiltless and history will treat them as such.

But what the PFDJ or their supporters did not realize is that there is a time bomb there as well. The more people are subjected to repression the more their hatred get built up and it is inevitable that it will explode any day. Eventually, it is there where the music is going to be played. Sadly the supporters of PFDJ have not learned from history.

The conscious elements and activists in the Diaspora have risen up to the challenge and intend to play their part in being agents of change.

However, their contribution is not straight forward and easy; it can be pivotal in shaping the future of Eritrea or can be marginal. I say so because the Diaspora activists are not without problems. The formula to present a unified resistance is still absent. But more importantly there are issues which pose a problem to unity.

CDRiE conference intends to highlight and analyse some of these issues that are believed to divide people’s opinion.

Unless they are properly analysed and debated in relations to the present challenge they can be an impediment to united action. CDRiE’s conference is meant to provide what Eritrean debate demands. And then move on to address the present challenge which is to participate in activities that shape the destiny of Eritrea.

Other problems are failure to recognize the nature of the struggle for change as being protracted. It involves various civil societies, political, human rights and humanitarian organisations and individuals. And last but not least the failure to appreciate what one part of the opposition does by another part of the opposition and the failure to seize important moments. There are two kinds of example articles. One positive by Michael Abraha did 25/12/09 titled, “Reaction to the Eritrean Sanctions” in which he quoted Yosief Ghebrehiwet saying, “This is the best Christmas gift the Eritrean masses could possibly get”. It just recommends to seize the opportunity presented by the sanction and intensify the activities to dislodge the regime and for change. This represents one of the best recommendations for action. Michael has also quoted Woldeyesus Amar clarifying the impact of the sanction to dislodge PIA from power. There is also another similar comment by CDRiE chairman Suleiman. These are examples of positive contributions to remind the activists of the need to do more at the time when the international community condemned the PFDJ in its involvement in Somalia but not yet in its violations of the human rights of Eritreans.

The other article is by Mohamed Berhan Hagos dd 28/12/09 at Asmarino.com who labelled CDRiE as a friend of PFDJ. He took Suleiman’s expression of hope that the sanction hurt the PFDJ leaders and not the people as a statement that implies sympathy with PFDJ. He tried to put words into Suleiman’s mouth in order to create a scapegoat for not doing what CDRiE has done so far and intended to do in the coming conference. It is a pity because this negative thinking diverts Mohamed Berhan’s mind and the minds of his likes from doing practical activities which can make a difference in the struggle for change. Indulging in useless character assassination is worse than doing nothing. Doing nothing condemns some of the Diaspora activists to self-pitying victimhood.

Who judges who? There are many activists in the journey for change in Eritrea. It is inappropriate for activists like Mohamed Berhan Hagos to be judgemental. Judgements are the prerogative of the population in whose name activities for change are carried out. The people will judge them all based on their delivery and achievements. Make no mistake all activities will go through the experience of being judged by the people. When people talk about empowerment they have to understand that it is a way of giving power back to the people among which is to choose their own leaders. So let’s understand the relations of power between people and activists and know our boundaries.

The way forward:

By nature a conference is the platform of academicians and intellectuals. It examines critically some important social and political theories. In the conference CDRiE intends to promote the value of democracy by raising the level of consciousness of the people. For democracy is an essential requirement for peace and prosperity. But one thing has to be very clear. Principles and theories alone do not substitute actions. But action requires organisation and efficient organisation at that. Change does not come by itself. It comes through hard work and it is the people who are the agents of change, therefore their commitment, knowledge resilience and organisation matters a lot. To build an efficient organisation with committed people is difficult indeed. Let us not discourage people who ventured to follow that path.

By the same token CDRiE conference has the characteristics of lobbying for, awareness creation that culminates in strong belief for change and participation in activities for change. The main objective of the conference is to come out with recommendations that can be used by all those who fight for democracy. This conference is expected to usher some understanding on some issues. At the same time CDRiE will have the chance to articulate its work ethics and its fundamental beliefs of working with other civil societies.

It would be profoundly misleading to assume that the conference serves CDRiE members alone; it serves all those who have a stake in change. It impacts on the improvement of our political culture. It will also contribute to bring all those fragments of knowledge and experience among Eritreans and the body politics into a perfectly comprehensible harmonious whole. CDRiE is for democracy, justice and secular government. There is nothing more to it than that.

In spite of all the aims and objectives, CDRiE’s contribution is just at its initial stage, it can only make a small contribution to all those who are fighting hard for a common cause. It has limited resources and the odds against it are enormous, but, it will move on inch by inch. The work will surge ahead quickly when the level of cooperation with other civic organisations improves.

Britain’s Sunday Times columnist Andre Sullivan in his article dated 27-12-09 said “Inch by inch, Obama is moving mountain, despite deep resistance the president is gradually reshaping America”. This was in relation to Obama’s effort to achieving universal health insurance in America. This is happening because when the American people went to cast their votes, they wanted change and voted for Obama believing he would lead that change. This was made possible because there is a constitution, democracy and rule of law in America. All these rights are denied to the people of Eritrea but they have decided to change all this.

INVITATION:

On the occasion of the first anniversary, Citizens for Democratic Rights in Eritrea, CDRiE, invites you to a symposium under the theme:

National Unity in Eritrea – Prospects and Challenges

Date: Saturday 9^th January 2010

Time: 9 am to 8.00 pm.

Venue: 13 Windsor Street – London N1 8QG

There are many questions in the minds of many people. Would the conference make a difference? Does anyone have an assessment whether critical mass for change is around? Or is the subjective condition not yet ripe?

What is the path CDRiE chose in the journey towards change? What would its contribution look like? There will be many questions than answers.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year