The term change has become a practice that has widespread throughout the world- but its relevance has never been stronger that today, especially from the start of the Arab Awakening.  Focusing on ourselves in the Eritrean context, many youth are apathetic about Eritrean politics. Thus first of all we have to face this fact [...]]]> What has prompted me to write under the theme “Re-branding of the opposition” for this article is Mr Mohammed Ismail’s article titled “Be part of the change”

The term change has become a practice that has widespread throughout the world- but its relevance has never been stronger that today, especially from the start of the Arab Awakening.  Focusing on ourselves in the Eritrean context, many youth are apathetic about Eritrean politics. Thus first of all we have to face this fact and then try to address it as a society or opposition in Diaspora. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, however, we have begun to see a grim sign of hope from the Eritrean youth in Diaspora. As a matter of fact it is true that in life specific events do change the course of history. In the last eventful year there was optimism and then there was delusion as we the society, youth and opposition failed to maintain consistency and struggled to live up to expectation.

Throughout this article I use ‘opposition forces’ as a generic term for anyone who is a member of a political opposition or a civic organisation, independent individuals, religious leaders or intellectuals who are opposing the PFDJ’s regime.

Let me take you back to his article again in which he claimed that both youth and women attendance was poor in the meeting held in London in January 2012. Again apathy is and/or has always been the only winner on dismal attendance. I can’t agree more that the figure he mentioned- at only 3 women and a dozen youth is both eye-catching and alarming. To some extent without being judgemental, the majority of opposition political and civic organisations do not take the slightest notice of such scenario. They collectively miss every open goal.

As much as they are to blame for such occurrences over the years I do take a portion of that as well. EYGM UK is one of the few independent and free youth organisations which have been working really hard to inspire the youth in UK and beyond. We are ordinary youth from different backgrounds with similar concerns and values. On different occasions we have held youth meetings, organised demonstrations and participated at different Seminars of the opposition. And most importantly we sent a delegation and a representative at both the National Conference and Congress. From those exposures we have obtained vast knowledge and invaluable experience pertinent to the subject of youth issues, women and overall about the opposition. To help us consolidate what we have learnt we also at times have used questionnaires and carried out researches and so on and on.

From our interactions, dialogue, discussions, engagements, research conducted (not empirical though) and activities undertaken with concerned Eritreans and peers regarding the non-attendance and disengagement in opposition activities and what could be done to improve and reverse that to new ideas. The problems we face now have been building over the past 2 decades or so and I am sure it will take time and seeks the meeting of a great many minds of youth, women and opposition figures before we know what the solution to these major problems will be.

But we as EYGM UK believe that by coming together along with all stakeholders, to discuss the issues of common interest, we can start to realize what a solid allegiance we can all create. The answers are within all of us.

Here are some opinions we believe the opposition should not ignore.

The opposition forces should recognize the need for the struggle to bring democratic change in Eritrea to be sustainable. The change in culture is therefore inevitable.

Changes in society: the following changes should have driven the opposition to review their approaches, strategies and political programmes to meet the new challenges.

-          Changes of demography: due to forced immigration (particularly the mass arrival of new immigrants)

-          Family and youth structures, including a younger ethnic Eritrean population in Diaspora

Further, issues such as under-achievement, underrepresented in many sectors and discrimination are constant reminders of the grim experiences of everyday life for our people in Diaspora. They all demand robust and innovative approaches. Thus the opposition is required to seek leaders and cadres who can demonstrate certain essentials that can enable them to reconnect with the general public, youth and women’s needs, aspirations and dreams. Our opposition should learn to listen, have the ability to arise to a challenge, show determination, and have big heart and patience that can win him / her hearts and minds.

EYGM UK is formed first and foremost in solidarity with the Eritrean people and what unites us with the opposition is fundamentally our willingness to first change ourselves and then bring democratic change. We are not a special group and have no organisational or party political affiliations though. We would like the voice, views and concerns of the youth to be heard and ultimately to create a return to public discussion involving both youth and women with the opposition. However, we must all make a concerted effort to address the issue on time.

For instance too many of them usually say, “Forget their charm and articulate style when they always talk and describing the actions of Isaias and PFDJ – this opposition are and would just be as dictator as any of their predecessors. And we know better than them about Isaias and co than they do.”

Even though we have acknowledged that there are weaknesses and divisions within the opposition but at the same time we have tried to convince them that what they claim is not always the case. It is understood when they question the opposition’s leadership quality, lack of focus and at times split caused by friction and infighting over power but they should not question their dedication and commitment. Obviously those people whom we exchanged views with we try to encourage them to engage and take part in any opposition activities themselves and then to make comments there. Sadly their response would be that the current opposition political system/structure is fundamentally flawed and based on the phantom leadership contest of power vacuum.

Apparently they indicated that they would make a U-turn providing the opposition has become appealing and find out what the majority of Diaspora need. We at EYGM UK campaign for Eritrea’s alienated youth, but still we have given approval and encourage our members or any other youth to run for youth representation whether in the Commission and Council or local opposition co-ordinating committees, including for political office in exceptional circumstance to protect the Eritrean opposition from schism, ensure youth representation and other direct threats to both the people and youth in general. Unfortunately some youth activists and members of youth movements have accused some of the opposition organisations/parties of trying to hijack their movement in a bid for power and use them as tools instead. Moreover, some of them even accuse them of negative influence if they fail to affiliate with them. According to some of them, they are control freak, so if you do not work with them they would infiltrate you and then bring and use unnecessary agenda or tactics that could potentially lead to split or weaken the youth activities. They suggest it would be better had each opposition organisation whether political or civic have or form their own Mass Organisation of Union of Women, Youth and etc… Then we would not have a problem how to deal with them on given terms.

EYGM UK acknowledges there are difficulties and have always have demanded change of strategy when the opposition are engaging with the youth. Correspondingly we believe the opposition needs the youth but at the same time the youth also need the opposition to help them co-ordinate and organise effective activities. Neither will succeed in bringing democratic change without the other in Eritrea.

To sum up most youth who fled Eritrea and living in Diaspora think political organisations do not represent the interest of the Eritrean people. Like PFDJ they would barely care about themselves. For this reason the opposition should conduct an outreach and reverse such perception. Demonstrate to them that you put ordinary people first in practice not in words, and then other similar organisations could learn a lot from that approach. Also try to show great empathy towards their plights that the majority of these youth have no sense of belonging (citizenship) any more as they have not been given one. They have no stake in Eritrea as citizens because Isaias and his clique told the youth there is no such thing. As you have already by now surely noticed, whether EYGM UK or I don’t know enough about politics or the traditional opposition organisations sense of purpose and function to ponder an acceptable solution. However, what EYGM UK knows, as well as the majority concerned Eritreans intuitively know, the solution is not mainly political, but surely spiritual. This reminds me what Mahatma Gandhi said, “BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.”    

In my next article Part 2 I will write about the youth perception of Civic Societies in detail and also I will try to cover women’s issues and perspectives on the opposition as a whole.

Bereket Kahsai

EYGM UK

02/02/2012

January 31, 2012

Eritrean youth across the globe are calling their counterparts inside the country to demonstrate their outrage at the human and democratic rights abuses by emptying the streets in towns and cities throughout the country every Friday evening starting Friday 3rd of February. The call that has been transmitted through electronic communication and social media has so far been received positively by Eritreans inside the country.

In solidarity with the initiative all independent Eritrean media outlets will broadcast solidarity messages [...]]]>

January 31, 2012

Eritrean youth across the globe are calling their counterparts inside the country to demonstrate their outrage at the human and democratic rights abuses by emptying the streets in towns and cities throughout the country every Friday evening starting Friday 3rd of February. The call that has been transmitted through electronic communication and social media has so far been received positively by Eritreans inside the country.

In solidarity with the initiative all independent Eritrean media outlets will broadcast solidarity messages as well as announcements for the evening of protest.

The event is anticipated to send strong messages of outrage against the injustice in the country as well as demonstrate the solidarity across forces fighting for democracy and justice.

Eritreans inside the country live under one of the most brutal regimes in the world today. The regime prohibits its nationals from exercising their basic human and democratic rights, and is intolerant to any form of freedom of expression.

Calling on the Eritrean public to support this event a statement from Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change said: “This is a unique opportunity for every Eritrean to show their support for democratic change in the country, EYSC calls on all Eritreans outside the country to contact their friends and relatives inside the country and encourage them to empty the streets and demonstrate to PFDJ that it is high time things changed for the better in Eritrea.”

 Notes for the editor

1. PFDJ isEritrea’s ruling party and the only legal party in the country
2. The regime inEritrea has been criticized by numerous human rights organizations owing to its appalling records of human rights abuse.Eritreais one of the worst abusers of freedom of press in the world today and the religious freedom violations in the country have also been a cause for grave concern to the international community
3. Eritrea’s indefinite National Service has been highlighted as illegal and unjust
4. Many Eritrean young people flee the country to escape the National service and all the other human rights abuses.Eritreais one of the top refugee producing nations in the world today.
5. Eritrea youth fleeing the country are faced by numerous obstacles including the government’s ‘shoot to kill ‘ policy for those caught. They also fall pray of unscrupulous people smugglers and traffickers, including those who are involved in illegal organ harvesting
6. Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change (EYSC) is a Diaspora based global youth movement, fighting for democracy and justice in the country.

CONTACT:

Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change (EYSC)

Email: info@eysc.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/eritreanyouth

Website: www.eysc.net

Sunday 05.02.2012

From 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Al-Noor Restaurant( Prev. Al-Fanoos)

 118 Stratford Road Birmingham B11 1AJ

መቐጸልታ ናይቲ በብከባቢኡ ዝካየድ ዘሎ መብርሂ ናይ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ፡ ሰልፊ ናህዳ ኤርትራ ጨንፈር ዓባይ ብሪጣንያ ብቀዳም 14.01.2012 ኣብ ሎንደን ንኣባላት ሰልፍን ጀበርቲ ተቐማጦ ከተማ ሎንደንን ከባቢኣን ኣካይዱ። መጀመሪያ እቲ ኣኼባ ብቁርኣን ኣልከሪም ድሕሪ ምኽፋቱ፡ ሓላፊ ክፍሊ ውደባ ጨንፈር ሓው ጀማል ፍትዊ ንኣባለት ሰልፍን ዕዱማትን እንቋዕ ብዳሓን መጻእኩም ኢሉ፡፡ ቀጺሉ ሓላፊ ጨንፈር ዓባይ ብሪጣንያ፡ ሓው ሙሳ በሺር ንኣባላትን ንዑዱማት ኣጋይሽን ዕድሜ ኣኽቢሮም ብምምጻኦም ደጊሙ ድሕሪ ምምስጋን ብዛዕባ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ሰፊሕ መግለጺ ሂቡ። ሓው [...]]]>

መቐጸልታ ናይቲ በብከባቢኡ ዝካየድ ዘሎ መብርሂ ናይ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ፡ ሰልፊ ናህዳ ኤርትራ ጨንፈር ዓባይ ብሪጣንያ ብቀዳም 14.01.2012 ኣብ ሎንደን ንኣባላት ሰልፍን ጀበርቲ ተቐማጦ ከተማ ሎንደንን ከባቢኣን ኣካይዱ። መጀመሪያ እቲ ኣኼባ ብቁርኣን ኣልከሪም ድሕሪ ምኽፋቱ፡ ሓላፊ ክፍሊ ውደባ ጨንፈር ሓው ጀማል ፍትዊ ንኣባለት ሰልፍን ዕዱማትን እንቋዕ ብዳሓን መጻእኩም ኢሉ፡፡ ቀጺሉ ሓላፊ ጨንፈር ዓባይ ብሪጣንያ፡ ሓው ሙሳ በሺር ንኣባላትን ንዑዱማት ኣጋይሽን ዕድሜ ኣኽቢሮም ብምምጻኦም ደጊሙ ድሕሪ ምምስጋን ብዛዕባ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ሰፊሕ መግለጺ ሂቡ። ሓው ሙሳ በሺር፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንልዕሊ ፍርቂ ዘመን ዝኣክል ተቓሊሱ ክቡር ዋጋ ከፊሉ ዝረኸቦ ናጽነት ከይስተማቐረ፡ እነሆ እንደገና ንልዕሊ 20 ዓመት ኣብ ትሕቲ መቑሕ ኣረሜናዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ይርከብ። ሎሚ ኣብ ክንዲ ዳግመ-ህንጻ፡ ምስ ጎሮባብቲ ሃገራት ውግእን ወረ-ውግእን፡ ዓቅሚ መንእሰያት ድማ ኣብ ክንዲ ልምዓት፡ መጨረሽታ ኣልቦ ግዱድ ዕስክርናን፡ ዕድል ዝረኸቡ ድማ ናብ ስደት ብምምራሕ፡ ግዳያት መድረ-በዳን፡ ሲናይን፡ ሜዲትራንያን ቀላያትን ኮይኖም ይርከቡ። ኣብዚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንዳግም ስደትን ውርደትን ኣብ ዝርከበሉ ዘሎ ህሞት እዩ እምባኣር፡ ደንበ ተቓዎሞ ከምቲ ዝድለ ሓድነቱ ኣደልዲሉ ነቲ ብኹሉ ሸነኻቱ ቦኽቢኹ ዘሎ ስርዓት ካብ ስሩ ንምብርዓን፡ ዝያዳ ክቀላጠፍ መታን፡ ካልኣዊ ፍልልያቱ ኣወጊዱ ኣስታት 600 ተጋባእቲ ዝተሳተፍዎ ዕዉት ጉባኤ ኣሕሊፉ። እንሆ ድማ ሎሚ ሃገራዊ ባይቶ ንዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ዕማማት ጉባኤ ንኸዐውት ይሸባሸብ ኣሎ። “ኣተሓሒዙ፡ ሓው ሙሳ፡ ብምኽንያት ምዕዋት ሃገራዊ ጉባኤን ርእሰ-ውሳኔ ብሄራት፡ ከምኡውን እቲ ብስርዓት ህግደፍ ዝታአታተወ ግዴታዊ ምጽምባር ብሄራት ምውጋድን፡ ብሓፈሻ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ፡ ብፍላይ ድማ ነቲ ግዳይ ናይዚ ምጽምባር ዝኾነ ብሄር ጀበርቲ እንቋዕ ሓገሰኩም እንቋዕ ኣብዚ አብቃዓና ኢሉ።” ሰልፊ ናህዳ ኤርትራ፡ ሃገራዊ ሓላፍነቱ ከይዘንገዔ፡ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ኤርትራዊ ዜጋ መሰሉ፡ መሰል ብሄሩን ሃይማኖቱን ውልቃዊ ነጻነቱን ምስ ዝኸበር እዩ፡ ግቡእ ሃገራዊ ሱታፌኡ ከበርክት ዝኽእል ካብ ዝብል እምነት፡ ንመሰል ብሄር ጀበርቲ ብሓይሊ ክቃለሰሉ ዝጸንሐን ዘሎን ክብል ሓው ሙሳ መግለጺኡ ቀጺሉ። ድሕሪ እዚ፡ ነቲ ጻዕረኛ ተቓለሳይ መሓመድ ኣማን ነጋሽ፡ ነቲ ኣብ ጨንፈር ዘካይዶ ዘሎ ዘይሕለል ቃልሲ በቲ ጨንፈር ዝተዳለወ ናይ ጽንዓት ሽልማት ተዓዲሎ። ኣብ መጨረሽታ፡ መንግስትን ህዝብን ኢትዮጵያ፡ ጉባኤ ንምዕዋት ዝገበርዎ ኩሉ ዓይነት ምትሕብባር ድሕሪ ምምስጋኑ፡ ዓመተ ምህረት 2012፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብዚ ኣራሜናዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ተገላጊሉ፡ ዓመተ ራህዋን ሰላምን ክኸውን ሰናይ ምንዮታት ጨንፈር ገሊጹ። ኣኼባ፡ ካብ ኣኼበኛታት ንዝቐረበ ሕቶን መልስን ከምኡውን ናይ ሓጉስ መልእኽቲ ነንሕድሕዶም ድሕሪ ምቅይያር ኣኼባ ተዛዚሙ። ዝኽሪ ንሰማእታትና ሓይልና ኣብ ሓድነትና ውድቀት ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ሰልፊ ናህዳ ኤርትራ ክፍሊ ዜና 01/01/2012

for more click here

“This year’s index sees many changes in the rankings, changes that reflect a year that was incredibly rich in developments, especially in the Arab world,” Reporters Without Borders said today as it released its 10th annual press freedom index. “Many media paid dearly for their coverage of democratic aspirations or opposition movements. Control of news and information continued to tempt governments and to be a question of survival for totalitarian and repressive regimes. [...]]]>

Syria, Bahrain and Yemen get worst ever rankings

“This year’s index sees many changes in the rankings, changes that reflect a year that was incredibly rich in developments, especially in the Arab world,” Reporters Without Borders said today as it released its 10th annual press freedom index. “Many media paid dearly for their coverage of democratic aspirations or opposition movements. Control of news and information continued to tempt governments and to be a question of survival for totalitarian and repressive regimes. The past year also highlighted the leading role played by netizens in producing and disseminating news.

“Crackdown was the word of the year in 2011. Never has freedom of information been so closely associated with democracy. Never have journalists, through their reporting, vexed the enemies of freedom so much. Never have acts of censorship and physical attacks on journalists seemed so numerous. The equation is simple: the absence or suppression of civil liberties leads necessarily to the suppression of media freedom. Dictatorships fear and ban information, especially when it may undermine them.

“It is no surprise that the same trio of countries, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea, absolute dictatorships that permit no civil liberties, again occupy the last three places in the index. This year, they are immediately preceded at the bottom by Syria, Iran and China, three countries that seem to have lost contact with reality as they have been sucked into an insane spiral of terror, and by Bahrain and Vietnam, quintessential oppressive regimes. Other countries such as Uganda and Belarus have also become much more repressive.

“This year’s index finds the same group of countries at its head, countries such as Finland, Norway and Netherlands that respect basic freedoms. This serves as a reminder that media independence can only be maintained in strong democracies and that democracy needs media freedom. It is worth noting the entry of Cape Verde and Namibia into the top twenty, two African countries where no attempts to obstruct the media were reported in 2011.”

Protest movements

The Arab world was the motor of history in 2011 but the Arab uprisings have had contrasting political outcomes so far, with Tunisia and Bahrain at opposite ends of the scale. Tunisia (134th) rose 30 places in index and, with much suffering, gave birth to a democratic regime that has not yet fully accepted a free and independent press. Bahrain (173rd) fell 29 places because of its relentless crackdown on pro-democracy movements, its trials of human rights defenders and its suppression of all space for freedom.

While Libya (154th) turned the page on the Gaddafi era, Yemen succumbed to violence between President Ali Abdallah Saleh’s opponents and supporters and languished in 171st position. The future of both of these countries remains uncertain, and the place they will allow the media is undecided. The same goes for Egypt, which fell 39 places to 166th because the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in power since February, dashed the hopes of democrats by continuing the Mubarak dictatorship’s practices. There were three periods of exceptional violence for journalists: in February, November and December.

Already poorly ranked in 2010, Syria fell further in the index, to 176th position, because total censorship, widespread surveillance, indiscriminate violence and government manipulation made it impossible for journalists to work.

Elsewhere in the world, pro-democracy movements that tried to follow the Arab example were ruthlessly suppressed. Many arrests were made in Vietnam (172nd). In China (174th), the government responded to regional and local protests and to public impatience with scandals and acts of injustice by feverishly reinforcing its system of controlling news and information, carrying out extrajudicial arrests and stepping up Internet censorship. There was a dramatic rise in the number of arrests in Azerbaijan (162nd), where Ilham Aliyev’s autocratic government did not hesitate to jail netizens, abduct opposition journalists and bar foreign reporters in order to impose a news blackout on the unrest.

Led by President Yoweri Museveni, Uganda (139th) launched an unprecedented crackdown on opposition movements and independent media after the elections in February. Similarly, Chile (80th) fell 47 places because of its many freedom of information violations, committed very often by the security forces during student protests. The United States (47th) also owed its fall of 27 places to the many arrests of journalist covering Occupy Wall Street protests.

Several European countries fall far behind rest of continent

The index has highlighted the divergence of some European countries from the rest of the continent. The crackdown on protests after President Lukashenko’s reelection caused Belarus to fall 14 places to 168th. At a time when it is portraying itself as a regional model, Turkey (148th) took a big step backwards and lost 10 places. Far from carrying out promised reforms, the judicial system launched a wave of arrests of journalists that was without precedent since the military dictatorship.

Within the European Union, the index reflects a continuation of the very marked distinction between countries such as Finland and Netherlands that have always had a good evaluation and countries such as Bulgaria (80th), Greece (70th) and Italy (61st) that fail to address the issue of their media freedom violations, above all because of a lack of political will. There was little progress from France, which went from 44th to 38th, or from Spain (39th) and Romania (47th). Media freedom is a challenge that needs addressing more than ever in the Balkans, which want to join the European Union but are suffering the negative effects of the economic crisis.

Endemic violence

Many countries are marked by a culture of violence towards the media that has taken a deep hold. It will be hard to reverse the trends in these countries without an effective fight against impunity. Mexico (149th) and Honduras (135th) are two cases in point. Pakistan (151st) was the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the second year running. Somalia (164th), which has been at war for 20 years, shows no sign of finding a way out of the chaos in which journalists are paying a heavy price.

In Iran (175th), hounding and humiliating journalists has been part of officialdom’s political culture for years. The regime feeds on persecution of the media. Iraq (152nd) fell back 22 places and is now worryingly approaching its 2008 position (158th).

Noteworthy changes

South Sudan, a new nation facing many challenges, has entered the index in a respectable position (111th) for what is a breakaway from one of the worst ranked countries, Sudan (170th). Burma (169th) has a slightly better position than in previous years as a result of political changes in recent months that have raised hopes but need to be confirmed. Niger (29th) achieved the biggest rise in a single year, 75 places, thanks to a successful political transition.

It was Africa that also saw the biggest falls in the index. Djibouti, a discreet little dictatorship in the Horn of Africa, fell 49 places to 159th. Malawi (146th) fell 67 places because of the totalitarian tendencies of its president, Bingu Wa Mutharika. Uganda, mentioned above, fell 43 places to 139th. Finally, Côte d’Ivoire fell 41 places to 159th because the media were badly hit by the fighting between the supporters of rival presidents Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara.

One of the biggest falls in Latin America was by Brazil, which plunged 41 places to 99th because the high level of violence resulted in the deaths of three journalists and bloggers.

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Rank	Country	Score
1	Finland	-10,00
-	Norway	-10,00
3	Estonia	-9,00
-	Netherlands	-9,00
5	Austria	-8,00
6	Iceland	-7,00
-	Luxembourg	-7,00
8	Switzerland	-6,20
9	Cape Verde	-6,00
10	Canada	-5,67
-	Denmark	-5,67
12	Sweden	-5,50
13	New Zealand	-5,33
14	Czech Republic	-5,00
15	Ireland	-4,00
16	Cyprus	-3,00
-	Jamaica	-3,00
-	Germany	-3,00
19	Costa Rica	-2,25
20	Belgium	-2,00
-	Namibia	-2,00
22	Japan	-1,00
-	Surinam	-1,00
24	Poland	-0,67
25	Mali	0,00
-	OECS	0,00
-	Slovakia	0,00
28	United Kingdom	2,00
29	Niger	2,50
30	Australia	4,00
-	Lithuania	4,00
32	Uruguay	4,25
33	Portugal	5,33
34	Tanzania	6,00
35	Papua New Guinea	9,00
36	Slovenia	9,14
37	El Salvador	9,30
38	France	9,50
39	Spain	9,75
40	Hungary	10,00
41	Ghana	11,00
42	South Africa	12,00
-	Botswana	12,00
44	South Korea	12,67
45	Comoros	13,00
-	Taiwan	13,00
47	United States of America	14,00
-	Argentina	14,00
-	Romania	14,00
50	Latvia	15,00
-	Trinidad and Tobago	15,00
52	Haiti	15,67
53	Moldova	16,00
54	Hong-Kong	17,00
-	Mauritius	17,00
-	Samoa	17,00
57	United States of America (extra-territorial)	19,00
58	Malta	19,50
-	Bosnia and Herzegovina	19,50
-	Guyana	19,50
61	Italy	19,67
62	Central African Republic	20,00
63	Lesotho	21,00
-	Sierra Leone	21,00
-	Tonga	21,00
66	Mozambique	21,50
67	Mauritania	22,20
68	Croatia	23,33
-	Burkina Faso	23,33
70	Bhutan	24,00
-	Greece	24,00
72	Nicaragua	24,33
73	Maldives	25,00
-	Seychelles	25,00
75	Guinea-Bissau	26,00
-	Senegal	26,00
77	Armenia	27,00
78	Kuwait	28,00
79	Togo	28,50
80	Serbia	29,00
-	Bulgaria	29,00
-	Chile	29,00
-	Paraguay	29,00
84	Kenya	29,50
-	Madagascar	29,50
86	Guinea	30,00
-	Kosovo	30,00
-	Timor-Leste	30,00
-	Zambia	30,00
90	Congo	30,38
91	Benin	31,00
92	Israel (Israeli territory)	31,25
93	Lebanon	31,50
94	Macedonia	31,67
95	Dominican Republic	33,25
96	Albania	34,44
97	Cameroon	35,00
-	Guatemala	35,00
99	Brazil	35,33
100	Mongolia	35,75
101	Gabon	36,50
102	Cyprus (North)	37,00
103	Chad	37,67
104	Ecuador	38,00
-	Georgia	38,00
106	Nepal	38,75
107	Montenegro	39,00
108	Bolivia	40,00
-	Kyrgyzstan	40,00
110	Liberia	40,50
111	South Sudan	41,25	nc
112	United Arab Emirates	45,00
113	Panama	45,67
114	Qatar	46,00
115	Peru	51,25
116	Ukraine	54,00
117	Cambodia	55,00
-	Fiji	55,00
-	Oman	55,00
-	Venezuela	55,00
-	Zimbabwe	55,00
122	Algeria	56,00
-	Tajikistan	56,00
-	Malaysia	56,00
125	Brunei	56,20
126	Nigeria	56,40
127	Ethiopia	56,60
128	Jordan	56,80
129	Bangladesh	57,00
130	Burundi	57,75
131	India	58,00
132	Angola	58,43
133	Israel (extra-territorial)	59,00
134	Tunisia	60,25
135	Singapore	61,00
-	Honduras	61,00
137	Thailand	61,50
138	Morocco	63,29
139	Uganda	64,00
140	Philippines	64,50
141	Gambia	65,50
142	Russia	66,00
143	Colombia	66,50
144	Swaziland	67,00
145	Democratic Republic of Congo	67,67
146	Indonesia	68,00
-	Malawi	68,00
148	Turkey	70,00
149	Mexico	72,67
150	Afghanistan	74,00
151	Pakistan	75,00
152	Iraq	75,36
153	Palestinian Territories	76,00
154	Kazakhstan	77,50
-	Libya	77,50
156	Rwanda	81,00
157	Uzbekistan	83,00
158	Saudi Arabia	83,25
159	Côte d’Ivoire	83,50
-	Djibouti	83,50
161	Equatorial Guinea	86,00
162	Azerbaijan	87,25
163	Sri Lanka	87,50
164	Somalia	88,33
165	Laos	89,00
166	Egypt	97,50
167	Cuba	98,83
168	Belarus	99,00
169	Burma	100,00
170	Sudan	100,75
171	Yemen	101,00
172	Vietnam	114,00
173	Bahrain	125,00
174	China	136,00
175	Iran	136,60
176	Syria	138,00
177	Turkmenistan	140,67
178	North Korea	141,00
179	Eritrea	142,00

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source : http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=classement&id_rubrique=1043

The public meeting will be held at:

Date: Saturday February 4th, 2012

Time: 3:00 pm

 Address:  1821 University Ave W, St. Paul, MN, 55104, Third Floor

NAIROBI, Kenya, January 21 – Kenya on Saturday dismissed a report by the United Nations exonerating Eritrea from claims that it funded the Al Shabaab militia with both monetary and ammunitions support against the Kenya defence forces saying it is one sided.

Speaking during a press briefing on the war in Somalia, Foreign Affairs Ministry Director of the Horn of Africa Division Lindsey Kiptiness said that no one has come to Kenya to investigate the claims.

“In as far as [...]]]>  January 21, 2012

NAIROBI, Kenya, January 21 – Kenya on Saturday dismissed a report by the United Nations exonerating Eritrea from claims that it funded the Al Shabaab militia with both monetary and ammunitions support against the Kenya defence forces saying it is one sided.

Speaking during a press briefing on the war in Somalia, Foreign Affairs Ministry Director of the Horn of Africa Division Lindsey Kiptiness said that no one has come to Kenya to investigate the claims.

“In as far as we are concerned I don’t think it is accurate that report has been taken to UN. I don’t think that is true. Simply because I am also reading stories from papers like you,” Kiptiness said.

“If Kenya did allege that Eritrea sent three plane loads of arms to Al Shabaab, the UN has been undertaking an investigation. They have not come to us. So I don’t know how the report has already been made to the UN before they come to the other side of the story.”

He discredited the report saying that for it to be objective, thorough investigations need to be undertaken.

“We are still waiting for them to come, and if they come we will give our report accordingly. Let’s wait until they come to our side otherwise that would be a one sided story,” he said. “If somebody has leaked such a report then I consider it to be just that…until they get to hear our side of the story.”

He said Kenya is ready and willing to cooperate with the UN should it wish to clarify any information about the claims against Eritrea.
The UN had discounted reports that Eritrea supplied weapons to the al-Shabaab to fight Kenyan troops last year.
A preliminary report by the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG) to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) concluded that the allegations were untrue.

Part of the report stated that after the SEMG’s preliminary assessment, the allegations were incorrect and that the alleged deliveries to Baidoa probably did not take place.

The monitoring group also pursued its investigation into alleged arms deliveries by air to the Al Shabaab controlled airfields in southern Somalia in late October and early November 2011.

Kenya had accused Eritrea of delivering arms to the Al Qaeda-linked Islamists and reported the matter to the Security Council through the regional Inter Governmental Authority on Development.

Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula had also summoned Eritrean ambassador to Kenya Beyene Russom to his office to explain Asmara’s alleged links to the militants.

Eritrea through its Foreign Affairs ministry however vehemently denied the claims branding them as part of Ethiopia’s campaign of misinformation to discredit Asmara.

The Eritrean embassy in Nairobi had further demanded independent investigations into the matter to be conducted by UNSC to the above mentioned allegation and all other unfounded related accusations.

Source : http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/01/kenya-dismisses-un-report-on-eritrea/

ኣገዳሲ ህዝባዊ ኣኼባ ንተቐማጦ ካርልስሩሀን ከባቢኣን

ንህዝቢ ወኪሎም ኣብ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ዝተሳተፉን፡ ኣባላት ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ባይቶ ንደሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ዝዀኑን ብዛዕባ’ቲ ካብ ዕለት 21-30.11.2011 ኣብ ከተማ ኣዋሳ (ኢትዮጵያ) ዝተኻየደ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጥን ውጽኢታቱን ንህዝቢ ዝገልጽሉ ኣገዳሲ ኣኼባ ኣዳሊና ስለ ዘሎና፡ ኩሉ ግዱስ ሃገራዊ ኣብ’ዚ ኣኼባ’ዚ ንክሳተፍ ብክብሪ ይዕደም።  

ዕለት፡     ሰንበት፡ 05.02.2012

ቦታ፡     Steinstraße 23

(Gewerbehof – 3. OG)

ግዜ፡      15:00 – 18:00

ብደሓን ምጹ!

ግዝያዊት ሽማግለ

ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንደሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ

ጨንፈር [...]]]> ውጽኢት ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ንምግላጽ

ኣገዳሲ ህዝባዊ ኣኼባ ንተቐማጦ ካርልስሩሀን ከባቢኣን

ንህዝቢ ወኪሎም ኣብ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ዝተሳተፉን፡ ኣባላት ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ባይቶ ንደሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ዝዀኑን ብዛዕባ’ቲ ካብ ዕለት 21-30.11.2011 ኣብ ከተማ ኣዋሳ (ኢትዮጵያ) ዝተኻየደ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጥን ውጽኢታቱን ንህዝቢ ዝገልጽሉ ኣገዳሲ ኣኼባ ኣዳሊና ስለ ዘሎና፡ ኩሉ ግዱስ ሃገራዊ ኣብ’ዚ ኣኼባ’ዚ ንክሳተፍ ብክብሪ ይዕደም።  

ዕለት፡     ሰንበት፡ 05.02.2012

ቦታ፡     Steinstraße 23

(Gewerbehof – 3. OG)

ግዜ፡      15:00 – 18:00

ብደሓን ምጹ!

ግዝያዊት ሽማግለ

ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ንደሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ

ጨንፈር ካርልስሩሀ

18.01.2012