(August 15, 2011, Guardian.co.uk)--Eritrea's hard-won independence promised much for the future, but instead it brought repression, war, secrecy and international pariah status.
I recently read an extensive report prepared by the UN Monitoring group on Somalia and Eritrea (pdf), which said Eritrea was behind a terrorist plot in January against an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
I was impressed by the level of detail in the report. For Eritrean activists abroad, it contained no new revelations, but I presume many members of the international community were shocked by it. The 417 pages accused Eritrea's government and military leaders of many wrongdoings, including human trafficking, contraband, money laundering and extortion.
The question many are asking is: what went wrong in Eritrea?
The first thing to look at is its history. The sacrifice that was made to liberate Eritrea from the Ethiopian occupation, which lasted three decades, cannot be described in simple terms.
The tug of war that was played out between the attacks of the liberation forces and the Ethiopian counteroffensives still draws raw emotions. Eritreans, young and old, inside and outside the country, supported the revolution.
Independence meant the world to Eritreans, and the day of 24 May 1991 was the consolidation of my identity. But post-independence, that hard-won victory failed to bring liberty. Promises of democracy, the foundation stone of the struggle, went out of the window once the ex-fighters assumed power.
Gradually, arrogance took over and the ruling elite had everything at their disposal, while the quality of life of the average fighters deteriorated. A gap was quickly created between ex-fighters and civilians, the diaspora were systematically prohibited from returning, and draconian measures were taken against the educated and those who voiced complaints. Read More from Guardian.co.uk »
I recently read an extensive report prepared by the UN Monitoring group on Somalia and Eritrea (pdf), which said Eritrea was behind a terrorist plot in January against an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
I was impressed by the level of detail in the report. For Eritrean activists abroad, it contained no new revelations, but I presume many members of the international community were shocked by it. The 417 pages accused Eritrea's government and military leaders of many wrongdoings, including human trafficking, contraband, money laundering and extortion.
The question many are asking is: what went wrong in Eritrea?
The first thing to look at is its history. The sacrifice that was made to liberate Eritrea from the Ethiopian occupation, which lasted three decades, cannot be described in simple terms.
The tug of war that was played out between the attacks of the liberation forces and the Ethiopian counteroffensives still draws raw emotions. Eritreans, young and old, inside and outside the country, supported the revolution.
Independence meant the world to Eritreans, and the day of 24 May 1991 was the consolidation of my identity. But post-independence, that hard-won victory failed to bring liberty. Promises of democracy, the foundation stone of the struggle, went out of the window once the ex-fighters assumed power.
Gradually, arrogance took over and the ruling elite had everything at their disposal, while the quality of life of the average fighters deteriorated. A gap was quickly created between ex-fighters and civilians, the diaspora were systematically prohibited from returning, and draconian measures were taken against the educated and those who voiced complaints. Read More from Guardian.co.uk »
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