Eritrean Political leaders for decades in leadership

No one is appointed for life!

Reflections on the contribution of the opposition leaders in prolonging the suffering of the Eritrean people for the last 20 years

መን ካብ መን ይሕይሽ አብ ልዕሊ መን ክውርዚ
ዕንቅርቢት ን ተመን ኩሉኻትኩም ሕንዚ
የማነ ባሪያ

ኣብ ክንዲ ንኢሳያስ፡ “ነዊሕ ኣብ ስልጣን ጸኒሑ፡ ዲክታተር ኮይኑ፡ ቅዋም ኣይተግበረን፡ ስልጣን ንህዝቢ ምርካብ ኣብዩ፡”  ወዘተ ኢሎም ዝኸሱዎ፡ መጀመርያ ንሳቶም ብሕግን ብደሞክራስን ይመርሑ፡ ስልጣን ድማ ናብ ህዝቢ የረክቡ። ድሕሪኡ ብዛዕባ ሃገር ክዛረቡን ምኽሮም ክልግሱን ምኸኣሉ። ብሰንኪ ግጉይ ኣመራርሓኦም ድማ ብዙሕ ሰብ ክውደብን ክቃለስን ጸጊሙዎ ኣሎ። ሎሚ ሃገር ሓድሽ ደም የድልያ ኣሎ። ኣዞም መንእሰያት ዝገብሩዎ ዘለዉ ምውድዳባት ቀሊል ስራሕ ኣይኮነን። ምናልባት ምስ ኵነታት ኤውሮጳ ዝጋጮ ጐነጽ ክጥቀሙ ኸለዉ ክጥንቀቑ ኣለዎም ዝብል ርእይቶ ኣለኒ። ካብኡ በለ ግን መዋእል ጀብሃን ሻዕብያን ኣብቂዑ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ኩላቶም ብናይ ትማሊ ዝሓስቡ፡ ነይረ ጥራይ ዝብሉ ሰባት ኣብ ክንዲ ናብ ስልጣን ምምጥጣር፡ ስልጣን ነቲ ብዛዕባ መጻኢ ዕድል ሃገርን ህዝብን ዝሓስብ መንእሰይ ኣረኪቦም ከም ኣቦታት ወይ ዓበይቲ ዓዲ መጠን ኣማኸርቲ ክኾኑ ጥራይ’ዩ ዘለዎም። ሓድሽ እንጌራ ከሎ ዝዓሰወ እንጌራ ደጊም ዘድሊ ኣይመስለንን። Read more

Veteran fighter and Chairman of the Eritrean National Congress, Hiruy Tedla Bairu, said he believed any political group whose members belonged to the era of the liberation struggle would most likely turn dictatorial. Looking to the future, Hiruy says there is the need for a new mass movement to lead the people. readmore

Researched and compiled by Resoum Kidane[20/05/11]

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Indeed this type of uprising will have a great role in speeding up the removal of this fascistic dictator, however our youth need to be ensured that their uprising against the 20 years repression should not be for the benefit of the EDA or EPDP leaders who themselves have been in leadership or in senior post for decades. According to Amare (2010) Ahmed Nasser is the chairman of the Eritrean National Salvation Front (ENSF) today and was the chairman of ELF from 1976 to 1981. Dr. Habte Tesfamariam is member of the executive leadership of ENSF today and was chairman of the ELF that replaced Ahmed Nasser until ELF disintegrated. There are more in a leaders from the oppostion groups who have been in leadership or senior post for decaded.  For example, Abdella Idris was in a leading position for 43 years  from 1968 to 2011.  Mesfin Hagos has been in a senior post since 1970 for 41 years, Hiuri leader of ECP is in a leading position for 40 years from 1971- Tesfai Woldemichael (Degiga), vice -chairman of the EPDP was with Ahmed Nasser leadership in 1975 since then he is in a leading position for 36 years and Tewelde Gebreselasse is the leader of Sagem nearly for 30 years since 1982 [find more]. Dpite this fact, most Eritreans in diaspora cyber debates have focused on removing Issays not on the role of the oppostion leaders who have become obtacle to removing the current autocratic regime, Fesseha Nair's article The Role of Military in Transition to Democracy didn't show why the oppostion leaders for decades in leadership and how they have contributed to prolonging the life of this autocratic regime which has caused for the death of thousands of Eritrean youths in the Mediterranean Sea.

In 2007 when the Eritrean people were urging the oppostion leaders (EDA) to remove the authoritarian regime in Asmara without further delay, the oppostion leaders responded by splitting into two blocs because of their power struggle. Regarding this Yohannes Ligiam [13.03.07] stated that since 1993, Eritrean people abroad and inside hoped that the opposition will grow and mature politically and will replace the dictatorship that has denied them opportunity, stability and democracy. Instead of maturity and coherence the oppositions’ reality has developed to further fragmentation and the opposition ended up being part of the problem instead of a solution.

Although  the oppostion leaders themselves have contributed to some extent to the prolonging  Issayas’s  life  in power , they  complained of his being in power for 20 years. One of these accusers is Tewelde Gebreselasse leader of Sagem who himself  has been a leader  for almost 30 years.
Tewelde Gebreselasse (the Chairman of EDA) in an interview with Walta, Ethiopia’s state media described Eritrea in the last 20 years as a “one party dictatorship…with no freedom of press, no rule of law, no election, no freedom of expression. These oppostion leaders want to seize power for themselves by liberating the Eritrean people from the repression of the PFDJ but without developing the democratic organisations which will hold them accountable and usher in a new political system, in which the people can exercise control. Democratic practices has to begin with the opposition.  The replacement of a dictatorship requires alternative, democratic structures to be developed.  The opposition must reform itself, develop internal democracy and accountability, draw more people into its ranks, encourage free debate and self-criticism, introduce regular elections to its leadership and launch a critical analysis of its past

The main purpose of compiling the history of the Eritrean Political leaders is to draw attention of the younger generation to the narrow power struggle of the current oppostion leaders and their consequences . The recent EPDP-EDA confrontation is an extension of the conflict that emerged at the EDA conference between the ELF and ELF.RC in 2007. The current EDA-EPDP confrontation is not sudden occurrence but has a history that goes back to the 1982. This was when the Labor Party was finally dissolved by 1982, many of its leaders aligned themselves with either the ELF faction identified with Abdallah Idris or the newly formed ELF.RC (Connel, 2011 :343 p). Since then both the ELF and ELF.RC leaders have become the main rival leaders within the opposition which caused a rift between the ELF RC and ENA in 2002, the spilt of EDA in 2007 and the EDA-EPDP confrontation 2010/2011

The first section of this document (1981-1991) provides concise historical information on how the ELF initially broke into three major factions and gradually over subsequent years fragmented into several groups. The defeat of the ELF in 1980 caused it to splitting the Fronts into many factions which became the main impediment to the formation of a strong opposition front against the EPLF in 1991

It is worthwhile to look briefly at the ELF leader’s power struggles during the liberation struggle which has left their imprint on the opposition leaders. In the late 1970s the following leaders were the main rival groups within the ELF leadership : Abdella Idris group, Ahmed Nassir group and Ibrahim Totil. Nebari (2002) in his article Triumph over Factionalism: ELF tragedies and setbacks highlighted the cause of the ELF split in many factions. According Nebari (2002) the ELF disintegrated in 1981 because the front's hierarchy and the relations within the various elements weren't structured based on unified, cooperative, collective and visionary leadership. ELF had a number of rival groups seeking to assert exclusive power, rule, and dominance in violation of the laws and principles of the organization. For example, Abdella Idris group, Ahmed Nassir group, Ibrahim Totil group, Hiruy group, and a number of others were rivals against one another at one time or another. There was also a party (Labor Party), which operated in total contradiction to the overall goal of the front. The leadership of ELF (known as the Revolutionary Council back then) was so besieged and preoccupied with power struggle that it didn't realize the collapse of itself and the front until it was too late. Here is more information related to the ELF internal crisis from ታሪኽ ኣይንረስዕ፡ ጉዕዞና ክቐንዕ -ካብ 1973 ክሳብ 1975 ዓ.ም. ኣብ ዝነበረ መድረኽ፣ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ብሓደስቲ ተጋደልቲ እናተዓብለለ እዩ መጺኡ። እዞም ተጋደልቲ እዚኣቶም ብሓያል ሃገራዊ ስምዒት ንናጽነት ክቃለሱ ዝመጹ፣ ኣብ ዝኾነ ድሑር ፖለቲካ ዘይተመራስሑ ንጹሃት መንእሰያት እዮም። ብዘይካ መስዋእቲ ከፊልካ ናጽነት ኤርትራ ምምጻእ ድማ፣ ካልእ ድጉል ተጻባኢ ዕላማን ድርኺትን ኣይነበሮምን። ይኹን እምበር፣ እዚ ምዕባለታት’ዚ ንዓብደላ እድሪስ ኣይተበርሆን። ካብቲ ድሑርን ወገናዊን ኣጠማምታኡ ዝብገስ፣ ነዞም ሓደስቲ ተጋደልቲ ፍጹም ኣይፈተዎምን። ብዓይኒ ጽልኢን ስግኣትን እዩ ጠሚትዎም። ከም ንኣሽቱ ኣሕዋቱ፣ ከም ወገኑን ጸግዑን ኣይርኣዮምን። ምኽንያቱ፣ እዞም ሓደስቲ ተጋደልቲ መብዛሕትኦም ተማሃሮ እዮም። ብዙሓት ካብኣቶም ድማ ደቂ ከበሳ። ዓብደላ እድሪስ፣ ምምጻእ ናይዚ ሓድሽ ሓይሊ ከቢድ ጥርጣረን ፍርሒን እዩ ኣሕዲሩሉ። Read more
Keshi(2002) also wrote that the Abdella Idris group, the most powerful and dominant group (also known as the right wing block back then), aborted and branded the reform movement as “anarchy and disorder” or “falul and Keidi Betekh”, and ordered the arrest and disarming of hundreds of Tegadelti. The Labor Party (LP), the main organ of ELF, also gave its green light to squash the movement. This is the era where anti-democratic forces took upper hand and teamed up against the forces of change in ELF. This is the era where the right wing snitchers and betrayers flourished in ELF. This is the era where ELF began to become terminally ill.

According to Connel (2011:343) the Labor Party, like the ELF, was never as ideologically homogenous or as internally disciplined  as its Maoist counterpart in the EPLF, and its leadership included such  disparate political figures as  Abdalla Idris Mohammed, Ahmed Nasser, Azien Yassin, Herui Tedla, Ibrahim Mohammed Ali, Ibrahim Totil and Saleh Ahmed  Eyay. This led to conflict within the Labor Party, just as it did in the ELF. Conell adds that When Herui was not elected to the front’s Revolutionary Council (RC) at its 1975 congress, after being chastised for acting on his own to initiate talks with the rival EPLF, he broke with the Labor Party and formed the Eritrean Democratic Movement  to challenge its hegemony. This, together with the Labor-dominated RC’s decision to enter unity talks with Osman Saleh Sabbe’s, ELF-PLF at the expense of its relations with the EPLF, triggered an eruption of dissent labeled falul by the  ELF leaders and an exodus of Kebessan fighters. read more

Furthermore Paulos M. Natnael (2011) states that in August 1981 Abdella Idris was in charge of the ELA as a member of the Executive Committee (EC) of the ELF and chief of the military office, when the conspiratorial forces of the Eritrean People's Liberation front (EPLF) and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) finally, after a year's bitter fighting, managed to push the ELF out of Eritrea and into the Sudan. That military defeat of the ELF, history will show some day, was neither due to weakness of the ELA nor the competence and effectiveness of enemy forces; but largely due to the incompetence and internal bickering of the nine-member (EC) and the ELF leadership as a whole.

Mengesteab ( 2005, 55) in his book mentions that the EPLF leaders restored the old ELF argument that Eritrea could not support more than one liberation front. This was when they realised that the ELF military was weak, and exploiting the ELF military weakness and internal crises. At the end they declared war on the ELF which was one of the worst crime of the EPLF leaders in the history of the armed struggle. The EPLF leaders should be blamed for the death of unknown number fighters in the civil war of 1981.[According to unofficial report the civil war of 1981 caused an estimated between 1,000 and 2,000 casualties.

Furthermore according to Connell (2011) Hiuri never reconciled himself with the EPLF, however, after leaving the ELF in 1977, he founded his own Eritrean Democratic Movement (EDM)which received support from Iraq in 1979. He attempted to form an umbrella nationalist organization modeled on the PLO to unite all the nationalists fronts, but his group was increasingly marginalized, receiving TPLF support during the late 1980s and joining forces with the anti-EPLF elements of Saghem after 1990. Hiury left the EDM and returned to Eritrea after liberation.

Killon ( 1991: p194) The final disintegration of the old ELF, followed by the death of Osman Saleh Sabe in 1987, and the rise of a strong movement towards Islamism among Abdella faction, the newly formed Islamic Jihad and another ELF-UO faction led by Omer Burj.According Awate. com Eritrean Islamic Islah Movement (Islah) & Eritrean Islamic Party for Justice & Development (Alkhalas):  One of the by products of the collapse of the ELF, which had largely managed to subdue Islamist tendencies, these two Islamist groups owe their origins to the late 1980s when the EPLF took control of the Western lowlands regions. Alkhalas was originally called the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement but changed its name to Alkhalas in 1998. Over the years, like most of Eritrea's organizations, the group now has other splinter groups including Eritrean Islamic Congress led by Hassen Salman (aka Abu-Bara’e) and other smaller groups. Alkhalas is led by Amir Mohammed Aamr and AlIslah is led by Mohammed Ahmed Saleh (aka Abu Suhail.) Websites: Islah – islaher.org ;  AlKhalas: alkhalas.org. The two organizations were at their peak in the late 1980s and 1990s when the environment, particularly the prevailing environment between Eritrea and Sudan, provided them with safe sanctuary and moral/financial assistance. Despite aggressive campaigns by the Eritrean regime to list these two organizations as "terrorists", they are classified as a pressure groups because they have no cross-national aims and they do not target civilians. [Source Proliferation Of Armed Resistance In Eritrea-http://www.awate.com/portal/content/view/4660/9/

According Tesfatsion Medhanie (1989)Throughout the '80s the EPLF continued the same policy of antagonizing and attacking other Eritrean groups.  In late 1988 it took armed measures against several groups and there by precipitated a serious situation threating to divide Eritrea along religious/ethnic lines.  The following were the major incidents and consequences.

• In October 1988 it attacked some ELF-PLF groups.  These groups were at one time or another part of bigger organizations like the ELF and the PLF led by the late Osman Sabbe.
• In late December '88 it practically wiped out a group of former ELF members.  The group led by Tesfa-Mehret Men-Ameno consisted of a few hundred of fighters, many of whom, including Tesfa-Mehret himself were killed.  Reporting this incident to its followers the EPLF stated that it look measures against some groups that have been undermining it for a long time.  It implied that it would similarly attack other such organizatio
  

TESFA-MEHRET

In 1988 the EPLF attacked the ELF-PLF UO and unknown number of fighters of ELF-PLF UO were killed includes its military commander Tesfay Mehere. Below is a brief background information about Tesfay Mehere which is excrepted from ታሪኽ ኣይንረስዕ፡ ጉዕዞና ክቐንዕ ራብዓይ ክፋል -ተስፋምህረት ጀብሃ ንሱዳን ክትኣቱ ኸላ ምስ ውሑዳት ሰዓብቱ ኣብ ጋሽ Eዩ ተሪፉ። በዓል ዓብደላ Eድሪስ ነዚ ምስርኣዩ ክልተ ጋንታ ዝኸውን ሰራዊት ኣዋጺOም፣ ንጋሽ ከEትው ፈቲኖም ነይሮም። “ቱምሳሕ ዝመርሖ ናይ ደባይ ኣሃዱታት ክንምስርት Iና” Eዮም Iሎም። ቱምሳሕ ናብU ምስ ከደ ግን፣ በዓል ተስፋምህረት ቀቲሎሞ። ንጠንቂ ናይቲ ቕትለት ብዝምልከት ብልክE ዝፈልጦ Eኳ Eንተዘይብለይ፣ ከም ግምተይ ሕነ ናይ መልኣከ Eዩ ዝመስል። (ኣብቲ ድሓር ዝቐጸለ ምEባለታት ተስፋምህረት ምስ በዓል ዓብደላ ርክብ ዘይብሉ፣ ኣብ ከባቢ ጋሽ ከምዞም ናይ ውግE ጎይቶት (ዎርሎርድ) ኮይኑ በይኑ Eዩ ተሪፉ። መርገጺU ዝያዳ ናብ ጉጅለ ትያር ዝዛዘወ Eዩ ነይሩ። ድሓር ግን ምስ ትያር Eውን ተባቲኹ፣ ምስ ሳበ ኮይኑ። ካብ ሳበ ተፈልዩ Eውን መሊሱ ምስ ጃስር ኮይኑ። ነዊሕ ጸኒሑ ድማ ምስ ሻEብያ ርክብ ጀሚሩ። ፈለማ ሻEብያ ኣይነጸግዎን። ከምዝዝከር ኣብ 2ይ ጉባኤ ህ.ግ. ጉጅለ ጃስር ወኪል ሰዲዶም ነይሮም Eዮም። ጸኒሑ ግን ተስፋምህረት መገዱ ስለዘይቕንA ምስ ሻEብያ ተገራጭዩ። ስጉምቲ ተወሲዱሉ። መዓስከሩ ተደምሲሱ። ኣብቲ መዓስከር ኣሲሩዎም ዝጸንሐ ናይ Eንዳ ትያር ኣባላት ተፈቲሖም። ተስፋምህረት ከኣ ኣብ ከባቢ ተከዘ ኮይኑ ክቃወም ኣብ ዝፈተነሉ ተቐቲሉ።). Read more

EPLF attempts to negotiate with Jihad led to a split in the leadership in August 1993, with Hamid Turki . (Connel 2011:205). In April 1996, Ibrahim Malek announced the formation of a third faction called, Al Mejlis AlIslamy Leddaewa WeIslah Fi Ertrya(The Islamic Council of Endowment and Reformation in Eritrea). The new faction issued its first communiqu� and accused Abu Suhail�s faction of extremism including tribalism, unfair imprisonment and torture of people, and corruption. [Source awate.com].

In 1997 there was a report that both the Islamic Jihad and ELF-Abdullah Idris were operating  inside Eritrea from bases in Sudan. This occurred after the Sudanese government accused Eritrea of supporting Sudanese opposition forces.  In response, the Khartoum government began to give support to the Eritrean opposition to overthrow Issayas Aferworki. This created a new environment for the formation of the Alliance of Eritrean National Force in March 1999. The Alliance of Eritrean National Force was formed with the representatives of ten Eritrean opposition groups under the leadership of Abdullah Indris who was accused of snatching power through a bloody coup in 1982

After Heruy returned from Eritrea, he formed the Eritrean Cooperative Party (ECP) which allowed him to join the Alliance at the end of 2002. In October 2002, thirteen groups formed the Eritrean National Alliance (ENA) and the name of the Alliance of Eritrean National Force was changed to the ENA , based in Ethiopia and Heruy Tedla Biru became its leader. The ENA was made up of quite a number of groups, their precise goals, are highly uncertain. Some are believed to be mutually hostile, and tend not to cooperate. Eritrean Islamic Salvation/Eritrean Islamic Jihad. seeks an Islamist state in Eritrea. Led by Sheikh Khalil Mohammed Amir. The ENA also admitted receiving finances from the Sudanese, Ethiopian and Yemen governments (Plaut, 2005:638 )

However the hopes for unity of the thirteen groups perished when the ELF-RC Chairman's, Seyoum Ogbamichael withdrawn from the meeting to Heruy T. Bairou's nomination for the leadership of the Alliance of Eritrean National Forces (AENF) . This rift between Herui and Seyoum started in 1975 and reemerged in 2002. Many mediators attempted to get Seyoum O/Michael to reconsider his decision, all to no avail. Seyoum stated that Herui T Bairou, who joined the Alliance less than a month ago, was too recent a member to effectively lead the Alliance. This was not the main reason for his withdrawal from the ENA meeting but explains the bitterness of the competition for the leadership with other members of ENA like Abdella Idris, Dr Beyne etc. This can be seen clearly from Woldeyesus Ama's article.

Amanuel Hidrat also states that, the ELF-RC walkout from the ENA congress rejecting Hiruy as General Secretary of ENA. In the following months the internal contradiction of ELF-RC reached to a no return point and it split vertically and horizontally into two organizations (ELF-RC and ELF-NC). The rejection of Hiruy by ELF-RC had a historical background that goes to the 2nd National congress of ELF in 1975 from which they carried their enmity to the congress of ENA. By all accounts Hiruy is more competent than all the participants except, Hiruy doesn’t know the use of ladders to ascending to power. Again the split of ELF-RC has nothing to do with regionalism as Dr. Gaim depicted in his book. It was the entire power struggle between the two lines within the organizations. The splinters can give their own versions to ostracize each other but the fact will remain on the ground as a "normal feud for power struggle.”I hope EPDP is not repeating history knowing from far, that someone from their arc-enemies will grab the seat which they themselves were looking for. I remember ELF-RC in 2002 when they went to the ENA congress which they took for granted that one of the two upper seats (the chairmanship or the General Secretary) will be in their grab. As a matter of fact, when one of their senior leader (name withheld) was asked why they chose to walkout from the meeting, his answer was, “why didn’t they  listen to us this time when all these years they were open to heed our advice?”

Nebarai Keshi (October 11, 2003) in his article "Where are the Dots to be Connected Here"?, also stated that  Ammar is accused of engineering the entire ELF-RC crisis by introducing leadership reform in the organization. Ammar is reported to have campaigned relentlessly against Nassir long before the 2nd session of the RC (Agust 2002), in which Suim was finally ascended to the chairmanship position. In addition, Ammar is believed to have pioneered this leadership reform mainly to replace the “old guard”, Ahmed Nassir by a “new guard”, read more

In 2005 the Eritrean National Alliance (ENA) elected Herui T. Bairu (replacing Abdella Idris as chairman and Hussein Khalifa (replacing Herui) as the Secretary General of the ENA. Both Herui and Hussein won 22 votes each. The maximum number of votes for each office is 26. Hussein Khalifa is vice-chair of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and Herui T Bairou is the chairman of the Eritrean Cooperative Party (ECP.). According Abdulrazig Karar, in 2004 the organizations of ELF the Revolutionary Council, the Eritrean Democratic Party, the Eritrean Popular Movement joined the Alliance and again the name was changed to the Eritrean Democratic Alliance. However in 2006 there was accussation between Herui and Hussein this was after Herui left the EDA . Since then he started to critise the EDA more after 2007 until he became member of the commission in 2010. For a brief period in the early 2000s, Herui headed the ENA, but he took his small following-then called the Eritrean Congress Party-out of the alliance and did not rejoin it after his party collapse (Connell 2011:295)

In 2006, the Eritrean Liberation Front-National Congress (ELF-NC) led by Dr. Beyene Kidane; the Eritrean People�s Movement (EPM) led by Mr. Abdella Adem and the Eritrean Revolutionary Democratic Front (Sedeg�e), led by Mr. Berhane Yemane (Hanjema)--held its unity congress in Addis Abeba from August 15 to August 23,and formed the The Eritrean National Salvation Front. [Background information :Berhane Yemane, "Hanjema," was elected as the chairman of the Central Leadership of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) in 2005. According to Berhane Yemane (Hanjema) Interview with Awate.com (2005), he was first an ELF fighter. After his surrender to TPLF in 1980, he then served with that Front for a decade until 1990. He served as a political commissar in different areas of Tigray. Later he joined the DeMaHaE, a splinter of ELF [read more.]]

In the early 2007 a new crisis emerged in the EDA conference due to its members failing to reach a decision on who should lead its executive office. This happened because of the rival leaders mainly of the ELF.RC (which is now  EPDP) and ELF( which is now ESF ) prolonging the conflict which had first emerged in 1982. At the conference of the EDA , Hussein Kelifay leader of the ELF said that his organization was not ready to accept the candidature of ELF-RC for the Executive Office. On the other hand Woldeyesus leader of the ELF-RC argued that his organization committed no crime to be barred from asking for EDA leadership posts and refused to withdraw his candidate. This led to the spilt of EDA in 2007. When the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) split because of conflict over leadership issues into the bloc led by Hussein Khalifa and the bloc led by Woldeyesus Ammar, 5,000 Eritreans fled to Sudan because of repression by the Eritrea government between November and December 2007.

• In 2002, the Eritrean Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council (ELF-RC), split into two.  For a while, both retained the name until one side changed its name to the Eritrean National Congress (ENC.) Both were given membership in the EDA.

• In 2005,  the Eritrean Co-operative Party “united” with the Eritrean Democratic Resistance Movement of Gash-Setit and the Eritrean Liberation Front-United Organization (ELF-UO) to form the Eritrean Congress Party. The union was short-lived: among other things, Gash-Setit became part of EPP which later merged with EDP and EPM and formed the EPDP.
• In 2006, the Eritrean National Congress (ENC) “united” with a splinter group of the Eritrean People’s Movement (EPM) and the Eritrean Revolutionary Democratic Front (ERDF, better known as Se.De.Ge.E.) to found the Eritrean National Salvation
• Front (ENSF) which is a member of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance.  Subsequently,  ERDF (Se.De.Ge.E.) pulled out of ENSF.  The wing that split from the EPM earlier and joined the ENSF chose not to participate in the ENSF’s congress and is technically out of the EDA. Source The Next EDA-EPDP Confrontation

In January 22, 2008 the Eritrean democratic alliance (EDA), after 5days meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, 11 Eritrean opposition organizations which have been politically divided for nearly a year had pushed a new agreement to form a full coalition, [ read more ] http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article25679. According Amanuel Hidrat the opposition group leaders agreed on their charters but failed on how to share the political power.

In spite of this in 2008 and 2009 leaders of the opposition groups instead of resolving their difference and  sharing the political power  intensified their power struggle through formation of coalition which could be  seen during the preparation for the  July conference. The following four coalitions : Eritrean National United Front (ENUF), Eritrean Solidarit Front (ESF), Democratic Front of Eritrean Nationalities (DFEN and Eritrean People´s Democratic Party (EPDP) were established in 2008/2009. Here is brief information about these coalitions

According to Connell (2011: ) the EFDM is a small oppostion movement, led by Beshir Ishaq and based primarily among Bilens in the Keren area, that favors a decentralized government composed of distinct cantons representing Eritrea's highland plateau, its western lowland, and the coastal lowlands. The EIPJD or AL-KHALAS, in 2009, as the EDA underwent a period of consolidation among many of its members, al Khalas joined with three other movements whose social base was primarily in the western lowlands to form the Eritrean Solidarit Front (ESF) which advocated increased recognition of Muslim rights within the EDA and the wider Eritrean political arena.

According to Connell (2011 206-7)the Eritrean Islamic Reform Movement (ISLAH) . Formerly known as the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement (EIJM or Jihad) and led by Mohammed Ahmed Saleh (also known as Abu Suhail), Islah draws its main support from Muslim refugees in Sudan and once advocated the creation of an Islamic Eritrean state founded on Muslim religious law. Like its predecessor, Jihad, it is dedicated to the armed overthrow of the PFDJ government, although it, like other Islamist groups has moderated its political objectives in favour of a reformist agenda built around Muslim rights, including acceptance of Arabic as an official Eritrean language and an end to the government's land seizures in the mostly Muslim western lowlands. The EIJM changed its name to the Eritrean Islamic Reform Movement or Islah, in 2003 and later joined the EDA. In 2006 the organization opened an office in Addis Ababa, and in 2009, it joined with three other movement based in the western lowlands to form the Eritrean Solidarit Front (ESF) which advocaded increased recognition of Muslim rights within the EDA .

The Eritrean Islamic Party for Justice and Development (EIPJD, or AL-KHALAS) Al-Khalas, as the party is generally known, grew out of the Eritrean Islamic Salvation Movement (EISM), itself a product of a split within the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement (EIJM or Jihad) in 1998. It took on the new name at a 2004 conference at which it established a 50-member leadership council (shura) with a mandate for women to make up at least 10 percent of its membership. In 2007, its former leader, Khalil Mohammed Amer, was delegated to represent the movement in the EDA. In 2009, as the EDA underwent a period of consolidating among many of its members, al-Khalas joined with three other movements whose social base was primarily in the western lowlands to form the Eritrean Solidarit Front (ESF) . Source Connell, 2011 p.206

It would be worthwhile to look the cause rather the result of the EPDPwithdrawal from the July conference 2010. In 2007 at the EDA conference a new crisis was erupted due to member of the EDA failed to reach a decision on who should lead its executive office because of the rival leaders manily of the ELF.RC leader Woldeyesus and ELF leade Hussein Khalifa. Beshir Ishtaq nomination for a chairmanwas rejected by block one led by Wolde Yesus Ammar. In 2009 Beshir Ishtaq’s organization  Eritrean Federal Democratic Movement  formed an alliance with the ELF, Eritrean Islamic Party for Justice and  Eritrean Islamic Rectification Movement to secure his leadership. In 2010 Wolde Yesus Ammar the leader of the ELF-RC also formed an alliance with the Eritrean Democratic Party (EDP) and the Eritrean People´s Movement (EPM) to secure the domination of Eritrean People´s Democratic Party (EPDP) in the EDA. As an extension of this conflict the EPDE boycotted from the July 2010 conference.

EDA chairman
Tewelde Gebresslasie leader of Saghem

ዘይምትEምማንን ዝደጋገም ቅልውላዋት ኪዳንን፤ [Source ኤርትራዊ ዲሞክራስያዊ ኪዳን ናይ ቀረባ ጊዜ ዓንቃፊ ተረኽቦታት መሓመድ ዓሊ Iብራሂም፤ 18.04.2010]

• ሕንፍሽፍሽ ኣብ ጨንፈር ኤዲኪ ኣውስትራልያ፡- በሺር ይስሓቕ ንኪዳን ወኪሉ ብግንቦት-ሰነ 2009 ናብ ኣውስትራልያ Uደት ኣብ ዝገበረሉ ጊዜ፡ ነቶም ቀንዲ ተሓባበርቱን ተቀበልቱን ዝነበሩ ኣባላት መሪሕነት ሰልፊ ህዝብን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራስን ኤርትራ ከምU Eውን ኣቦ ወንበር ጨንፈር ኤዲኪ ኣብ ሚልቦርን
  ከም ዓንቀፍቲ ቆጺሩ ናይ ጸለመ ጸብጻብ ብምቕራቡ ኣካታI ጉዳይ ኮይኑ፤ ክሳብ ኣብ ኣኼባ ማEከላይ መሪሕነት ተዘሪቡሉስ፡ ክምርመርን ክጻረን Eውን ውሳነ ተበጺሑ። ፈጻሚ ቤት ጽሕፈት ግን ነዚ ብባይቶ Eተዋህቦ ሓላፍነት፡ ክሳብ
  ሎሚ ፍታሕ ኣይገበረሉን። ጨንፈር መልቦርን ኣብ ክልተ ተመቂሉ ተሪፉ።
• ብሰልፊ ዲሞክራስን ሰልፊ ህዝብን ንዎርክሾፕ ኪዳን ዝተዳለወ ወረቀት ቅድሚ Eቲ ዎርክሾፕ ምጅማሩ ነቶም ኣንጻር ሰልፍታትና ዝጽሕፉ ተመሓላሊፊስ፡ “ነዚ ወረቐት’ዚ ፎE በልዎ” ዝብል ዓንቀጽ ኣብ Iንተርነት ወጺU። ኣቦ መንበር
  ኣሰናዳዊት ሽማግለ ዎርክሾፕ ዝነበረ በሺር፡ Eቲ ወረቐት ናባኻ’ዩ ተላIኹ፡ መን ናብ Iንተርነት ኣመሓላሊፍዎ ምስ ተባህለ “ኣነ ኣይፈልጥኩን” ብምባል ብኣሉታ
  መሊሹ። ስለምንታይ ትብሃል ኣሎኻ? ዝብሎ ስልጣን ኣይነበረን። Eቶም መጒዳEቲ EተሰምOም ሰልፍታት ዝገብርዎ ጠፊEዎም ስቕ መሪጾም።
• ኮንፈረንስ ብሩክሰል፡- ኣብ ኮንፈረንስ ብሩክሰል ኤዲኪ ክEደም ብመትከል ኣባላ ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ዘይንፈላለየሉ ጉዳይ ነይሩ። Eንተኾነ ምስታፍ ኤዲኪ ይኹን ካልOት ውድባት ኣብ Iድና ከም ዘይኮነ Eናተፈልጠ፡ ኣብ ልEሊ ተዓዲመን
  ዝነበራ ውድባትን ሲቪክ ማሕበራትን፡ ኣብ ልEሊ ዓደምትን ተዓደምትን ወጻEተኛታትን፡ ብEላዊ ደብዳቤ ከምU ኸኣ፡ ብሬድዮን ተለቪዥንን ብቃለ-
  መጠይቅን ኣቢሎም መሪሕነት ኪዳን Eዚ ዘይበሃል ውንጀላን ክስታትን ኣካይዶም። ብደረጃ ኪዳን Eሞ መን ዓገብ ክብሎም። ኣብቲ Eተዓደምናሉ ኮንፈረንስ ስለ Eተኻፈልና ጥራይ፡ ብዛEባ ብሩሰልስ ዜናዊ ንጥፈታትና ብናይ ኪዳን መሳርሒታት ዜና ከይቃላሕ ተኣጊዱ። ወኪል ሰልፊ ህዝቢ ብተለቪጅን
  ኪዳን፡ ብዛEባ Eቲ Eዉት ዝኾነ ውጽIታት ኮንፈረንስ ብሩክሰል ከመሓላልፍ ዝሓተቶ Eላዊ ጠለብ ከምዘይፍቀደሉ ብጽሑፍ ተመሊሱሉ። Read more

During the 30 years of the armed struggle ethnicity was exploited by the former revolutionary leaders in order to gain power. And today ethnicity is still abused by the opposition leaders who have had senior post for decades. Leaders of these opposition groups such as the leaders of the Democratic Front of Eritrean Nationalities (DFEN) had held  on Eritrean nationalities conference in  Ethiopia’s northern town of Mekelle.  This was just  a few days  before starting the July Conference in Addis Ababa [Read more].  Regarding this,  Mussie Zena (10 July 2010) points out that the question is why there is a need to organize a nationalities based conference brfore  to our long awaited national conference  [Read more] What is the motivation of the DFEN leaders for holding the Eritrean nationalities conference in Mekela? Regarding this issue Hamde Debas  asserts  that the Saghem and other groups  are pushing for the nationalities question of secession  to be put to a  referendum

In 2002 Tewelde Gebresellasie chairman of the Saghem in his interview with awate.com said "What we see in Eritrea today is a ruling class that emerged out of the Tigrigna ethnic group" Read more.. According Hamde Debas, the Saghem has been nurtured by the TPLF politics since their embryonic stage, and they adapted many of TPLF’s political programs and the nationality question was a corner stone. Their main teaching is that behere tigryna is an oppressor. However Omar Jabir states that since the dictatorial regime is targeting all Eritreans - Christians, Moslems, young and old, male and female - the response should be equally "national"- all sectors and groups should join efforts and say NO to the dictatorship.

Since the boycotted of EPDE the mistress and rivalery for power between the EDA and EPDP has exacerbated which caused for the EPDE withdrew from EDA. Regarding the EDA-EPDP confrontation Dr. Bereket Habteselasse in his article "Eritreans Must Unite To Overthrow The Dictatorship" mentioned that attempts were made by some groups to mediate between EPDP (newly formed by the merger of EPP and EDP) and EDA. It appears that the mediation attempts did not bear fruit; but I am not sure. Meanwhile the feuding and recrimination continues. As I understand it, the bone of contention now is the issue of number of seats that EPDP wanted (24) and that EDA did not accept that demand. EPDP withdraws from EA’s membership, but there are individuals that I talked to who seem to think that one solution is for EPDP to join the Commission with a reasonable number of seats awarded to it instead of the 24 that it demanded. Read more

ኣቦ መምበር ሰ-ደ-ህ-ኤ ወልደሱስ ዓማር ንሓደ ኣባል ፈጻሚ ኣካል ኣደስኪሉ።

Awate.com also added that, it is EPDP’s decision to boycott the national conference and to be highly critical of the organizers and the EDA leadership that was the main reason for the diminishment of the Party. The other wing of the EPDP fully supports the convening of the national conference. As a result of this on October 31, 2010, the EPDP expelled members of the party whom it described as “members of the former EPM” and individuals who were not sufficiently committed to EPDP nor were willing to abide by its decisions, particularly on the issue of the National Conference for Democratic Change (NCDC) which was held in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia in late July and early August of 2010. A press release by the EPDP  issued on November 7th had indicated that the ex-members of the EPM had been expelled from the EPDP. . Read more

Since 1991 the opposition leaders who owe their position to the armed struggle have had more opportunities to resolve their differences and to exploit the rift which occurred between the G15 and Issayas in 2001. But they prioritized their own organization’s interests rather than focus on liberating the Eritrean people from the ruthless rule of the PFDJ. Dr Salah I. Jimi (Dec 05, 2007) in his articleEDA Split: Implications for National Unity and Democracy also states that ten years should have been enough for the ELF factions to reinvent themselves and be a credible and an effective opposition group. Today Eritreans would then not be subjected to [1]PFDJ extreme abuses emanating ‘absolute power’ and its attendant arrogance. If there were genuine leadership inside the opposition groups in 2001, this autocratic regime would not have remained in power until now. Read more

At the start of Eritrean National Congress, the leaders of the EDA, EPDP[Tewelde Gebresslasie , Beshir Ishtaq, Heruy T. Bairou's, Yemane (Hanjema), Abdella Adem, Woldeyesus Ammar, Mesfin Hagos, Hamed Drar, Hussein Kelifay,etc ] shouldn't be elected to any posts. The Eritrean people should learn from their past naivety in trusting former revolutionary leaders and their collaborators who are currently the leaders of the EDA and EPDP. These leaders of the oppostion have contributed considerable to prolonging the suffering of the Eritrean people for the last 20 years as a consequence of their narrow power struggle. The narrow power struggle and disunity of the oppostion leaders has created significant opportunities for this autocratic regime to repress brutally the Eritrean people for decades.

[ዝኸበርኩም  ኣብላት ጨነፍራት ሽማግለ ንሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ምእንቲ ክዕወት እዚ ዝካየድ ምርጫ ንተሳተፍቲ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤዝምረጹ ናጻ ካብ ውድባትኮይኖምኢሙናትንቡሰላትንዓቅሚደሎዎምን ካብ ህዝቢ ክኾኑ ኣሎዎም ኣብ በይ ኤርያ [Read more].

LETS FINISH THE JOB By Eritrean National Commission for Democratic Change (ENCDC) OPEN LETTER and Message From GHEBEREHIWET ASHRA ( TGRINYA).8-10-2011.pdf

Ibrahim Mohammed Ali (2009 )in his article response to Sheikh Hamid Turki Fomenting Religious Differences for is not What End, for Whose Benefit? also states that, the heroic Eritrean people, who paid dearly in the 30-year struggle for national liberation, are today passing very difficult times squeezed in between two harmful conditions created by two actors.The main actor in causing suffering and a sad situation in Eritrea is the oppressive one-man regime that imposed itself on the nation for the last two decades. The dictatorial regime has not only denied the Eritrean people their very basic human rights but also subjected them to the most brutal repression. The other actors and partners of the dictatorial regime in causing and prolonging the suffering of our people and creating unhealthy situation are certain opposition groups. Read more [ ኢ ብራሂም ከም ጲላጦስ ኢዱ ሕጹብ እዩ ነይሩ ተባሂሉ ተመስኪሩሉ ኢዩ]

[HRW report denounces conscription in Eritrea] [ Indefinite Conscription in ] [ Youth say frustrated by long service [Eritrea: Youth and Militarization] [Military Service in Eritrea: 18Months or 18 Years?] Read more

The Awate Team (2007 states that all citizens over the age of 18–anywhere between 400,000-800,000 people have been  in a constant state of mobilization for the last 12 years since the proclamation of  National  Service in 1995. In 2008, Meron Estefanos (2008) states that there are more than 700,000 Eritrean young people  conscripted under the national service and many still continue. Some accounts offer even a higher figure. Beshir Abdulkadir - (Jun 25, 2010) in his article 'Reflections On The Eritrean Youth' wrote that on Unlike the betrayal of the PFDJ and similarly the fragile opposition groups that kept wasting many years squabbling over tiny matters, the Eritrean youth by their nature are innocent, patient, tolerant, nationalist and courageous—blind nationalism and bravery that was proved during the hardships that our sovereign nation faced. This quality was automatically set without any motivation or energy. At the beginning, whenever there is a call to defend the nation, the youth were there in the forefront, whenever there is a call to contribute to the national development projects, the youth were there constructing roads, dams, wells, schools, hospitals, etc. However, finally, the youth are tired...very tired; national service has turned into indefinite slavery, successive wars and disastrous loss of brothers and friends coupled simultaneously with abduction and torture for unclear reasons—and terror and fear due to the conspiracies of PFDJ spies and fanatic stalwarts.

As a result of the repression, indefinit conscription and for life military service , in 2007 just in one month between November and December 5,000 Eritreans fled to Sudan. Gaim Kibreab (2009) states that Eritrea has become a major refugee producing country. He adds that  between 2001 and 2007, 9,995 sought asylum in the UK and in Sweden, in 2006 and 2007, Eritrean asylum seekers were the fourth largest among fifty nationalities.

Furthermore the Swiss daily French newspaper, Le Temps reported on 21 January 2009 that Eritrea has become unlivable hell to its people who are taking all possible risks to flee the country and be dispersed in all corners of the globe. During 2008 alone, 2,849 Eritrean people entered and asked asylum in Switzerland compared to 2,050 in 2007 and 1,201 in 2006A (Abraham Berhe, 2009). AfricaFocus Bulletin May 12, 2011 also states that based on the UNHCR (2009 Global Trends, available at http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c4d6.html), there were almost 210,000 refugees from Eritrea in that year.

Source :Major source countries of refugees
End-2009 [page 10]

The youths are not just victims of the PFDJ but also victims of the opposition leaders who have contributed to prolonging the life of this autocratic regime which has caused for the death of thousands of Eritrean youths many in the Mediterranean Sea [video], Sahara desert [video] and Sinai deserts[video] as they have sought to escape.[Read more tragic stories]

Berhan Hagos (2011) in his article Eritrea’s 20th Anniversary Comprehensive Report Card added that Eritrean youth is fleeing the country at an alarming rate.  Over 30,000 youths have fled the country due to endless national service and Warsai Yikealo projects.  They have become our tragic stories; being sacrificed in the Sahara Desert, preyed upon by Bedouins, other African dictators and the Mediterranean Sea. Read more. Elsa Chrum in her article Testimony on The Execution of Mogos Gebreselase written in 2006 states that the history of Eritrea's youth is a story of humiliation, exile, detention and death [read more]. Despite this dire situation, the leaders of opposition groups and the PFDJ[videoJ still compete for supporters from the younger generation through organising Youth festival. For example in August 2010 there were two youth festvals : one was the 25th Eritrean Democratic Youth Union Festival in Kassel(video) and theSawa 2010 Eritrea Youth Festival(video) which were organised by the oppostion group and the PFDJ respectively. It is sad to see the youth in the diaspora being recruited into such displacement activities by supporters of the PFDJ leaders and the opposition group leaders as previously their parents had been while there is daily tragic news of the death of Eritrean youths inside Eritrea and in exile. .

The younger  members of  the Eritrean Youth Global Movement-EYGM and  Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change – EYSCshould  learn  from the past of the youth associations and student associations’ naivety in trusting those former revolutionary leaders. Members of the Eritrean Youth Global Movement and Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change – EYSC should not be affiliated to any opposition groups or  be influenced by the current EDA-EPDP confrontation.

Leaders of EDA, EPDP and other opposition groups like the PFDJhave a considerable experience of manipulating the youth for the sake of their  own advantage. During the liberation struggle leaders of the ELF and EPLF divided the youths for the sake of their own power struggles This is confirmed by the research  conducted by Bettina Conrad  in "A culture of War and a Culture of Exile". According Bettina(2006) during the 1970s the two major Eritrean liberation movements, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) were competing for power and supporters from among the exile community. Connell (2011) also states that both the ELF and EPLF  sought to mobilize rural youth into village associations to support the armed struggle starting in the mid 1970s. The ELF established a General Union of Eritrean Students (GUES) at the end of 1968, convening their first conference in Damascus with youth drawn mainly from the Middle East and Europe ( p.554-555).
However, the General Union of Eritrean Students (GUES) was divided into two group at the meeting of The GUES in Munich in the summer of 1970 following the killing of Kidane Kiflu: one group was, which had Dr Fitsum Ghebreselassie, Aregai Habtu, Habte Tesfamariam etc condemned the Kiada al Ama action and the other group, which had, Herui Tedla Bairu who didn't condemn the killing of Kidane Kiflue and Wlday Giday. The killing of Dr Fitsum Ghebreselassie might have a connection with the summer meeting which was held in Munich. Finally The GUES was divided when the ELF split in 1970. The anti-ELF elements held their second meeting in Nuremberg in August 1971 and supported the split of PLF from the ELF.

Despite of this fact  during the armed struggle the youth were the most  frequent victims of the ELF and EPLF leaders. Particularly students who joined the EPLF and ELFin the 1970s were not welcomed by the former revolutionary leaders and many were became the victims of the ELF and EPLF leaders.This is well documented as the dark face of Gedli . As the EPLF and ELF's legacy of the execution and killing of younger fighters during the liberation struggle, the killing of youth did not stop after the liberation. Read more

ሸግር ኤርትራዊ ዲሞክራስያዊ ኪዳን Eንታይ ኰን ይኸውን?[ ኣድሓኖም ፍትዊ]

ህሉዉ ኩነታት ኤርትራ መንእሰያትን ደንበ ተቃዉሞ ዉድባት ኤርትራን

ደንበ ተቃዉሞ ዉድባት ኤርትራ ን10ታት  ዓመታት ሐደ  ዓይነት መዝሙር እዳዘመረ   ጸኒሑ አሎ። ሰለዝኾነ ሕቶ ህዚቢ ኤርትራ ቀዳምነት ዘይሰርዐ፡ ብስም ሕቶ ህዝቢ ወልቃዊ ሸዉሃቱ ዘርዊ፡ ንብረትን ሃብትን ህዝቢ ዘባድም፡ ብዉሕዱ  ነዚ ሓሲምዎ ዘሎ ህዝቢ ጽላል ዘይከዉን፡ ንለዉጢ ተበጊሱ ለዉጢ ዘይጽበ፡ድልዉነት’ዉን ዘየርኢ  ደምበ አብ ትሕቲ ዝኾነ ይኹን ኩነታት ካብ ተሓታትነት ከምልጥ አቨይኽእልን፡  ደንበ ተቃወምቲ ኤርትራ ኩሉ ክኸዶ ዝጸንሐ ገዑዞ ብዅሉ ዓቅሙ ገምጊሙ፡ ነቲ ንጽርን ዜይማትእን ዝቖመሉ ዕላማ ተግባራዊ ምስዝገብሮ ጥራይ  ኢዩ ካብዚ ተሓታትነት እዚ ና ጻ ክኸዉን ዝኽእል። እዚ እንተዘ ይኮኑ ግን ተሓታቲ ካብ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ንላዕሊ እዩ

Read more ህሉዉ ኩነታት ኤርትራ መንእሰያትን ደንበ ተቃዉሞ ዉድባት ኤርትራን

Bereket Kahsai Eritrean Youth Global Movement EYGM UK Board Member, in the conclusion of his paper "Hands off the Youth Movements" also made an appeal to the opposition force.  "I would like to appeal to all whom I referred to in the opposition forces to do more to help the Eritrean Youth Movements deal or tackle their own matters themselves and refrain from meddling with their affairs for good. It is time for the opposition forces to step in to ensure that unnecessary further interventions are stopped and pay their fair share back to the youth instead of constantly watching while some of their colleagues cause damage and dismantle the youth movements in the Diaspora. Please help the Eritrean Youth inspire the new generation"! readmore

ዓለምለኻዊ ምንቅስቓስ መንእሰያት ኤርትራ

To conclude the intention of this paper was to highlight that the mistakes of the former revolutionary leaders and their collaborators are being repeated by the people who currently lead the opposition groups. The removing of the regime can only be achieved through replacing the old generation of the opposition leaders with the younger one willing to work genuinely for harmonizing the Eritrea society instead of dividing it. Beshir Abdulkadir - (Jun 25, 2010) in the conclusion of his article mentioned that the youths are the most effective and productive human resources. Without empowering and engaging them in every sociopolitical activity, old leaders and their old ideas cannot achieve any progress. Hence, all concerned compatriots and elites should share the pie with them and encourage them to be at least optimistic about the possibility of creating justice in our nation.

Therefore, it is time for all Eritrean Youth who are victims of Issayas and all the opposition group leaders to revive the 1950s Youth movement's experience and to keep alive the principle of Haraka “Muslims and Christian are brothers, and their unity makes Eritrea one” which will have a great role in speeding up the removal of this fascistic dictator, and ensuring peace, prosperity and democracy for the future generations.

መንእሰያትን መጻኢናን 

Below is an excerption from what Ato Woldeab wrote when Ato Ibrahim Sultan died.

My beloved brother and friend Ibrahim: a man, even if wise and admired, is not in this world permanently; he is not immortal; you have also passed away. I am also going to pass after you. However, we who are going to pass away, are capable of creating something that is eternal, because we are capable of leaving something that will not fade for generations

The Eritrean people have been victms of the Eritrean Political leaders for the last 50 years (1961-2011)

There are many stories about crimes committed against the civilians and liberation fighters by both fronts (ELF and EPLF). Unfortunately many stories are not recorded. During the liberation struggle (Gedli) civilians not only became victims of the Ethiopian government but also victims of the Jebha and Shaebia .

How can the Eritrean people trust these oppostion leaders of EDA, EPDP and ENCDC [Tewelde Gebresslasie , Beshir Ishtaq, Heruy T. Bairou's , Hussein Kelifay, Yemane (Hanjema), Woldeyesus Ammar, Mesfin Hagos, Hamed Drar, Abdella Adem, etc ]who have still refused to acknowledge the crimes committed against the innocent fighters and civilian by the former revolutionary leaders like Abdella Idris, Mesfin Hagos and others ?

During the liberation struggle many innocent liberation fighters and civilians became victims of the former revolutionary leaders who are currently serving in the Eritrean government or in the Opposition. The opposition leaders of the EDA and EPDP are not innocent of crime. They like the PFDJ leaders whom they are accusing of committing crimes against the Eritrean people since 1991 are also guilty.

Facts and evidences

Crime committed against civilians by the ELF and EPLF during the armed struggle

The Dark Face of Gedli :The ELF and EPLF leaders' crimes 1961-1991]:

CRIMES COMMITTED AND COLLABORATED BY THE ELF LEADERS ( 1960s & 1970s)

IN MEMORY OF PRISONERS EXECUTED BY THE EPLF LEADERS ( 1970s & 1980s)