How To Win Eritrea’s “Political Legitimacy” Argument
Since 1991, the debate between Eritrean regime supporters and the opposition has been that of legitimacy. Back in the 1990s, the arguments were crude. The opposition would ask “who elected you to lead...
View ArticlePolitical Pluralism Eritrean Style
Somewhere in Northern Eritrea, by the islands of Scylla, Isaias Afwerki was crowned Emperor of Eritrea. He flew over to Southern Eritrea, by the banks of River Charybdis, to swear in the president,...
View ArticleAfro-Pessimism, Optimism, Realism And Eritrea
Much of the scholarship that deals with African development can be categorized as Afro-pessimist, Afro-optimist or Afro-realist. To-date, the case for pessimism had been easier to make: Africa is so...
View ArticleI Was Wrong
Ever ordered “Chef’s Special” at a restaurant? Don’t: it is stuff the restaurant couldn’t sell. Also, two Americans opened a Chinese restaurant in China and everything Chinese was alien to the Chinese:...
View ArticleCongratulations Mr. Yemane Gebremeskel, Incoming MoI
Mr. Yemane Gebremeskel, aka “Charlie”, has been named Eritrea’s Minister of Information, according to his ghost writers at Tesfanews.com. He replaces Ali Abdu, who defected from the post in November...
View ArticleCome And See (What We Want You To See)!
The good news is that the Eritrean opposition and the Eritrean government have started talking to one another. The bad news is that it is proxy talks: it is discussions by our favorite foreigners....
View ArticleWhen Eritreans Went To The Polls In 1997
Everybody is going to the polls, let’s go to ours. Well, it is a different kind of poll our is an opinion poll and not voting poll. And it requires a time machine…that takes us 18 years back. And it is...
View ArticleSovereignty, International Law and the Commission of Inquiry Eritrea
On June 27, 2014, the UN’s Human Rights Council (HRC) mandated a Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea (CoIE) to conduct an investigation on whether the Government of Eritrea (GoE) has violated the human...
View ArticleThe Churning
There were two demonstrations in Geneva in June 2015 on the occasion of the Human Right Council’s 29th session (HRC 29): one was in opposition to the damning report issued to the HRC by a body it...
View ArticleProfessor Asmerom Legesse Gets It Wrong
In an article entitled “Critique of the Human Rights Commission [sic] on Eritrea”, Professor Asmerom Legesse attempts to take to task the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea (CoI-E) as well as Ms. Sheila...
View ArticleEritrea – Prisoner of Conscience Day
We have “Armed Struggle Launch Day” (September 1), “Martyr’s Day” (June 20) and “Independence Day” (May 24.) It stands to reason that we should have “Prisoner of Conscience Day” because those who...
View ArticleMzungu Herman Cohen Whitesplains Eritrea, Africa
The problem is that Cohen is a relic of the Cold War era. He comes from a period of time where American diplomats had no compulsion about advising an African country to annex another African country as...
View ArticleEritrea 2015: Feels Like Eritrea 2002
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) just released its annual Human Development Report and Eritrea is ranked third from bottom, next to Central African Republic and Niger, in Human...
View ArticleOn the Wings of Malice and Idiocy
Observing the government of Eritrea and its functionaries, one is always struck which one of their two wings is heavier: the malicious one or the stupid one? One can build a case for either one, and it...
View ArticleInterview: Isaias Plans To Command Economy, Society
In an interview conducted by EriTV, Eritrea’s state television, which is owned and operated by Isaias Afwerki, Eritrea’s Auditor General, Isaias Afwerki, conducted a thorough assessment of Eritrea’s...
View ArticleEritrea’s King Isaias Afwerki Judges The World
Recall that in Part 1 of the interview with Eritrean state media (EriTV), President Isaias Afwerki addressed domestic issues and essentially said there is nothing wrong in Eritrea that a little more...
View ArticleEritrea And The Hood – 2015
JANUARY 1. Every year begins with Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki’s “State of the Nation” interviews with his own media. Although we have a draft constitution, he explained, a new constitution had...
View ArticleJust Don’t Call It A War: People May Get Ideas
This article originally appeared at awate on June 27, 2008. It is being republished in light of recent news that Eritrea has, after 7 years, released Djibouti prisoners of war. I. The Djibouti...
View ArticleJune in Geneva: The Next Political Battle
Mike Smith, Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, previewed his case against members of the Government of Eritrea by reading a statement supporting the Commission’s case...
View ArticleCommission of Inquiry on Eritrea: Report Summary
On June 8, 2016, the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea issued a 94-page report of its findings to the UN’s Human Rights Council. The Commission was mandated last year by the UN’s Human...
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