حوارات
Interview with the Eritrean fighter Dr. Amanuel Mehreteab This interview is conducted by a member of the Eritrean news agency Zajil
news agency Zajil,
Mr. Mohammed Idris, “Ganadala”:
Welcome Dr. Amanuel Mehreteab
If you allow would you please introduce yourself briefly to the readers of the Eritrean news agency ” zena”
1a. My name is Amanuel Mehreteab born in Asmara in 18 September 1952
The most disagreement to day takes place between the Eritrean intellectuals, and if they are agree the Eritrean people will be united. According to your opinion why the Eritrean intellectuals Disagree and they realize that unity is the only way to save Eritrea, and positive constructive dialogue is the closest means to unify their vision.
2a. I do not see a separate disagreement between intelectuals for this is too general. There are individual intellectuals who sides with PFDJ and the majority are against the PFDJ. I believe in a constructive dialogue to solve our problem and there is no alternative to it. What I see missing as an individual is we are not prioritizing what should be done and only killing our time and efforts on side issues.
I found in your biography that you publishing different articles and researches and you call for the unity of the Eritrean people and peaceful coexistence, and this is what motivated us to conduct with you this dialogue, would you clarify the ideas you propose which is contradict with the approach of the PFDJ, And it gives confidence for the Eritrean people that the future will be better than the miserable present situation of today.
3a) The current government of PFDJ had gone off track and could not be saved. What is needed is to through it to the dust bin of history. PFDJ doesn’t respect even its own charter. Out of the six guiding principles it had put non is implemented.
I learned that you joined the EPLF 1974 and struggled with it until after independence, and you were an employee in its higher positions until the time you emigrated abroad in 2003. This is twenty-nine years that you spent serving beside EPLF. What are the reasons that made Dr. Amanuel takes revenge from the organization is an inherent part of it for long time.
4a) I do not take revenge and had never regreted being EPLF. I do not supprt PFDJ which is completely different animal. As the Tigrinya saying goes ክሳብ ትኣምን ኪድ። ኣብ ዘይትኣምኖ ምስ በጻሕካ ተመልስ እዩ ዝብል ምስላ ኣበው።
The PFDJ is accused of being sectarian, oppressive and tyrannical organization, offended to the country and to the Eritrean citizen, targeting especially Muslims at the beginning, and then ending with tyranny some Christians, on the other hand , proximity other groups for sectarian and partisan purpose .
5a) I agree that PFDJ is opressing the Eritrean people. I do not see selectively targeting Moslem is a bit hard to swallow. PFDJ always change its color like chamelon. There is a need to quantify it but as far as I am concerned the current government of Eritrea is not ours and it is over due and must go. Unless we work united together the faulty line we have can easily exploited and will not do us any good. The enemy bullet was not differenciating between Christians and Moslems. Christians and Moslems died and I had burried both in the same grave. This is the legacy I know. The people unity stays but government come and go.
Do you have any Justifications release and support this accusation, or any argument corrects the above charges that repeated many time by the victims of the regime.
I had hear this argument so many times and found it divisive. So let us leave the case to the researchers and historians and who ever had done that Heinous action will see their day in court and be accounteable and is a matter of time.
Regardless the opinions of their opponents, what do you know about the Eritrean regime and president Isaias Afwerki, through the length of his struggle and the experience of his rule during the nearly sixty years before liberation and after liberation?
6a) I really do not grasp your question. EPLF fought and liberate Eritrea. It had positive, negative and still gray history that need proper study. After independence it lost its way and is off the track. So this is what I can say in short. To answer it substantially I need to write a book and am in the process. Isaias is our creation. We failed to make him accountable and slowly changed from authoritarian to a dictator. I had given a detail on this and is in the public domain (መስርሕ ምዑኳኽ ውልቀ መላኺነትን ምስግጋር ናብ ዲሞክራሲያ). You can get it on Sinitna webpage.
There are many Eritrean opposition groups abroad, some of them are civil societies and some others are political,where is your position among them?
7a) I am an activist and am not a member of any organization for the time beaing.
The Eritrean people are different in terms of religions, geographical location, and tribal affiliation, and perhaps in terms of historical destination of immigration places are also different, And they have different political views, so do you expect these different segments to come together and form a unified cooperative entity that protects and develops the homeland and lives together in peace and stability.
8a) In terms of their past experiences Eritrean society can be divided into three distinct groups.
- A fighters’ community composed of fighters and their dependants as well as of Eritreans who were living in liberated and semi‐liberated areas;
- Eritreans in the Diaspora, composed of Eritreans who went to industrial countries, Arab Gulf countries, Ethiopia and mainly the Sudan for exile; and
- Eritreans who remained in the country under Ethiopian occupation. My whole PhD thesis narrates and wrote this in 2000 and I believe it is still valid. May be it needs a bit twicking here and there. My PhD is in the public domain and if you are interested you can google my name Amanuel Mehreteab and you can access it.
One of the positives of Eritrean regime is that preserving the unity of the country and the people, And the collapse of this regime may result outbreak of civil war, this is a claims by supporters of the Eritrean regime and same others.. Do you think the above is sincere claim and the regime is saving the country from the hell?
9a) This is typical the propaganda of the ruling party PFDJ. If the regime collapse I do not believe that civil war will start. The PFDJ is a curse for Eritrea and we will be better off if the go the sooner the better.
Muslims have a Sharia laws that specifics how to manage the country and the people , and Christians also have their own laws how to manage their lives, and secularism shines itself as the preferred option for managing the country and the people , and it forces religion to remain in a narrow circle. Isn’t it fair that we give the Eritrean people their freedom to choose the approach that governs them without a whip from anyone, knowing that religions embrace is a choice and any force does not have any right to impose it on people?
10a) I do not see this as a problem. If you go to any Eritrean court both are working together. If Moslem want to settle their marriage case via Sheria they can do so. In my field study I had sat and listened to the process. What we miss is the rule of law is not uphold.
What are the factors that make the PFDJ continue to rule while it does not have legitimacy from the Eritrean people, and has no good conduct towards the citizen and towards neighboring countries, and does not have the creation of loyalty, honesty and respect for the will and interest of the Eritrean people?
11a) To my understanding we had not prioritized our issue and that focusing on the main issue ‘getting rid of the ruling party’ we are killing our time in non issue or that can be addressed in secondary level.
Final chance for guest to conclude the interview
Welcome and thanks for the interview my apprction for your efforts
كاتب حاضر، عرف الإعلام منذ أيام كان طالبًا في الثمانيات ، يرى أن القضايا الضعيفة توجب المناصرة القوية ولهذا يتشبث بالقلم
