28 years after the referendum on the Eritrean independence of Ethiopia, is Eritrea really independent?
Eritrea is celebrating today its independence on May 24, 1991 and its separation from Ethiopia on May 24, 1993. A celebration that reminds many Eritreans in exile of the state of their country. Eritrea has experienced war more than any other country in the sub-region. She is now waging a war against the Ethiopian border region of Tigray, alongside the army that had colonized it in the past. Before being incorporated into the Ethiopian Empire, Eritrea also experienced the Italian invasion and the British protectorate.
Don't forget 🇪🇷 we support child killers too https://t.co/oiBNxam4lf
- HE Isaias Afewerki (@AgameDictator) May 16, 2021
28 years of Isaias Afwerki, what results?
Can we say that the Eritrean situation is better today? Eritrea is one of the African countries where the war has never stopped. From wars of independence, to clan clashes, through territorial conflicts with neighboring countries. Eritrea has only experienced one year of peace.
The small nation overlooking the Red Sea has more than 10 political prisoners and four times the number of exiled activists. It was ranked last or penultimate country in freedom of the press for 000 successive years. Eritrea has never obtained real international support. All the UN, the African Union (AU) and foreign countries offered to Eritreans were sanctions.
According to refugee agencies, more than 330 Eritreans have left their country since 2010. Among them, 46 sought political asylum in Europe or in neighboring countries. An OHCHR report shows the world's worst record in 000 out of 7 categories of respect for fundamental rights.
It has been now 28 years that Isaias Afwerki is at the head of the country. With a mandate as long as independence, the Tigrayan president has succeeded in making his country regarded as the North Korea of ​​Africa. Since the end of the second war against Ethiopia, 2% of the population has been killed by the national armed forces, in summary executions or under torture.
After the end of hostilities between Eritrea and Ethiopia, a military alliance gradually established itself between the two countries. Its result is a two-headed war waged against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (FLPT). In the distant past, in 1991, it was the FLPT that secured an agreement with Ethiopia for Eritrea to be independent.
Me too after I die https://t.co/63obBR5Rcm
- President Isaias Afwerki🇪🇷 (@AfeworkiIsayas) May 20, 2021
The fear that memories inspire in tyrants
Indeed, a poem by Mahmoud Darwish quotes: "On this earth, there is what deserves life: The writings of Aeschylus, (...) and the fear which memories inspire in tyrants". Unfortunately, the memory of the President of Eritrea is, unfortunately, very short.
When the United Nations General Assembly deliberated in the 1940s on the fate of the former Italian colonies, Ethiopia lobbied to annex Eritrea. Then, UN experts determined that the majority of Eritreans wanted independence in 1949. However, the United States took a stand in favor of the Ethiopian claim.
US Secretary of State Dean Acheson said: “From the point of view of justice, the choice of the Eritrean people must be taken into consideration. ", he said. Then he continued: “Nevertheless, our strategic interests in the region and world peace make it necessary to federate Eritrea with our ally Ethiopia. "Said Acheson.
The Eritrean people were forced to take up arms to regain their independence. After 30 years of war and hundreds of thousands of dead, Ethiopian rule ended in military victory. In 1991, Eritrea became a de facto sovereign state.
Derg Mengistu, who was then president of the republic, refused to recognize Eritrean sovereignty. It was only then that the Eritrean armies and the FLPT overthrew the Ethiopian government.
This did not, however, prevent Isaias Afwerki from waging war on his allies in the war of independence, the FLPT. He has not been reluctant, either, to send his armies to Tigray, for months, to massacre civilians, on the sidelines of an unnatural alliance with the Nobel Prize Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian ruler.
