| IN MEMORY OF ADI ABEITO MARTYRS Fax Message: To PFDJ's Chieftains |
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| Wednesday, 15 November 2006 | |
To PFDJ ’s Chieftains:
Heartfelt greetings to you all, We hereby fax you a seven-page message on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Martyrs of Ad Abeyto. It is possible that some of you might not receive our faxed message. If so, on the basis of your past statements, whereby you have asserted complete trust and understanding among each other, we, in good faith, entrust and authorize you dear PFDJ Chieftains:
If, on the other hand, if you have lost trust among each other, we would like to inform you that you can print a copy of our message from the websites that have become the Voice of Oppressed Eritreans. If you, PFDJ chieftains, are half as dedicated to the security of your regime as your media broadcasts imply, we can safely assume that you have by now figured out how many copies of this message has been faxed on the morning of November 6, 2006. If you have not, here is a partial listing of the recipients of our message. Group 1 Mr. Alamin Mohammed Saeed Group 2 Brig. General Abraha Kassa Group 3 Colonel Tesfalidet Group 4 Maj. General Gerezgher Andemariam (Wuchu) Group 5 General Sebhat Efrem Group 6 Mr. Arefaine Berhe (Wedi Ashera) Eritrean Anti Tyranny Global Solidarity
IN MEMORY OF ADI ABEITO MARTYRS OCTOBER 5, 2006
Dear Brothers and sisters Exactly two years ago on October 4, 2004: Some under-age high school students; Some national service conscripts with documents proving that they were granted official leave to visit their families; Some national service conscripts who were on their routine tasks within and around Asmara; and Thousands of other Eritreans were rounded up from the streets of Asmara. They were then herded at gun-point to warehouses that were converted into detention centers. That evening and through out the night until the dawn of October 5, 2004, forty eight (48) innocent Eritreans, armed with nothing other than pieces of paper that stated they were students, national service personnel on leave or on their officially assigned duty in and around Asmara were brutally massacred with bullets. Killed by their brethrens! Can you imagine that? Eritreans murdered by fellow Eritreans! How is this injustice different from that what foreign authorities committed in places close to Adi Abeito, such as Weki Dba, for instance? How is it different than the Ona massacre? How is it different than the massacre of Sheab? What have they done to be cut into pieces in such a manner? What crime did they commit to be murdered in cold blood? What was their sin? Weren’t they Eritreans? Did not Eritrea belong to them? If it does not belong to them to whom does it belong ? Weren’t they the citizens of Eritrea? Were they the enemies of Eritrea? But death was not the only punishment these innocent Eritrean received. Like sewer rats, they were dumped in mass graves while the loving parents who toiled so much to bring them up were in and around Asmara. Where were you that infamous day? Did you hear of this massacre? How did you react? Do you remember the massacre as a necessary national security action or do you remember it as unparalleled cruelty? The massacre of Adi Abeito is not the only injustice that has befallen our beloved Eritrea, for which 65,000 Eritrean lives were sacrificed and for which most of you have spent half your lives struggling, and for which you had suffered .( and wept tears of blood.) In the post- independence 15 years, the injustice committed on the Eritrean people both in its magnitude and number of victims is twice that of the injustices that forced Eritreans to carry arms struggle against the 30 year Hailesellase’s and Mengistu’s rule. And we could have written volumes about these injustices, however, since this message is being sent to you on the occasion of the anniversary of the Adi Abeito massacre, we will not go back to 1994 to mention Mai Habar and Laaiten where war disabled veterans who lost their legs, arms and eyes for the cause of freedom were massacred with machine guns. We will not talk about the patriots and veterans who are in dungeons since 1993 - talking to prison walls in the country they struggled so hard to free. We will not mention those Eritreans who were labeled “Jihadists and Fifth Columnists” as an excuse to arrest them arbitrarily, torture them until their bones were shattered like brittle wood and then summarily executed. Though understandably you cannot talk about it loudly, you know just like the rest of Eritreans and the world why the outcome of the still unresolved Bademe war was to our predicament disadvantage. You also know why the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi refuses to abide by the court ruling. We also know why. But knowing that, to avoid being overwhelmed by sadness, we will not agonize and lament: “Oh, if only Petros was there! If only Oqbe Abraha was there! If only Adhanom Gebremariam was there! If only Mesfin Hagos was there!” Nor will we present lengthy statements about other issues related to this fact. Fully aware that your wisdom is unparalleled, that you are Eritreans just like we are, conscious that Eritreans are no more our people than they are yours, we will not dwell on things that you know very well. We will not pretend to remind you of Beraki’s honesty, of Derué and Sheriffo’s courage. Nor will we preach about the gallant Hamid Humed, the principled Berhane and Stifanos. Yes, we humbly pay tribute to Aster’s iron will because it exemplifies the best fabric out of which heroes are made. We dearly cherish the memory of Kekya and Germano’s stand in the face of death because that is the ultimate measure of greatness. But we will not ask you about our compatriots and your brethern – the lover defenders of liberty who were thrown into dungeons, the immensely goodness kindhearted and courageous Abu Arre and the kind and beautiful Aster Yohannes. We will not because we believe you are fully aware of this truth. And we will not report on the innocent members of the national service conscripts who were tied to a tree and shot like lizards to cover Isaias’ lame military ability. We will not lecture you about the students of Wia and We will not talk about Bitweded and Papayo. We will not present an analysis about the parents who were ordered to pay 50,000 Nakfa as a punishment because their children disappeared registered their protest by abandoning Sawa and the armed forces. We will not talk about the rapes in Sawa. Neither will we mention bread, wheat, kerosene and the economy. Dear PFDJ Chieftains: since this is a day designated to remember the Martyrs of Adi Abeito, we will say all, to the extent of our ability, we can about those decent human beings hunted like animals, under your watch, as they helplessly cried: “Father, the veterans are killing me! Mother, help me”. Dear Brothers and sisters, When you read this message, ask yourselves the following question: “Where did this victim live? How old was he or she when he or she was killed? Who are the parents of the victim? How would I have felt if these were my children?” Then, come to terms with what your kind of government your “dedicated struggle” for freedom and liberty has brought us. If you feel good about their death as Isaias stated and Ali Abdu echoed when he said “they were involved in immoral acts and deserve do die” - you are telling us who and what you really are. And if you believe that “a human life is dear and should not be wasted as that of an animal and that a human body should never be thrown away like a rat without informing the loving mother about her child’s death,” then you are letting us know who you really are and what you stand for. Dear brothers and sisters, No government stays for eternity. Including the current one - a regime that hardly can be called a government that is consistently destroying itself from the inside out; we have seen four governments in our life time alone. And we are paving the road for the arrival of the fifth one. It is truly heartbreaking to see the government that came to power at the cost of 65,000 Eritrean lives crumbling like a house of cards. So sad to realize that the government that came about through the blood of Eritreans, the government that we struggled for will be remembered not for its good deeds but for its evil acts of barbarism and cruelty. We feel sad because we paid so dearly for its emergence and because the government we had hoped to be our guardian angel has turned into a devil incarnated. When we hear about the regime’ barbaric actions remorse for our past oversight consumes our hearts. The truth is, the present regime will soon crumble and be thrown away into the dirt of history. And just in case the wheels of history are moving slower, we are relentlessly working day and night to determine our future by our own actions and not by our indifference, idleness and inactions. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters who are reading this message: If you are among the oppressed, if you are a sibling of the unjustly harassed and tortured or a family member of the wronged, never doubt that the day the regime that killed your brethren and children wrongly will be brought down and face justice. Make sure to record every unjust perpetrated by the PFDJ chieftain and promise to hasten the arrival of that day. Please do that so that they will be made accountable in the days of reckoning. If you are one of those who submit to evil in order to secure a job and a salary with a false smile that hides the agonies of your soul, please realize that human beings do not live on bread alone. Dignity and pride are equally necessary as food and water. We ask you to examine your conscience before pretension takes its tall and destroys your inner fabric altogether. Never dance on the graves of the innocent and never disrespect our mothers. We refuse to believe or even think of it as a fact. But, if your are one of those gray haired men that believe building roads is proof that economic development is on the way; if you are one of those middle aged women who really believe that building villas and palaces to serve as administrative offices and residences in villages of huts and hidmos and agnets is building the national infrastructure; if you are one of those who think that the present economic problem is caused by Weyane; if you are one of those who think that running to put off a fire in the neighborhood while your own house is being consumed by a raging fire is the measure of farsightedness and brilliance; if you are one of those who think that building dams in a country emptied of its farmers guaranteed food security; if you are one of those who consider a regime that has neither the will nor the capacity to pay wages to its soldiers ten years after forced conscription is a government; in short if you think that the PFDJ is a government at all, we have something to say to you and we advice you to hear us out. Preferring reality over the hopeless vanity that caused us so much pain, we assume that all of you who are able to read our message are city dwellers enjoying the good life your position and power guarantee you. And so, even if for once, we advice you to jump off the power train and to imagine life through the eyes of ordinary Eritrean mothers, fathers and children. We encourage you to view it through her their eyes: “My nephew has been forced to carry a gun for ten years. Who is tending his farm? What are his children eating? “My aunt’s son has disappeared… and she is held prisoner until she pays fifty-thousand Nackfa penalty. She has to pay all that to be released. Where would she bring that kind of money from? Is this just? Or is it unjust? How does the national service work? Doesn’t the publicly proclaimed law say that the service is 18-months long? Why are the men and women serving their country for so long not paid their wages after serving 18-months for free as the law says? If that is not possible, then the serve-for-free law should apply to all government employee and force a minister and general alike to work without a pay. Otherwise, where is the fairness of such an unequal treatment of citizens? How does a sane mind justify the fact that one is paid wages and someone else is forced to work without pay or shot in Adi Abeito? Ask yourselves these and other such questions. If you do, you will realize that neither you nor your brothers and children are not immune from facing the fate of the martyrs of Adi Abeito. It will be clear because there is no sane mind who could justify the killing of so many hopeful young souls in the name of national service and national security. If you are one of the chieftains of the PFDJ, please know that this message is directed to you. Differences of opinion and religion are the spices of life because, forcing the mind to accept new ideas, they pave the way for change and progress in this world of ours. However, there are sacred grounds that everyone must respect: they are human freedom, liberty and dignity. Anyone who opposes these principles under any pretext, be it national security or whatever, is the enemy of mankind. Therefore, to those of you who are causing the suffering of our people directly through your actions or through collaboration with the unjust, we know who you are; we know you are fueling the fire that is consuming our people. That is why we have nothing to say until the day of reckoning comes. And those of you who are unprincipled flip-flops like General Sibhat Efrem, we say to them, betraying your friends twice is too many and a third opportunity may never come. But to those of you simple minded brethren and sisters, we beg you to remember that the day of reckoning will come and the arm of law will bring every members of this evil regime to account for:
Taking these into consideration, we ask you to realize that the PFDJ is a regime of bandits and honestly denounce its policies. If honesty is a stranger to you, then we beg of you to realize that the PFDJ has become a bone without a morsel to bite and play it smart; we beg of you to observe around and, feeling how the wind is changing course, go along with it for your own sake and that of your children. In conclusion, we are urging you to consider our request seriously and to underscore our commitment to the people. We strongly suggest and advice you to adjust the direction of your life, even tactically, and to consider this message very seriously. Those who are taking advantage of our mothers’ tears; Those who make fun of the sufferings of the Eritrean youth; Those who have betrayed our martyrs will; Those who have misdirected the results of the thirty-year struggle to enrich themselves and get garner individual power; Those who authored such designs or have emboldened actively encouraged the designers; We remind you that we will not rest until the day arrives when you will face justice and be held accountable for your deeds. Since our struggle is to be the voice of the voiceless and safeguard the interest of the people against the PFDJ, we would like to confidently reiterate that we consider the downfall of the PFDJ inevitable, and the day of liberation very certain. Thank you Injustice to one is injustice to all Your brethren Eritrean Anti Tyranny Global Solidarity Washington DC , October 5, 2006
Names of the citizens who were wasted in Adi Abeito
Names of Guards who died while in duty.
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