When I saw this, I thought it was a cruel joke: Eritrea elected to UN Human Rights Council's "Social Forum" This is like putting foxes into the chicken coop to protect the flock! Anyone surprised more and more UN institutions have no credibility? Pathetic!
"Eritrea has no functioning constitution, no elected parliament, no independent judiciary, no free press, and no opposition parties. The president who built this system, Isaias Afwerki, who...has led Eritrea since 1991, has never submitted himself to an election..."
https://t.co/2CWUeCYDXD
Eritrea is one of the world’s most implacable dictatorships, led by an octogenarian who shuns any hint of accountability. The country’s democratic path was never genuinely open, and it now poses a grave risk to the Horn of Africa. @KjetilTronvoll
https://t.co/uJyXGTe14C
Nothing about it surprises those of us who fled under a shoot-to-kill policy at the border, escaping while they tried to shoot us.
So who would ever go back when given a chance to leave? Ask the seven national team players who disappeared rather than return.
OK Isaias groupies, tell me why 7 of Eritrea's football team which scored a great victory in Eswatini have failed to return to Iaias' paradise. Having visited Eswatini and also seen conditions in Asmara, I have no doubt why. They can breathe free air!
https://t.co/3Ha3UkHt1f
Diplomats must meet with leaders of all kinds. They can’t choose only those they like. But it’s hard to see what kind of relationship one can have with a leader like President Isaias. 🤔
I just watched @wode_maya ‘s video on Eritrea, and I have to say, I'm a fan, bro. I've been following your journey since the early days, which makes this one particularly tough for me.
Five years for a visa? Check. The most expensive Visa in Africa? Check. Friendly people? Absolutely. No internet? Yep. Villages resembling typical African landscapes? True.
But my friend, let me be clear when I say this, your experience was curated.
That "tribal harmony" you praised? Staged. That well-organized tour? Crafted by a regime that has maintained an open-air prison since 1993 with ZERO elections. Not one. Never.
You mentioned that more Eritreans live abroad than within the country. I need you to pause and reflect on that for a moment.
Half a million refugees didn't risk their lives crossing deserts and seas simply because the mangoes are sweet. They fled from indefinite national service, which is just a euphemism for state-sponsored slavery. The first conscripts were taken at 18, and now they're in their 50s, still in uniform, still waiting for a freedom that will never come. And that fate follows every single one who stays.
Even we Tigrigna, part of the same tribe, are now divided by regionalism, a strategy purposely engineered by the regime. Divide and conquer, 101.
You witnessed what they scripted.
And yes, that tomato you tasted fresh from the field? Real. But the oppression, my brother, is even more realer.
Wode, you’re better than this. Your platform deserves more depth. Next time, please engage with us, your actual fans in the diaspora. We can share stories about the brilliant engineers rotting in military camps, mothers who haven’t seen their children in 20 years, and friends we’ve lost in the Mediterranean.
I love your work, bro. But the country you showcased? It's a beautiful movie set. The real Eritrea lives in the eyes of the 500,000+ who cannot return home. The real Eritrea lives in the mothers who have spent decades waiting for sons and daughters who never came back.
@vanessatsehaye@martinplaut@UNHumanRights@hrw@UNGeneva
https://t.co/Du3zfDUFJY
A lawyer at the 2024 Eritrean Festival in DC sounded more focused on punishing activists than justice.
Which Eritrean associations invited him?
Eritrean Americans report transnational repression.
.@FBI should review.
@SenatorDurbin@RepJoeNeguse@SenJackyRosen@TheJusticeDept