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Ms. Federica Mogherini, EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told the Brussels conference of the Progressive Alliance on 18 October that "it took the death many [Eritreans] in Lampedusa for Europe to realize that it is responsible to save lives in the Mediterranean Sea" and that some 400,000 lives have been saved since the Lampedusa tragedy of 3 October 2013.

Speaking on the subject of migration, the EU high official stated that "refugee crisis is not a crisis for us in Europe but it is a crisis to its unfortunate victims" and that it was time for the progressive parties to have the courage and the strength to "speak the truth" and fight reactionary right-wing movements everywhere. According to the Italian Mogherini of PD (Partito Democratico), sustainable solutions can be found by implementing the world Agenda 2030. 

The president of the European Parliament, Mr. Martin Schulz, defined the Progressive Alliance's agenda of peace and justice as "the protection of ordinary citizens in this planet"  and "rewarding those who abide the rule of law and not those who violate it."

The questions of peace, justice and migration were the central themes dwelt on by speaker after speaker in the two-day conference. Professor Geoffrey Sachs of Columbia University told the delegations of the Progressive Alliance: "it is only you in the Progressive Alliance movement that can fix the world; here is no other force to do good to this world." He added that the task can be achieved through promoting Agenda 2030 with its 17 goals for sustainable development as adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015.

On its part, EPDP delegation underlined the fact that Eritreans, like those 368 victims of Lampedusa, still constitute a high percentage of those who die during their flight from home. For Eritreans, the main cause of risky escapes from home continue to be the absence of rule of law in their country.  

The Eritrean delegation also believed that the best solution in addressing peace, justice and migration problems could be worked out through support from democratic forces,  like members of the Progressive Alliance to civil and political actors in Eritrea and similar situations in the world. Through participation in the discourses and distribution of written statement (see below), the EPDP delegation repeatedly hammered on the need of capacity building for democratic alternatives in the less fortunate parts of the world.

Eritrean/EPDP Statement at the PA Conference

To Promote a New Agenda for Peace and Justice

Distinguished Delegations,

We, addressing this message to you, comrades-in-struggle, are representatives of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an organization in exile engaged in the struggle for democratic change in Eritrea. Our mainstream democratic party is a founding member and signatory of the PA declaration adopted at the historic Leipzig conference of 24 May 2013. 

We are delighted to note that, in addition to its commitment to respect human rights as the cornerstone of human dignity, peace and justice, this PA Parliamentarian Conference in Brussels is also determined "to take a stand on behalf of people in difficult and precarious conditions" and that its new agenda for peace and justice must "give active support to all those who are at the risk of oppression and persecution."

Dear PA Conference Participants,

The principled commitments and pledges of the PA no doubt give hope to the Eritrean people who have suffered untold oppression and persecution. As many of you in this conference are aware, the repressive regime in Eritrea is the most cruel and abusive dictatorship in today's Africa. Since attaining sovereign statehood over quarter of a century ago, Eritrea remains without enjoying the rule of law:  no constitution, no national elections, no free press, no parties, no free association and  even not the freedom to worship in one's own manner. A rubber stamp parliament composed of selected MPs  met for the last time in February 2002. Those MPs who asked for the rule of law have disappeared in unknown dungeons. 

The regime has forcibly militarized almost the entire society through compulsory  military conscription of all citizens between the age of 18 and 70. An open-ended “national service” or forced labour that literally became modern-day slavery brought life in Eritrea to a standstill and abject poverty. Any opposition to or criticism of the wrong policies of the regime leads to the inevitable risks of detention, cruel torture, disablement and mostly slow death. Well over 10,000 persons languish in over 360 prisons without recourse to legal procedures. No wonder that the Eritrean society is now at a state of breaking down. And this breakdown of a highly militarized society is also very likely to cause havoc in the region and much beyond it. No wonder that the arrival of refugees to Europe from this 'African North Korea' stands next to that of war-torn Syria. The suffering of hundreds of thousands of Eritrean refugees has remained a disturbing development for years. The tragedies faced by a large number of Eritreans in the Sinai, the Libyan desert and the Mediterranean Sea are only tips of an iceberg  - of much bigger problem at home.

As the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea concluded last June, crimes against humanity have been committed at an alarming scale in the country since 1991. 

PA Friends and Comrades,

The New Agenda for Peace and Justice being adopted at this conference stipulates that the PA "need to take action to promote [PA's] democratic values, especially in the face of authoritarian regimes"  and that it is time for all progressive forces "to give active support" to peoples suffering under extreme forms of repression. We are also rightly concluding that progressive parties need to win political power  "in order to ensure that our progressive agenda becomes a reality."

Based on these PA commitments and pledges, this Eritrean delegation is renewing its call to you, fraternal member parties and organizations, to start giving adequate and serious attention to peoples languishing under unbearable political situations that can inevitably lead to tragic conflicts likely to affect everybody else. These calls from us in EPDP, a non-state actor struggling for change in Eritrea, include the following:

1. On the part of PA parties in democratic countries, there is an urgent need of considering an agenda that has not yet been seriously considered: i.e. giving solid support for capacity building of non-state civil and political actors like us, Eritrean justice seekers, who are struggling from exile  because we cannot do it at home. If PA parties fail to support the growth of alternative democratic forces, how can progressives challenge repressive and highly authoritarian regimes that stand on the way of multi-party democracy and adversely affect peace and justice? 
2. This conference to boldly initiate a special PA conference to discuss the situation of progressive movements working from exile and see how they can be promoted and empowered to become democratic alternatives to existing dictatorships in several countries. 
3. Eritrea and the entire Horn of Africa basin being a fragile region for peace, this PA Conference to recommend to MPs of member parties to form special Horn of Africa groups in their respective country parliaments. 

The EPDP Delegation,

Parliamentarian Conference of the Progressive Alliance,

Brussels, 17-18 October 2016.

ልኡኽ ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ኣብቲ 17-18 ጥቅምቲ 2016 ኣብ ብሩሰልስ ዝተኻየደ፡ ብሓድሽ ኣጀንዳ ሰላምን ፍትሕን ከምኡ እውን ምምዕባል ርትዓዊ ፖሊሲ ስደተኛታት ኣብዛ ዓለም ዝዘተየ ኮንፈረንስ ተሳቲፉ። እዚ ኮንፈረንስ ኣብ ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ ብዘለዉ ማሕበራውያንን ደሞክራስያውያንን ኣካላት እዩ ተዳልዩ።

ኣብዚ ካብ ኩሉ ኩርነዓት ዓለም 160 ልኡኻት ዝተረኽብሉ ኮንፈረንስ ካብ ሰዲህኤ ዝተሳተፉ ናይቲ ሓለፍቲ ኣብያተ ጽሕፈት ወጻኢ ጉዳያትን ገንዘባዊ ጉዳያትን ኣቶ ወልደየሱስ ዓማርን ኣቶ ረዘነ ተስፋጼንን እዮም።

እቶም ዝተሳተፉ 51 ሰልፍታትን 17 ተደጋገፍቲ ኦድባትን ኮንፈረንሶም ኣብ ከተማ ብሩሰልስ ኣብ ዝርከብ ኣደራሻት ሕብረት ኢውሮጳ እዮም ኣካይዶም። መብዛሕትኦም ተሳተፍቲ ኣብ ሃሃገሮም  ንዘለዉ ሓገግቲ ኣካላት ወኪሎም ዝመጹ እዮም። ብዘይካ ካብ ኤርትራ ካብ ሃገራት ኣፍሪቃ ዓሰርተ ልኡኻት ማለት ካብ፡ ማሕበራዊ ደሞክራሲያዊ ሰልፍታት፡ ካሜሩን፡ ግብጺ፡ ኬንያ፡ ቱኒስያ፡ ዚምባብወን ካሎት ሃገራት ማእከልይ ኣፍሪቃን ተሳቲፎም።

ኣብቲ ኮንፈረንስ ኣዝዩ ሓያል መደረ ካብ ዘቕረቡን ኣገዳሲ መልእኽት ካብ ዘመሓላለፉን እዞም ዝስዕቡ ነይሮም። ኣቶ ማርቲን ስችሁልትዝ፡ ፕረሲደንት ፓርላማ ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ፡ ወ/ሮ ፈደሪካ ሞርገሪኒ ላዕለወይቲ ወኪል ፖሊሲ ጉዳያት ወጻእን ጸጥታን ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ፡ ኣቶ ሰርገይ ስታኒሸቭ ናይ ሰልፊ ኤውሮጳዊ ሶሻሊስት ፕረሲደንት፡ ፕሮፈሶር ጀፈረይ ሳችስ ካብ ኮሎምፒያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ፡ ዶ/ር ናቢል ሸኣትሓላፊ ወጻኢ ጉዳያት ፋታሕ (ፍልስጥኤም)፡ ኣቶ ሙስጠፋ በን ጃዕፈር ካብ ደሞክራሲያዊ መድረኽ ቱኒሲያን ናታ ሃገር ዕዉት ምስግጋር ቀንዲ ሃንዳሲ ነይሮም ዝበሃሉን፡ ኣቶ ጆሽ ኦሲህ ፕረሲደንት ማሕበራዊ ደሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር ካሜሩንን ኣቶ ግለይሲስ ሆፍማን ላዕለዋይ ሓላፊ ሰልፊ ዕዮ ብራዚል ይከብዎም። ነፍሲ ወከፍ መዳሪ ነቲ ኣብ ዓለምና እንዳሰፈሐ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ሓደጋ የማናውነትን ኣኽራርነትን ኣብ ርእሲ ምጥቃሶም፡ ገስገስቲ ሓይልታት ቅልውላው፡ ሕማቕ ምምሕዳር፡ ዘይምዕሩይነት፡ ጕንጽን ካለኦት ኣዕነውቲ ሳዕቤናትን ከጽንዖ ከም ዝግበኦም ጠቒሶም።

እቲ መጀመርያ መዓልቲ ኣብቲ ቀንዲ ዛዕባታት ናይቲ ኮንፈረንስ ኣርባዕተ ክፋላት ኣኼባ ማዕረማዕረ ተኻይዱ። እቲ ኣርባዕተ  ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ክፋል ኣኼባ ብክኢላታት ዝቐረበ ዛዕባታት፡ ጐንጽታት ኣብ ማእከላይ ምብራቕ፡ ኣድላይነት ዓለም ለኻዊ ምትሕግጋዝ ገስገስቲ ፓርላማታት፡ ገስጋሲ ኣጀንዳ ዘለዎም ሰልፍታት ናብ ስልጣን ናይ ምምጻእ ጻዕርን ጸገማት ቁጠባዊ ዘይምዕሩይነትን ብኩራት ፍትሕን እዮም።

ልኡኽ ሰደህኤ ብወገኑ ኣብ ኩሉ ዝረኸቦ ዕድላት፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ይርአ ብዛዕባ ዘሎ  ኣስጋኢ ፖለቲካውን ሰብኣውን ኩነታትን እዛ ትዓኑ ዘላ ሃገር ኤርትራ ፈውሲ ክትረክብ ክግበር ብዛዕባ ዝግበኦን መብርህታት ሂቡ። እዚ ልኡኽ ኤርትራ፡ ኣብቲ ምሕዝነት ገስገስቲ ሓይልታት ብመንጽር “ብሓድሽ ኣጀንዳ ንሰላምን ፍትሕን፡ ንጡፍ ደገፍ ነቶም ኣብ ናይ ወጽዓ ሓደጋ ዘለዉ” ብዝብል ዝተቐበሎ ሰነዳት፡ ኣዝዩ ተሓጒሱ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ልኡኽ ሰደህኤ፡ ናይዚ ምሕዝነት ገስገስቲ ሓይልታት መብጸዓታት ክትግበር’ዩ ዝብል ልዑል ተስፋ ኣሕዲሩ። ናይዚ ግብራውነት ዝግለጽ ድማ ኣብ ኣፍሪቃ ዘለዉ ደሞክራሲያዊ ሓይልታት፡ ብምሕያል ንከምቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ዲክታቶራት ኣብ ኣፍሪቃ ኮነ ኣብ ዓለም ከም ዝትክኡ ብምኽኣል ዝግለጽ ምዃኑ ኣረዲኡ።

A delegation of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) actively participated at the Parliamentarian Conference of the Progressive Alliance (PA) held between 17 and 18 in Brussels on 'A New Agenda for Peace and Justice' and on 'Developing Fair and Equitable Migration Policies' in the world. The conference was hosted by the PA group of socialists and democrats in the European Parliament. 

Taking part in the conference with over 160 delegates from all parts of the world were two EPDP executive committee members in charge of foreign affairs and finance, Messrs Woldeyesus Ammar and Rezene Tesfazion.

The 51 parties and 17 affiliated organizations at the conference, held in the halls of the European parliament building in Brussels, were represented mainly by serving legislators in their country parliaments. Besides Eritrea, other ten African delegations came from social democratic parties of Cameroun, Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia, Zimbabwe and other central African countries.

Among the powerful messages of keynote speeches and panel presentations at the conference were those of Mr. Martin Schultz, the president of the European Parliament; Ms Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy; Mr. Sergei Stanishev, president of Party of European Socialists (PES); Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University; Dr. Nabil Shaat, head of international affairs of Fatah/Palestine; Mr. Mustafa Ben Jaafer of Tunisia's Democratic Forum (ttakatul), who is also known as the architect of the successful transition constitution for Tunisia;  Mr. Josh Osih, vice- president of Front of Social Democrats of Cameroun, and Ms Gleisi Hoffmann, senator from the Brazilian Labour Party Speaker after speaker mentioned the growing dangers from rightwing populism and fundamentalism in the world and stressed the critical importance of the role of progressive forces to address the crises of bad governance, inequalities, conflict, migration and all the adverse consequences to peace and justice.

The first day of the conference was devoted to discussions of the main conference issues in four parallel sessions. The conflicts in the Middle East, the need of international cooperation of progressive parliamentarians, efforts to bring to power parties with progressive agendas, and problems of economic inequalities and justice in the world were the themes of presentations by prominent panelists (many of the party leaders) and ensuing discussions.  

On its part, the EPDP delegation seized right opportunities at the plenary sessions as well as at group discourses to explain the alarming political and human rights situation in Eritrea and what the sane world can do to help a nation in distress. The Eritrean delegation expressed its satisfaction with the conference documents which commit the Progressive Alliance "to take a stand on behalf of people in difficult and precarious conditions" with a new agenda for peace and justice pledging to provide "active support to those who are at the risk of oppression and persecution".  The delegation also hoped that these promises of the Progressive Alliance will be translated to concrete action that by empowering democratic forces in Africa and the rest of the world to become alternative forces to replace dictatorships like the one in Eritrea. (Full reportage will follow soon).

ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ኣብቲ ብ14 ጥቅምቲ 2016 ዝለኣኾ መልእኽቲ ን10 ዓመታት ብብዙሕ ብደሆታትን ዓወታትን ንዝሓለፉ  ናይ ቅድም ኮሚሽነር ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ጉዳይ ስደተኛታት፡ ኣቶ ኣንቶኒዮ ጉተርስ ሓላፊ ዝለዓለ ኣካል ዓለምና ኮይኖም ብምምራጾም ምዉቕን ልባውን ሓጐሱ ገሊጹ።

እቲ ናይ ሰደህኤ ናይ እንኳዕ ኣሕጐሰኩም መልእኽቲ፡ ብስም እቲ ከገልግልዎ ዝጸንሑ ኤርትራዊ ስደተኛ ዝተላእከ ምዃኑ’ውን ጠቒሱ። እቲ መልእኽቲ ነቶም ናይ ቅድም ኮሚሽነር “ ነቲ ብኣካል ዝበጻሕኩምዎን ዝተዓዘብኩምዎን ኤርትራዊ ስደተኛ ዘለዎ ዘይውሑስ ቦታታ፡ ብሓፈሻ ኣብ መደበር ስደተኛታት ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ብፍላይ ድማ ኣብ ከም ወዲ ሸሪፈይ ሱዳን ዘሎ ሕማቕ ኩነታት ምዝካሩ ኣጽግመኩምን እዩ” ዝብል መዘኻኸሪ ኣስፊሩ።

ሰዲህኤ፡ እቶም ኮሚሽነር ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ግዜ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኤርትራውያን ግዳያት ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ከርእይዎ ንዝጸንሑ ተገዳስነት ንኢዱ፡ ንመጻኢ እውን ነቲ ኣብዛ ብዝምድናዊ ሓዳስ ሃገር ኤርትራ ቀንዲ ጠንቂ ስቓይ ኮይኑ ዘሎ ግህሰት ደሞክራሲያውን ሰብኣውን መሰላት ብግቡቕ ከቕልብሉ ሓደራ ኢሉ።

እቲ መልእኽቲ ነቲ ብመርማሪ ኣካል ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ዝተበጽሐ መርተዖታትን ንውሳነ ናይቲ ኣብ  ዝሓለፈ ሰነ 2012 መበል 32 ኣኼባኡ ዘካየደ ኣብ ጀነቫ ዘሎ ኮሚሽን ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ዝበጸሖ ውሳነታትን  ብምጥቃስ፡ ሕጂ እውን ቅኑዕ ብይን ንምርካብ ናብ ጠቕላላ ኣኼባ ውድብ ሕቡራት መንግስታት፡ ከምኡ እውን ናብ ሓፈሻዊ ባይቶን ቤት ምኽሪ ጸጥታን ቀሪቡ ከም ዘሎ ኣስፊሩ። በዚ መሰረት ኤርትራውያን ግዳያት ካብዞም ሓድሽ ሓላፊ ፍትሓዊ ኣበርክቶ ከም ዝጽበ እቲ መልእኽቲ ጠቒሱ።

ሰደህኤ ኣብዚ መልእኽቱ ከምቲ ኣብ ጀነቫ ዝተራእየ ፖለቲካዊ ዝንባለታት፡ ኣፍሪቃውያን ዲክታቶራት ካብ ነናቶም ረብሓ ነቒሎም፡ ነቲ መርማሪ ኣካል ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ኣብቲ ፍጻመ ኣንጻር ህዝቢ ኢድ ዘለዎም ጨካናት ሓለፍቲ ኤርትራ ብቕልጡፍ ናብ ዓለም ለኻዊ ገበናዊ ቤት ፍርዲ ክቐርቡ ዘቕረቦ ሓሳብ ከይኮልፍዎ ዘለዎ ስግኣት ኣስፊሩ።

ብዘይካዚ ኣቶ ጉተረስ ነተን ናይ ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ትካላት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ናይ ምሕያል ጉዳይ እውን ሓላፍነቶም ምዃኑ ኣብቲ መልእኽቲ ኣዘኻኺሩ በዚ መሰረት ንኹሎም ኣብ ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ምፍጻም ገበንን ዝምልከቶም ኣካላት ጉዳዮም ክጻረን ናብ ፍርዲ ከም ዝቐርቡ ክገብሩ ጸዊዑ።

ብመሰረት ቅዋም ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጉባኤ ናይ ዞባ ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ክልተ ዓመት ዝግበር ኮይኑ፡ 4ይ ጉባኤ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዞባ ሴሜን ኣሜሪካ  "ሓቢርና ኣብ ጽንዓት"  ኣብ ትሕቲ ዝብል ቴማ ሎሚ ዕለት 15 ጥቅምቲ 2016 ልክዕ ስዓት 7 ናይ ንግሆ ኣብ ከተማ ችካጎ - ዊንድሲቲ፡ ብዉዕዉዕ ኣገባብ ተጀሚሩ።

ካብ ዝተፈላለየ ከባቢ ሴሜን ኣሜሪካን ከናዳን ክሳተፉ ዝመጹ ጉባኤኛታት ኣብ ኣዳራሽ ኣኼባ ምስ ተረከቡ ብዝኽሪ ሰማእታት ተከፊቱ። ብኣሳናዳኢት ሽማግለ ናይ እንቓዕ ድሓን መጻእኩም መልእኽቲ ምስ ቐረበ፡ ቐጺሉ ኣባል ማእከላይ ባይቶን ፈጻሚትን ሰልፊ ሓው ኣለም ዮሃንስ ብዝተፋላለየ ምኽንያት ኣብ ቃልሲ ክዉፈዩ ጸኒሖም ብመስዋእቲ ዝተፈለዩና ብጾት ናይ ዝክሪ ቃል ኣቕሪቡ። ኣብ ሰልፋዊ ስርሓት ዕዙዝ ኣበርክቶ ዝነበሮም ኣባላት ድማ ብፍሉይ ኣመስጊኑ።

ሓው ገረዝጊሄር ተወልደ ነቲ ብዝተፋላለየ ሰልፋዊ ስርሓት ኣብ ጉባኤ ክርከብ ዘይኽኣለ ኣቦ ወንበር ሰልፊ ሓው መንግስትኣብ ኣስመሮም ወኪሉ መልእኽቲ ናይ መሪሕነት ሰልፊ ኣቕሪቡ። ብተወሳኪ ሓው ተስፋይ ወልደሚካኤል (ደጊጋ) ሓላፊ ዉድባዊ ጉዳያት ቤት ጽሕፈት ሃለዋት ሰልፍን ትጽቢታትን ኣብ ዝብል ዛዕባ ሰፊሕ መብርሂ ድሕሪ ምሃቡ፡ ብሽማግለ ዞባ ናይ ዝሓለፈ ክልተ ዓመት ኣብ ዞባ ሴሜን ኣሜሪካ ዝትዓመሙ ስርሓት ብዝርዝር ቀሪቡ ብሰፊሑ ክትዓት ተካይድሉ። 

ጉባኤ ቅድሚ ናብ ምሳሕ ዕረፍቲ ምዉጽኡ ንጉባኤ ተሰላስል ሰክረታሪያት መሪጹ። ሲዒቡ ሰክረታርያት ጉባኤ ብመሰረት ዝተሰርዐ ኣጀንዳታት ንዘተን ክትዕን ስራሓ ብወግዒ ጀሚራ። ኣባላት ሰልፊ ሓልፍነታዊ ብዝኮነ መንገዲ ኣብ ሙዉቕን ሩሱንን ክትዓት ከካይዱ ዉዒሎም፡፡  ኣብዚ ጉባኤ ዝተሳተፉ ኣባላት ባይቶ ወይዘሪት ኤርትራ ኣልኣዛርን ካለኦትን ይርከብዎም፡፡ 

In a congratulatory message sent on 14 October,  the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP), expressed "warm and heartfelt felicitations"  to  Mr. Antonio Guterres for winning the election "to lead the highest world body that he also  served for the past challenging ten years with success as commissioner of the UNHCR".  

The EPDP congratulatory message stated that it also was expression of the good wishes to him from Eritrean refugees he served in the past, adding: "You can no doubt recall vividly the faces of Eritrean refugees you visited in their unsafe and squalid camps in the Horn of Africa, like Shagarab in Eastern Sudan".

Commending Mr. Guterres for his past humanitarian support to vulnerable Eritrean refugees, the EPDP message further stated: "we now wish to draw you kind attention to the political and human rights part of the problem, which is in fact the root cause of the unending suffering of this relatively  new nation in Africa."

Referring to the findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea and decisions of the 32nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last June, the message noted that the relevant reports are now being submitted to the office of UN Secretary General as well as to the General Assembly and Security Council "for appropriate action" for purposes of accountability and that Eritrean victims of their own regime expect him to serve justice. 

The EPDP also did not hide the fact that political maneuvers at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and  the well known fears of African dictators in addition to narrow interests of certain countries led to watering down the Commission of Inquiry's strong call to send  to the International Criminal Court (ICC) soon those well identified Eritrean authorities in perpetrating heinous crimes against their own people.

Mr. Guterres was also reminded of his mandate to encourage and support the human rights organs of the African Union, which is encouraged "to investigate, prosecute and bring to justice those responsible for violations and abuses of human rights, including any that may amount to a crime against humanity." 

Representatives of all branches from USA and Canada converged to the city of Chicago on Friday October 1, 2016. The Congress opened by the Preparatory Committee Chairman, Haw Woldu Negasi. The Congress opened with a compassionate note of remembrance  to those members who passed away in the recent past. The Congress, also, gave special recognition and appreciation to specific members for their exemplary contribution and to all members for their resilience.

Haw Kaleab Kifle, Zoba North America Chairman, gave detail report of Zoba and Haw Fessehaye fitewi gave a detailed financial report for the year 2015 and 2016. Furthermore, the Congress has selected secretariat, and is continuing with appositive attitude and high spirit. It is expected to conclude its plan by Sunday October 15, 2016. 

Mr. Menghesteab Asmerom, chairman of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) on 8 October 2016 held constructive discussions with Gothenburg region chairman for external relations for Swedish Social Democratic Party and a leading figure in the Gothenburg center for the refugee integration of refugees and migrants. He was accompanied by Mr. Zehaie Keleta, member of the EPDP committee for Europe zone and manager of Radio Voice of Liberty in Gothenburg.

The EPDP chairman opened the discussions by paying gratitude to Mr. Magnusson, who was one of the key speakers of Eritrea Festival 2016 in Frankfurt, and motivated his audience by his commitment to promote solidarity with the Eritrean people struggling for democratic change. Mr. Magnusson, who served for many years in Geneva as chairman of the international movement for peace, is one of the activists who recently formed the association "Eritrea in Our Hearts" in Gothenburg to highlight Eritrean cultural values and folklore.

Issues raised and discussed at the meeting in Gothenburg included the following:

1.    The gross human violations in  Eritrea;

2.    What could be done to help Eritreans in the refugee camps in Eastern Sudan and Northern Ethiopia;

3.    How support could be generated for refugee children in Wad Sherifey and the Kassala center for disabled Eritreans;

4.    Possibilities of providing training for Eritrean civil activists;

5.    Further enhancing relations between the EPDP and the ruling Social Democratic Party of Sweden;

6.    Organizing conferences in Sweden to raise the awareness of the Swedish people about the situation of the Eritrean people and abuses of their regime.

The EPDP delegation also took the opportunity to recommend increased action to implement the two significant resolutions of Swedish Social democrats whose 37th congress three years ago in Gothenburg promised to work towards helping in the capacity building of Eritrean democratic forces in ending the illegal 2% tax and related extortions of the Eritrean regime in Sweden.