Woldu Mikael
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Articles by Woldu Mikael
April 09, 2009
Photo: Mesfin Hagos
Mesfin Hagos has resigned his post as head of the Eritrean Democratic Party. An EDP announcement states that Mesfin Hagos has "submitted his resignation citing strong differences of opinion between himself and members of the Executive Committee which if he was to stay could h...
November 24, 2008
Perhaps no African country other than Eritrea has in recent years harvested more unpleasant recognition, notoriety if you like, for being number one in doing what is morally, socially and politically unacceptable.
Eritrea has long been portrayed by global rights bodies as a state incapable or unw...
May 26, 2008
Photo: Eritreans lining up for food
It is hard to know what President Isaias´s political qualifications really are, but leading a nation certainly cannot be one of them. Commemorating his country´s 17th independence anniversary last week, the Eritrean leader again offered his people more of the...
May 21, 2008
Photo: President Isaias Afewerki with his Defense Minister
It is time for the Eritrean leadership to stop blaming the US or Ethiopia or any other third party for the country´s political and economic hurdles. This stance is a sign of serious weakness in leadership. It only delays the social and d...
May 13, 2008
On Saturday, May 10, 2008, this writer attended as an observer a small but highly ideological and ambitious Eritrean workshop in Oakland, California. The meeting, sponsored by the newly formed Eritrean Joint Party Formation Commission, focused on how best to serve the needs of the Eritrean people. T...
April 13, 2008
The Bush Administration´s declared position has been to designate the Eritrean government as a terrorist state unless there is ´regime change´. The recent US decision to label Somalia´s Al Shabab militants as ´terrorists´ sends a message to President Isaias Afewerki that his regime may be next. The ...
Eritrea´s Repressive Rule Gets an Israeli Slap in the Face over Eritrean Refugee Repatriation Issues
March 28, 2008
AP photo: Eritrean refugees in an Israeli shelter
With Eritrean refugees continuing to stream into Israel, the Ehud Olmert Administration has blamed the large influxes on the repressive policies of the Asmara government. Israeli reactions confirm deteriorating Eritrean human rights abuses ...
March 25, 2008
Eritrean human rights abuses have worsened in recent months as the government introduces more deadly measures to stop citizens from fleeing the country. Abuses range from torture to murder, imprisonment without trial, disappearances, and mass starvation.
Any form of dissent is fatal. The only wa...
March 16, 2008
Photo: Asghedet Mehreteab
"Eritrean women enjoyed more respect and equality under the defunct Ethiopian Derg dictatorship than under the current Eritrean PFDJ government," said Asghedet Mehreteab, a veteran Eritrean Independence fighter. Asghedet was addressing a gathering last week in Oaklan...
February 27, 2008
Photo: Mesfin Hagos
I recently interviewed Mesfin Hagos, Eritrea´s independence war hero and former Defense Minister in post liberation Eritrea. He now chairs the Eritrean Democratic Party, EDP, one of a dozen political organizations campaigning to end President Isaias Afewerki´s tyrannical despo...
February 24, 2008
Cruel and inhuman treatment has, by and large, been set aside for helpless and oppressed Eritrean citizens of all walks of life. They range from 12 year olds to a diabetic 80-year old patriarch, from students to government ministers and parliamentarians, housewives and journalists and any body else...
February 12, 2008
Photo: Mesfin Hagos, Former Eritrean Defense Minster and Senior Opposition Leader.
The Eritrean Strongman, Mr. Isaias Afewerki has long pinned his political fortune solely on one thing: a face-saving end to his lingering dispute with Ethiopia. No foreign power can claim it is willing to help him...
February 01, 2008
HE WAS ORDERED DEPORTED, shattering his hopes for freedom and putting his life in grave danger.
Contrary to Swedish government assertions last week, the 23-year old male Eritrean asylum seeker had met the necessary requirements for refugee protection under Sweden´s asylum rules and internationa...
January 21, 2008
Eritrean opposition leaders wrapped up a successful gathering over the weekend with a renewed commitment to uproot despotism in Eritrea.
To this end, the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) held a five-day (01/15 - 01/19) conference in Addis Ababa where it pledged to work closely with the Erit...
January 19, 2008
A crucial Eritrean opposition conference is underway in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
High in the agenda of the gathering of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) are the establishment of an interim administrative council and the fashioning of a plan to facilitate the utmost participation...
January 15, 2008
Having suppressed the voices of free media and academia in Eritrea, the government appears worried about the increasing influences the diaspora media is having on the public. The messengers of reason and sanity are the biggest enemy. One of the targets has been the leading independent news organizat...
January 05, 2008
For countless political and religious prisoners in Eritrea, it is the beginning of yet another year of more anguish, torture and death.
In his New Year message to the nation, President Isayas Afeworki again ignored international calls to put some human face to his cruel administration by releasi...
January 01, 2008
The Bush Administration has expressed the need for regime change in Eritrea as part of its global campaign to root out terror.
The plan made public by a senior US diplomat in September coincides with stepped up campaigns by the Eritrean democratic opposition to end internal terror in that troubl...
December 23, 2007
As reports speak of mass influx of Eritrean refugees crossing the border into Ethiopia, Eritrean opposition groups have intensified their fight to end dictatorship, terrorism and famine in that impoverished Red Sea country.
Informed sources say up to 600 men women and children are risking their ...
December 12, 2007
It is hard to get the world to take a closer look at all the brutal African dictators of the 21st century. No wonder, the call by Reporters Without Borders to bar the Eritrean Strongman Isayas Afeworki from entering Europe to attend a rare EU-African summit in Portugal over the weekend, failed to dr...
November 24, 2007
Eritrean government aggression against its own people continues unabated. It ranges from deliberate mass starvation to imprisonment without trial, torture, murder and disappearances. The aim is to crush any minimal claims or hopes for liberty and rule of law. The international media rights watchdog,...
October 05, 2007
The implications of branding Eritrea a terror sponsoring state are immense. Already, the US warning in mid August to put Eritrea on the blacklist is having a significant impact on the country’s relations with its neighbors and on Eritrea’s political life.
Ethiopia was quick to take advantage. ...