On “Which one is our enemy? Isyas Afwerki or Weyane? – By Mohammed Barkay

During Wedi Ali’s Forto rebellion; I wrote an article “Neither the Mercenary group from Tigrai nor his Karma can save Afwerki” where at some point I said;

‘As the two gentlemen (Doctor Asefaw and General Tekeste Haile) said in the interview (Assenna’s), Afwerki finally found himself isolated from his people conditioned to defend the rest of his ridiculous dictatorship through a mercenary group called the Tigrean Front for Democracy. Can you imagine this notorious anti-freedom dictator promoting democracy in Ethiopia through worthless groups as such? Can you imagine this man losing faith on the 300,000 Eritrean armed forces and depending on this good for nothing group for protection (if the news is true)? If this embarrassing act does not irritate our all-inclusive armed forces and motivate them to pull the decisive trigger nothing will!!

The fact remains that no force could stop the Eritrean objective for freedom, let alone this group [DMHIT] that will end up dying with him at the moment it faces the Eritrean style of confrontation: neither will he be effectively protected by this group nor will it survive the final Eritreans push for freedom. The question is if my classification of this group as MERCENARY conforms to the objective definition of the term.

“A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict, who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is “motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party.” Further, “a mercenary is essentially motivated by money [and] the term mercenary usually carries negative connotations.”

By this I close my case stating that the group is a foreign force that will end up being a sandwich between the people and our armed forces at the time of action.

The next question is if a mercenary group as such is protected by international law! To this effect, research says the following: “International treaties established to control the use of mercenaries include the Additional Protocol I and II to Article 47 of the Geneva Convention (1949), the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention for the Elimination of Mercenaries in Africa (1972), and the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (1989).”

By this, I close my case stating that no Law protects this mercenary group now stationed in Eritrea to “save” the president. Eritrean forces have the absolute right to destroy it if necessary without any reaction from the international community because it has been conditioned by the dictator to interfere in our socio-political business. It has to surrender upon instruction or face extermination.’

As you know we have opposition forces in Ethiopia and we host Ethiopian opposition forces in Eritrea but the forces remain to be opposition forces so to say as long as they exclusively focus on their problems. Few of the groups such as the Ogaden, Benidhangul and Gambella liberation movements could not be classified as mercenaries unless they involve in our internal matters which I don’t have any information about. But the two Amhara groups Arbegnoch Ginbar and Ginbot 7 qualify for mercenary status in view of the Eritrean people because they were “motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict”. In this pretext, they are mercenaries because they don’t accept the Eritrean independence for personal gain (Narrow Ethiopian nationalism) and by claiming to represent Ethiopians with the same outlook on Eritrea.

DMHIT in contrast was one by universal definition of the terminology. It is not because DMHIT was an Ethiopian opposition force in Eritrea that made it a mercenary but because it used to interfere in the lives of the Eritrean people in cooperation with the internal enemy Isaias Afwerki (Giffa and security, etc.) and worked as spy in Eritrea in cooperation with the external enemy so saying Ethiopia.

 

My opinion on Mohammed Barkay’s latest article in assenna:

 

“As neighbors and comrades we expected a positive role from the Weyanes, but unfortunately they played a very dirty role in our politics. We are not blaming Weyane for not helping us but they should have abstained at least from not destroying us internally. “

Comment: What destruction are you talking about brother? Are you talking about Weyane in relation to the dictator or to our people? The war between us and the WEYANNES was too dirty to pass on causing destruction and about 100,000 live from both societies. Both sides went to destroy one another through the Badme war that the dictator ignited and refused to peacefully resolve for the sadness of the two peoples. You must admit that the main job of EriTV was about destroying the Weyanes and so had theirs been, actually in more moderate form. How can they remain neutral when the Eritrean dictator was day and night agitating them for war through the years, arming and hosting the opposition groups (8 of them) and refusing to get Badme through dialogue and peacefully coexist? Neither the Eritreans nor the Tigreans welcomed the disaster in-between caused by their political leaders. Weyane’s tactic to destroy the dictator through DMHIT does not mean it destroyed our people. Let them destroy each other on political level of the connection but this does not mean destruction between the Eritreans and the Tigreans who want to live in peace in their respective geographic locations. The adversity will continue to exist until he stops destructing the Ethiopians and we dispose him and resolve our differences with them through dialogue for the bright future of both societies.

“The Eritrean opposition groups in Ethiopia are divided along ethnic, religious and regional lines with full blessing of Weyane. In contrast, the Ethiopian oppositions in Eritrea are united and progressive far better than the Eritrean opposition. If this indicates anything, it indicates that either Weyane lacks a vision towards peaceful coexistence with its neighbors or there is a hidden agenda to destroy Eritrea. “

Comment: I agree and respectfully disagree. The Eritrean opposition forces are indeed divided along ethnicity and religious lines but the Weyanes are not responsible here; only the forces. They put themselves in this situation my friend in whatever way the Weyanes may have exploited the situation. The sole responsibility of unity in-between is the role of our opposition groups and they should be blamed for their division and the rest of us in Diaspora for years of inaction on the matter as if their division was none of our business. We the Diaspora Eritreans enraged their division through silence and they wasted the society’s time and resources on their personal matters without any tangible involvement from us causing the current vulnerability of our society.

Likewise, the Ethiopian opposition forces in Eritrea are divided beyond your imagination, one of the proofs being the desertion of DEMHIT that we are talking about. There were four liberation movements at least theoretically working for their respective independence from Ethiopia without including the “Afar unity movement”, the DMHIT and two extra chauvinist anti-Eritrean Amhara groups that want to dictate their society in the name of democracy and mess with our independence in the go. The first time Berhanu Negga and Molla Asgedom met to my understanding from his press conference was this September when Berhanu went to Asmara to lead the resistance without knowing the trap the Weyanes setup for him through the DMHIT differential that left him confused in surprising fashion days after their first unity agreement was signed in Asmara.

God knows what my friend Berhanu is doing in Eritrea now but these groups have never been united to begin with and the latest activity that involved about four of them was proven to be a fallacious drama staged by the Ethiopian government that showed its real nature within a week of the “unity agreement” via DMHIT’s extraordinary exit from the deal. None of the divided Ethiopian opposition forces were progressive with some of them being narrow nationalists that believe in separation from Ethiopia, the rest being the backward neftegna Amharas that have been ruling the nation for ages undermining all the ethnic groups in the country. What I mean is that there is a fundamental difference between the liberation movements and the hard core unity oriented Amhara groups in the Ethiopian opposition group minus the DEMHIT. Apparently, the Weyanes could have been obstacle for our peaceful coexistence but I think the main actor of the problem is the dictator in Asmara.

“We thought we are friends and neighbors who shared all the good and the bad during the difficult times. However, Weyanes are calling us now enemy. Many Eritreans including myself are perplexed by the mission of demhit and its role inside Eritrea. If Weyane and demhit think that they hit their goal, then what is that goal?”

Comment: Once again, our peoples have no problem with each other and both of them have interest in peaceful coexistence though they have not gotten the chance to experience it because of terrible leadership mainly of the Eritrean dictator.

The problem is with the dictator and the Weyanes that have been enemies till this day in the go leaving their cooperation to destroy Eritrea aside for now till we get enough material proof to this end. Neither did the Weyanes ever called us enemies nor the dictator called the Tigreans our enemies to my recollection unless you have proof for this.

Whatever the goal might have been the DEMHIIT and the Weyanes have achieved it. They have destroyed the opposition camp irreparably and learned everything they want to learn about our country and the dictatorship. As for your “Many Eritreans including myself are perplexed by the mission of demhit and its role inside Eritrea” I don’t blame you at all. But I prefer using the term SURPRISED in my situation thanperplexed because there is really nothing to be confused about this drama. It was bound to take place at some point in the experience because it is impossible to assume the DMHIT to unite and fight with the most chauvinistic Amharas against its people the Tigreans. My expectation would have been different had DMHIT went for liberating Tigrai from Ethiopia, a popular issue during the struggle criss-crossed by the Weyanes after victory in favor of united Ethiopia but “fighting for democracy in Ethiopia” where the Tigreans are doing well in all aspects of life does not make sense at all. The situation was apparent to show a dramatic turn at a point in the journey although no one knew how and when.

“If I am correct, Weyane hosted the Eritrean opposition groups in order to change the dictatorial regime of Isyas Afwerki. If that is what they wanted, then why that change was not done through demhit since it operated under the nose of Isyas? Why they did not kill Isyas from within? Why there was no coordination between delayti fithi and the Weyane? Why the Eritrean opposition did not know all that? In fact many questions can be raised regarding the intention of Weyane. “

Comment: Your assumption is correct my brother but no one can expect the Weyanes or any other external force to change the Eritrean government from within the country. DMHIT could not have killed the dictator in Eritrea and survived the Eritrean forces circumscribing it all the way in. they could not have killed the dictator and get out safely needless stating that the Ethiopian government would have suffered too many political problems from the international community as a result. You cannot kill the president of a country if you are a government of another country my dear, only can you cause maximum damage and leave unless may be in peculiar circumstances that threatens your existence although I can’t think of an example that justifies this suggestion from international law point of view.

The Ethiopians killing the dictator in Eritrea would have caused chaos in our area beyond your imagination. There are limited things you can do as a spy my brother but not that one.This role is reserved only to the Eritrean people like Prime Minister Desalegne said in his recent interview exposed by assenna though there is something I could not understand whether he said that Afwerki had breached the condition Ethiopia can use to violently dismantle his regime or not!!The fact remains, however, that the Weyanes have literally killed the dictator through DEMHIT’s espionage excellence for us Eritreans to clean the debris through genuine unity.

The reason there is no cooperation between deleytifithi and the Weyanes in my opinion is because there is no strong and united deleitifithi till this point in time. We are so divided to collectively address our national issues with any other force including the Weyanes. No one represents the Eritrean people so far though there are many political parties that we have never seen and heard from for years. I don’t think any external force can cooperate with the divided and vision-less Eritrean opposition forces in Diaspora. In personal terms, you must prove to be dependable and important for me to take you seriously in something that concerns both of us equally, otherwise, I can only encourage you to do something about your situation and take care of my business on my own.

Our opposition forces didn’t know about the mission of DMHIT because they were sleeping absent from the situation and the Ethiopians did not inform them about it for it was none of their business in view of their government obvious to say that they did not deserve it because they have only showed uselessness since 1999, the time EDA was formed in Ethiopia. It was indeed the responsibility of the opposition forces to know such activities in their country as much as they can but on their own resources and efforts which are beyond their capacity and only had they carried their national responsibilities . They cannot even settle minor issues between them let alone to monitor external activities against their people or impress any political entity for serious partnership on something that concerns their society directly. The fact that they did not know about all this testifies how ineffective they were through the years pertaining the Eritrean situation. They were not there at all to know what was going on and to be taken seriously by the Weyanes as qualified partners for this type of espionage. You must also understand that some political parties work for the dictatorial regime either through severe infiltration or otherwise. Simply, there was no compatible partner in the opposition camp to be seriously taken for inclusion in such a mission.

“According to tigraionline.com that “Following the news of TPDM forces mass defection, fear and confusion among the Eritrean population is spreading like a wild fire. The largest and the strongest armed group was working with the Ethiopian intelligence and security agencies for years collecting and passing sensitive military information is devastating to the Eritrean regime”

Comment: True is that the defection of DMHIT loaded with sensitive security and military information is devastating to the regime and we might have been surprised but there is nothing for Eritreans to be confused and afraid about the situation. The assumption that “fear and confusion among the Eritrean population is spreading like a wild fire” is therefore baseless and wishful thinking. Our people should to the contrary feel relieved about DMHIT’s exit in my opinion and focus on doing something about the problem.

“The same website continued saying “TPDM/DMHIT, Mola Asgedom. What he didn’t know was Mola was using him to gain extremely valuable information which will be handy to demolish his brutal regime when the time is right.” Never, it was not intended for regime change at all but it was an ill-intention against the Eritrean people. If Weyanes were serious about the regime change, they would have done it within since demhit were already there. But it is clear that Weyane and Isyas are working together to destroy Eritrea and Eritrean”.

Comment: The Ethiopians may have the capacity to demolish the dictator “when the time is right” with the information they have at hand through Molla and the luxury they have had shopping any kind of weapons they want behind direct military cooperation from the west compared to the isolated and sanctioned loser with heavy refugee crisis on the ground; but this has nothing to do with Weyane’s plan to destroy the Eritrean people. I am afraid the author is mixing the regimewith the people here and I don’t think he should. Destroying the regime has nothing to do with destroying the people, nor does the situation testify that the Weyanes and Afwerki were working together to destroy us because we don’t have full information in this regard and we should wait a bit to see if this was indeed the case. As far as I understand the situation based on the available information at hand, we are suffering from the friction between the Weyanes and the dictator but not from a united front between them.

“What was the role of demhit in Eritrea? Demhit guarded Isyas Afwerki and worked as an intelligence unit for him against the Eritrean defense force. Demhit and Isyas drained our economy when our hospitals lack medicines and facilities. Isyas Afwerki and Weyane and Demhit achieved the following:

• Forced Eritreans to leave their country
• Imprisoned, raped, persecuted , and killed our people
• Arrested and killed many of our heroes
• Closed our schools and educational institutions
• Cleansed our country from its human capital
• Stolen our money and funded the Weyane forces
• Bankrupted our financial institutions
• Left our cities in completedarkness
• Confined our people from movements
• Killed our trade connections and…etc.”

Comment: I agree and disagree with respect! DMHIT could have imprisoned, raped, persecuted, arrested and killed our people by direct order from the regime as compromise or necessity to stay in the country till it completes its mission but Weyane and DEMHIT are not responsible for said forcing Eritreans to leave their country, closing our schools and educational institutions, stealing our money and funding the Weyane forces, leaving our cities in complete darkness, confining our people from movements, killing our trade connections and cleansing our country from its human capital; the regime did all these to the society. The government policy did all these to us and thus the system as a unit is the sole responsible entity for the collective damage in our country.

“Isyas Afwerki and the Weyanes went to the war in order to destroy us and it was not a border issue at all. This indicates that there is a hidden common agenda against us. Eritreans must be conscious enough, must be aware that a deep conspiracy have been played against us. “

Comment: I still think this conclusion is a little premature to reach from the available information around. I understand the conspiracy theory that the author contemplated as something valid and possible but we cannot prove it yet to confidently conclude as such without more information to this effect.
At the bottom line, the Eritrean dictator has been saying that he cannot do anything about the constitution, SAWA slavery and the issues of the political prisoners in this emergency situation until the Ethiopians return Badme to its owner. He said time and again that Eritrea was at war with Ethiopia as long as Badme stayed under its control. He refused dialogue to solve the problem sticking with his gun “claiming the existence of war between the two countries as the reason for holding everything in our country”. He continued with his war mentality denying us freedom and peaceful coexistence with our neighbors.

Well if this was the case, we need to understand that wars or any form of adversities between two feuding nations can involve local or external mercenaries as one of the effective tactics of winning. They gave him a good war; silencing his threat via excellent espionage work of Molla’s DMHIT. Molla did his mercenary job in Eritrea in view of the Eritreans for his country that was in war with Eritrea according to the president of Eritrea. For that matter, he could have even played a role in the recently entertained Ethiopian bombardment of the Bisha Mining site that the dictator received without absolute silence.

In the mean time the flow of Eritrean refugees to Ethiopia continues and I appreciate the Ethiopians for helping our refugees in civilized fashion. Can we say at the moment then that the Weyanes are neither our enemies nor our friends? I don’t know what to say!

In conclusion, Brother Wedi Barkay said that “We have to act today not tomorrow to restore our dignity and revive our pride. We have nothing left to wait for, we have to depend on ourselves and quickly destroy that monster from our beloved home. Isyas Afwerki is working as an intelligence officer for his home country and this cannot be clearer than today. One man should not elude us by playing on our weaknesses, let’s act now and save the remaining. Peace to our country!” and I cannot agree more!