What is Crucially Missing in Eritrea is Exchange of Ideas without Fear of Retributions : A Criticism of Eritrean Intellectuals

This article was written by the late Abraham MIT immediately after the final battles of the Eritrean-Ethiopian war in 2000.

What is Crucially Missing in Eritrea is Exchange of Ideas without Fear of Retributions
A Criticism of Eritrean Intellectuals

By Abraham G. Ghiorgis (MIT)
New York, USA
July 17, 2000

The dust has not yet settled. The Eritrean-Ethiopian war is not over yet. We still have to support the Eritrean Government. It does not mean, however, that we should not exchange ideas and sum up our experiences so far. On the contrary, we should vigorously debate and discuss even ideas considered to be "taboo and sacred."

At all times our measuring stick should be the welfare of the Eritrean people, and not the welfare of a political group. It invariably happens, not only in Eritrea but also in other countries of the world including the venerated USA that the welfare of a political group could sometimes be in conflict with the welfare of the overwhelming majority.

What should our support consist of? Financial comes first. The Eritreans in the Diaspora have done an excellent job at that. Eritreans through concrete actions have proved it time and time again that they are extremely generous to their people. Eritreans do not need lectures from anybody on the soundness of their efforts. If anything, other nationals should emulate this very positive Eritrean tradition.

Sadly enough, though, our support has been limited to financial support only. All our education, wisdom and experience are wasted, if we willingly limit our support only to financial aid. What have been crucially missing in Eritrea are the exchange and debate of ideas without fear of retributions.

First and foremost, we have to admit that the leadership of the Eritrean Government, despite the fact that it is composed of incorruptible, disciplined and heroic individuals who are dedicated to Eritrea, has a lot of limitations due to lack of university-level academic training (in particular in the fields of Economics, History, Science and Diplomacy), exposure to the outside world and not having experiences of working to earn a living and for wages in a real competitive marketplace.

This is not something that is unique to Eritrea. It is something that is normal with all nations that went through a bitter armed-struggle to establish their independent statehood, and as such these limitations and constraints will be with us for a long time. Such limitations are okay if the leaders acknowledge their limitations and openly solicit assistance and guidance from Eritreans with knowledge, education and practical real world experience. The problem in Eritrea is that at times some of the leaders act, and arrogantly at that, as if they were "Mr. Know it all" in fields that are completely foreign to them, and the intellectuals either out of politeness or timidity silently accept and support some policies when they fully know that such polices are counter to the interests and rights of the Eritrean people. The result of this is a disaster. This needs to be corrected.

It is my understanding that for the most part the Eritrean intellectuals were blindly parroting certain premises advanced by the Eritrean Government without adding any values. It is to be remembered almost the whole world, including the USA and the Pope, begged us to withdraw from the "contested territories" in order to secure peace and save lives and properties before the battles of Badme and Tserona. All those pleas fell on deaf ears.

No Eritrean intellectual worth his salt openly and publicly advised the Eritrean Government to withdraw from the "contested territories" and pursue the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict through legal, peaceful and diplomatic means. The Eritrean intellectuals could have effectively alleviated a bad situation from getting worse. These are lost opportunities! Each and every one of us has to search our souls and find the culprit within ourselves. We miserably failed our people. We should be strong enough to admit that we are also culpable. Now, we cannot point-fingers at the leaders and blame them for everything. That will not be fair.

We have to intimately familiarize ourselves with international laws and norms so that we can legally play them to the advantages of the Eritrean people. We should not give the outside world an appearance and an impression that we "violate" international law. First impression is important. Most importantly, a small nation such as Eritrea will always need international law be on its side. Even mighty nations such as the USA always take extra caution and do the laborious leg work of covering all bases of international law and diplomacy before they engage themselves in military activities. They say appearance is deceiving, though in the diplomatic world appearance is reality. Once a false appearance takes a grip it becomes difficult to change it to conform to reality. Because we failed miserably in that diplomatic endeavor it appears we handed Ethiopia in a silver platter an excuse, a flimsy one at that but nevertheless an excuse, to invade sovereign Eritrean territories and create a humanitarian crises unprecedented in Eritrean history. All these crimes were committed under the pretext that Ethiopia was "recovering its territories" taken by force by Eritrea. The world did not even raise a voice. Still, we cannot demand or expect the world to raise its voice on our behalf. If history is a guide the world remained silent during the dark hours of the Jews in Europe, Armenia, Rwanda and in Kosovo until it was too late. The world, in particular Africa, is crowded with savageries and cruelties. In such a brutal world we, Eritreans, are not a special people that deserve extra consideration and attention. We have to digest this hard and pragmatic world reality. Our actions should take into account these world factors. We cannot use the UN, or the USA, or the OAU as scapegoats for our own failures and mistakes. We should always control our destiny and never allow our destiny to be determined by the political and diplomatic wishy-washy world.

Who is responsible for the humanitarian crisis of almost biblical proportions that is looming in Eritrea? Definitely the cruel Ethiopian regime is responsible. There are no questions about that. Assigning the biggest blame on the Ethiopian regime is the easy part. It is necessary to note, however, that only fools expect a humane treatment from an enemy, and the Ethiopian regime has proved it through its actions that it is an avowed and a primary enemy of Eritrea and the Eritrean people. However, it is laughable and sad that when one hears some Eritreans trying to pass the buck solely to the enemy and absolve Eritreans free from any responsibility and blame of this tragedy. Are Eritreans scot-free from any blame? This will not fly.

The question that has to be answered is did the Eritrean leaders manage the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict properly? We need a summation of that experience, even though technically the war is not over yet and that peace and harmony have not yet been restored between the Eritrean and the Ethiopian peoples. It will be a disservice to our people, if at the minimum we do not do that. Only then will we be able to properly manage the next challenges that may be thrown at us by our enemies. The Eritrean leaders have to learn a valuable lesson. They cannot keep close to their chests issues that significantly affect the lives and properties of Eritreans. They should not keep the Eritrean people in the dark. The most important point is that they have to ask the Eritrean people for advice, guidance and concurrence on issues that are of life and death. In short, the Eritrean people should not be taken for granted.

Once the Eritrean Constitution is implemented these issues will be that of the parliament, the courts and other democratic institutions. It is a pity that after nine years of de facto Eritrean independence, Eritrea has a government that still operates without a constitution. At the snail-pace that we are marching on, no one knows for sure when we will have a government that operates based on a constitution. I am not so naïve to believe that the implementation of the Eritrean Constitution will be the panacea of all Eritrean political and economic ills, far from that. Still, we have to take the first step towards creating a liberal democratic society. The constitution is that first step. The Eritreans fought for thirty years not only for independence, but most importantly in order to have a state that is governed by the rule of laws and not by the rule of men. There should be absolute agreement among all Eritreans of all political persuasion on this cardinal truth.

Lastly, one of the scenarios is that the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict could end up in court for arbitration. We need a contingency plan. We need to hire well-known American or English experts in international law to legally represent Eritrea. These foreign experts could work in collaboration with Eritrean lawyers. I am confident that most of the contested territories will legally fall into Eritrean hands. However, there is a catch. In court it always helps to be represented by the best lawyers money can buy. It is my sincere hope that this will not be bungled. We have to put the fallacious ideology of "self-reliance" aside when it comes to who best will legally represent Eritrea. Our goal is to legally win the case.

While I am at it, it is necessary to highlight that "self-reliance" does not exist in a global market economy. "Self-reliance" was important during the liberation struggle. It has to be noted, however, that during the liberation struggle for all intents and purposes, we were running a household economy, and we had no choice since no country recognized us as an independent state. We are an independent nation recognized by the whole world now.

Thus, we cannot conduct economic policies that were relevant during the armed liberation struggle, at a time when we are a member of the family of independent states. We have to be able to change gears and recognize this fundamental and radical change of realty. In the present world, unless we want our people to perpetually live in subsistence living, and we foolishly want to run an economy that is based not on exchanges, trades and specialization but in household economy, self-reliance has no place. Even mighty nations such as the USA, Canada, Japan, England, Germany and all countries of the Western World do not conduct economies that are based on "self-reliance." These powerful countries are not self-sufficient either in many products. Their economies are based on exchanges, trades, specialization based on their comparative advantages and competitive world marketplace. The defunct ideology of "self-reliance" exists only in failed states such as North Korea, and is usually associated with wretched poverty, malnutrition, diseases, low-life expectancy and political instability. I do not believe any one wants Eritrea to be like North Korea.

"Self-reliance" is dead and buried in the old Soviet Union. Let us not try to revive it in Eritrea.

I hope finally peace and harmony will be restored between the Eritrean and Ethiopian peoples.