Isaias Afwerki - Eritrea
New Internationalist magazine,
March 2004
Who is Isaias Afwerki? No-one really knows.
Even those who fought alongside him for three decades are baffled
by his unpredictable behaviour.
The facts are easy to state. Afwerki was
born in 1945 into a large family in what is now known as Eritrea.
After a couple of years of university education he dropped out
to join an armed struggle with the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF),
which was seeking independence from Ethiopia.
It was not long before he and a few other
fighters founded a splinter group, the Eritrean People's Liberation
Front (EPLF). The EPLF was known internationally as progressive
and had the support of the majority of the Eritrean population.
Within a decade Afwerki was named Deputy Secretary General and
made responsible for guiding most aspects of the Front's mission.
In 1991 the three-decade-long armed struggle
with Ethiopia came to an end when the EPLF entered the capital,
Asmara, and claimed victory. Afwerki, who had put aside his former
Marxist ideology for moderate pragmatism, became head of a provisional
government and in 1993 was named President. Much of the credit
for the military and political victory was given to Afwerki, although
it was the umbrella structure of the EPLF that deserved the full
credit. Still, Eritreans loved him for delivering a dream many
had doubted would be achieved in their lifetimes.
It was not too long before it began to
dawn on the country that all was not well with their leader. In
November 1993 the President ordered the imprisonment of war-injured
veterans for protesting about difficult living conditions in military
barracks. The only independent human rights organization was shut
down. In 1997 the President unilaterally ordered the closure of
all international development agencies working in the country.
Less than half-a dozen local non-governmental organizations remained
registered and operational. Nonetheless, when former President
Bill Clinton made a trip to Africa in 1998 he called Afwerki one
of the most promising of the 'new generation' of African leaders.
That same year an unexpected border conflict
with neighbouring Ethiopia suddenly spiralled into a crisis. With
little regard for the lives of hundreds of thousands of young
people, Afwerki turned down several offers of a peaceful settlement
and plunged the country into war. Outnumbered and outspent, Eritrea
suffered an enormous loss of economic resources and human lives.
By the end of the conflict a couple of years later Eritrea's economy
was crippled and nearly a third of the population was dependent
on food aid. The President, who had defiantly boasted about Eritrea's
self-reliant stance, was quick to negotiate deals for famine relief
with the international community.
It was not until September 2001 that Eritreans
finally woke up to the true nature of their leader. Taking advantage
of the world's diverted attention after 1l September, Afwerki
ordered the arrest of 1l of the highest-ranking members of his
administration - many of them his closest friends and colleagues
who had fought alongside him for nearly four decades. They were
arrested for 'suspected treason', punishable by death. It was
evident to many that their real 'crime' was to call repeatedly
for democratic reform and accountability. On the same day all
private newspapers were shut down and 18 independent journalists
were imprisoned for 'threatening national security'.
To add insult to injury, the President
decided that the Eritrean people were 'not ready' for multiparty
democracy and the constitution would have to be shelved indefinitely;
there would be no elections in the foreseeable future.
Afwerki, who once took pride in being
a humble comrade among his people, has shed his casual attire
for fancy suits and is developing a taste for autocracy. Eritreans
must now endure life under the same fear and terror they fought
to bring to an end in 1991. Prisons are full of journalists, university
professors and former political officers. Young people are sent
to rural areas for several years to do their 'national service',
which is aimed at keeping them from protesting against the Government.
Renewed conflict with Ethiopia looms over a boundary-commission
decision to locate the village of Badme in Eritrea.
Eritreans value their nationhood and don't
like to air their 'dirty laundry' in public. Protecting the nation
from a dictator was not something they figured on having to do
when they were planning to build a new nation. Many Eritreans
were optimistic that their new country would be a model of democratic,
egalitarian rule. Such dreams have had to be deferred, as people
fight long and hard for democracy and to attain 'liberation' in
the full sense of the word. Some lessons have had to be learned
the hard way.
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