Thursday, 17 January 2013
Rejoinder: Targeting Eritrea’s Economy
By Sophia Tesfamariam
In an effort to undermine Eritrea's sustainable
development in general, and its promising mining industry in particular, Human
Rights Watch (HRW) has issued yet another report based on the usual
fabrications and deliberate distortions of Eritrea’s cultural norms and
national realities.
Though HRW has admitted that it has no presence in,
and had never visited Eritrea, nonetheless, it has boldly chosen to indict
Eritrea on “human rights
abuses” based on dubious testimonies of only four people. By
HRW’s own admission, there were well over 440 Eritrean workers working for
Segen at the Bisha mining site, and yet based on an interview of four people
HRW is telling us it was able to reach a conclusion on the working conditions
in Eritrea’s mining industry. Its methodology is neither scientific nor based
on a randomly-selected representative sample. HRW didn’t reach its conclusions
based on research or facts, but based on its premeditated agenda of targeting
Eritrea’s growing economy.
The intentions of the sponsors of HRW report is clear:
failing to cripple the Eritrean economy using sanctions through the UN Security
Council as it was attempted in 2011, they are now hoping to use a fake allegation
of human rights abuse of workers to advance their ill-intentioned agenda. Their
target is Eritrea's economy, particularly the up-and-coming construction
industry which is undertaking the commendable task of rebuilding the country
with indigenous skill and know-how. By targeting the construction companies,
the hope is to force a culture of dependence and systematic exploitation on an
African nation. We can only say this is the result of an all too familiar
racist mentality that is based on the notion that says: “Africans can do
nothing good.”
One thing consistent in the reports by HRW and similar
other self-appointed human rights advocates, including Amnesty International,
and Christian Solidarity Worldwide, is their ability to exploit their Western audience's
ignorance of the cultural underpinnings of the societies they write about,
especially those in Africa. They purposely twist and sensationalize the normal
way of life in these societies to appeal to Western audiences and market their
reports to get some press attention in the West.
For example, here is how a Norwegian Human Rights
Center, quoting Amnesty International, attempted to document human rights abuse
with a straight face: “The food was very
poor … half-cooked bread, lentils, and half-cooked unsalted cabbage, … placed
in a communal bowl … [and] we had to eat by hand … We were given half a cup of
tea in the morning, and two meals a day at noon and 4pm. We had tap water to drink….” How eating
by hand lentil and unsalted half-cooked cabbage, from a common bowl, and
drinking tap water is considered an abuse is mind boggling. As anyone who
visited Eritrean restaurants around the world will attest, Eritreans do not use
spoon and fork to eat their food. As the fork is to the Europeans, chopstick to
the Chinese, Eritreans have developed an art of eating using their God-given
fingers; yes an art that one has to learn using the hands properly.
In a similar vein, the latest HRW report talks of
human rights abuses of workers at the Bisha mining site because the workers
look “poorly fed and housed; … that food
was consistently inadequate and that meat was ‘out of the question.’ … [Workers]
had no access to latrines of any kind. Overall, … laborers ‘live[d] a
dehumanized, neglected and diminished way of life.” We are being told
absence of meat and modern latrines is a “dehumanizing and neglected way of
life.” However, HRW doesn’t care to explain that, for the most part, meat is
not part of the daily diet of an overwhelming majority of Eritreans, rich or
poor, Christian or Muslim. Most likely the Bisha diet consisted of lentil and
other protein-rich legumes and whole wheat or barley based bread, yet because
it is not western-style diet full of fat, salt or sugar we are being told it is
an exhibit of human rights abuse. For those who care to know, for most
Eritreans meat is for special holidays. As for the use of modern latrines, as
sad as it sounds, this is the reality of every household in Africa outside of
the main cities. Eritrean construction companies such as Segen are getting a
flack by people that are totally ignorant of current realities, for the simple
fact of working hard to change this reality. In short, the HRW report has
neither evidence nor knowledge of human rights abuses. That is why its recommendations
are all superfluous.
Another sensational report is one where a Christian
Solidarity Worldwide video narrator levels a similar charge based on a
complaint by an individual. The narrator says: “We used to eat [sic] black
tea and bread for breakfast, spoonful of lentil in water shared between eight
prisoners. Saturdays were really special because spinach was blended with the
usual lentil mix. On Sundays we were given the hard inedible meat from animal
intestines, as disgusting as that sounds, we chose to eat it simply for the
protein.” Here again, eating in groups of eight, a cherished Eritrean
dining culture is being presented an exhibit of abuse. It is the most common
way of feasting during weddings or big parties. The size of the group has to be
eight, no more no less. In fact, in rural Eritrea eating from your own plate
instead of with a group from a big bowl or tray is considered a sign of
selfishness. As for the “disgusting” inedible animal intestine, it is a delicacy meal. It is a specialty food that is only
prepared for special feasts, it is highly doubtful that it was served to anyone
on regular basis. Here it is deliberately being presented to bring outrage
among western audiences. To an Eritrean it is not the well cleaned, seasoned
and cooked animal intestine that is disgusting, but the meal the West salivates
for: food like caviar, lobster, crab or pork. Plain and simple these foods are
considered unclean and no one will touch them.
In a nutshell, this particular HRW report should be
seen for what it truly is: a malicious distortion of an African reality towards
a political end. We hope all those who take time to read the report see through
the despicable misrepresentations that are being paraded as concerns for labor
and human rights.
U-Report: Unidentified Assailants Shoot Dead A Nigerian Editor
Report By: Committee To Protect Journalists
Nigerian authorities should determine the motive behind the murder of an editor on Saturday and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Unidentified men shot dead Ikechukwu Udendu, editor of Anambra News, a monthly newspaper in southeastern Anambra state, while he was returning home at night from a commercial printing house in the city of Onitsha, news reports said. Udendu had gone to the printing company to see if the paper was ready for distribution, the reports said. Emeka Odogwu, a reporter for the local paper The Nation, told CPJ that Anambra News covered news stories from Anambra state.
Chukwulozie Udendu, publisher of Anambra News and Udendu's brother, told local journalists that he had received an anonymous phone call on Saturday night in which he was told to retrieve the journalist's body in front of a local restaurant, news reports said.
Udendu's brother told CPJ he did not know what stories Udendu was working on before he died. Local journalists told CPJ they suspect Udendu was killed in connection with his reporting, but did not offer further details.
News accounts reported that Ballah Nasarawa, the state's police commissioner, promised to personally investigate the murder and identify the journalist's killers.
CPJ documented the murder of a Nigerian journalist in January 2012. Enenche Akogwu, a TV reporter, was gunned down while he attempted to interview witnesses of a terrorist attack in the city of Kano, news reports said.
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