Across the diaspora this weekend, Eritreans are doing something the PFDJ has not allowed inside Eritrea for more than two decades: meeting openly, debating freely, and deciding together.
From the EBRF public meeting in Seattle to chapter discussions in Israel, members of the Eritrean Blue Revolution Front are gathering to assess the current situation and plan the next steps of a peaceful struggle. Questions are asked, leaders answer, disagreements are voiced, and no one is jailed for speaking.
Compare that with Asmara. Eritrea has never held a national election since independence. The National Assembly has not met since 2002. The 1997 constitution was ratified and then shelved. Journalists, ministers and ordinary citizens arrested in 2001 have never seen a courtroom.
This is why EBRF's program matters. Under
@BlueFront90547 and the leadership of
@BeyeneGerezghe1, EBRF calls for:
- a peaceful, time-limited transition with clear deadlines
- an implemented constitution, not a document locked in a drawer
- independent courts and due process for every detainee
- an elected parliament that decides on war and peace
- an end to indefinite national service
- good-neighbourly diplomacy with Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and the Red Sea states
The town halls we hold abroad are a preview of the Eritrea we are building: citizens who organise peacefully, hold their leaders accountable and choose their own representatives.
We ask our partners to protect this civic space too. Eritreans who attend these meetings too often face intimidation, pressure on their families back home and coerced "2% tax" demands.
@StateDept @AsstSecStateAF @SenateForeign @HouseForeign @RepJoeWilson @TiborPNagyJr, standing with the Eritrean people means supporting a peaceful, democratic transition and confronting transnational repression wherever it reaches.
#EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChangeInEritrea