!3 (1 by Woldeab Woldemariam Oslo, Norway, October, 1987 14() r They were displaced and moved towads the f\ West where they are still living today, by powerful Cushite tribes from northern Sudan. Those tribes included Northern mainland~ in the Western lowlands first, and on the highlands later on. Their penetration seemed to have been They called themselves Habashat, from the name of one of the tribes and made Geez,the language of the other tribe, •• their official language. Their center was first established in the Eritrean highlands, Hamasien, Serae and Akkele Guzai. Akkele Guzai. They expanded their territory following the valleys of the river Mereb, Barka, Anseba and along the coast of the Red Sea. Because of its commercial and military strategic position, Eritrea had always been coveted by all great nations of the time, throughout the centuries, from time immemorial. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and later Turks, tried in vain to sUbjugate it. On Feb 5, 1885, Italy occupied the Red Sea port, Massawa, with the encouragement of Britain, who wanted her as an ally against the Mahdist of the SUdan, and with valid cooperation from Emperor Menelik II of Shoa, Ethiopia. Italy occupied Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, in August 1889 and in 1890 named her newly aquired possession~ "Eritrea," and kept it under its colonial administration for 51 years. That is, from 1890 to 1~4l, when it lost it to the British army in World War II. Eritrea remained under the British care taker administration for 11 years (1941 - 1952), pending its political settlement by the Big Four allies; Britain, America, Russia, and France, and if these powers failed to do so, then by the UN general assembly. " The treaty of peace between Italy and the allies provided that the political future of the former Italian colonies, Eritrea, Ly~~a, Somalia, be settled in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants. Accordingly, the four great powers sent their representatives to Eritrea. The investigation commission, as it was called, visited different regions of Eritrea and held meetings with a ,representative of the different Eritrean political parties, from Nov 12, 1947 to Jan 3, 1948. There were three main po~ical p~rti~s: the Muslim League, the Liberal Progressive Party both of which asked for independence, after 10 years of UN trusteeship administration, with Britain as a trustee power. The Unionist Party, \JAieh advocated unconditional annexation to Ethiopia, and the Pro-Italian party waish wanted Italian administration for 15 years. The findings of the commission were different from one another clearly reflecting the conflicting interests of the authors. ~he British commissioner suggested that the Eritrean highland should be given to Ethiopia while the Western lowlands should be annexed to the Sudan. To demonstrate the fairness of his suggestion, he claimed that the majority of the highlanders were like the Ethiopian Coptic Christians and were in favor of union with Ethiopia. The Eritrean lowlanders, on the other hand, were like the Sudanese Muslims and wanted union with the Sudan. It was true that the great majority of the Eritrean highlanders were, like the Ethiopians, Coptic christians and the majority wanted union with Ethiopia. It was also true that the Eritrean .lowlanders were, like the Sudanese, Muslims. But it was untrue that they wanted union with the Sudan. On the contrary, they did not want to join the Sudan but to remain with the rest of Eritrea as an independent nation. The truth in this case was that the British adopted this aproach to gain a bargaining position in an effort to persuade Ethiopia to agree to the creation of greater Somalia, consisting of former Italian, British, and French Somaliland, to which would be added part of the Ethiopian Ogaden called Haud. The American Government wanted that Ethiopia be accorded access to the sea through the port of Assab and the rest of Eritrea be placed under international trusteeship. As will be seen later, the United States and Russia had changed their position more than twice in the course of the UN general assembly's debate on Eritrea. France wanted to avoid granting independence to any of the three colonies fearing that buch a solution might jeopardize its hold over its own African colonies. Hence, it suggested the return to Italy of all the three former colonies, including Eritrea, under the guise of trusteeship adminstration. Initially, Russia did not show particular interest in the fate of Eritrea. Her attention was concentrated on Libfa, and specifically on Tripolitania. She did not care how the other big powers disposed of Eritrea, if only they agreed to let Russia have her way with Tripolitania. Later Russia joined France· in asking for Italian trusteeship for Eritrea.It was in these circumstances that the question of Eritrea was brought before the UN general assembly in 1948. At this time the political atmosphere was radically changed. The Italian elections were over, the communists were defeated and the pro-West Chritian Democrats came to power. Italy had begun to be active in the international arena as well as at the united Nations. She was supported by the Western powers, especially France, as well as the Latin American groups. Britain and Italy worked out a plan for the settlement of the question of Eritrea and Libya. It was called the "Bevin-Sforza plan" after the names of their foreign ministers. The plan suggested the partition of Libya into three regions --Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripolitania -- assigning the first to France, the second to Britain, and the third to Italy. It also suggested partition of Eritrea into three parts: first, the highlands including the Eastern lowlands, second, Asmara and Massawa, with special municipal charters for the two cities, third, the Western p=ovince. The first to be assigned to Ethiopia, the second to become semi-autonomous cities under international supervision, the third to be annexed to the Sudan. The forreula was accepted by the united states, the Latin American group and France but rejected by the Soviet Bloc, the Islamic states and India. violent anti-Italian demonstrations broke out in Tripolitania and Somalia against the formula. The Latin American bloc announced that since Italy did not obtain either Tripolitania or Somalia, they would oppose adoption of the Bevin-Sforza plan as a whole. Consequently, the supporters of the formula failed to achieve the requisite two-thirds majority for passage. The case of Libya and Somalia was disposed of by the end of 1949, while the problem of Eritrea remained unsolved. At the time, a new, but not unexpected, event occured in the Eritrean political situation. The parties which opposed any form of union with Ethiopia,and were advocating independence, namely the Liberal Progressive party, the Muslim League, the New Eritrea party, the Veterans association and the Italo-Eritrean association came together to form the Eritrean Independence Bloc. A declassified top secret report written in December 1949 by Brigadier Drew, then Chief Administrator of Eritrea, and addressed to the British Foreign Office, acknowledged that with the formation of the Bloc, the Eritrean independentists had scored a crushing victory over the Unionist Pro Ethiopia Party. Britain opposed the Bloc strenuously at the united Nations as well as in Eritrea itself. It relentlessly insisted in her propaganda that Eritrea should not and could not ever be an independent state in any circumstance or at any time. The American delegate, Mr Acheson, supported indepence for Libya, the division of Eritrea between Ethiopia and the Sudan, and advocated Italian trusteeship for Somalia. The head of the French delegation, Mr Couve de Murvelle, stated that any decision on Eritrea must receive the agreement of both Ethiopian and Italian governments. He concluded his conciliatory speech saying that the French delegation hoped for a fruitful collaboration between Italy and Ethiopia, thus, slightly modifying the position he held previously in favor of Italian trusteeship for Eritrea. He did not take the trouble to consider the will of the Eritrean population expressed to him when he visited Eritrea as a member of the Four Power Commission of Inquiry. The Soviet Union changed its opinion once more and proposed to give independence to all the ex-colonies: Libya immediately, Eritrea and Somalia after five years, during which they would remain under UN trusteeship with an administrator appointed by the Trusteeship council, and an advisory council composed of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Ethiopia, Italy, and two indegenous representatives appointed by the above-mentioned seven representatives. The Soviet Union was willing to concede Ethiopia an outlet to the sea through the port of Assab. Pakistan proposed independence for Libya after three years, independence for Eritrea after three years, leaving Ethiopia an outlet to the sea through Assab, independence for Somalia after ten years. The representative of the Chiang-Kai-Shek government of China declared that Ethiopia deserved an access to the sea which should be given through Assab, the rest of Eritrea would be placed under international trusteeship leading to independence. From Latin America, the delegate of Venezuela declared that the fate of the former Italian colonies could be decided only in the light of the Italian point view and with the cooperation of Italy. The Israeli delegate, Mr Eban, declared that all the All the Muslim states proposed independence for all three ex-colonies. supported the Anglo-American plan for partition. Ethiopia was almost completely isolated. The sponsorship for the union of Eastern Eritrea to Ethiopia by the United states submitted to the General Assembly. To produce such a t~ solution from these conflicting proposals appear, most difficult. The Anglo-Americans worked very hard to achieve Libya after three years, Italian trusteeship for Somala for ten years followed by independence, postponement of all solutions for Eritrea until the next General Assembly After lengthy and heated discussions to decide whether the votes to elect the commission of inquiry for Eritrea should or should not be done by a show of hands or by secret ballot, the commission was finally formed. It included Activities of pro-Ethiopian political banditry and terrorism already in full swing in 1947 during the Four mention two tragic incidents taken from eye witness reports, ~ one dated August 1916 and the other February 1950. At about 7 pm on August 28, 1946, at the close of the Muslim festival trucks each carrying a Bren gun. Armed soldiers drove through the town towards the Eritrean quarters with the troops firing on all those who did not wear the characteristic Muslim turban on their heads. Firing in the Sudan Defence Forces started to return to their barracks. British troops stationed in the same area as the Sudanese, were conspicuous by their absence. A British report of this tragic event stated that 59 Eritreans were killed, all Christians, and 33 were wounded. According to Eritrean estimates, the casualties were much higher. Relations between the Sudanese soldiers and the Eritrean population, Christians included, were excellent until that moment. No one in the whole world, except the British, of course, could understand why it happened. A court of inquiry was held by the British administration but its findings were not disclosed. Parliamentary questions produced no explanations as to how these troops had been able to take machine guns and armoured cars out of the barracks. All Asmara attended the funerals. The Chief Administrator, Brigadier Benoy, attended the service in the Coptic Christian cathedral and expressed the regret of the Administration, but compensation to the families of the victims was refused by the British government. The second story is also taken from eye witness accounts of the event and confirmed by British reports. On the occasion of the funeral of a Muslim railway employee who had been killed by unknown persons, most probably by pro- Ethiopian bandits, hand grenades were thrown against the procession when it reached the vicinity of Abba Shaul well in Asmara. No one was killed, but the confusion was horrible and tensions rose very high. The Muslims believed used. In those crazy days, people from both sides were reported having said that they regretted not having tanks lasted seven full days from Feb 21 to 27, in which about sixty were killed and 180 severely wounded from both sides. Peace was finally restored through the efforts of the Christian graves. It is most astonishing and hard to believe that this horrible, and at the same time misterious, accident happened before the eyes of the Five Power Commission of inquiry. The delegation of Burma, Guatemala, Norway, Pakistan and South Africa who comprised the Eritrean inquiry commission arrived in Eritrea on Feb 9, 1950 and completed their work on April 9, 1950. As soon as they arrived in Eritrea, they realized that the people had in fact the freedom of association and speech but that they did not at all excercise these freedoms in peace and security as provided for by the UN General Assembly resolution 9n this matter. They saw with their own eyes that the country reverbrated with bandits and urban terrorists who operated unchecked throughout the country and that those who worked for the independence of their country were unprotected and unsafe from the pro-Ethiopia criminal elements committed to annexation. with all that, the independence bloc did a wonderful work to present its case. Four of the five members of the commission, i.e. Pakistan, Guatemala, Burma, and South Africa, came out against annextation of Eritrea to Ethiopia. Only one, the Norwegian delegate, was in favor of total, immediate, and unconditional union of Eritrea with Ethiopia. He used all his ability, skill, and diplomatic experience to show himself more unionist than Britain, the inventor of the idea. crCMI1. Each memberof the federation would possess local legislative am executive autonany, rot full authority would be NoI"'legian delegate, was the only one whocameout with an tmsheathedsword to sustain Ethiopia's right to annex Eritrea irrleperrlenceam their gallant leaders, who, in the ipcredibly difficult situation, have been able to hold high the torch of OO\IDtry except for the unionists woo, in 1941, UIrler the nameof • 'patriotic association for the union of Eritrea with Ethiopia' had already nanifested their views, the ~sition parties did not · appear until 1946 am in 1947. Theywere, obviously born out of the !X)litical p:>Ssibility presented 1:¥ the discord between the pc:1Ners about the future of Eritrea am were creatd by a harrlful of ambitious Eritreans, {Brtly fomer officials in Italian service, who,by uniting in their groups, the apparently greater part of the M::>slem PJPulation, have urrleniably succeeded in giving to the nB'l-bompolitical activity an aspect of religious differences. Not rnly did 00 IX>litical divisions exist before 1946, l:ut there have irrleed never before existed any political feeling at all. Nordid there €Ner exist any hostile religious feeli~. ••• It can, therefore, safely be said, we think, that the situation which has 0ClW been created is, to a great extent, artificial; it is rot fourrledon serious considerations l:ut is partly the result of oonfusion in the mirrl of primi.ti ve rrasses wOO are Sl.IpIX)SEld to SUPIX>rt the irrleperrlence novement." As to the true meaningof the v.urd"irrleperrlence," in ~si tion to the word "union" Mr. Qvale carrrented: "To imposeobligation on Ethiopia to organize its relation with Eritrea en the basis of a federative status, cnIld easily lead to conflict am unrest am in the em errlanger the peace of East Africa. •••" It was oot clear what lvir. (}vale alluded to whenhe, in the alx>ve-mentiened report to the United Nations General Assembly, said that "before 1946 no {X)litical division existed in the country." If he alluded to political division legally recognized by the adminstrative authority, he was rot wrong, because before that date, no political party, and therefore, no "political divisicn" existed. But if he alluded, which seems to be the case, to political feelings, intentions, or orientations, in the mirrl of Eritrean people a1x>uttheir fOlitical future, he was grossly mistaken. In fact, in the last year of Brigadier Ialgrigg' s administration (1944) two p::>li tical novementshad already emerged on the Eritrean scene: one called the "Unionof Eritrea with Ethiopia," and the other called "Eritrea for Erit"'"eaIlS" later renamerl the "Liberal Progressive Party." It is important to stress that lx>thrlOvements were clarrlestine until 1946. rIlle"Love of CountryAssociation," or, as Mr.Ovaleerroneously refers to it the "Patriotic Associaticn" was rot a political p:rrty curl had 00 political prograrrmefor the Eritrean future. It was created in 1941to deferrl Eri trean lives and properties durin::Jthe rrost difficult perioo which followed the unexpected oollapse of the Italian oolonial regime arrl the €qUally unexpected British occupaticn. Because it was a broad oosed nationalist associaticn, anyEritrean oould belong to it. Myself, \'bldeab Woldemariam, fonoorpresident of "Irrleperrlent Eritrea Party," and later vice- secreatary general of the "Eritrean IrrleperrlenceBloc~" a ooalition of all anti-union political parties, have been one of the 12 Eritreans, six lvbslernsand six Qrristians, wtn were elected by the people to lead this organization. I remained a rremberof its a:mnittee until the errl of 1943. I want to say that during that period, we did not, even once, raise, let alone discuss, the question of the fX)litical future of Eritrea in a.rr rreetings. Besides I ammore than convinced that Mr. Qvale was aware of that urrleniable truth. But these blunders in the rerrlering of historical facts, although grave because they were p.1t forth in SUPfX)rt of evil intentions, did rot in themselves worry us to:> much. Whatworried us Irost was Mr. Qvale Iroral, rrental, arrl p:>litical attitude regarding the Eritrean questioo as a whole. As a representative of a civilized nation that is small in size but large in spirit, am reoownedfor its strict reutrality in international affairs, his opinion at the United Nations was oonsidered extrerrely important in shapiBJ world opinioo in matters of social justice. We, the leaders of the IIIrrleperrlenceBloc were looking at him with great Cope, rorderiBJ 00 certainty, that he wouldcane to our sUptX)rt. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a bitter disaFPJinterrent in a.rr fX)litical struggle. By oontrast, the attitude of the delegates of Guatemalaarrl Pakistan, who sUPfX)rted irrleperrlence, were notivatd by humaneooncerns arrl issues of justice arrl fairness. The delegates of Bunnaarrl South Africa, WID suggested federatioo of Eritrea with Ethiopia, were trying to reconcile the two irreconciliable positioos of the Uniooists am the IrrleperrlenceBloc. AIrongthe opponents of Eri trean irrleperrlence, Mr•. Qvale was the rrost cynical. Hadismissed the demarrlsam wishes of the Eritrean people for indeperx1enceas lithe result of confusion in the minI of primitive rrasses" and the {X>litical situation which he fourrlin Eritrea as "artificial. II It was inexplicably strange that for lvlr. Qvale rothing which caIre to him fran the Eritrean people for his judgerrent was genuine and legitimate. On the oontrary, he views the covetous demandsof the hideous empire of the late Haile Sellassie as legitimate and that its demandshad to be satisfied even at the cost of the lives and property of an entire people. OnJuly 13th, 1950, the UNInterim Carmittee began to discuss the future of Eritrea. The United Kingdondelegate whospoke first praised the N::>rwegian delegate for his "realistic report." Hethen repeated his gove:rm:mt' s old idea of partition. The US delegate supported him crlding that "indeperrlence for ~itrea igoored the legitimate interests of Ethiopia and would.only increase tension in East Africa." Canadasupported the federal soluticn, arguing that partition might endanger gocd relatic:ns aIrol1g the states cnncerned. NewZealand rejected p:lrtition am 5Upp::>rted federation. Australia was of the sameopinion as that expressed by NewZealarrl. Argentina announcedthat she wanted Eritrea to be prepared for self-government through the mechanism of fErleration. Israel arguErlthat if federation was aq.ceed upon, safeguards Y.Ould be needed to ensure that federation rernainErla fact am rot rrerely a word. Egypt said she wouldwelcane union of Eritrea anj Ethiopia under one CrCMI1.Saudi Arabia declared that it was a dangerous expe.cirlalt to assumethat the doctrine of indeperrlenceshould be ruled out on grourrls of illiteracy or abse~ of ea::>nanicviability. SaLrliArabia would therefore press for Eritrean autonany probably in an Ethiopian federation. Leban::>n arrl Syria l:::othdeclared in favour of fErleration. Pakistan repeated her support for irrleperrlence. After the qJening speeches in the fifth General Assembly, the British spokesmanrepeated the proposal of his delegation. 'Ihe Norwegiandelegation clung to the proposal of total, i.rrIrediate,and uncorrlitional annexation. MrArutinian of the Soviet delegation prorosed irrleperrleoce for Eritrea granting Ethiopia an outlet to the sea through the p:>rt of Assab. The delegate of South AFrica assailErl MrArutinian of the Soviet Union saying that his cx::x.mtry supported the idea of Eritrean irrlepilen~ because it believed an irrleperrlent Eritrea would be so inmature politically as to qualify as a perfect puppet for ~ Soviets. On November13th, two resolutions were tabled. .'!he first, by the Soviet Union, proposed imnaliate irrleperrlence for Eritrea am the withdrawal of British forces within three rronths. TIlesecorrl, by Iraq, called for the election of a national assembly to determine, rot later than January 1953, whether Eritrea should "enter into sane form of federation with Ethiopia urrler the Ethiopian crown, or becc:1TE an irrleperrlent sovereign state granting Ethiopia suitable access to the sea." Mr. Jose{i1de Jean of Haiti, atterrling to the lack of security then existing in the whole of Eritrea saiJ "while admitting that Eritrea had been severed fran Ethiopia by oolonial exploitation, we feel suspicion had been prerlucedby terrorist activities," implying that Ethiopia had used terrorist tactics to achieveher em. 'Ibis remarkdrew an angry respcnse fran the Ethiopianminister of foreign affairs whodenied that Ethiopia was in any wayresponsible for disorders in Eritrea rot he fell into flagrant contradictions whenhe adled that "terroristic activities wereby no meansall on one side." '!he latter statement clearly implied that sane acts of terrorism had Weed a:me fran the Ethiopian side. Althoughmmyof the delegations were gravitating teMard the Iraqi proposal, a diversity of views were presented by other delegations. '!he delegate of Uruguaydeclared that his delegation wouldnot oppose trusteeship. '!be delegate of El Salvador favoured federation rot felt that it was still too early to say what were the wishes of the Eritrean [X)pUlation. '!be delegation of the Soviet Union rej ectoo the idea of federation OOservingthat Eritrea had been "the object of colonial exploitation arrl bore the yokeof colonial slavery." '!he delegate of NewZealarrl declared that Ethiopia should have access to the sea rot "the first thought nust be justice for Eritrea." ~hile 1.1Irlerthe p:ltronage of the United States, a newfonnula had been workedout. It was SIXXlSOred l:¥ fourteen nanber states: Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark,Ecuador, Greece, Liberia, Mexico, Panama,Paraguay, Peru, 'furkey, arrl the TEA. 'Ihe l5 delegate, wtx:> intrcrluced the draft resolution believd that it represented a "practical solution" whichwould rot cxrnpletely rreet the desire of all interested parties, rot would go a long way to rreeting the d:>j ecti ves of the Irrle¢eoce Bloc arrl Unionist Party, the request of Ethiopia to have an access to the sea arrl the guarantees to the Italian am half-caste residents in Eritrea with regard to humanrights arrl the right to carry on their rosiness. 'Ihe Dermarkdelegate gave his support to the federal draft resolution on the 1.1Irlerstarrlingthat the resolution alla.ved for "adjustment" l:¥ deuncratic rreans in the light of future developnent. 'Ihe Cubandelegate, on the other han::i,preferred the original Iraqi plan. 'Ihe Yugoslavdelegate argued that federation wasbetter than "simple IreChanical incorporation." 'Ihis was a d'large of attib . rle 00 his p:lrt contrasting with his earlier what were the wishes of the Eritrean fX)pUlation. 'Thedelegation of the Soviet Unionrej eclE:rlthe idea of fooeration cbserving that Eritrea had been "the object of colonial exploitation am bore the yokeof colonial slavery." '!he delegate of NewZealam declaroo that Ethiopia should have access to the sea rot "the first thought nust be justice for Eritrea." ~while urrler the [Btronage of the Unitoo States, a newfonnula had been workooout. It was sponsorooby fourteen rranber states: Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Denrne:rrk, Ecuador, Greece, Liberia, Mexico, Panama.,Paraguay, Peru, 'furkey, am the tEA. 'TheUS delegate, whointrcrluCErlthe draft resolution believd that it representoo a "practical solution" whichwouldrot canpletely neet the desire of all interestoo parties, rot wouldgo a long way to rreeting the ooj ecti ves of the Irrlepjeoce Bloc am Unionist Party, the request of Ethiopia to havean access to the sea am the guarantees to the Italian am half-caste residents in Eritrea with regard to humanrights am the right to carry on their rosiness. TIleDerrnarkdelegate gave his support to the fooeral draft resolution on the urrlerstarrling that the resolution allc:Medfor "adjustment" by dellocratic rreans in the light of future developrent. 'TheCubandelegate, on the other harrl, preferroo the original Iraqi plan. 'TheYugoslavdelegate arguoo that fooeration wasbetter than "simple rrechanical incorporation." TIlis was a d1ar'¥Je of attib.rle 00 his [Brt contrasting with his earlier The Australian delegate said his delegation had originally favourErlEthiopian trusteeship over Eritrea, but would OCM join in supporting fEderation. '!he Italian delegate announCErl that his country favourErlirrleperrlencefor Eritrea am ti.at it was "a sacrEd flOral duty" to work for this solution. IrrlePerrlencewas a right regardless of eroncmic status. If, hcMever,the UNdecidEd utX>Jl a fEderal solution for Eritrea, the Italian people woulddo their best to carry it out in the hope that other Parties woulddo the same. The enlightened Haitian delegate, Mr. de Jean, said that the fourteen-pcMers' fErleral plan seemedan "ideal" canpranise, but that it ignorErlthe "rroral interest." He ad:1Erlthat a lli sponsorEd fErleration canoot be "imposErl"on the Eritrean people. At tile sarre time, if the plan were rejectEd by the Eritrean people, it wouldbe a great blCMto the prestige of the UnItEdNations. The paln should, therefore, be "provisional" until accepted by the Eritreans. As irrlicatErl earlier, the Iraqi proposal oontinuEdto draw oonsiderable attention. Dr. fuharrrnej Fadhill Al Jamali, the delegate fran Iraq, supportErlfErleration rot ad:1Erlthat a national assembly should be creatErl so that the Eritrean people <XlUld make federal proposal l:7y Ethiopia. The Ethiopian minister of foreign affairs, MrAklilu, whospoke next, statal solemnly that Ethiopia The IN General AssemblyI S resolution inclooErl 15 articles of which Art 1 reccmrerrlErlthat "Eritrea will constitute an Elections were hald in Eritrea 01 March25 am 26, 1952 to select representatives whowould discuss am decide upon the oonstitution prep:rred by Dr Anze M3.tienzo. Sixty eight members ~lly divided between fvbslemsam Christians were elected to the Eritrean Assembly. 'Ihe a:jUal divisien of Christian curl M:>slem seats corresporrloo roughly to pop..1lationestimates made by the British Administration. The unionists captured the najority of the plateau aJl1Stituency but had little success elsewhere. '!he l-bslen Ie:igue of the western Province was successful in capturing the majority of those aJl1Stituencies. The Bloc won several seats in AkkeleGuzai am Serae, a feN seats in the westem provinces, rot its ma.instrength came fran the coastal am Saho tribes am the lwbslempop..1lationof Asmaraam fv1assawa.li3nce, the l-bslemLeague of the Western Province fourrl intself holding the balance of ~ between the tmionists an] the Bloc. As a natter of fact, a cxxrpranisearrangement was reached through the direct rrediation of the British government by which the top posts in th~ Eri trean governmentwould be equally sharEd by Christian am Moslem leaders. Hencea Chrstian was elected dUef executive arrl a r>bslemwas elected president of the assembly in August 1952. '!be emperor signed the Eritrean-Ethiopian federation act in September 11, 1952 am Eritrea 'NdS formally joined with Ethiopia en September 15 of that year. n1e anperor appointed his son-in-law as his representative in Eritrea as his representative in Eritrea wooarrived with his wife in Asnara m September13th. OnOctober 4th, the emperor himself carneto the Eritrean capital after cutting the ribl:on m the ~eb river, the fonner 1::ourrlary between the two countries. '!he anperor launched his strange career in Eritrea by violating the federal constitutien two days after he ratified it with his signature. Hedid so whenhe planted his representative in the Eritrean capital. '!he general assanbly resolutien does rot provide for a representative of the emperor in Eritrea. '!he post was arbitrarily created by the UNcormissioner at· the behest of the anperor. '!he leaders of the IrrleperrlenceBloc $ought strenuousIy against such a dangerous precedent. '!hey tria] in vain to persuade the COlmissionerthat a rePresentative of the emperor in Asrnarawas a Trojan Horse placed inside the Eritrean Goverrm:mt. Hewas angered by cur cnmlel1tarrl said, with incandescent eyes and an irritated voice "Doyou want me to fight for your freedcm?" we answered "No sir, we den' t want you to do that, but we want you to provide us with the legal shield that wouldenable us to deferrl cur freedcm curselves, arrl above all, we don't want you to create in our constitutien loopholes through which gnall arms maybe fired against cur fragile autonany." But AnzeMatienzowas tlI'rler tremerrlouspressure fran the Ethiopian goverrm:mtarrl therefore refused to allay cur legitimate fears. As we expected, the emperor's representative began, as soon as he arrived in Asnara, to underminethe newly created autoncmJUs goverrurentof Eritrea through the use of oorrupt strategies such as bribery, intimidation, arrl the provocation of errlemic oonflict arrongthe Eritreans themselves. Those whohad 0H?0Sed the union of Eritrea arrl Ethiopia were harrassed, arrested arrl persecuted by the police without trial or they were cx:mpelledto leave their oountry arrl go into exile soon after the federation carneinto effect. Anongthe manyvictims of Ethiopian persecution were Ras TesemnaAsbercm, fonoor president of the Bloc for Irrleperrlence, ThrahimSultan, secretary general of the sameparty, Elias Toklu, director of the Voice of Eritrea newspaperarrl this writer, WoldeabWoldemcrriam, vice secretaty general of the Bloc for Irrleperrlence, director of the Eri trean Unity newspaper (Hanti Eritra), president of the Eritrean WorkersAssociation. '!be latter, WoldeabWoldanariam,ooIds the re<:x::lrd of p::>litical assassination attempts having survived seven such attempts on his life by agents of the governmentof Ethiopia. Favoritism by the Ethiopian governmentwas a source of oonsiderable discontent. '!bere was discontent even arrongnenbers of the Unionist Party whofelt that they were not being adequately rewarded for their services to Ethiopia. '!be enperor I s interference in the internal affairs of Eritrea became progressively nore evident as Ethiopia appropriated Eritrea's rights. In M:iyof the sarre year, the Eritrean parliament voterl by overwhelmingmajority to request the Eritrean chief executive the violation of Eritrean rights by the govemnent of Ethiopia disguised as the "federal" government. By 1955, the emperor's the president of the Eri trean Assanbly. In August 1955, they were replaced by Asfaha Holdemichael, the anperor's vice representative The last Eritrean assembly met on lvlarch15, 1956 to discuss At'lLt an Ethiopian proposal to c31mleIrl the Eri trean constitution to abolish the two official languages in favour of Amharic. It also " In r1:lrch1958, the Eritrean Labour UnionFederation, which had gone undergrourrl five years earlier, staged a maJ£lroth derronstration against the annexationist designs of the Ethiopian government. The emperor :cespou:Jed by ordering its suppression by force of arms. Fran that rx>int cnwan:1,the systenatic dismantling of EritrE'an institutions was well on its way: In Nov., 1959, the Eri trean flag was officially rennved am the Ethiopian flag was hoisted in its place. '!he seal of the Eritrean Governmentwas rerrovedan] its inscription was dlanged fran "Governmentof Eritrea" to " Eritrean Administration." In 1960, Eri trean Schools were placed urrler the j urL;tiction of the Education Depar1:rrentof Ethiopia. That sameyear, manystudents were arrested for taking prrt in a denonstration demarrling restoration of the Eritrean flag and seal ard the use of the title "Goverrvnentof Eri trea. " Thus, when thE:! enperor realizal that annexation could rot be achieved by legal arrl denncratic means, he decided to llJ.lilaterally dissolve the fErleration am annex Eritrea. On Nov. 14 1962, Ethiopia supported by her troops stational in Eritrea announca:1 the amlition of the fErleration am declare] Eritrea' its 14th province. 'I11eemperor could not give the UNam the world a rrore convincing proof of his <::x:Mardice, treachery, am l:arbarism. "Not all evil brings hann!" says an Eritrean proverb. It is irrleed true that, sanetines, an evil act nay have salutary consequences. The Eritrean people learnt a vital lesson fran this heinous act. '!hey learned the great need for unity azrong themselves. T'neylearned fran their C1Nl1 experience that a people united will starrl, a people <1i vided will fall. In the 1940's am 1950's Eritrea fell into the treacherous ravine called "federation" J.:ecausethey were devidErlam allCMedothers to exploit those divisions. Tcrlaythe prospect of t..'lestruggle is brighter because Eritreans are united urrler the leadership of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). This organization is dedicated to national liberation through arnal struggle. '!hat struggle was launchErlon that infam:>usday whenthe emperor annexedtheir land. Before taklng up anus, am initiating the epic struggle that was to lost a quarter of a century, the Eritrean people am their exiled leaders, rrade strenuous efforts to persuade the UN to intervene and to uphold the solellU1 pranise it had madeto the Eritrean PeOple. '!hey insisted that the emperor's uni~ateral abrogation of the federal oonsti~ution was an illegal act. '!heir claim was supported by the UN panel of legal consultants whogave the opinion that a constitution created by the UN oould be arren::1ed or abrogated c111yby the sa.Ire lxrly. To our frierrls and well wishers in Norway,I wish only to add the following ex:tInlel1ts.Eritreans are a peace loving people. Theynever fought a war of aggression against anyone of their neighbours. '!he war that they are roN embroiled in is a war of racism, fascism, and danination that has been lll1[X)Sed upon them by an ambitious expansionist African nation. Colonial danination is no nore vicious whenperpertrated by :E.\rropean empire builder than it is whenperpetrated by their African oounterparts. Eritreal1S wouldbe willing to end the war in a matter of days if Ethiopia decided to leave therllalone to determine their CMI1 destiny by themselves without any foreign interventions. TI-Jatis all that the Eritreans want fran Ethiopia, to be left alone. '!hey want n:> more, no less, than what the colonized peoples of the world danan.lel1an:1, through their struggles, won. Before the British cx;cupationof Eritrea in April 1941, there were two systems of ooucation, me for Italians which Technical Institute for CarrnerceElenEntary Engineering am the Teacher Training Institute. their children to native schools, provided there were enough schools, where the teaching was limited to the third year of alx>uttwenty goverTlllentschools arrl three mission schools. There latter were Swooishmission schools for boys and girls, Catholic schools in Asm:JI'a, the capital, Belesa, Zazzega, Addi ugri, i1onkullu, Gheleb, Kunarna an] in sane other villages, were the oldest, best organized am were atterrled. by all segments of the p:>pula tion. The goverr:ment-sp:msored. pililic school bystemalso included about twenty village schools run by unqualified Eritrean teachers. These schools between themwere irreyularly atten:.:led by sane 6,000 pupils. Umer the Italians, native education served a p:>litical purpose. At that time, education in goverrurentschools was provided for the sons of traditional chiefs, notables, arrl well- to-do persons am was given in the Italian language. The text l:xJokswere expensively producedarrl were written in Italian arrl glorifie.1 the "Duce" (Mussolini) on alm::>stevery page. Military service was lawed. Boyswere encouraged to becane ":attle halilla" (solders) of the Duce, the Facist salute was canpulsory am at the norning misting of the flag, Facist songs were sung. After British forces occupied Eritrea in 1941 the con:.:Ution of native education underwentsane dlanges. Starting at the beginning of 1943, during the administration of Brigadier L<:ngrigg,schools have been cpening fast in. the town as well as . 'in the villages. In that pericrl, there were bout 27 schools, alIrost 50 percent !lOrethan there were in Italian times. Every year, the teachers l.lfrlerwenta three weekoourse of lectures am demonstration lessons. Eritreans were, for the first tin~, entrusted with running govenurent schools, which was not permitted in Italisn times. '!he Education officer, l-ajor K. Snell, whowas a close friend of mine, arrl his Eri trean oolleague, Inspector of Education fvE\1her Yishak, oontrived to tour the schools every nnnth. Eritrean school masters were resp:>ooingto this treatroont with a sense of res[X>nsibility, initiative am enterprise, am parents am notables, encouraged for the first time to take an interest in the Erlucationof their children, served on school carmittees am spent time, thought am IlOneywilding newschools am improvingthe schools already built. Parents am ootables wanted the newadministration to teach their children to be<::ctre fanners am agrigulturalists, not govermlent clerks, am soldiers (Askaris). At the beginning of British occupation there was a great shortage of books. The IlOslemscould be provided with rooks in Arabic fran the Swan, rot Tigrinya posed a difficult problem. '!he only place in all of Eritrea where a:lucational naterials were being produced in Tigrinya was in the Swedishmission. British mititary administration of Eritrea nade extensive use of these naterials in broadening am upgradingthe educational system. The books produced at the mission included an arithmetic text h:x:>k, an illustrated alphabet, am a simple book on hygiene. It must be p:>intedout that the British wtn are truly a fine people when they are their best, were detennined to ensure that Eritreans did rnt forget their nother tongue in the course of learning Italian, English or any other language. Education for girls was rot neglected either. In close collal:x>rationwith Eritrean parents and notables, the British administration openeda girls' school in Asmarawhich was secorrl only to the Swedishmission's girls' school in Belesa. But the gigantic step forward which was madein the war against illeteracy was madea generation later whenEritreans took <.x:>ntrol of their am a:1ucationam set about creatiI'XJa bc:rly of literature in several Eritrean vernaculars, training teachers, blilding schools, am designiI'XJa curriculum that is designErl speci::ically for the neros of the Eritrean [X>p.llation. The Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front which to day a:>ntrols 85 percent of the territory of Eritrea has, during the last 17 years, created am IlaintainErla school system that reaches a nuch wider segJrentof the p:>pUlationthan ever before. Eritrean youth are to day f ightiI'XJtwo ennemies: one is the invader of their country, the other is illiteracy. With one harrl they hold the gtm, with the other a pen am an cpen 1:xJok. Wehope that our Norwegianfrierrls will help us to continue our quest for literacy am a:1ucation. Weneed your help. Join us in ~dging this magnificent battle. "-
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