[House Hearing, 114 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ERITREA: A NEGLECTED REGIONAL THREAT
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
__________
Serial No. 114-237
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TED POE, Texas BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
MATT SALMON, Arizona KAREN BASS, California
DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California
PAUL COOK, California ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas GRACE MENG, New York
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
RON DeSANTIS, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
TED S. YOHO, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
CURT CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin
DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York
DANIEL DONOVAN, New York
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina KAREN BASS, California
CURT CLAWSON, Florida DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee AMI BERA, California
DANIEL DONOVAN, New York
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary,
Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State............ 4
Father Habtu Ghebre-Ab, director of external relations, Canonical
Eritrean Orthodox Church in Diaspora........................... 21
Khaled Beshir, Ph.D., board member, Awate Foundation............. 26
Ms. Bronwyn Bruton, deputy director, Africa Center, Atlantic
Council........................................................ 39
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield: Prepared statement........ 7
Father Habtu Ghebre-Ab: Prepared statement....................... 23
Khaled Beshir, Ph.D.: Prepared statement......................... 29
Ms. Bronwyn Bruton: Prepared statement........................... 42
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 70
Hearing minutes.................................................. 71
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress
from the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on
Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International
Organizations: Questions submitted for the record and written
responses from:
Father Habtu Ghebre-Ab......................................... 72
Khaled Beshir, Ph.D............................................ 73
Ms. Bronwyn Bruton............................................. 74
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith: Statements from Eritrean
torture survivors.............................................. 76
ERITREA: A NEGLECTED REGIONAL THREAT
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
Global Human Rights, and International Organizations,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:26 p.m., in
room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H.
Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Smith. The subcommittee hearing will come to order, and
welcome to all of our distinguished witnesses and also my good
friend and colleague, the gentlelady from California.
In 1993, the citizens of Eritrea, then a province of
Ethiopia, voted to become an independent nation. Ethiopia had
annexed Eritrea in 1962 and its citizens no doubt believed that
they were well on their way to controlling their own destiny.
Unfortunately, their hopes would soon be dashed. Elections
have been repeatedly postponed and opposition political parties
are no longer able to organize.
Those same initial hopes for democracy and good government
in Eritrea were also held by the international community.
In March 1997, in a report by the U.S. Agency for
International Development program in the country, the American
aid agency had high praise for its collaboration with the
government.
It said, in part, ``Over the past year the young state of
Eritrea continued its exciting and pace-setting experiment in
nation building and similarly USAID Eritrea established itself
as Eritrea's leading development partner.''
Within a few years, however, the Government of Eritrea
ended its relationship with USAID. But this decision was
originally taken as a sign that the country was ready to become
an example to the rest of the developing world by managing its
own humanitarian needs.
Eritrea's Government instead merely became less open and
when an east African drought occurred in 2011 we knew very
little about how the people were faring.
Today, we know that two-thirds of Eritreans live on
subsistence agriculture, which has had poor yields due to
recurring droughts and low productivity. What we also know is
that Eritrea's citizens are living under a regime that does not
honor human rights.
In June of this year, the U.N. Human Rights Council
released a report that accused the government with a variety of
violations including extrajudicial executions, torture,
indefinitely prolonged national service and forced labor,
sexual harassment, rape, and sexual servitude by state
officials.
In its Trafficking in Persons Report released in June 2016,
the State Department listed Eritrea as a Tier 3--that is the
most egregious violator country--and stated that Eritrea is a
source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced
labor. The government did not investigate, prosecute, or
convict trafficking offenders during the reporting year. The
government demonstrated negligible efforts to identify and
protect trafficking victims. The government maintained minimal
efforts to prevent trafficking.
In their most recent international religious freedom report
the State Department again listed Eritrea as a Country of
Particular Concern, or a CPC country.
Moreover, the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom lists Eritrea as a Tier 1 Country of Particular Concern
for its egregious religious freedom violations.
The government interferes with the internal affairs of
registered religious groups and represses the religious liberty
of those faith groups that refuses to register, such as
Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses,
and Muslims who do not follow the government-appointed head of
the Islamic community.
Furthermore, the government has a record of arbitrarily
arresting the believers and their leaders and reportedly
tortures those in prolonged detention.
As a result of the authoritarian government sanctions,
Eritrea is considered one of the world's fastest-emptying
nations with about \1/2\ million of the country's citizens
having left their homes for often dangerous paths to freedom.
An estimated 5,000 Eritreans leave their country each month.
On July 9, 2015, a hearing by our subcommittee on Africa
refugees, John Stauffer, president of the American Team for
Displaced Eritreans, told us that the government officials
operated freely in eastern Sudan, arresting and bringing back
to Eritrea those they considered high value targets among
refugees, such as government officials or church leaders.
He also testified that refugees moving east may be
kidnapped and extorted locally for a few thousand dollars or
taken off to Egypt or Libya where they are abused. That abuse
often included organ harvesting.
In the past year, the world has witnessed a flood of
Eritrean refugees risking their lives on too often unseaworthy
boats bound for Europe. The prevalence of Eritreans among
refugees has been overshadowed by refugees from the Middle
East, especially Syria.
The UK, one of the prime destinations for Eritrean
refugees, apparently wanted to slow down the flow of Eritreans
into the country. Earlier this year, the UK reduced the
percentage of asylum claims from 95 percent to 28 percent.
Directly addressing the root causes of the flight of people
who are voting with their feet, often at great risk, seems a
better policy than trying to determine the final destination of
Eritreans who feel forced to leave their homes. That means an
enhanced level of communication between Eritrea's Government
and the international community.
There have been quiet contacts between the government, the
U.S. Government, and civil society. Today's hearing will
examine how such contacts have developed. We hope the testimony
in this hearing will answer some critical questions.
Can the United States form a relationship with a government
it has under sanction? Does the dire situation in which
Eritrea's people live require an alteration of U.S. policy?
What would a change in policy mean for the international effort
to hold Eritrea's Government responsible for blatant human
rights violations?
Again, I want to thank our distinguished witnesses in
advance for being here, including and especially the
distinguished Assistant Secretary of State, Linda Thomas-
Greenfield, who we'll get to shortly.
But I'd like to yield to my friend, the ranking member.
Ms. Bass. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and let me thank you for
calling this hearing today. I think it is particularly
important.
You mentioned the refugee crisis and we all know that the
attention has been focused on refugees from Syria but we know
the number of people that are also fleeing Eritrea and not
getting the same level of attention.
I can't tell you how many times I have talked to folks from
Ethiopia and Eritrea locally who always stop and say why don't
you do hearings--why don't you do hearings on what is happening
in Eritrea. So I think that this hearing is particularly timely
and I appreciate you calling this today.
I will say that in preparing for the hearing a number of
organizations--the Organization of Eritrean-Americans and
several other organizations--are concerned and upset about why
we are holding this hearing, taking the opposite point of view
and saying that what we claim is happening in Eritrea is not
and I don't know if on the second panel, not with the Assistant
Secretary, but maybe someone could explain why there are so
many people fleeing the country if what is being talked about
around the world is in fact not the case.
Eritrea is known as a country that it is claimed is the
most censured country in the world, has been cited repeatedly
for its abysmal human rights record, and as you mentioned in
terms of the issue of trafficking I think that all is widely
known. And so the question is if this is so off why does the
world view Eritrea in this way.
I'd like to ask the Assistant Secretary if she could share
the administration's perspective regarding Eritrea's support of
terrorism and the ongoing relevancy of the U.N. arms embargo
and sanctions, whether the embargo and sanctions continue to be
warranted and on what basis should there be consideration to
eliminating the sanctions.
I am also interested in your assessment of the role of the
E.U. and its development programs with Eritrea. I know part of
this, especially the increase in aid, is to stem the
emmigration. But I would like to know what your thoughts are on
that.
And I am very interested in hearing witnesses representing
the diaspora in the U.S. and what measures do these various
diaspora groups support. Are they in support of a stronger
relationship between Washington and Asmara or a continuation of
the current approach.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very, very much.
I would like to now introduce Ambassador Linda Thomas-
Greenfield, a career member of the Foreign Service. She was
sworn in on August 6, 2013, and is the Assistant Secretary for
African affairs.
Prior to assuming her current position she led a team of
about 400 employees who carried out personnel functions for the
State Department's 70,000 strong workforce. Since beginning her
Foreign Service career in 1982, she has risen through the ranks
to the Minister Counselor level, serving in Jamaica, Nigeria,
Gambia, Kenya, Pakistan, and the U.S. Mission to the U.N. and
most recently as Ambassador to Liberia where she served from
2008 to 2012. I'd like to now yield the floor to the
distinguished Assistant Secretary.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, ASSISTANT
SECRETARY, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
thank you, Ranking Member Bass, for inviting me today and
providing the opportunity for us to testify on the situation in
Eritrea, and I am pleased to have my colleague, Eric Whitaker,
seated next to me.
Eric is the director of the Office of East African Affairs
and he was just in Eritrea for about 2 months working as our
Charge d'Affaires. So he may be able to give a little more
depth to questions that you might have about the current
situation in Eritrea.
After 25 years of independence, Eritrea today stands as a
country best known for its emmigration, and I say that word
specifically so there is no misunderstanding. It's known for
its emmigration and its poor record on human rights.
Out of a population of approximately 3\1/2\ million people
per U.N. estimates, an estimated 5,000 people a month flee the
country. Many risk a perilous journey across Africa and across
the Mediterranean at the hands of sometimes ruthless smugglers
and in unsafe vessels.
The country is hemorrhaging its youth. In a country that
has never known an election, Eritreans, as you said, Mr.
Chairman, are voting with their feet. They are fleeing
indefinite conscription into military or national service,
religious persecution and other human rights violations, and
economic hardships. These same conditions frame the United
States' relationship with Eritrea.
In virtually every other country in Africa, including those
with whom we have profound disagreements, we still seek to
achieve partnerships across a range of shared global interests.
We provide billions in foreign assistance to support those
partnerships formed to fight HIV/AIDS and malaria, to support
education, to combat violent extremism, and to strengthen
governance.
In Eritrea, that is not the case and that is because of the
decisions of the Eritrean Government. In 2005, the Eritrean
Government ordered USAID, other donors, international NGOs to
leave the country.
Subsequently, it ordered our Embassy defense attache's
office to close and as a result today we have no bilateral
assistance, no military to military relationships, and since
2010 we have not had an Ambassador in Asmara.
This is not the relationship we desire. Eritrea is one of
the poorest countries on Earth. It is located in a volatile and
strategic neighborhood on the Red Sea.
But if Eritrea likes to portray itself as David and the
United States as Goliath, I would argue that its wounds are
largely self-inflicted and its slingshots hurl stones at its
own people.
Up to 5,000 of them make this clear every single month,
risking their lives rather than remaining in the country they
love.
Eritrea's continuing torrent of immigration is no doubt
driven in part by economic conditions. But it is the human
rights records that push so many people to leave.
Over the past decade, the Eritrean Government has
arbitrarily detained journalists, political opposition members,
and others trying to express their reform minded to others who
have tried to push for reforms.
In 2001, the government detained without charge a group of
reform minded ministers and other prominent individuals who
called for elections and implementation of the Constitution and
many of these individuals remain in prison until today.
Almost all citizens with few exceptions are forced into
indefinite conscription, into national service. In many cases
they are separated from their families for years.
The government has imposed severe restrictions on the
exercise and freedom of religion and belief and has subjected
members of non-authorized religions to arbitrary detention and
force recanting as a condition of release.
The government has singled out groups such as the Jehovah's
Witnesses for particularly harsh treatment because of their
members' refusal to bear arms in the independence struggle or
to participate in national service.
Eritrean officials have long justified their poor human
rights record and their large-scale militarization on an
emergency, ``No war, no peace,'' situation over the unresolved
demarcation of their border with Ethiopia.
Eritrea has remained under a U.N.-imposed arms embargo and
sanctions since 2009 for its actions that contributed to
regional instability, including their support for al-Shabaab in
Somalia.
In the last two annual reports, the U.N. Somalia-Eritrea
Monitoring Group has not found evidence of ongoing support to
al-Shabaab but Asmara has refused to allow the group to visit,
to conduct investigations in Eritrea per its mandate and this
has limited the U.N.'s ability to determine Eritrea's
compliance with the sanctions regime.
Eritrea also continues to hold Djiboutian prisoners of war
and is accused of fomenting unrest in neighboring countries.
For all these reasons, we have made it clear that turning a
new page in the United States-Eritrea relationship first
requires significant improvements in human rights and we have
repeatedly called on the government to abide by its
international human rights obligations, implement its own
Constitution, hold national elections, honor its commitment to
limit the duration of national service to 18 months, develop an
independent and transparent judiciary, and release persons who
have been arbitrarily detained.
We also continue to support the work of the Office of the
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the U.N. Somalia-
Eritrea Monitoring Group, as well as other international
efforts to make progress.
And, surprisingly, there has been some progress albeit
limited. In recent years, Eritrea has made some efforts to
engage with the international community. The government
reversed an earlier decision to close U.N. operations and has
allowed some nongovernmental organizations to return.
Earlier this year, they released four of a larger group of
Djiboutian prisoners of war who were reunited with their
families for the first time since 2008.
Eritrea has recently been more open to working with the
European Union on development programs and has allowed a
handful of international journalists to return to the country.
Eritrea's efforts to engage with the Office of High
Commissioner for Human Rights are also welcome. The country
accepted nearly half of the Universal Periodic Review
recommendations and we continue to encourage the government to
follow through on these.
But as I've noted, our bilateral relationship with Eritrea
is not an easy one. But we have not and we do not seek to cut
off diplomatic engagement nor communications. This summer, one
of our Deputy Assistant Secretaries traveled to Asmara to visit
our Embassy there.
Our Charge d'Affairs and her team meet regularly with
officials and they host a variety of events at the American
Center in Asmara for the Eritrean people.
Many challenges remain, yet I have to say I am impressed by
the resiliency of the Eritrean people. Eritrea and Eritreans
pride themselves in self-reliance in the face of adversity.
The largest obstacles to peace and prosperity, however, in
their country have been erected by their own government.
We are encouraged by the small steps toward progress I have
outlined above and we would urge the government to take much
larger strides forward by ending indefinite national service
and releasing political prisoners.
If given the opportunity to be heard and to fully and
freely participate in their government, I truly believe that
the people of Eritrea can do great things for their country.
We look forward to the day when that is possible.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you
today and I look forward to your questions and if I can't
answer I will turn to my colleague seated next to me.
[The prepared statement of Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield
follows:]
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Mr. Smith. Mr. Whitaker, I know you're on the spot a little
bit but if you'd like to make some oral comments you're more
than welcome.
Mr. Whitaker. No, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Smith. Well, thank you. Then we'll move to some
questions.
First, beginning, if I could, with the Assistant Secretary.
In your testimony you talk about Eritrea's efforts to engage
the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights are welcome,
that the country has accepted nearly half of the Universal
Periodic Review recommendations.
Could you elaborate on what they have agreed to and what
remains focused upon and unaccomplished?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. It's a pretty long list.
Eric, do you have the details of what they have agreed to? And
if not, I will get back to you with that.
[The information referred to follows:]
Written Response Received from the Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield to
Question Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith
A full list of the 200 Universal Periodic Review recommendations
and the approximately half that were accepted can be found in the 2014
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review for
Eritrea and its addendum. Eritrea largely agreed to and prioritizes
addressing the recommendations on health, education, poverty
eradication and development, and women's rights. Eritrea also accepted
recommendations to accede to certain international human rights
conventions, such as the Convention Against Torture. Despite this, we
note with concern continued allegations of torture in Eritrea and urge
them to address this. We also regret that other conventions agreed to
have not yet been ratified, such as the Worst Forms of Child Labor
Convention.
Mr. Whitaker. We can follow up with that in writing to be
more specific, sir, but several areas in development, most
notably in the sectors of health and education, greater
transparency, allowing a larger number of visitors to obtain
visas and to come and talk with government officials.
Mr. Smith. Okay. If you could get back with a very detailed
description of that, that would be very helpful. I met with the
High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York for lunch
several weeks ago. We talked about South Sudan. We talked about
Eritrea and other hot spots that he is working on and
expressing concerns about, Ethiopia as well.
Prince Zeid is doing his level best dealing with cauldrons
all over the world, but if the council did agree that some
progress was being made it would be helpful for this
subcommittee to have that. So thank you.
Let me ask you with regards to former U.S. Ambassador to
Eritrea, Ronald McMullen, who said that there were more than
four dozen employees of the U.S. Embassy in Eritrea who were
detained during his tenure.
Also, the daughter of the former Eritrean Minister of
Information, Ciham Ali Abdu, who is also an American citizen is
in prison. What can and are we doing to try to help her, to
help others that either worked for us or are, in her case, an
American and how many Americans are in Eritrean prisons?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. As far as I know, she is the
only American who is currently in prison. We have had over the
years our FSNs harassed--our Foreign Service National employees
harassed, some arrested and some who are still currently being
held by the government.
We never miss an opportunity to raise this with the
Government of Eritrea, encouraging them to release the American
citizen but also to release our employees who have been
arrested and to discontinue the harassment of our employees.
Mr. Smith. When we are in-country does the Embassy make
active representations on their behalf? Do we get to visit? Are
we just unaware of their fate?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. I'll let our former Charge
d'Affairs answer that question.
Mr. Whitaker. Yes, sir, I did make representations last
month with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in person verbally
and in writing to Ciham. We've asked for consular access
repeatedly and not been granted it. We are concerned regarding
the case. The answers we get are typically vague or note that
such individual is an Eritrean citizen.
Mr. Smith. Do we know where she is? Do we have any kind of
information about her health, the treatment or lack of good
treatment for her?
Mr. Whitaker. No, sir. We have not received specific
responses to our questions, sir.
Mr. Smith. Okay. Does her family know? Do they feed into
our information based on her?
Mr. Whitaker. I am not certain when their last
communication with her was, sir.
Mr. Smith. Okay. Let me ask you with regards to Father
Habtu Ghebre-Ab has said that the government confiscates
Bibles, punishes people for open prayer and, of course, Eritrea
is a Country of Particular Concern and I am wondering what kind
of impact the Office of International Religious Freedom has
had.
Rabbi Saperstein, I know, is doing a wonderful job. Again,
he has a full portfolio of egregious violators of religious
freedom worldwide but this is a very serious issue and Father
also makes a point in his testimony that national service is a
form of human bondage and the TIP Report certainly goes into
depth on that.
And then Dr. Khaled Beshir, who will be testifying, points
out that there may be as many 20,000 eleventh graders who have
been forced to work for the ruling party, supplying workers for
Nevsun. He describes it as slave labor.
Do we have any information on that? It would appear like
the parallel child soldiering issue, forced labor of very young
children and teenagers and, again, it is in the narrative again
this year of our TIP Report.
But what can we do to help on this? Has UNICEF engaged,
because they are leaders when it comes to the exploitation of
children.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. Certainly, you noted and we
noted as well that on the religious freedom scale Eritrea is a
Country of Particular Concern and that the freedom to practice
religion is strongly restricted by the government even for
those three or four religions that they recognize.
And this is an important issue for us and we've reflected
that in our International Religious Freedom Report and it is an
issue that we do as well continue to raise with the government.
On the issue of national service, one of the things that
the Eritrean Government agreed to was that they would limit, in
the future, national service to 18 months.
They have not honored that commitment and for now national
service is almost for life, and what that means is that these
young people are not able to take care of their families.
They're not able to even plan for their futures. They are
basically in a form of bondage for the rest of their lives. At
eleventh grade they go into training and they are divided up
and sent to various locations where they are required to
perform their national service.
Again, Eric was on the ground and may be able to provide a
little more detail on that.
Mr. Whitaker. Thank you, ma'am.
Yes, Mr. Chairman. With respect to the national service
after completion of eleventh grade, as she had said, students
proceed to the Sawa training camp.
They basically are divided into three groups thereafter. A
small portion continue to higher education. A certain number go
into military service on behalf of the security services of the
country and the largest group goes into community service
wherein they may be assigned to the various ministries or other
parastatals or other branches of the government.
But this is where the youth of the country goes and the
service is indeterminate in length and this is one of the
reasons that the youth are departing the country.
Mr. Smith. Just a few final questions, then I'll yield to
Ranking Member Bass. Can you describe why the government is
showing some interest in reaching out to the international
community, particularly some of these NGOs and providers of
humanitarian aid in the E.U.?
What's behind this motivation? What steps would need to be
taken for the United States to upgrade its diplomatic standing?
Is there any movement in that? Do you sense a positive or a
movement in that regard?
The Ethiopian and Eritrean forces clashed along the border
of the Tsorona area. In his testimony, Dr. Beshir points out
that resolution of the Eritrea-Ethiopia border dispute would
take Eritrea out of its war footing, which is its justification
for universal national service.
What is your sense of that? What is being done to try to
make that work? And finally, when an Eritrean man or woman goes
to sea or goes to flight into Sudan, for example, or to Europe
or wherever, if they are brought back what is the penalty that
they suffer as a result of this attempted flight for refugee
status?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. The first question was, why
do we think the Eritrean Government continues or is opening up
for opportunities to engage with the international community?
And I think the answer to that is really simple and that is the
sanctions have increased the cost of Eritrea's policies.
So they need the development assistance that the European
Union and NGOs might be able to provide for them, particularly
in the health and education sector where they are allowing the
few NGOs that they have allowed to come back in--the kind of
work that they are allowing them to do.
So I think their motive is a simple one. Their motive is
simply need and as this effort continues we've not really seen
any positive changes on the part of the government in terms of
those areas that are important for us to change the nature of
our engagement with the government.
Those issues really require that the government take some
serious measures to deal with the human rights situation in the
country, to deal with the issues of press freedom, to deal with
the issues of freedom of religion, to change their policy on
national service, to limit it to 18 months so that these young
people are able to engage in livelihoods that will allow them
to have a future in the country.
On the Ethiopia-Eritrea border dispute, we have encouraged
both sides to work on a path to address this dispute.
The report from the U.N. was I think very clear and we hope
that both sides look for ways other than through conflict,
through war, to address this.
I don't know exactly what the penalty is if someone is
returned. I suspect it is not a good thing for them and I would
suspect that they would be either arrested or forced to
continue their national service.
Mr. Smith. If you could get back to us on that, yes, it
would be helpful.
Written Response Received from the Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield to
Question Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith
According to our Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2015,
in general Eritreans had the right to return to Eritrea, but citizens
residing abroad had to show proof they paid the two percent tax on
foreign earned income and sign a statement of regret. People known to
have been declared ineligible for political asylum by other governments
had their requests to reenter the country scrutinized more than others.
Many who fled Eritrea remain in self-imposed exile due to fears that
they would be conscripted into national service or detained for their
beliefs if they returned. In some cases, security forces reportedly
have arrested, detained, tortured, and beaten national service and
military deserters and evaders and other people attempting to flee the
country without travel documents.
However, other sources reported there were little to no
consequences for returning Eritreans, particularly those who had been
granted residency or citizenship in other countries. Given the limited
access within Eritrea, our Embassy has not been able to verify reported
treatment of returnees.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. Eric, do you know?
Mr. Whitaker. Mr. Chairman, I was going to follow on the
development side.
The first question, foremost, during my recent stay in
Asmara as Charge d'Affairs at our Embassy I spent quite a bit
of time talking to U.N. agency heads and their other
representatives and my counterparts with the other Embassies.
The door is slowly opening for development cooperation but
I pick my words carefully--it is development cooperation for
the long term in close coordination with ministries as opposed
to short-term humanitarian assistance. The government is very
adamant about this.
The sectors which are allowed the most entry by outside
partners--development partners--are in the health and education
sectors. So the door is slowly opening.
A limited number of NGOs--JICA from Japan, the U.N.
agencies, and the E.U. development fund, as you mentioned
earlier. These are all carefully negotiated agreements. This
door is slowly opening.
The number that flees each month doesn't seem to be slowing
down. It's 5,000 a month. The UNHCR told us that very directly
by the registration of those departing the country, arriving
elsewhere.
But I am not aware of circumstances of those who were
forcibly returned. That's not come to my attention.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much.
I yield to Ms. Bass.
Ms. Bass. Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony
and I especially want to thank Mr. Whitaker, knowing we put you
on the spot there but really appreciate your input.
Eritrea remains such a mystery and I wanted to know if you
could describe a little bit about what life is like there and
also what is the ideology of the regime? What is driving it?
You described the national service. You described it in three
different categories--higher ed, the military and government
service. What determines which way one goes?
That's to begin.
Mr. Whitaker. Thank you for that question, Madam Ranking
Member. The problem is when one is in Asmara one sees only a
limited spectrum of society of Eritrea. Our ability to travel,
rather, in country is somewhat limited.
Most Eritreans are engaged in small-scale agriculture--
herding, millet, sorghum, other crops. Their life is relatively
simple. In urban areas it is more limited. Many of the people
we are encountering are working with parastatals.
Ms. Bass. What?
Mr. Whitaker. Are working at the parastatals, state-owned
enterprises----
Ms. Bass. Oh.
Mr. Whitaker [continuing]. And small-scale businesses or
perhaps working with the NGOs or Embassies. Many folks, of
course, are in community service including many of the
employees at the government ministries.
We see in the economy that the mining sector and the
remittances sent by those abroad are very important to keeping
the economy going.
I think the fact that 5,000 people are leaving a month is a
reflection in part not just on human rights but also diminished
life chances and that is that many don't seem many economic
opportunities so they decide that perhaps it is better to take
their chances to depart the country and send back remittances
to support their relatives.
Ms. Bass. You described the inability to travel very much
and so why is that? Does the government--you know, we have
the--we have that relationship, like, with Cuba, for example.
You know, U.S. diplomats and Cuban diplomats couldn't
travel beyond a 25-mile radius. What is limiting their movement
in Asmara?
Mr. Whitaker. The current limitation is on all
internationals in Asmara. They must apply with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in advance in writing to depart from a 25-mile
radius of Asmara.
Ms. Bass. Okay. So I am still trying to----
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. Excuse me, we have that same
policy for Eritrean diplomats here in the United States as
well.
Ms. Bass. I see. So I am----
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. It's reciprocal.
Ms. Bass [continuing]. Still trying to understand the
society so that is why I asked what is the ideology that is
driving this. Is this a socialist regime? It reminds me of
Cambodia, in Cambodia people were forced from the city to the
rural areas. So what is the underlying ideology of the
government that leads the country to be organized this way?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. I would argue that it is an
ideology that is based on a strong sense of sovereignty and
independence and self-reliance that came out of the many years
of fighting and their independence movement and they are still
a lot of people who strongly believe in that ideology and are
willing to deal with the extensive adversity that people are
under there to continue to survive.
But I do think that it is time for change and I think most
Eritreans believe that it is time for change and they deserve a
peaceful transition.
Ms. Bass. Do they see themselves as a socialist country? I
know that there is very limited private sector so is that how
they see themselves?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. I have not heard that
terminology used. I've heard self-reliance more used as a
philosophy.
Ms. Bass. So what determines then in the three categories--
higher education, community service, and military? Community
service doesn't sound bad so tell me why it is.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. They use this to ensure that
they have the people to do the various activities that they
require of their people. So I was told recently that you see
large numbers of people who are in government service who are
directing traffic outside, for example.
Ms. Bass. Do they not get paid?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. I think it is a very limited
amount.
Mr. Whitaker. Yes, ma'am. It is a low pay. We've heard as
low as $10 a month.
Ms. Bass. Do they have parts of their lives subsidized? Is
housing subsidized? Do they have a healthcare system? I mean,
how do they function?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. I'd be interested in hearing
our Eritrean colleagues, who are coming next. But I know that--
--
Ms. Bass. Oh, okay.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield [continuing]. A huge part of
how they function is through their family members who are
living elsewhere----
Ms. Bass. Remittances.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield [continuing]. The diaspora
community supporting families.
Ms. Bass. So, once again, what determines higher education,
government service, and military?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. I think we are going to have
to get back. Those are the three categories they use and I am
not sure how they decide----
Ms. Bass. Who goes where.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield [continuing]. Who goes where.
Ms. Bass. Okay.
[The information referred to follows:]
Written Response Received from Mr. Eric Whitaker to Question Asked
During the Hearing by the Honorable Karen Bass
By law all Eritrean citizens between ages 18 and 50 must perform
national service, with limited exceptions. The national service
obligation essentially begins after the final year of secondary school
at Sawa National Service Training Center. Good marks on the final exams
are required to be assigned to one of the seven government colleges.
Those who do not receive high enough grades are immediately assigned to
military or national service. National service in theory consists of
six months of military training and 12 months of active military
service and development tasks in the military forces for a total of 18
months. However, as we've noted, the period of service in practice is
indefinite in nature. For those unfit to undergo military training,
they may be assigned to a public and government organ according to
their capacity and reportedly perform standard patrols and border
monitoring in addition to labor such as agricultural terracing,
planting, road maintenance, hotel work, teaching, construction, and
laying power lines. An Amnesty International Report on national service
called ``Just Deserters'' also found that ``conscripts collected
through round-ups rather than through school are more frequently sent
to military training camps than other areas of national service.''
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. I think most people want to
go to higher education----
Ms. Bass. Yes.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield [continuing]. Because it is
not a----
Ms. Bass. But then, okay, so you go to higher education and
what can you do with it?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. You teach, you work in
schools, you do whatever the government wants you to do in the
education sector.
Ms. Bass. And--oh, and so I am assuming that these three
categories are both men and women. So are women in the
military?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. Women are in the military and
Eritrean women were known for their activities and their
abilities during the fight for independence.
Ms. Bass. So what is the rationale of the E.U. then in
terms of the developmental assistance because you too said, I
believe, we provide no developmental assistance but the E.U.
does.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. It's simple and it just
started. It's because they are the largest beneficiary of these
5,000 people a month who are fleeing the country.
Ms. Bass. Oh, they want them to stay there. Right.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. They are looking for
development opportunities so people don't leave.
Ms. Bass. Do you know how they do development assistance,
meaning are there European NGOs that actually get the money
versus the Eritrean people?
We fund NGOs a lot of times, right? Our own NGOs.
Mr. Whitaker. Yes, ma'am. The E.U. Development Fund does
provide funding through specific ministries, especially in
health and education. JICA is there, the Japanese International
Cooperation Agency.
The NGOs include Finn Church Aid, the Norwegian Refugee
Council, Vita from Ireland and they provide services
predominantly in health and education sectors as well.
Ms. Bass. Do you think we should start providing
assistance?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. I don't think we've reached
the point where we can provide assistance to this government.
We are looking for certain changes to occur in how the
government functions, how the government operates and how it
treats its people. So at the moment there are no plans for us
to provide for their assistance.
Ms. Bass. Are people still trying to flee to Israel?
Mr. Whitaker. Ma'am, I don't believe so. The pattern that I
have noted, and this is in discussion with UNHCR and quite a
number of others including ICRC, is that most refugees depart
for Ethiopia or Sudan, finding their way up through Egypt and
Libya, going across the Mediterranean often to join relatives
that are in Italy, the U.K., Switzerland or elsewhere within
Europe.
Ms. Bass. Thank you very much.
I yield back.
Mr. Smith. Just let me ask one final question, if I could.
In her testimony, Ms. Bruton, deputy director of the Africa
Center at the Atlantic Council, points out that what so far is
missing from the record is Eritrean Government's point of view.
She testifies that the absence of this perspective is
terribly dangerous to U.S. interests in the Horn of Africa and
beyond and it is painfully, then, easy to get it wrong.
Obviously, with Mr. Whitaker here who has been in-country
and was our representative there as Charge d'Affairs, and
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, your work with the entire backing
of a State Department that works very hard to get it right,
have we misperceived Eritrea somehow?
It seems to me that when it comes to fundamental human
rights and as you both have said people voting with their feet
because of a serious wave of repression and poverty, self-
isolation of shooting one's self in the foot, when people raise
the issue of adjacent Ethiopia--both Greg and I were in
Ethiopia in 2005 and met with President Meles and on the plane
began sketching out the Ethiopian Human Rights Act because so
many dissenters were shot in the streets.
And yesterday we introduced H. Res. 861 and are planning a
series of hearings on Ethiopia to very strongly protest the
gross violations of human rights, the murders that are taking
place.
At our press conference yesterday we had the silver
medalist for the marathon who spoke very effectively about this
attack on Ethiopia.
And so this subcommittee takes a back seat to no one in
trying to be as clearheaded and focused on human rights abuses
wherever and, of course, the country, on human rights
practices, is a textbook on these abuses, and I thank you for
that. Again, the CPC designation couldn't be more clear and the
Tier 3 designation in the TIP Report couldn't be more clear as
well.
So are we somehow getting it wrong, as Ms. Bruton suggests?
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. Sir, I think the facts on the
ground in Eritrea speak for themselves. We are dealing with a
situation where we do have strong evidence of violation of
human rights in Eritrea.
But that said, it is important that we engage this
government and we do engage the government. We have diplomatic
relations with the Government of Eritrea and so we do engage
with this government, both through our Embassy in Asmara as
well as through our contacts with the Charge d'Affairs here and
when they've had government officials come to the country and I
encourage the Eritrean Government to engage.
If they have a story to tell, if they want us to understand
the situation better, the Somalia-Eritrea Monitoring Group
should be allowed to come in and should be allowed to engage so
that they can tell their side of the story so that if we are
not getting it right we can see the evidence of that.
But right now, the evidence that we have point to the fact
that serious human rights conditions exist in this country and
that we need to continue to address those until we see that
they no longer exist.
Mr. Smith. And Mr. Whitaker, thank you so much for your
testimony. If you could get back with some of those answers to
elaborate and we might have some additional questions that will
be posed to you, we would deeply appreciate it.
I'd like to now welcome our second panel, beginning with
Father Habtu Ghebre-Ab. He serves as a parish priest in Holy
Trinity Eritrean Orthodox Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He is also the director of external relations for the
Canonical Eritrean Orthodox Church in Diaspora under the
imprisoned Patriarch and His Holiness' designated bishop. The
Diaspora Diocese includes all of North America, Europe, and the
Middle East.
He is a senior faculty member with a rank of full professor
at the University of Cincinnati where he has taught for over a
quarter of a century. The focus of his study is African
history, specializing in colonial history in the Horn of
Africa.
For several years now he has published several articles on
and advocating for religious freedom, separation of church and
state and on behalf of all political prisoners in Eritrea.
Secondly, we'll hear from Dr. Khaled Beshir, who is a board
member of the Awate Foundation, a world media service on
Eritrea which promotes peace and reconciliation within Eritrea.
He is an independent risk management consultant and subject
matter expert in the Horn of Africa, specializing in
development finance.
He advises various U.N. agencies, international
organizations, investors, and law firms on assessment of
geopolitical, regulatory, and financial risks. As an Eritrean-
American and longtime advocate of human rights in Eritrea for
the last 25 years, he works closely with Eritrean civil
societies, political organizations, media outlets, and
community leaders.
In 2000, he was a member of a group of Eritrean
intellectuals and professionals who met with the Eritrean
President and urged him to introduce political and economic
reform and respect for the rule of law.
And third, we will hear from Ms. Bruton, who is deputy
director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center. She is a
recognized authority on the Horn of Africa. She is especially
well-known for authoring a series of prominent reports and
journal essays on Somalia. She provides regular expert
commentary on African political affairs for major international
media and held an international affairs fellowship at the
Council on Foreign Relations and the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
Prior to her fellowship appointment, Ms. Bruton managed the
National Endowment for Democracy's multi-million dollar
portfolio of small grants to local and international
nongovernmental organizations operating in east and southern
Africa and managed post-conflict political transition programs
in Africa for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
She has also served as a policy analyst on international
affairs and trade team for the Government Accountability
Office.
So Father Habtu, if you could begin.
STATEMENT OF FATHER HABTU GHEBRE-AB, DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL
RELATIONS, CANONICAL ERITREAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN DIASPORA
Father Ghebre-Ab. The Honorable Chairman Smith and members
of the subcommittee, I thank you for the privilege of being
here today to give my testimony on the challenges Eritrea
represents and why failure to positively contribute to the
resolutions of these challenges will affect the entire region
and beyond.
My name is Father Athanasius Habtu Ghebre-Ab. I am an
Eritrean-American, a professor of history at the University of
Cincinnati and an ordained priest in the Eritrean Orthodox
Church.
I am pained by the general instability in the Horn of
Africa and the unresolved conflict and animus between Ethiopia
and Eritrea, which, in one way or another, remains at the very
root of the instability in the region.
We also note the untold and continuing suffering of the
people of Eritrea and the dashing of the early optimism and
hopes the world initially saw for this new country.
We have also witnessed the extreme reluctance of the United
States, a country which the people of the region rightly or
wrongly have historically looked to as a reliant mediating
power.
In the remaining time I have, please allow me to speak to
you about one aspect of Eritrea's egregious human rights
violations, namely, its denial of religious freedom to its
people, a subject of my expertise.
The following are but a few facts. Long before all the
independent press in Eritrea were ruthlessly shot down in
September 2001, the publications of the Eritrean Orthodox
Church and the Roman Catholic Church were shut down.
In 1994, the Jehovah's Witnesses became the first victims.
Within a month, the government unleashed massive campaigns of
arrest and disappearance against the Muslim community in
Eritrea.
Next, the government's systematic anti-religious campaign
moved to the ranks of the military, especially in Sawa, the
sprawling military training camp near the Sudanese border.
Here, all Bibles were confiscated and anyone caught praying
was subjected to the cruelest treatments by the military
establishment. This practice was soon expanded throughout the
military across the country.
In April 2002, the government passed a sweeping decree
closing all minority Christian denominations and other sects.
Soon after, the leaders and adherents were vigorously rounded
up and imprisoned and I personally witnessed that at the time.
The government accelerated the total control of the largest
and most ancient religious institution in Eritrea, the Eritrean
Orthodox Church.
In November 2004, the leading lights of the church were
imprisoned. A little over a year later, the Patriarch of the
Eritrean Orthodox Church, His Holiness Abune Antonis, was
illegally deposed from his Patriarchal throne and imprisoned.
This was followed by the subsequent imprisonment of
hundreds of other clergies. Today, it is estimated that between
2,000 to 3,000 people are in prison for their faith.
The question now is what is to be done to bring about
stability to Eritrea and the region. The Eritrean Government
should immediately implement the Constitution that was ratified
in 1997 but was never implemented.
This will guarantee its people the rights enshrined
therein, thus removing fear, uncertainty and the guarantees of
rights.
The so-called national service has degenerated into an
unsustainable, unjust and immoral practice which results in the
youth fleeing the country in such a large number it must come
to an immediate end.
The thousands of prisoners of conscience must be released.
The United States should reengage with the Government of
Ethiopia and Eritrea to end the so-called ``no war, no peace''
state of affairs for the past 16 years and mediate lasting
peace in the region by helping in the implementation of the
Ethiopian-Eritrean boundary commission ruling of April 13,
2002.
Eritrea and Ethiopia must be encouraged to cease hosting
armed opposition groups in their respective countries to
destabilize one another. Again, I thank you.
[The prepared statement of Father Ghebre-Ab follows:]
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----------
Mr. Smith. Thank you so very much for your testimony and
for your concrete recommendations to the subcommittee and by
extension to the White House and the State Department. Thank
you so much.
I'd like to now ask Dr. Beshir if you would proceed.
STATEMENT OF KHALED BESHIR, PH.D., BOARD MEMBER, AWATE
FOUNDATION
Mr. Beshir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass
for giving me this opportunity to testify in this important
hearing to evaluate the U.S. policy toward Eritrea. My name is
Khaled Beshir. I am a long time advocate of human rights in
Eritrea.
My testimony will be shaped by 25 years of closely
following the activities of the Government of Eritrea, those
who are still in power and those who were once in power who
have been exiled or made to disappear, and I presume in jail or
dead.
In this hearing, I will try to, as I outline it in my
written statement, say why the unconditional engagement of
Eritrea as recommended by some is dangerous and a short answer
to that it has been tried before.
To start with, the reason the Eritrean regime is as bad as
it is, topping the list of every human rights organizations is
precisely because for 8 long years the United States and
Western Europe gave it unconditional support.
This was between 1991 and 1998. When the new government was
given the benefit of the doubt, the Clinton administration
provided military assistance, facilitated low interest loans
and grants, and contributed in capacity building and praised
the autocratic system routinely, calling it part of the Africa
Renaissance, a short-lived description praising the heads of
state of Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Congo, and Eritrea.
And what was the outcome? Ethiopia is what you see in the
headlines today. The leaders of Uganda and Rwanda amended their
Constitutions to extend their rule. Congo descended into civil
war. And it is during that period of unconditional engagement
that all these atrocities in Eritrea the Eritrean regime is
infamous for--arbitrary arrest, disappearance, banning
religious organizations, exiling, severe restriction on civil
liberties--were germinated.
So for those who are arguing that there should be
unconditional resumption of U.S.-Eritrean relations all they
need to look is back at the history of the early 1990s and this
is why we are here.
As far as the human rights conditions are concerned, it has
been extensively covered by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Eritrea and the Commission of
Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea.
So rather than speaking about the human rights violations
in Eritrea--it has been extensively documented--I would like to
speak about--very little known about the role of Nevsun, the
Canadian mining company that has finally disclosed that it has
been funding the Atlantic Council campaign for the last 18
months to rehabilitate the image of Eritrea and whitewash the
human rights abuses and calling for the unconditional U.S.
engagement in Eritrea.
The reason is the interest of Nevsun, the mining company,
is intertwined with the interests of the regime. Nevsun
Resource is a Canadian mining company and the Eritrean
Government, through ENAMCO, jointly owned the Bisha Mine.
That's the only source--revenue-generating source for Nevsun.
Why, you might ask why, would that be important for Nevsun?
Aside that it has been accused of militarizing commerce and
using slave labor in building the Bisha Mine is for the
following reason.
Simply, in the last 5 years the stock valuation in Nevsun
has stagnated at about $3.50 for the last 6 years. This is
unusually very low for a company that sits at $1.3 billion of
assets.
So Nevsun tried many things to improve this image. It sold
and failed to be acquired by a larger firm. It failed to
diversify its single source of revenue from Bisha. It failed to
impress investors and shareholders by glossy and unaudited
corporate responsibility and environmental reports.
It has failed to shake off its reputation as an enabler of
human rights-abusing regimes. It has failed the human rights
organizations that it no longer uses slave labor. It failed to
comply with the United Nations Somalia-Eritrean Monitoring
Group's request to disclose financial transactions records.
Simply, it has failed to bring any meaningful economic
betterment to the lives of Eritreans other than enriching the
coffers of the regime.
So Nevsun thought to rehabilitate its image instead.
Knowing that its efforts were hampered by Eritrea's dismal
human record, Nevsun quickly settled multiple lawsuits, paying
close to $30 million, hired a public relations firm, hired a
purported human rights attorney, and courted the diplomatic
community in Asmara.
Still, all its efforts failed. While overt attempts failed
to make a dent, Nevsun turned to a more subtle approach to
funding the Atlantic Council to rehabilitate its image and that
of Eritrea so that it can lobby on its behalf.
We often see the vice president of Nevsun and one of the
associates of the Atlantic Council, Ms. Bruton, appearing in
the ruling party's events and rallies and speaking to drum up
support for the regime.
So in short, to conclude my statement, I would like to say
that Eritrea is mineral-rich country. It's strategically
located in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea where the U.S.
has vital strategic interests and legitimate concern in its
ongoing counterterrorism campaign.
Hence, the U.S.' strategic interest should not depend on
the fate of one ailing man, particularly when dealing with a
regime that not only does not share any of the values of the
U.S. enshrined but routinely mocks it.
While recognizing that the Eritrean people's challenge
could only be resolved by Eritreans, it is prudent for the U.S.
to be prepared to deal not with how to rehabilitate President
Isaias' image, who has no support by Eritreans and rules by
fear, but with the post-Eritrea by taking the following steps
aimed at shortening the suffering of the Eritrean people and
safeguarding U.S. interests in the region and they are as
follows: To deny President Isaias the excuse to maintain a war
footing, pressure Ethiopia to allow the demarcation of the
border and to proceed at least in the 95 percent of the
undisputed borders area, continue making human rights issues a
precondition for U.S.-Eritrea relations, continue supporting
the current U.N.-sponsored sanctions against Eritrea until the
conditions for lifting are met, support the U.N. Security
Council members' initiative to refer the U.N. Human Rights
Commission of Inquiry to the International Criminal Court,
provide humanitarian assistance to Eritrean refugees and to
provide immigrant visas to help them come to the U.S. and ask
other countries to do so, especially of the unaccompanied
minors that are fleeing Eritrea now and Ethiopian--in the
refugee camps in Ethiopia. Also provide temporary protective
status for Eritrean refugees who are already in the U.S., to
support regional organization government efforts in combating
human trafficking in the Horn of Africa but also, most
importantly, I urge you to sanction mining companies like
Nevsun that are engaged in militarized commerce and using
conscripted labor force by designating their production as
conflict minerals.
People who suffer under totalitarian regimes look up to the
world community, especially the United States, for support.
They become disappointed and disillusioned when they discovered
misinformed consultants in a position to advise government.
It is disheartening to see aggressive approaches to
absolving a totalitarian regime, the individuals who have no
personal stake in the outcome and only interested to promote
their careers and personal interest.
The liberal democratic force in Eritrea has a great
potential to grow but attempts to bury it in its infancy by
using the ``there is no viable opposition'' claim is a crime
against the Eritrean people.
I urge this august body not to repeat the mistakes
committed during the Clinton era when the Eritrean dictator was
hailed as a renaissance leader and provided with all the source
of support, a lifeline that had helped it grow into the monster
that it has become.
I urge this body to take the right decision, a decision
inspired by American values. I urge you to remain a beacon of
hope for the young democratic force, inspire them with the
right decision, with the much-wronged Eritrean citizens in
mind.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Beshir follows:]
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----------
Mr. Smith. Thank you so very much, Dr. Beshir.
I would like to now go to Ms. Bruton for her testimony.
STATEMENT OF MS. BRONWYN BRUTON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, AFRICA
CENTER, ATLANTIC COUNCIL
Ms. Bruton. Thank you. I am grateful to Congressman Smith,
the chair and Congresswoman Bass, the ranking member, for
allowing me to contribute to the subcommittee's timely review
of U.S. policy toward Eritrea.
I have had the opportunity to travel to Eritrea several
times in the last 18 months. I have met repeatedly with senior
officials in the country and I have had an opportunity to meet
once with President Isaias for a long meeting in which we spoke
very candidly about the state of affairs in Eritrea and about
the state of U.S. relations with Eritrea.
What I am presenting is a summary of my written testimony
and I ask that my written testimony be entered into the record.
Mr. Smith. Without objection, yours and all of our
witnesses today. Without objection.
Ms. Bruton. Thank you. I imagine we'll talk about Nevsun
later on so I would like to use my brief spoken remarks to
raise a flag of caution.
I, as you mentioned, am a Somalia expert and I want to
briefly turn our attention back to Somalia in 2006. When the
United States accepted Ethiopia's allegations that the Union of
Islamic Courts was an evil regime--an entity that was
controlled by al-Qaeda--and as a result of that we allowed or
perhaps more than allowed Ethiopia to invade Somalia, in doing
so they destroyed the only legitimate grassroots governance
movement that has ever emerged in that country, at least since
independence on the 1960s.
Not only that, we cleared a space for al-Shabaab and we
created the conditions in which it prospered and is now a
terrorist organization that is spreading carnage across east
Africa.
I raise this because I feel it is important for us to
remember that though we do our best, we in the United States
are capable of catastrophic mistakes when it comes to the Horn
of Africa, and I want to particularly point out that all of the
conditions that led us to make those mistakes in Somalia in
2006 pertain to our discussion of Eritrea today.
When it comes to Eritrea, unfortunately we are also guilty
of a bias to the Ethiopian point of view. I saw that bias
evident in my respected colleague, the Assistant Secretary's,
remarks when she was asked about the reason for the Ethiopia-
Eritrea conflict and she failed to note that Ethiopia is in
violation of international law.
There is a firm and final binding of an international
border commission set up in the Hague that says very clearly
that Ethiopia is illegally occupying Eritrean territory.
We need to accept that, and our refusal to do so is, I
think, a fairly clear sign of our bias toward the Ethiopian
point of view.
That led to an error in Somalia that cost us dearly. As in
2006, I wish to remind us that it had been about 10 years since
we'd had eyes on the ground in Somalia and our intelligence was
very poor.
In Eritrea today, it has also been about a decade since we
have had eyes on the ground in that country and our
intelligence is very poor.
When I planned to go to Eritrea 18 months ago I met with a
large number of government officials and members of our
intelligence community and when I asked a particularly
brilliant member of our intelligence committee who had studied
Eritrea for 10 years, what I should be alert for when I went to
the country she told me this: Find out if there is a government
in Eritrea outside of Asmara.
Now, we've heard from our human rights community, who
rightly expresses concern about the terrible state of affairs
in that country, that the government exercises pervasive
control over every aspect of life.
But we also have people in our intelligence community, and
I would agree with their assessment, who wonder if the
government really has any control at all outside of the capital
city.
That is a worrying state of affairs and I think that it
should cause us to exercise a real caution. I've heard a large
number of statements today that were presented uncomplicatedly
as fact but which I am aware of are hot topics of dispute
within the intelligence and analytic community that if had the
time I would go over them. But I've certainly highlighted most
of them in my written testimony.
Finally, I want to express that I was in Somalia in 2006
and I feel we have a bit of tunnel vision in Eritrea. It's an
immensely complicated country with real security concerns and a
real problem with its much more powerful neighbor.
But the vast majority of our conversation is about human
rights.
It's okay and it is well and good that we should discuss
human rights. But those concerns should be addressed
proportionately.
All the countries in the Horn of Africa have hideous human
rights problems including our closest ally, Ethiopia, and I
think that when we single out Eritrea for concern we raise the
real possibility that our views will be either regarded as
hypocritical or else, in other cases, muted because of our
counterterror concerns and that does damage to our standing in
the Horn of Africa.
In Eritrea, we can't afford to get it wrong, as we did in
Somalia, because Eritrea is more strategically positioned on
the Horn of Africa than Somalia is. It's right across from
Yemen.
It's on a critically important trade route that accepts
trillions of dollars a year in the passage of goods between
China and the E.U.
If we get it wrong there, the impact on U.S. relations will
be terrible and that will not serve our interests. Focusing on
Eritrea as a threat to our interests instead of recognizing
that in fact we don't recognize that it actually plays an
important role as a wall through which bad actors in the Horn
of Africa are not permitted to pass through to bad actors in
the Gulf is important.
It's a commonality that we can use to work with Eritrea and
to constructively address the concerns that we have about human
rights. I think I've heard consensus from a lot of people today
that engaging the government in some way would be a good idea.
I do not argue for nonconditional engagement with Eritrea,
for the record. But I do believe that we could do a lot better
and, for the record, I would like to state that I think a
congressional delegation to Eritrea to examine the complexity
of the issues that they are facing for yourselves would be a
very, very good start.
I thank you for permitting me to testify.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Bruton follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Smith. Ms. Bruton, thank you very much for your
testimony as well.
I'd like to first ask Father Ghebre-Ab, if you could--you
mentioned 2,000 to 3,000 prisoners of conscience who are
incarcerated because of their faith and I wonder if you can
tell us is that both men and women?
Are children included? Are they tortured? Are there
attempts to coerce them to reject their faith and if so to what
end, perhaps? How long are the usual sentences for a believer?
Is it 5 years, 10 years, life?
And when released, where do they go? Do they leave totally
impoverished with families? I often argue even in ordinary
criminal justice systems when one family member goes to prison
the whole family, in a way, goes to prison.
It often leads to an impoverishment. But this would seem to
be even more extreme. When they come out, where do they go? So
if you could perhaps speak to that.
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. It is both men and women, young and old. The
condition of their imprisonment is about as horrid as one can
expect.
Now, so many prisons, recognized and unrecognized, dot the
landscape of Eritrea. Many times no one knows where they are.
They never appear in front of a court and charged with any kind
of crime and therefore no one knows when they will be coming
out.
Now, particularly, for instance, I have made a list of
people who have been in prison for the last 12 years now and
they have never, never seen the inside of the court. They have
never been charged with anything and these were, as I have
explained in my longer remarks, the leading intellectuals
within the Eritrean Orthodox Church. They remain in prison.
And there has always been torture, and as previously stated
also, an attempt at forcing them to recant their faith. Very
often, statements have been made about minority Christian and
other sects.
But, really, the larger churches are not immune from this
either--the so-called recognized churches. The Eritrean
Orthodox Church, as I have clearly pointed out in my longer
version of my presentation, has literally been taken over by
the government and it has become as if it is one department of
the government and the government's thinking, as I see it, is
that by controlling the Eritrean Orthodox Church, which is
almost 50 percent of its population, it thinks that it controls
half the population of Eritrea as well.
But I would also like to point out that really the lack of
religious liberty in Eritrea is only one aspect of human rights
violations and if there is going to be any improvement in human
rights violations we cannot really cherry pick this right and
that right. It has to be--it has to be approached in its
totality and the only thing that will ensure that is the
implementation of the Constitution that was ratified by the
people in Eritrea in 1997.
Mr. Smith. Let me ask you, if I could, Ms. Bruton, with
regards to some of the points that were raised by Dr. Beshir--
just in the interest of full and total disclosure, do you or
anybody that you are affiliated with derive any funding
directly or indirectly from the Government of Eritrea or from
Nevsun or any of its affiliates?
Ms. Bruton. We do not derive any funding whatsoever from
the Government of Eritrea. Nevsun, which is a publicly traded
Canadian corporation, made a grant to the Atlantic Council in
2015. It was----
Mr. Smith. How much was that?
Ms. Bruton. It was between $100,000 and $249,000. I would
like to give you the exact amount. My understanding is that it
is not the policy of the Atlantic Council to do that. If they
will permit me to, I will add it to the record.
Written Response Received from Ms. Bronwyn Bruton to Question Asked
During the Hearing by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith
The Atlantic Council has received a coveted four-star ranking from
Charity Navigator, the premier organization that ranks non-profit
organizations across the United States, for its sound fiscal management
and its commitment to accountability and transparency. It is the
Council's policy to list all of our annual donors on our website and in
our annual report, indicating the approximate magnitude and the year of
each gift. In accordance with this policy, the Council has already
disclosed that Nevsun Resources made a gift to the Council in the range
of $100,000-$249,000 in FY 2015.
In response to Congressman Smith's inquiry, I have been authorized
to further inform you that the Council received funding from Nevsun
Resources in the amount of $105,000 in FY 2015 (the most recent year
for which completed financial reporting is available). As noted in my
testimony, this grant provided general support to the Africa Center and
was allocated at the discretion of the Center's director, Dr. J. Peter
Pham. The Atlantic Council fully adheres to its written policy of
intellectual independence. For context, please note as well that the
Council had an operating budget of more than $25,000,000 and revenues
of over $28,000,000 in FY 2015.
Mr. Smith. If you could encourage them. It does help us to
know if there is any financial entanglement.
Ms. Bruton. Absolutely. Well, and regardless, a six-figure
grant is a lot of money. There's no doubt about it. I want to
make it clear that the grant was unconditional.
It was general support for the Africa Center. I have no
direct relationship with Nevsun. I have not received a raise or
a promotion or any kind of incentive as a result of that grant.
I do not control the funding.
The funding is controlled by Dr. J. Peter Pham, our
director, whose views on Eritrea are in the congressional
record and diametrically opposed to my own. My own support for
the Eritrean Government goes back to 2009.
In fact, I wrote a piece in Foreign Affairs that the
Eritrean Government attached to its letter of protest to the
U.N. Security Council when it was sanctioned. So my views have
long been on the record and have not been altered in any way,
shape or form by Nevsun or by anyone else.
Mr. Smith. To the best of your knowledge has Nevsun or any
of those that they are working with including the Eritrean
affiliate supported the Extractive Industry Transparency
Initiative, or the EITI? Do you?
We've had hearings on that in this subcommittee for years.
We know that DRC, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique are EITI
members. Thirteen other African countries are EITI compliant.
Ethiopia is an EITI candidate but Eritrea is not. I am not even
sure if they are trying and maybe you could shed some light on
that.
And secondly, do you have a sense as to the condition of
the workers?
When we did Sudan sanctions in this subcommittee, and I was
chairman then, we tried very hard to delist a Canadian company
that was very much complicit in the crimes that were being
committed by Khartoum, and we failed. Wall Street rose up in
arms and said, you can't do this. We said look, they are
garnering huge amounts of money and they are part of a regime
that is committing horrific crimes against southern Sudan, what
is now South Sudan--2 million dead, 4 million displaced.
Greg Simpkins and I were just there 3 weeks ago, almost 4
weeks ago, in Juba. It's a mess. Not the subject of this
hearing, but a mess. But we tried to do this delisting and they
were a Canadian oil company.
And I am just wondering, this extractive industry, the
condition of the workers--is there any monitoring being done?
Are any of these kids--are any of these people child laborers?
It was Talisman Energy--Greg just reminded me. It just slipped
my mind.
So what about the workers?
Ms. Bruton. I have to say, genuinely, I have never been to
the Bisha Mine and so I am not necessarily the best person to
testify to the conditions.
I can point you to a written description of Bisha by Louis
Mazel, who's been the Charge d'Affairs in Asmara. He visited
with a large number of other European diplomats and he,
frankly, wrote a glowing report of conditions at Bisha. That's
the best that I can do since I haven't seen it at firsthand.
I would also note that the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on
Eritrea when it wrote its first report, which I read carefully,
contained a number of allegations about the Nevsun mine, which
I understand they examined carefully and then dropped from the
final version of the report because I believe that they were
unable to substantiate them. Again, those are not firsthand
testimonials but it is relevant that I can at least point to
you.
Mr. Smith. So you would support Eritrea joining EITI?
Ms. Bruton. I would, and it is my understanding, again,
from the diplomatic community and from conversations with
Nevsun that they very, very much support it and are working
actively to try to make that happen.
They are also conducting a large number of human rights
trainings at the Bisha Mine that I am aware that they are also
very proud of and I feel constrained from talking too much
about them because there is a financial relationship between
Nevsun and the Atlantic Council, at least in the past, and I
don't want to be their spokesperson in any way, shape or form.
But I would point you toward what's on the record at least.
Mr. Smith. Let me just ask you with regards to the human
rights situation, the State Department's Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices is an indictment on a myriad of human
rights abuses being committed.
I mentioned the CPC designation based on religious
persecution and Father Ghebre-Ab elaborated on just a number of
people who are actually incarcerated for their faith and the
Tier 3 designation by the U.S. Department of State's TIP
office, which painstakingly looks at child and sex trafficking,
they're among the worst in the world. Do you agree with that or
disagree with that?
Ms. Bruton. I do not disagree with that.
Mr. Smith. Okay. I'd like to yield to my friend and
colleague, Ms. Bass, for any questions she might have.
Ms. Bass. Thank you.
I would like to ask the panel some of the same questions I
asked the last panel. I am really trying to understand the
country and so I began by asking what is the ideology that
guides the country.
I also asked, in the three categories of higher education,
military, and government service, what determines that, to
begin with. So is there an underpinning ideology that guides
the way the country is organized?
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. Let me try to answer the first question--is
there a guiding ideology in Eritrea. Now, looking on the
history of Eritrea's fight for independence, during the entire
1970s and the 1980s and even going back to the 1960s, the
guiding ideology was Marxism. There's no question about it, and
when Marxism fell out of favor, they quietly seemed to abandon
it but never officially actually abandoned it and a lot of the
policies of the government are still informed.
Whenever they have a very difficult time they--it seems to
me like it is a fallback ideology and therefore there is no
doubt about it. I mean, they always refer to themselves as a
Marxist organization and therefore I don't think anybody can
argue that.
Do we see that in its policies today? Yes. It's a fallback
ideology always, and I'll tell you something. I look at the
publications the organizations put out, especially as it
concerns religious freedom.
In many publications, it actually lists the number of
religious organizations that it was going to do away with,
which it has, and therefore this is not really some unknown
ideology.
It is very, very closely tied to Marxism but also it has
degenerated, of course, into a one-man rule. There is no
question about that.
Ms. Bass. So and both of you were born in Eritrea?
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. I was born and raised--I was born and raised
in Ethiopia of Eritrean parents. That's my academic discipline.
Ms. Bass. Oh, I am sorry.
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. My academic interest has always been Eritrea
also and until 2003 I traveled to Eritrea extensively. So----
Ms. Bass. Oh, you haven't--you're not able to go back and
forth since 2003?
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. No, not since 2003.
Ms. Bass. I see.
Mr. Beshir. Yes, I was born in Eritrea and I left at the
age of 18 and I have been here in the United States since.
Ms. Bass. Are you able to go back and forth or----
Mr. Beshir. Well, the last time I went was in 2002 as a
group of colleagues, the group known as G-13. I have one of my
colleagues here Dr. Assefaw Tekeste. That is the group that are
trying to appeal to President Isaias to implement the
Constitution to reform--to loosen economic reform and, of
course, that was kind of brushed off and we were not
successful.
This is in 2000, October 2000. It's been, like, 16 years.
So this is the last time I have been here.
As to the question about the ideology, there is no
ideology. To characterize a totalitarian regime a tyrant, I
wasn't trying to beat my head trying to figure out what is the
ideology of the Ghadafi or Bokassa or Idi Amin or Saddam
Hussein, for that matter. They're just simply tyrants trying to
stay in power at any cost.
Ms. Bass. So can you guys answer for me, because I keep
asking the same question and I haven't gotten an answer about
it.
Mr. Beshir. Sure. Go ahead.
Ms. Bass. About the three categories and how is it decided
who goes where.
Mr. Beshir. So after the eleventh grade all students go to
the Sawa camp where they finish their high school.
Ms. Bass. Right.
Mr. Beshir. Based on the grade they achieve, which most of
them there is a cutoff mark ascertained. They would go to the
university or if there is no university there is a technical
college where they would go to. But the majority them, almost
like 95 percent, go in the Army--some of them as a civil
servant in the military.
Ms. Bass. So is it--so it is based on test scores?
Mr. Beshir. Yes.
Ms. Bass. Some people who don't score well go to the
military or if you score well you go to the military?
Mr. Beshir. No, if you don't score well, you go to the
military. You have to have high grades to advance to the
technical colleges. But the cut-off is so high and they are
very selective. Ninety-five percent of them end up in the
military, for a simple reason--because Eritrea doesn't have the
capacity to absorb all of them or even a large portion of them.
There are very limited seats at the technical college. So
most of them end up in the training--in the Army or being sent
as conscripts in the Bisha Mine to work in the mines in Bisha.
Ms. Bass. Okay. So----
Mr. Beshir. To answer your question, there are also
appointments to the government. The qualification is simply on
loyalty, especially mid-cadre and upper government.
Ms. Bass. Okay.
Mr. Beshir. You cannot possibly work for the Eritrean
Government if you failed the loyalty test. All the high
government officials are very fiercely loyal to the government.
Ms. Bass. Okay.
Mr. Beshir. How do we know that? From the defection of the
minister, the journals, the high-ranking military who defect.
We talk to them and this is the reason that the brain drain--a
lot of smart well-educated people leave the country. So there
is a huge gap--a shortage of technical people who have
administrative or technical ability and this is one of the
biggest concerns.
Ms. Bass. Okay. Thank you.
Ms. Bruton, you support the Eritrean Government?
Ms. Bruton. What I--what I think is that saying that I
support the Eritrean is--to me, it is vague statement.
Ms. Bass. Okay.
Ms. Bruton. I don't think that there is a viable
alternative to the Eritrean Government and I think that if we
want to help the people of Eritrea there are two ways to do it.
One, we can push for some disorderly change of power that
is likely, in my opinion, to lead to a situation that looks a
lot like South Sudan or Somalia.
Or we can work with the present government to try to
persuade them to address some of our concerns, for their own
sake.
You asked a question about ideology.
Ms. Bass. Yes.
Ms. Bruton. I think the Eritrean Government has a very
strong ideology. I think they themselves have, especially in
recent times, pointed out that their ideology has not been as
successful as they would have wanted it to be.
For me, when I look at the situation in Eritrea I see,
unfortunately, a very painful limbo and I think that that limbo
is primarily caused by the fact that the Ethiopian Army is
occupying Eritrean soil.
And it is not only that they are occupying the border.
There are assaults on the border. One of the----
Ms. Bass. There are what? What did you say?
Ms. Bruton. Assaults on the border.
Ms. Bass. Assaults.
Ms. Bruton. One of them in July was a very serious assault.
Ms. Bass. Yes.
Ms. Bruton. There are bombings of Eritrean territory that
are not reported in the press. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia,
Hailemariam Desalegn, has repeatedly promised to invade Eritrea
in the Parliament.
This has persuaded Eritrea, not unreasonably, that it is in
a state of threat constantly and that is one of the reasons
that they have prolonged the national service.
Others disagree and I acknowledge the disagreement. They
say well, Eritrea could just ignore the threat and disband the
military.
But it is hard for me to see how they could do that,
particularly because, as my colleagues have pointed out, almost
all the jobs in Eritrea are performed by national service
volunteers and transforming those positions into paid private
sector and civil service posts takes a certain amount of money.
Ms. Bass. So when you said there is--they do have a strong
ideology you didn't describe what the ideology was. Do you
agree that it is Marxist ideology?
Ms. Bruton. It was--it was Marxist ideology in days past. I
think that they abandoned the explicit ties to Marxism quite a
while ago. But I would certainly characterize it as socialist.
They don't call it socialist but that is how I would
characterize it, yes.
Ms. Bass. So when you say the community service--government
service is voluntary, how do people feed themselves? How do
they--they receive no salary? They're forced to work for the
government?
Ms. Bruton. If you were to speak with diplomats or an
Eritrean on the street--I've asked a lot of people on the
street in Asmara about national service. Some of them have
horrific experiences with it.
There is no doubt. I don't question the testimony of any
person who, for example, has spoken to the Commission of
Inquiry. I am grateful for their courage in coming forward.
But there are also many people that I have spoken who have
said things like national service is I go on Friday, I give my
boss my paycheck and the rest of the time I do my normal job,
or national service is a few hours a day and they drive a taxi
cab for the rest of the time.
I am not in a position to be able to say which of those
experiences is the norm. But I would certainly point out that
anecdotally when I talk to people that is the kind of
experience they express.
Ms. Bass. So does the government subsidize parts of life? I
mean, how--because the way it is been described is--it is
forced labor, it is slavery. People are not paid. So I am just
trying to figure out which is it.
Ms. Bruton. People are very poor and the wages for the
national service are not living wages. They are a pittance.
They're worse than a pittance.
Ms. Bass. So does the government subsidize or is everybody
starving?
Ms. Bruton. No, there is not that much hunger in Eritrea
that I've ever witnessed. The government does provide a voucher
that provides for basic goods. If you want to more than that
basic basket the cost of goods is very high.
I think people depend, as in other African nations, very,
very heavily on remittances and on the informal economy and
jobs--second jobs, third jobs--that they really scrape
together.
Ms. Bass. So how----
Ms. Bruton. The economic condition is not good.
Ms. Bass. So how do you explain then the 5,000 folks a
month that leave and all of the human rights reports about
Eritrea?
Ms. Bruton. The latest figures that I have seen from the
U.N. has been more like 3,000 refugees a month. You know, I can
look at that and----
Ms. Bass. That's a lot of people.
Ms. Bruton. It's still a lot of people. I don't know how
many Eritreans really leave. There is a lot of talk, for
example, that I have heard confirmed by members of the human
rights community that, for example, Somalians, Ethiopians, and
Sudanese sometimes adopt Eritrean personas because of the
privileged status that Eritrean refugees have in Europe.
Until very recently they've had an automatic asylum
preference and that is led a lot of people to say, for example,
that they are Eritrean.
I have no idea what the numbers are.
Ms. Bass. Well, whatever the numbers are, why are a lot of
people fleeing?
Ms. Bruton. I lot of people are fleeing because the human
rights situation is terrible. A lot of people are fleeing
because the economic situation is terrible.
I would point out to you that if you look at Somaliland,
which is very close to Eritrea and is known as kind of a
democratic oasis in the Horn of Africa, the vast majority of
youth leave Somaliland too because they don't have economic
options.
Migration is a reality for a lot of people in Africa and
Eritrea is no exception.
And I do agree, it is worse because of the human rights
situation and the ongoing war with Ethiopia.
Ms. Bass. And just one last question. So what is the human
rights situation, from your vantage point--from your viewpoint?
What are the human rights abuses?
Ms. Bruton. I think that all of the human rights abuses
that have been described are absolutely real. I think that the
question is, and the reason that I asked the question earlier
from the intelligence officer who asked is there a government
in Eritrea, are these abuses systemic.
Are they the result of deliberate government policy or how
much are they the result of poverty, the ``no peace, no war,''
bad behavior by people outside of us or that the government has
a poor grip on--what is the relationship between the political
side of the government and the military?
We have virtually no knowledge of that. I have no doubt
that the military are bad actors. The extent to which their
behavior is condoned by the government I don't really know.
I've talked to senior people in the government in Asmara,
and I may be super naive, but sometimes I think they really
believe that human rights abuses don't exist or if they do that
they are very, very few and far between.
Ms. Bass. So you're able to go?
Ms. Bruton. Yes, and to travel very freely.
Ms. Bass. Did you two want to say something before I close?
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. I would most definitely like to say
something.
The people of Eritrea who have been victims of the most--I
mean, the cruelest power I have ever read about or even seen
are--it seems to me like there is an effort to make it look so
much better than it really is.
For me, what do we expect government officials to say?
These are the very same people who have been designated--who
have been designated as having committed crimes against
humanity by the United Nations Commission on International----
Ms. Bass. Are you referring to the people that she was
talking about?
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. Yes.
Ms. Bass. Is that what you're reacting to?
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. Yes. Let me tell you, I am a priest. I am in
contact with the people who have left the country so many
times. I've been to Israel a couple of times and have
interviewed so many people and know how the people feel and how
they have suffered and suffered under this regime.
And therefore this effort to make it look like Eritrea is
doing its best and because the President said this and that,
government officials say this and that, it does not represent
what the people experience and what the people go through at
all.
There is an utter poverty precisely because of the policies
of the government and something was said about vouchers. The
voucher system was designed to control the people.
You get vouchers if you are loyal and if your loyalty is
questioned your vouchers are held up, which means that the
things that you rely on on a daily basis you are denied.
Ms. Bass. Okay. Thank you. Yes?
Mr. Beshir. Can I just make a comment? I am just really
baffled by Ms. Bruton's statement. I don't know what country
she's talking about, really, because every statement she made
that is the talking point of the regime. You can read it
everywhere. You can read it in the Web site and she has
categorically denied that she has association with Nevsun.
Why does she appear on the ruling party's rallies and event
in the U.S. jointly with the vice president of Nevsun? I mean,
there are pictures of her trying to whip up support for the
President attending these events. For me, it is really mind
boggling that she denies having any relationship with Nevsun.
As to the comments of the issue of the economic conditions
or the social conditions, she's absolutely right. The issue is
very complicated and we shouldn't get it right.
The problem is she has gotten it right so many times in the
short 18 months she has been interested in Eritrea. She got it
right--she got it wrong when she said there is no involvement
in Eritrea and Somalia--there is no involvement of support for
al-Shabaab.
She got it wrong when she said about the Commission of
Inquiry. She has gotten in wrong so many times in the short
period she became suddenly interested after Nevsun start
funding the Atlantic Council. That's in the----
Ms. Bass. Okay.
Mr. Beshir. So she's right. It's very complicated and we
should get it right.
Ms. Bass. Okay. Thank you very much, and I yield back.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Ms. Bass.
I'll just conclude with a few final questions. Dr. Beshir,
you, in your testimony, said that since it ended the gold
production phase and moved to copper production, which requires
more logistical support and infrastructure to export, Nevsun
has relied on the Eritrean Ministry of Defense, provided with
slave labor for mining and security and transportation
services.
You pointed out that every year the Eritrean Government
rounds up about 20,000 eleventh grade students 16 to 18 years
of age to finish senior high in Sawa military camp afterwhich
most, except the tiny minority, are conscripted. The
overwhelming majority of the youth are sent to work for the
ruling party's companies which supply slave labor to Nevsun and
other companies.
And then you go on and your--again, your testimony will be
made a part of the record. You point out and remind us of the
Human Rights Watch report of January 2013 in which that report
said Nevsun's experiences show that be developing projects in
Eritrea mining firms are walking into a potential minefield of
human rights problems. Most notably, they risk getting
entangled in the Eritrean Government's uniquely abusive program
of indefinite forced labor, and elsewhere you pointed out the
environmental degradation issue which is another one as well.
Could you elaborate on that and, Ms. Bruton, if you could
speak to that as well. Hundreds of thousands--whatever the
number of young people or any people who are forced to be part
of this.
I remember in Burma when an American oil company was very
much a part of the junta there in Burma was forcing them to be
part of building a pipeline and many of us raised strong
objections to that Texas-based oil company doing that.
No matter where it is it is wrong and so the accuracy of
the Human Rights Watch report and you also point out WikiLeaks
also has some insights on that as well. Could you elaborate on
that?
Mr. Beshir. Yes. The 20,000 number is the high school
graduates. This is what I mean--every year there are about
20,000. That's what I meant by that.
There are a couple of lawsuits in Canada filed by former
conscripts who are in Canada and some of them the U.S. and in
Ethiopia.
I just spoke just last night to the attorney who is
representing them to get an update of where the case is and he
told me that Nevsun has filed a motion to dismiss the case and
they suggested that the case be tried in Eritrea--the same
tactic Nevsun has used when asked to disclose financial
transactions to the U.N. Monitoring Group. They refer the
request to the Eritrean Government and what the Eritrean
Government has asked about financial transactions or records
about Nevsun they will say well, you have to ask Nevsun.
So there is a case to be decided in the next couple of
months if the judicial system is capable of handling this case.
There is a pending lawsuit filed by three former conscripts who
allege human rights abuse and all the allegations that were
listed in the human rights report.
Mr. Smith. Ms. Bruton?
Ms. Bruton. I don't want to pretend to know more that I
know about mining. But I do want to say that I think you raised
a very important concern when you said that Western firms
operating in Eritrea run the risk of becoming entangled even if
they are careful, at least in reputational damage because of
the national service program and that has had severe
consequences.
The consequences are that China is taking over, basically.
All of the mining projects that are coming online, five or six
big ones in Eritrea, are Chinese firms and you may have good
opinions of Nevsun or bad opinions of Nevsun but Canadian firms
have more to fear from public relations scandals than Chinese
ones do and they tend to be more concerned about safety and
human rights and other things.
And I personally think that ceding that ground to China is
not in the interests of the Eritrean people. I think it would
be great to get Western investment into Eritrea because I think
that there is a positive influence to be exerted there and it
is one that the Eritrean Government will be responsive to
because it is investment and that is often the best way to get
change.
Mr. Smith. But, again, all the more reason why EITI ought
to be a very serious goal and I don't disagree even this much
with the China concern. I chair the Congressional-Executive
Commission on China.
China's human rights abuses--Xi Jinping is in a race to the
bottom with North Korea when it comes to those abuses and that
is manifested all over Africa where they can get away with it.
So but the standard for Canada or the United States or any
other country in Europe or Africa ought to be so high for OSHA
type protections, for occupational health and safety and a
living wage to ensure and certainly no forced labor.
Dr. Beshir?
Mr. Beshir. Can I just make a quick comment?
Even if Nevsun becomes transparent and we have all this
disclosure about corporate responsibility and environmental
reports, these are unaudited reports.
There is no civil society. There is no independent
verification of what Nevsun or any Western company would claim
in the absence of civil society's independent verification.
So that just becomes a useless exercise because all this
report that we hear they have been unaudited. There is no third
party verifying them. So the notion is the Chinese are coming
and we should stay there.
As you have pointed out, the Canadian company is very
notorious for human rights violations in the last 20 years. So
basically when they call themselves Canadian companies they are
U.S. companies operating out of Canada because they escape the
strict regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission so
they get listed in the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto
Stock Exchange so that they can access the capital market of
the U.S.
But in a sense they are mostly U.S. investors escaping SEC
regulations or filing of disclosures and so forth.
So, basically, if you look at the percentage of shares
owned by Nevsun, they are mostly U.S.--about 80 percent of
them. The reason is the Canadians, they don't have a strong
central security exchange like we have here.
Each province in Canada has its own supervisory similar to
SEC and often times there is no stringent disclosure
requirements either of human rights violations or environmental
reports.
Nothing is filed. It's the least required disclosure that
the Canadian companies--and you probably know from the history
of Talisman in Sudan and other parts of Africa of the notorious
Canadian human rights violation in the minefields.
So, to me, it is essentially American companies. Unless
they are scrutinized and fully listed in the New York Stock
Exchange rather than being cross listed, then we will see more
disclosures from Nevsun.
Mr. Smith. Two final questions, and I will be brief because
you have been very gracious with your time--how engaged has the
United States been in implementing the boundary commission
ruling of April 2002?
Father, that was one of the points. I think you all are
concerned about that. When you say the U.S. should reengage are
you suggesting, Father, that we have not been engaged--it is
been on the side somewhere and crowded out by other urgent
matters or are we being robust in trying to get both parties
together?
And secondly, what can the United States in the
international community do to help Eritrea matriculate from its
abysmal human rights record? Are there new policies we need to
be doing? The boundary commission, obviously, is one--getting
that implemented.
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. The United States. The United States.
Mr. Smith. But we have a new President coming in January.
This President still has a few months to do something. Are
there any bold strokes that need to be done by him--by
President Obama--and the next President? What would you say if
he or she was----
Mr. Ghebre-Ab. Yes. The United States played a critical
role when Ethiopia and Eritrea went to war in 1998 to 2000, and
in fact it was the guarantor for the settlement of the border
dispute and for the ruling.
Once the border commission ruled, the United States simply
disengaged and many things can be said about that and we can
assign many reasons for that and the Eritrean Government,
perhaps legitimately, states to this day that the United States
should have remained and should have fulfilled its position as
a guarantor.
Since then, the United States has not done much and as has
been said by so many people before, one of the reasons that the
Eritrean Government has forwarded for maintaining this
continuous militarizing of the country was because of the
threat that was posed by Ethiopia. Partially that is correct.
But I think, as Dr. Beshir had pointed out, removing that
as one of the things that the Eritrean regime uses for its
hiding militarized policy will probably enable both countries
to pursue fiscal relations in the future is what I believe.
And, yes, on paper it has been settled but on the ground it
has not and one of the things that Dr. Beshir said was on 95
percent of the boundary there is really no dispute.
On the remaining 5 percent, if the United States were to be
engaged and making sure that this is settled I think it will go
a long, long way to create the proper climate for de-escalating
the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
And I have also stated that both countries host armed
opposition groups in their respective countries, which is one
of the reasons for the continuous conflict between the two
countries and one of my recommendations was that both countries
cease to sponsor these armed opposition groups in order to
destabilize each other.
Mr. Beshir. I think there is opportunity now. After
President Obama visited to Ethiopia a lot of things has
changed. Following the events in Yemen, the drone program has
moved to Ethiopia.
As you may know, as of last January the Arba Minch base has
been closed because of Ethiopia's human rights violations.
So there is an opportunity perhaps for the U.S., as not a
guarantor but a signatory of the Algiers Agreement. There could
be an opportunity, a window in the short period this
administration has, that they can exert pressure for the
Ethiopian Government to least demarcate the undisputed area of
the border, which is 95 percent.
There are only three areas that are disputed. So, I mean,
the Ethiopian ruling party has been very supportive, very
sympathetic to the cause of the Eritreans since their
independence but yet it has been mind boggling as why that
didn't happen.
I am told it is hardliners who want to keep the option. If
you have an undemarcated border presumably the Port of Assab
could be the Crimea of Ethiopia.
They don't have to have a demarcated border to go to Assab
and grab it and declare some kind of referendum. But more so of
the hardliners, the Ethiopian opposition, which are also based
in Asmara, is this anti-Eritrean view that they have.
They still don't recognize Eritrea as an independent state.
They still are against the Ethiopian Government precisely
because of its approach or views toward Eritrea.
So the border issue is very important to the Eritrean
people, especially for those people who fought very hard for
Eritrean independence, the anxiety, the fear of that Ethiopian
ambition that always lags in the back of their mind that
Ethiopia can any time grab Assab or reinvade Eritrea.
So it is a real fear. It is not an imagined--all
psychological fear. So Ethiopia does use it. The hardliners use
this fear to maintain this ``no war, no peace.'' So I really
urge the U.S. Government to push toward implementing the
demarcation of the border.
Saying that, a lot of people say Isaias uses the border
issue to stay in power. I do not believe it because Isaias will
always have a reason to stay in power, border demarcation or no
border demarcation.
Since 1990, when we called for reform and implementation of
the Constitution, we were told we have to wait for the
declaration of independence. After liberation, then we were
told we have to wait to draft a Constitution. Then the border
was broke.
So I do not believe that that is what is keeping Isaias
from implementing the rule of law or bringing reform because it
simply is an excuse. If there is not a border issue there will
be other excuses for him to stay in power.
Ms. Bruton. I am glad to say that we are all on the same
page with this in terms of the desperate need to do something
about the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.
I think the problem is that, as you well know, the United
States is dependent upon Ethiopia for its peacekeeping, as we
call it, contributions in Somalia and its peacekeeping
contributions in South Sudan and its support of our drone
facilities and that makes it very difficult for us to put any
kind of influence on Ethiopia. I think it is unrealistic to
expect us to change that.
But my concern is that rhetorically we have not defended
the border. When Ethiopia--and it admitted that it attacked
Eritrea in July--the statement from the State Department was
both sides need to behave themselves.
And when Eritrea was bombed by Ethiopian forces last March,
there was dead silence. Time and time again, in fact, we've
been silent when our allies have transgressed against other
countries.
And what I feel afraid of is that Eritrea very justifiably
believes that if Ethiopia attacks it, they are alone, and it is
that perception that is leading them to be so paranoid about
their defenses and that is something we can act on and I hope
that we will.
Mr. Beshir. Just a last comment. I mean, half of African
countries have undemarcated borders, have border issues with
each other. But they don't go to war. They don't suspend the
Constitution. They go about their lives and while negotiating
this border issue.
So the border issue should not be an obstacle or a
condition for the rule of law or implementation of their
Constitution. To me, it is just an excuse for the President to
stay in power and nothing else, nothing more.
Mr. Smith. Is there anything any of you would like to add
before we conclude?
Ms. Bruton. I'd like to thank you for looking at this topic
and I really hope you'll consider a congressional delegation
and I hope you'll continue to give it your attention.
Thank you.
Mr. Smith. I appreciate that. Thank you all. We will
continue our focus and a trip is certainly something we will
very seriously consider.
We do travel frequently--Greg and I and other members of
the subcommittee--to Africa. Like I said, we were just in Juba.
But I would also point out that when it comes to human
rights I don't care what country it is and, again, as I said
earlier, the Ethiopia Human Rights Act finally got passed.
When we lost, the Republicans--the chairmanship--the
majority, and Don Payne, my friend and colleague went from
ranking to chairman again--we went back and forth a few times--
he took up the Ethiopian Human Rights Act--I was his chief co-
sponsor--and we did get it passed in the House but it did not
get beyond that.
Our resolution, it has many, many findings and, of course,
I am talking about the Ethiopian resolution. When human rights
are being committed, whether it be in Northern Ireland or
anywhere else or in the United States we need to speak out and
speak out with a clear, transparent, and bold voice so and that
goes for Isaias. It goes for every other country in the world.
So I thank you for your very, very important input. It is a
roadmap for the future. We will try to do our level best to
continue pressing.
I hope the administration does. I hope the new
administration, whoever it is, takes Eritrea in a better life
for its citizens and a government that respects human rights
and makes that a very serious foreign policy and that we
reengage, as you pointed out, Father, on the boundary--as you
all did in your comments.
So I want to thank you so very much.
Mr. Beshir. Thank you very much.
Mr. Smith. The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:23 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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