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4 - Democratic Curtailment: ‘Never Democracy, Always Control!’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2014

Kjetil Tronvoll
Affiliation:
Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjoerknes College, founding and senior partner of the International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo
Daniel R. Mekonnen
Affiliation:
Senior Legal Advisor, International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo, and former Judge of the Zoba Maekel Provincial Court in Eritrea
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Summary

Just as the People's Front [EPLF] had a clear vision during the liberation struggle that enabled it to realize the dream of establishing a free and peaceful Eritrea, likewise in the new post-independence period it had a clear vision for the future development of Eritrea. This vision aims at establishing a country where justice, democracy and prosperity prevail.

Eritrean Government, Ministry of Information, 19 April 2005

What kind of country is that which everyday throws its sons and daughters to the furnaces of war? Whoever is spared from that is thrown in jail because they pronounced truth and demanded justice. Whoever escapes that fate is stranded in the diaspora, always suffering the distance, missing his country and living in hope of returning.

Mohammed Nur Ahmed, former Eritrean Ambassador to China, Extracts from a letter sent to the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs

INTRODUCTION

Eritrea today is a country under siege by its own government, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). The pretext of external enemies is used as an excuse to deny people their basic rights and freedoms of opinion and expression, to organise and assemble, and to practise their religious beliefs (Connell 2007; AI 2008b; RWB 2008; USSD 2008a, 2008b; HRW 2009; USSD 2009). The Eritrean government does not allow any alternative voice or opinion to be heard; all resources and people are mobilised and channelled into maintaining the country's totalitarian and militaristic structure.

Type
Chapter
Information
The African Garrison State
Human Rights and Political Development in Eritrea
, pp. 56 - 74
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2014

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  • Democratic Curtailment: ‘Never Democracy, Always Control!’
  • Kjetil Tronvoll, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjoerknes College, founding and senior partner of the International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo, Daniel R. Mekonnen, Senior Legal Advisor, International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo, and former Judge of the Zoba Maekel Provincial Court in Eritrea
  • Book: The African Garrison State
  • Online publication: 05 October 2014
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  • Democratic Curtailment: ‘Never Democracy, Always Control!’
  • Kjetil Tronvoll, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjoerknes College, founding and senior partner of the International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo, Daniel R. Mekonnen, Senior Legal Advisor, International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo, and former Judge of the Zoba Maekel Provincial Court in Eritrea
  • Book: The African Garrison State
  • Online publication: 05 October 2014
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Democratic Curtailment: ‘Never Democracy, Always Control!’
  • Kjetil Tronvoll, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjoerknes College, founding and senior partner of the International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo, Daniel R. Mekonnen, Senior Legal Advisor, International Law and Policy Institute, Oslo, and former Judge of the Zoba Maekel Provincial Court in Eritrea
  • Book: The African Garrison State
  • Online publication: 05 October 2014
Available formats
×