Hear the Other Side: G-15 Mock Trial Project Manuscript

Abstract

September 2001 is a memorable time in Eritrea’s history. Eritrea is the youngest State in Africa. It joined the community of States in May 1993 after fighting for 30 years to end annexation by Ethiopia. Soon after de facto independence was achieved in May 1991, the military front that led and brought to an end the independence struggle transformed itself into a transitional government of Eritrea. The mandate of the government was to transit Eritrea to constitutional governance by 1997. Before independence, the front had promised multi-party democracy in independent Eritrea. As an important step towards the transition, a constitution was adopted in May 1997. The political scene of the new State was set for the establishment of a government in accordance with the ratified Constitution; however a year passed without any significant progress in that direction. In 1998, making matters worse, the transitional government immersed Eritrea in a full scale war with Ethiopia. The conflict which ended in 2000 has since been used as an excuse for indefinite postponement of the democratization process the country was promised and so desperately needs.

Soon after the war with Ethiopia ended in 2000, Eritrea’s 15 top leaders of the front who held important positions in the transitional government military, parliament and cabinet of ministers demanded immediate commencement of the transition to constitutional governance which was already overdue. For many months, the dissenters, who came to be identified as the Group of 15 (G-15), boldly and peacefully continued to challenge the undemocratic nature of the transitional government and the unjustified delay in establishing constitutional government. The new private press added momentum to their dissent. The G-15 challenged their own front and government in the battle of ideas and aggressively publicized government’s weaknesses .They also presented their version of the way forward for the country’s political life. Unfortunately, the rest of the front and the government led by the transitional President resorted to violence. As a first step, the government took harsh measures against the revolutionary students of the then University of Asmara by detaining them in mass in a remote desert in the country.

In September 2001, the government detained 11 of the G-15. In addition, the entire private press was shutdown and more than one dozen journalists detained. This marked the establishment of a naked dictatorship in Eritrea. Since then, hope for democracy in the country remains shuttered. The 11 reformists, more than dozen journalists and other sympathizers have simply disappeared in the prison network of the dictatorial regime which by now hosts tens of thousands of citizens. With regard to the reformists, the regime has continued to present inconsistent charges. Hitherto, the detainees have not been offered due process of law. In fact, their whereabouts and wellbeing are not known. Rumors, some of them highly probable, are that many of them have died from cruel treatment. To pay tribute to the reformists and, to help citizens know their basic rights in the criminal justice process, mock trials were conducted and filmed in June 2009. This is a manuscript of the trials in Tigrinya, one of the dialects in Eritrea.

Note: Downloadable document is partially written in another language.

Keywords: G-15, Trials, Constitution, Eritrea, Press, Freedom, Rule of Law, Judiciary