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ATROCITIES UPON KUNAMA ETHNIC GROUP

An extract from Berakit Bulletin

A certain Armin Rosen has written an article by the title “The Fog Over the Red Sea” on Saturday, December 22, 2012; as rumors about the defection of Information Minister Ali Abdu was heard.

The article has exposed that, Ali Abdu was the builder of one of the world’s strictest system of media control and acting as the architect of the government's control and direction of the media in Eritrea. In addition, the article has figured him as not only a secretive and arbitrary individual who would promote, demote or fire his subordinates with little explanation, but also imprisons and even kills Journalists. And that he was an extreme cruel person and have some sadist tendencies or something like that. Nowadays Ali Abdu has unveiled himself from where he hides and asking asylum in Australia as if after two years of hiding has cleansed him all his sins, appearing as a saint. There might be other articles that explain more about Ali Abdu and his friend Mustafa Nurhusein. What a hypocrite is this? The atrocities carried out up on the Eritrean people at large and the Kunama on its narrow scope, are in fact, unforgetables. He has to know that hiding a head in sand like ostrich will not save the body.

The concern of this article is not to elaborate about fugitive Ali Abdu, but to look other atrocities done upon kunama nationality in Eritrea. The atrocities done upon kunama nationality can be sited to the history of kunama itself. Therefore let us look a little bit at the kunama history.

Even though Eritrea is forged by Italian colonization in 19th century and gave the name Eritrea from the word “Erythrean” meaning “red” in Greece language; the early inhabitants of this land were Nilotic people. According to a historian J.K.N. Traviskas, “… Eritrean earliest inhabitants are believed to have been Nilotic people, Negroid, forest dwellers that had moved from their homes in the thick forests of South Western Sudan in to the Gash and Setit lowlands.” In Eritrea Kunama along with Nara are the only Nilotic people which make them to be the first indigenous nationalites in Eritrea. There are different historians who write about the origin of kunama. In this case O.G.S. Crawford has wrote that, “Bazen, a kingdom bordering on the Nuba kingdom of Alwa and on Baclin of the Beja, with whom they wage war, … the name still survives as Baza between the Gash and Setit–Tekezze bounded on the west by the Sudan and on the east by the Ethiopian frontier” (1951: 100,106). In Addition to this, Thomson E. David has written that, “There is an early recorded mention of the kunama and Nara in an Arabic document of 872 A.D. which names the ‘Baria’ and kunama as being residents on the borders of Alwa kingdom” (1976:281). Finally what kunama people say about their history was documented in “A Brief Introductory History of Kunama Nationality” written by by kornelios Osman in 1988 says that, “… the kunama people claim to be descendants of King Bazen who ruled Axumite kingdom for 17 years; from 8BC up to 9AD, and his wife was kuname.” Concerning about religions in Eritrea, the traditional belief of kunama people is mostly neglected considering only Islam and Christian religions were seen at the surface. However, more than half of the kunama population is traditional believer with few members of Muslim and Christian believers at large. That is why the kunama people are still practicing the culture of matrilineal lineage inherited from their ancestors from the time immemorial..

When we search the history of kunama in millennia; they suffered from incessant raids by their neighboring nationalities. These incessant wars were the indicators of many atrocities. According to kunama elders, kunama people have got relative peace only at the time of Italian occupation of Eritrea. Leaving aside others, here are some of the known atrocities happened in the past 20th century and the last decade.

  1. 1. The “Salabhiyay” war

This war has taken place at the time of British Military Administration in the years 1948 and 1949 by neighboring nationalities. The reason for the war was to take the kunama land by eradicating its people. This arrangement was agreed by BMA and helped the warriors in expectation of getting considerable amount of income from taxes. The war was launched from Suba-Suka, Shikaba-Sona and goes to the northern part of kunama area killing women, especially male children, burning elders in their house, looting a large amount of cattle, burning villages and committing many other atrocities. At that time an Italian Journalist Paulo Piglisu has witnessed in his writings. He wrote, “a war is going on against kunama people to eradicate or cleans this ethnic group. Even though, the neighboring ethnic groups who are fighting this war know the consequence or not, one thing that is clearly known is that the British government wants to continue and helps the warriors.” However, after two years of destructions by the warriors, the BMA tries to reconcile them. This war makes kunama people to mistrust or suspect towards other ruling classes and nationalities until now.

  1. 2. At the Time of Eritrean Liberation Struggle

Kunama people have also suffered from massacres orchestrated by Emperor Haile Sillasie; as other Eritrean citizens suffered a lot. Most of the victims of Omhajar massacre were kunama people. However, after the Eritrean Liberation was launched, our people became the first target as in the time of ‘Salabhiyay’ war. The so called liberation leaders commit the same crime like their ancestors, killing women, children, burning families locked in their house, slaughtering village elders and rich men on the open air, looting a large amount of goat sheep and cattle, burning villages and committing many other atrocities. At this time the peoples’ suspicion became real and went to defensive side but have no other choices than asking Haile Sillasie regime to give rifle to protect themselves and their people. However, the liberation leaders continue their agenda and commit crime after crime. In 1978 several hundred kunama women with their children from different villages were taken to Aligidhir agricultural plantations and forcing them to work as slaves, for the reason that their husbands were Derg soldiers. Mass killings were occurred in several villages like, Boshoka, Dokinbiya, Fode, Karkasha, Kona, Kolluku, Shambakko and others. The atrocities were continued secretly and in 1985 forty eight kunama elders, merchants and strong men were killed in Barentu Sslam Secondary School just because they are kunama. At the time liberation is realized in 1991, many of the Derg soldiers were disappeared without trace.

  1. 3. EPLF/PFDJ Regime

When the Eritrean freedom was realized; as all the Eritrea nationalities, the kunama nationality also expected innocently every good gestures like peace, justice, equality, democracy and respect of human right with economic and political right to all citizens. However, the expectation was evaporated even before Eritrean referendum of 1993. The kunama land was invaded by EPLF leaders and its surrogates bringing a lot of suffer through their unjust administration. Especially after the land proclamation number 58/1994, the traditional land ownership has lost its substance. And people were marginalized from access to any resource, just for the reason that they are members of kunama nationality. The EPLF regime did not only use proclamations to marginalize the people but also used its power when ever needed. In 1995, two kunama brothers namely Musa and Dirga were killed on day light by the regimes police in Shambakko market place. Even though every kunama was grieved on this incident, the regime has done nothing to bring the killers to justice. Since then, its acceptable to see a Kunama being detained, killed and shot at will. Accordingly, women were detained and strangled. Kunama youths in military were executed and others were just thrown into the sea alive to die. PFDJ regime has tried to kneel down the kunama people to the extent of eradicating through mass killing. In 2007 more than 300 kunama elders, women, youth, children were arbitrarily detained from Fawlina, Boshoka, Shambokko, Tole, Bimbilna villages in one night. (Link Genocide) They were put in Adiquala prison and tortured in which our good minister Ali Abdu had also involved. Out of these detainees two were died because of the torture and 26 other detainees were also poisoned with sulfuric acid and buried in a long pit which the victims were enforced to dig before they were poisoned. There are untold atrocities done by local administrators like Mustafa Nurhusein, its generals alive or dead. The detention, killing and shooting at will, though challenged and less intensified by now, sporadic detentions, killings and shootings so that to slim the Kunama population is a deliberate scheme the regime is implementing. Today, Eritrean Kunama including others is starved to death. People are hunted and gunned down at traditional gold sifting sites.Both nationalist liberation organizations are one and the same in their approaches towards the Eritrean Kunama. Our late brother and African leader, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, said, “Which liberation organization, the ELF or EPLF that did not wage a war against the Kunama people in Eritrea?” These good words of the late Ethiopian prime minister were heard by more than 14 Eritrean opposition leaders, innocents and culprits of those atrocities.

Its this suffering, suppression and shoot at will and slaughtering of innocent citizens, that has urged the Eritrean Kunama to organize itself on ethnic base, having assured both ELF and EPLF?PFDJ are tasted as sours and exclusives in their nature. The unexpected birth of the Eritrean Kunama movement, the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Eritrean Kunama (DMLEK),is a migraine for all forces with a polluted and ruined sentiments towards the Eritrean Kunama. The dynamics and efficiency of the current DMLEK, established in April 1, 1995, is emanated from its ethnic pattern of organizations. Kunama youths, boys and girls are in the trenches to defend their inalienable ethnic, human and democratic rights snatched by the evils forces so far and since its inception. For those who still insist to derogate DMLEK as a secessionist organizations and want to force DMLEK to back away from its organizing pattern are the forces still want to walk in dark seeking for their hegemony. These anti equality and survival forces should bear in their mind that, whether DMLEK proceeds or not, the egalitarian and conscious state of the Eritrean Kunama shall not be retrieved. For DMLEK, the ongoing struggle is for justice, equality and of course, for survival and for this end, the vivacious principle of people and people’s right of self-determination including and up to secession will shine all day and day out as its is enshrined in the Charter of United Nations. This right is believed to bring peace and security, justice and equality among all the nationalities and citizens of Eritrea. Unless the previous mishandlings and evil projects are eroded from the minds of those one time liberation fighters for their good and history, that history of slavery, atrocities and inequalities shall never sprout again in the womb of the Eritrean Kunama women. Let this message reach and the mind set of that time and lifelong anti Kunama elements and their surrogates. As reasonably normal and reasonably just, our struggle for survival, justice and equality shall continue. We are obliged to toss and un lid the past CAN because the early mishandlings are still on right track insisting to isolate and kneel down the Eritrean Kunama and their vanguard organization the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Eritrean Kunama, DMLEK. The Eritrean Kunama should struggle to restore the stripped off pride. Time will come to stand with a sigh of wheeze. Our dominant fear is how to make Eritrea the home of EQUALS!!