Conversations with Eritrean Political Prisoners

In 2001, months after a devastating war with Ethiopia, a wide-ranging debate erupted within Eritrea over the conduct of leadership and the content of government policy, particularly around the 1998-2000 Border War with Ethiopia, which many thought could have been averted. Much of the criticism was directed at the president, Isaias Afwerki, who refused to implement a newly ratified Constitution or to permit the formation of political parties or to conduct national elections. This national conversation came to an abrupt halt in September when the government arrested its most prominent critics, shut down the private press, and smothered all public political discussion. This book revisits that debate through interviews with five critics—top government officials and former liberation movement leaders—shortly before they disappeared into the Eritrean gulag. Since then, none has been seen, heard from or accounted for. Nor has any been charged with a crime. As these conversations reveal, the speakers knew what was in store for them—arrest and indefinite detention. This is why they spoke with veteran journalist and long-time friend of Eritrea Dan Connell. This book not only opens a critical window onto that seminal moment; it signals the persistence of the dream of a democratic future for a remarkable nation whose promise has yet to be fulfilled.

Politics & Social Sciences

Dan Connell

Social Sciences

The Red Sea Press, Inc.

<p>Against All Odds is a firsthand account of Eritrea’s 30\-year struggle for independence from Ethiopia, which it won in 1991 with little outside support after defeating successive U.S.\- and Soviet\-backed regimes and overcoming drought and famine while working to unify and reform the society from which it derived its strength. A 1997 Afterword captures the optimism generated by these achievements. But a New Reappraisal recounts its slide into despotism after renewed conflict with Ethiopia and the dark years of isolation and repression that followed, the hopes raised by a 2018 peace pact and then dashed by another round of war. It concludes with reflections on how to break this cycle and begin the democratic transition for which so many fought and died.</p>

Against All Odds: 2nd edition with a new update & a reappraisal

History

Africa

The Red Sea Press

Women to Women: Young Americans in South Africa

Women To Women: Young Americans In South Africa

Africa Research and Publications

Old Wrongs, New Rights: Student Views of the New South Africa

Africa World+press

<p>Old Wrongs, New Rights is a series of candid close-ups of South Africa s invigorating but unfinished journey from apartheid to democracy. The reporters are students from the Americas, steeped in idealism but quick to spot backsliding. Their vantage point provides a freshness that is absent from the seasoned, often cynical, professionals who usually mediate our view of this daunting experiment in social transformation. The stories focus on day-to-day struggles to attain the promise of South Africa s visionary Constitution, which not only guarantees every citizen equality and full participation in the political process, but also rights to housing, health care, education, personal security, and a safe environment for future generations. What has so far been achieved, the student reporters asked? What or who holds back change? Who is propelling the society ahead, and why does so much remain to be done? As journalists, the students sought answers not in pious pronouncements or paper pledges but in the lives of those now carrying apartheid s persistent legacy. Old Wrongs, New Rights gives voice to South Africans deeply felt aspirations, coupled with their intense frustration at the sluggish pace of change. It also tracks the ways in which the experience transformed the observers.</p>

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dan Connell. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Dan Connell