Isaias Afwerki
| Isaias Afwerki | |
|---|---|
| President of Eritrea | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 27 April 1991 Acting: 27 April 1991 – 24 May 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| President of the National Assembly | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 24 May 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Tedla Bairu |
| Leader of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 15 June 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front | |
| In office 4 October 1978 – 15 June 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Romodan Mohammed Nur |
| Succeeded by | Sebhat Ephrem |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 February 1946 Asmara, Eritrea |
| Political party | People's Front for Democracy and Justice |
| Spouse(s) | Saba Haile |
| Children | Abraham Berhane Elsa |
| Alma mater | Addis Ababa University |
| Religion | Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo |
| Signature |  |
Isaias Afwerki (sometimes spelled Afewerki;[1][2] Tigrinya: ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ? [isajas afwɐrkʼi]) (born February 2, 1946), is the first President of the State of Eritrea, a position he has held since its independence in 1993. He led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) to victory in May 1991, thus ending the 30-year-old armed liberation struggle that the Eritrean people refer to as "Gedli". The EPLF adopted a new political party name, People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) to reflect its new responsibilities. The PFDJ, with Afwerki as its leader, reside as the governing body of Eritrea today.
Personal life and education
Isaias Afewerki was born in 1946 in Asmara,[3] Eritrea to parents Afwerki Abraha and Adanesh Berhe. Afwerki grew up in Asmara and graduated from Prince Makonnen High School in 1965. His good grades in the General School Leaving Exams in his final high school year allowed him to obtain admittance to the highly competitive College of Engineering at Haile Selassie I University (now called Addis Ababa University) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, a year later his studies were interrupted when he decided to join the Eritrean liberation struggle.
Afwerki is married to Saba Haile and has two sons and one daughter.
Afwerki in the early stages of the Eritrean War for Independence
The 30-year Eritrean War for Independence was an armed liberation struggle that lasted from 1961 to 1991 and is referred to by the Eritrean people as "Gedli".[4] Afwerki became a part of the struggle in 1966, when he abandoned his engineering studies in Addis Ababa and left for Kassala, Sudan, joining the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in exile. In early 1967, Afwerki, along with Ramadan Mohammed Nour (later to be EPLF's Secretary General), was sent to China for military training. There they spent almost two years studying political ideologies and guerrilla warfare.[5] Upon Afwerki's return, he was appointed political commissar of the ELF.
In 1969, ideological and tactical disagreements within the ELF led to three factions splitting from the ELF. One faction took refuge in the mountains of Sahel. Another group under command of Afwerki, numbering less than a dozen, left for Eritrea's eastern escarpment. The third group headed off to Aden and returned by boat to Eritrea, landing south of Assab. These three groups would eventually join to become one under the name of the Eritrean Liberation Front-People's Liberation Front (ELF-PLF). When they formally merged in 1973, they changed their name to the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).
Afwerki's growth in the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF)
While a member of the EPLF leadership, Afwerki, Mesfin Hagos,Tewelde Eyob, Asmerom Gerezgiher, and Solomon Weldemariam distinguished themselves by authoring an important EPLF manifesto in 1970 titled "Our Struggle and its Goals". This manifesto placed strong emphasis on overcoming ethnic and religious differences and on launching a revolutionary struggle in the independence war. In 1975, Afwerki became chairman of the EPLF military committee. In 1977, under EPLF's first congress, he was elected vice secretary-general of the EPLF. He was elected secretary-general in 1987.[3]
By May 1991, the EPLF, under Afwerki's leadership, was able to control all Eritrea and its units entered the capital city Asmara—thus crowning the 30 years of armed struggle for Liberation of the Eritrean people with victory. In essence, Eritrea became a de facto independent country in May 24th, 1991.
Post Independence
In April 1993, a United Nations-supervised referendum on independence was held, and the following month Eritrea achieved de jure independence. Afwerki was declared the first head of state, a position he has held ever since the end of the war for independence.[3]
During the first few years of Afwerki's administration, the institutions of governance were structured and put in place. This included a top-to-bottom restructuring of the structures of governance by provision of an elected local judicial system, as well as an expansion of the educational system into as many regions as possible. The EPLF renamed itself the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) in February 1994 as part of its transition to a political party.
Criticism
Amnesty International believes that at least 10,000 political prisoners have been imprisoned by the government of President Isaias Afewerki. Amnesty also claims that torture – for punishment, interrogation and coercion - is widespread.[6]
Reporters Without Borders rank Eritrea under the government of President Isaias Afewerki last in their press freedom index for the seventh year running, as of 2015.[7]
References
- ↑ Eritrea - Minisitry of Information. "Eritrea at a glance". shabait.com. Eritrea - Minisitry of Information. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ↑ Eritrea - Ministry of Information. "President Isaias Afewerki’s speech on the occasion of the 23rd Independence day celebrations". shabait.com. Eritrea - Ministry of Information. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Eritrea profile". BBC. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
- ↑ "Perspective". VKP/KAM. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
- ↑ Dan Connell (1993). Against All Odds: A Chronicle of the Eritrean Revolution : with a New Foreword on the Postwar Transition. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 978-1-56902-046-3. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "Eritrea: Rampant repression 20 years after independence", Amnesty International, London, 9 May 2013. Retrieved on 23 January 2015.
- ↑ "Six Eritrean journalists released after nearly six years in prison", Reporters Without Borders, 22 January 2015. Retrieved on 23 January 2015.
Notes
External links
- Official website of the Ministry of Information of Eritrea
- Isaias Afwerki's Biography With Rare Photos of His early Childhood
- New Internationalist feature on Isaias Afwerki
- Demise Of Wikaw Command: 30th Commemoration
- Afwerki is a longtime fixture on Parade Magazine's annual list "The World's Worst Dictators"
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New office | President of Eritrea 1993–present |
Incumbent |