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In\u00a0today\u2019s\u00a0Eritrea,\u00a0there is no difference\u00a0between the jailer and the jailed.\u00a0The political culture is so violent\u00a0and desperate\u00a0that the president\u2019s own son attempted to escape the country.<\/p>\n
President\u00a0Isaias\u00a0Afwerki<\/a>\u2019s erratic and mercurial temperament\u00a0\u2013 he has been\u00a0the head of a one-party dictatorship\u00a0since\u00a0independence in 1993\u00a0\u2013\u00a0has culminated in a profoundly dysfunctional nation. A \u201chit and run\u201d style has replaced any thoughtful long-term planning. Not being able to count on\u00a0any stable or secure future<\/a>, many public servants place their energy into\u00a0amassing<\/a>\u00a0as much capital as possible, by any available means.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0distinctive political culture of Eritrea\u00a0suffers from an\u00a0unclear\u00a0boundary between\u00a0the abuser and the victim.\u00a0A\u00a0guard\u00a0can switch places with\u00a0his\/her\u00a0captive\u00a0at any moment.\u00a0Some of the most notorious prison commanders\u00a0and security chiefs\u00a0who terrorized\u00a0the nation with unchecked\u00a0power end up\u00a0in the harshest dungeons<\/a>; many of them in prison facilities they\u00a0have\u00a0had commanded. Such\u00a0perilous uncertainty\u00a0enables the president to\u00a0keep his subordinates guessing.<\/p>\n In the current Eritrean political landscape, officials are\u00a0usually\u00a0promoted to\u00a0key\u00a0posts\u00a0only\u00a0after being humiliated\u00a0and\u00a0pacified\u00a0through\u00a0an\u00a0intricate\u00a0web\u00a0of control\u00a0designed\u00a0by\u00a0Afwerki.<\/p>\n For example, Brigadier Gen.\u00a0Eyob \u201cHalibay\u201d Fessahaye<\/a>\u00a0was among the first\u00a0of the army\u2019s command officers\u00a0to be\u00a0incarcerated for alleged corruption in\u00a0the\u00a0early 1990s. President\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0announced and read\u00a0the charges against\u00a0Halibay\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0public seminar.\u00a0Halibay\u00a0was a sacrificial lamb\u00a0and his incarceration a warning to the other officers.\u00a0Shocked at this severe reversal of fortune\u00a0just as he was preparing to\u00a0take a new post as internal security chief,\u00a0Halibay\u00a0attempted to commit suicide twice while in jail. Later, after\u00a0his\u00a0release,\u00a0in a bizarre twist\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0gave him\u00a0an important post as head of a\u00a0commission\u00a0in charge of\u00a0privatizing government houses.<\/p>\n Having gone through the compulsory\u00a0dehumanization process,\u00a0Halibay\u00a0now commands\u00a0the\u00a0Special Forces,\u00a0the elite commandos.\u00a0Friends who visited him\u00a0during his incarceration were later rewarded bountifully after he gained power.\u00a0Of course,\u00a0Halibay\u00a0still has no freedom; he\u00a0was denied\u00a0an\u00a0exit visa\u00a0for\u00a0a\u00a0medical checkup<\/a>\u00a0in 2016.<\/p>\n Nesredin Bekhit<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0another example of the president\u2019s tactic of cutting a rising official down to size and then rehabilitating\u00a0them\u00a0as a way to secure his\u00a0fear-based\u00a0loyalty. In the mid-1990s, Bekhit was imprisoned\u00a0on corruption\u00a0charges that were\u00a0publicized\u00a0in the national media.\u00a0In 2014, after\u00a0his degradation and release, he became the\u00a0minister of trade and industry<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Unlike other ministers,\u00a0Bekhit\u00a0spends his time\u00a0now on the border\u00a0with\u00a0the Sudan, Ali-ghider,\u00a0where he\u00a0runs\u00a0the ruling party\u2019s\u00a0contraband business<\/a>. While\u00a0all imports have been outlawed\u00a0to regular citizens\u00a0since 2003, Mr. Bekhit can grant import permits\u00a0to his close associates and\u00a0former inmates.\u00a0He has turned some of his\u00a0friends\u00a0into\u00a0overnight\u00a0millionaires.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Corruption\u00a0among select high-ranking officials,\u00a0mainly\u00a0in the army<\/a>,\u00a0is\u00a0not only allowed but encouraged. The president can use knowledge of their corrupt activities as leverage,\u00a0to\u00a0ensure their loyalty.\u00a0<\/b>With the implicit support of\u00a0Afwerki,\u00a0army commanders\u00a0are protected in their\u00a0corruption,\u00a0including\u00a0involvement in the\u00a0complex racket of\u00a0human\u00a0trafficking<\/a>,\u00a0as long as\u00a0they remain loyal.<\/p>\n Among others,\u00a0General Filipos Woldeyohannes<\/a>,\u00a0the chief of staff and\u00a0de facto<\/i>\u00a0minister of defense,\u00a0and others\u00a0such as\u00a0Brigadier\u00a0Gen.\u00a0Tekle \u201cManjus\u201d\u00a0Kiflay<\/a>\u00a0have the green light from the president\u00a0to\u00a0pursue personal<\/a>\u00a0gain.<\/p>\n Most organs of the ruling party and the government collaborate in\u00a0organized corruption<\/a>, mainly by\u00a0using intimidation and bankruptcy to control and ruin\u00a0businesspeople. Yet it\u2019s not easy to keep track of when exactly\u00a0someone runs out of favor\u00a0with\u00a0the president. That happened recently to\u00a0Mr. Yemane Tesfai<\/a>, the former manager of\u00a0the\u00a0Commercial Bank\u00a0of Eritrea, who\u00a0ended up in jail\u00a0for\u00a0enabling various forms\u00a0of corruption.<\/p>\n Another way that President\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0maintains and wields power is by fomenting feuds among\u00a0his subordinates. He keeps\u00a0close watch on\u00a0any\u00a0animosity between military commanders as\u00a0a\u00a0primary\u00a0means of fortifying his\u00a0own\u00a0position.\u00a0It\u2019s no secret among observant citizens that\u00a0all the top military commanders and\u00a0most\u00a0influential government\u00a0ministers\u00a0bear\u00a0deep animosity\u00a0against one another.<\/p>\n A grievous\u00a0misreading of the\u00a0president\u2019s psyche\u00a0cost\u00a0Ms.\u00a0Luel\u00a0Ghebreab, the former chair of\u00a0the\u00a0National Union of Eritrean Women,\u00a0her job.\u00a0She mistakenly\u00a0assumed\u00a0it was safe to mediate\u00a0a\u00a0life-long feud between her husband, Major\u00a0Gen.\u00a0Teklai\u00a0Habteselassie\u00a0and the late Major\u00a0Gen.\u00a0Gebregziabher \u201cWuchu\u201d Andemariam<\/a>,\u00a0when\u00a0General\u00a0Wuchu\u00a0was bed-ridden. After\u00a0Ms.\u00a0Ghebreab\u00a0mediated the dispute, the news\u00a0quickly\u00a0reached the\u00a0president. He called and intimidated her,\u00a0asking who\u00a0had\u00a0delegated her\u00a0this responsibility. Then he instructed her to immediately\u00a0conduct congress and\u00a0vacate her post. Of course,\u00a0nobody\u00a0would question such orders from the head of state.\u00a0Having gone through this\u00a0public\u00a0humiliation and\u00a0left\u00a0jobless for more than three years, this past July was\u00a0Ghebreab\u00a0reinstated\u00a0as\u00a0minister of labor and human welfare.<\/p>\n The president\u2019s application of\u00a0fear\u00a0and terror\u00a0are\u00a0manifested in different forms.\u00a0He verbally and physically abuses most of his subordinates including ministers and celebrities. For example,\u00a0in 2010\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0granted a rare\u00a0interview\u00a0with\u00a0Al-Jazeera\u00a0English<\/a>. The\u00a0presenter, the South African\u00a0Jane Dutton, proceeded to openly\u00a0challenge\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0about state abuses and authoritarianism\u00a0in Eritrea.\u00a0Irritated by her questions, the president called the journalist\u00a0\u201cinsane.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(Watch<\/a>)\u00a0Post-interview\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0struck\u00a0his information minister,\u00a0Ali Abdu,\u00a0who\u00a0had\u00a0arranged the interview,\u00a0in front of his staff.\u00a0Abdu\u00a0was once\u00a0Afwerki\u2019s\u00a0mentee, whom the president treated like his son. Among the most privileged and close associates of the president, he in turn terrorized the nation\u2019s art community and state news media into abject compliance for a decade. Yet, despite closely following\u00a0Afwerki\u2019s\u00a0template of terror and repression in the Ministry of Information, he decided in 2012 that he had to flee for his own safety\u00a0and sought\u00a0political asylum<\/a>\u00a0in Australia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a management practice,\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0employs physical assault to derail confidence and\u00a0instill\u00a0insecurity\u00a0in\u00a0top government officials.\u00a0This\u00a0practice can\u00a0become life threatening at times.\u00a0About a year before his imprisonment with\u00a0an\u00a0alleged role\u00a0in\u00a0the January 2013\u00a0military mutiny<\/a>, Abdella Jabir,\u00a0the\u00a0former head of Organizational Affairs and one of the top five executives of the ruling party\u00a0(People\u2019s\u00a0Front for Democracy and Justice),\u00a0was\u00a0violently\u00a0ambushed\u00a0in the capital, Asmara,\u00a0by\u00a0supposedly \u201cunidentified\u201d\u00a0assailants.\u00a0Never\u00a0publicized,\u00a0this assault was neither a\u00a0robbery\u00a0nor\u00a0an attack by\u00a0political dissidents. Having recovered from his assault, Jabir continued his normal functions\u00a0in the party\u00a0until his\u00a0eventual arrest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The president\u00a0treats family members\u00a0as\u00a0he treats his subordinates. He routinely belittles and ridicules his eldest son, Abraham, and reportedly has stopped communications with his youngest son,\u00a0Berhane, over the last four years. Frustrated with the dysfunctional, corrupt system and his father\u2019s abusive treatment,\u00a0Berhane\u00a0Isaias\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0attempted to flee the country illegally in 2015. He was intercepted by border patrols while preparing to be smuggled out\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0border\u00a0town of\u00a0Tessenei. Initially the border security who\u00a0discovered\u00a0him were not aware that he\u00a0was\u00a0the president\u2019s son.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is this complex and enigmatic nature of President\u00a0Afwerki\u00a0that\u00a0has rendered\u00a0de facto<\/i>\u00a0the\u00a0political culture of today\u2019s Eritrea. The long-term consequences of a new nation with such political culture is not difficult to guess.<\/p>\n