Glory to Our Martyrs!

20 June 2025

Glory to Our Martyrs!

Ambassador Andebrhan Welde Giorgis
 

Today the 20^th of June 2025 marks the Memorial Day for our heroic martyrs who gave their invaluable lives to, on the one hand, liberate Eritrea, free the Eritrean people, and preserve Eritrea’s independence and, on the other, bring about freedom, democratic governance, justice, and prosperity for the Eritrean people. 

The modern history of Eritrea is a history of a heroic perseverant struggle replete with matchless sacrifices. What was the objective of the heroic struggle waged and the matchless sacrifices made? The main objective, as encapsulated in the eleven-point National Democratic Programme adopted in the First Congress of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Forces (EPLF), or the inaugural congress of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), was to establish an independent democratic Eritrea that avails freedom, justice and prosperity for our people.

Following accession to sovereign independence, vital documents like the National Charter, the Macroeconomic Policy framework, and the Constitution of Eritrea were prepared, adopted and initiated by the relevant state organs and institutions as imperative guideposts for the government to pursue and realise these fundamental objectives. 

A constructive initiative to establish a participatory democratic governance that entrenches the rule of law, ensures economic reconstruction and development, and assures freedom, justice, and prosperity was launched. The process was, however, interrupted due to the coup that dislodged the historical leaders of the EPLF during the 3^rd Congress of the EPLF or the Inaugural Congress of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) in 1994, and the commission of the subsequent betrayal of the fundamental objectives of the armed struggle. There emerged a malevolent, lawless authoritarian regime that operates deliberately to aggravate poverty, reverse the normal growth of the Eritrean population, undermine the size, agency and defence capability of the Eritrean people endangering the continued existence of an independent sovereign State of Eritrea.   

Successive generations of Eritrean men and women invested their youth, our martyrs gave their lives, and our war disabled veterans endured bodily harm to make these noble objectives a reality. They achieved the independence of Eritrea and defended its sovereignty and territorial integrity by foiling renewed expansionist aggression through their sacrifices. They have written the modern history of Eritrea through their blood. As such, the 20^th of June is a Memorial Day that all patriotic Eritreans solemnly commemorate the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the people and the country; commend the heroic disabled war veterans; and demand justice for the luminaries of the armed struggle, journalists and ordinary citizens who, jailed without due process and detained without charge or trial, have virtually been buried alive.  

As the day of the final defeat of Ethiopia’s all-out 6^th Offensive or Red Star Campaign launched with the aim of erasing the Eritrean liberation movement once and for all, a feat which the Eritrean People’s Liberation Army achieved at the price of the largest number of martyrs, the 20^th of June 1982 assured the continuity of our armed struggle and heralded the inevitability of our final victory. It thus bears a special symbolic significance in the annals of the Eritrean people’s armed struggle. The Eritrean people waged a long and arduous struggle for national liberation that has few parallels in modern history. They won in defiance of formidable odds and achieved national independence through the heroic sacrifices of tens of thousands of their finest sons and daughters.

Independence rid Eritrea of colonial rule; changed the political map of the Horn of Africa; and enabled Eritrea to take its rightful place among the international community of free nations. Beyond Eritrea, the Eritrean armed struggle made a great contribution to the liberation of the Ethiopian peoples from the yoke of oppression of the Dergue’s dictatorial regime. Furthermore, the exemplar determination, courage and hope of the Eritrean revolution, which fought for national democratic objectives combining, at the level of principle, the Eritrean people’s aspirations for political independence and social justice, serves as a source of inspiration for the struggle of peoples against oppression the world over.

At the level of practice, however, it proved a profound disappointment. Although the Eritrean people waged an epic armed struggle, Eritrea today is littered with unfulfilled expectations, broken promises and thwarted hopes of freedom, justice and prosperity. Thirty-four years post-independence, the Eritrean people have endured the scourge of autocratic oppression, extreme poverty and arbitrary detention. The desire to escape from indefinite active national service perpetrated in violation of its legal limits as per the Eritrean National Service Proclamation (82/1995) and rampant unemployment has forced the youth to leave the country en masse. Wrong policy choices and missed opportunities have derailed Eritrea from developing into a prosperous nation and, instead, immersed it in the quagmire of apparent backwardness, destruction and poverty. 

The achievement of national independence is a great historic victory. National independence, however, was not the only or ultimate objective of the struggle for which our people fought, and our martyrs sacrificed their lives. Post-independence, the Eritrean struggle aimed to bring about fundamental socioeconomic transformation and build a new democratic society that avails freedom, justice and prosperity for all. In brief, the primary objective of our armed struggle was for accession to independence to enable the Eritrean people to own and fully enjoy their political, economic, social, cultural and human rights.

As explained here above, however, the betrayal of the fundamental objectives of our armed struggle aborted the development of the democratic process. The seizure of absolute power created absolute dictatorship; imposed a state of suppression and predation without any legal constraints or institutional restrictions; drove mass exodus; regressed the country; and immersed the people in the misery of extreme poverty. An autocrat usurped absolute power; refused to implement the Constitution; suspended the Eritrean National Assembly; and rules in accordance with his whims in an open display of the arrogance and corruption of power. 

In an era of global transition whence might has become right in the relations among nations, economic wealth, military power and a growing population equipped with modern education and technology have become the main factors that can guarantee the future independent existence of nations. Under the circumstances, the Government of Eritrea must introduce political and economic changes that cater to the needs of the people; mobilise national resources; build human capital; construct physical and social infrastructure; open the economy to enable trade and encourage investment, both domestic and foreign; and expand healthcare and education services. In brief, it must undertake an initiative that promotes national development and raises the standard of living of the people. 

Instead, the regime has deployed the domestic media and various social media platforms to portray an impression that things are well in Eritrea; glorify a tin-pot dictator; and aggrandise his stature. Quite evidently, occasional hypocritical speeches during the commemoration of Martyrs’ Day cannot vindicate the sacrifices of our people and martyrs. What is needed is the establishment of an accountable and transparent constitutional governance that respects the rudimentary rights and freedoms of the people; revitalises the national economy; improves the livelihood of the people; administers justice; and achieves prosperity. 

Eritreans who care for their people and love their country must thus, for the sake of the interests of the people and the country, have the principle, the courage and the conviction to advocate and work for the implementation of the programmatic objectives of our armed struggle to bring about a democratic Eritrea that vindicates the sacrifices of our martyrs. A democratic Eritrea would enable Eritreans at home to live in safety and Eritreans in the diaspora to return home. All can then work and invest to earn decent living, support their families, and contribute to the development of the country.

As we solemnly commemorate our martyrs and proudly commend our war disabled veterans today, the 20^th of June 2025, let us endeavour to realise the noble objectives for which our heroic martyrs sacrificed their lives and limbs. The realisation of the noble objectives of strengthening the agency and empowering the Eritrean people to live in freedom, dignity, justice and prosperity and enabling independent Eritrea to rise and thrive would vindicate their sacrifices and avail consolation to the Eritrean people. 

Indeed, it is necessary to endeavour to establish an accountable and transparent constitutional government that (1) respects the rule of law; (2) administers justice; and (3) uses our country’s natural, human and material resources, including its manpower, sea, ports and minerals, in the service of national development and the improvement of the standard of living of our people to uplift the human condition in Eritrea.

Long live an independent sovereign State of Eritrea!

Eternal glory to our martyrs!

God bless Eritrea and the Eritrean people!