In conversation with Eritrean human rights activist Paulos Tesfagiorgis
Pierre Beaudet / January 8, 2021
AFRICAHUMAN RIGHTSWAR ZONES
Paulos Tesfagiorgis was the head of the Eritrean Relief Association (ERA) and one of the senior cadres of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) from the 1970s until the liberation of the country in 1991. While EPLF liberated Eritrea, opposition forces in Ethiopia, under the leadership of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and its coalition partners, also succeeded in establishing a new government in Addis Ababa. The hope then was that both Ethiopia and Eritrea would cooperate in rebuilding. But that did not come to pass. Under the leadership of the EPLF and new president Isaias Afwerki, Eritrea escalated a border skirmish into an all-out war which caused a great deal of destruction and animosity for another two decades. Like many of his former comrades, Tesfagiorgis was forced into exile. Many senior EPLF and government cadres were detained and disappeared, never to be seen again.
