Därför kampanjar vi för att få Isaak fri

This is a reply to the reservations expressed by Dawit Isaak's children about the public campaign in Sweden to gain the release of their father (link).

What would Dawit Isaak have done?

I read the interview with Dawit Isaak's children, Bethlehem and Yorun, in Svenska Dagbladet on Wednesday morning, before my first cup of coffee, and I certainly did not need any caffeine after that. The deep frustration, anger and desperation they expressed  at the  apparent futility of the highly public campaign to save their father virtually  jumped off the page. Their plea definitely struck a chord, especially the charge that all the well intentioned efforts to publicize Dawit's plight and to press the Eritrean government on his behalf are in fact not helping  but may be diminishing the chance of his release.

It is  understandable that Behtlehem and Yorun Isaak feel that both their father and the cause of his fate have been hijacked by activists and journalists (such as myself)  and that they urgently wish to claim him back. Dawit's children have every reason to be upset, but I would urge them to consider a few issues before they dismiss all the steps taken on their father's behalf as irrelevant or useless.

For one, the campaign for Dawit Isaak went public only after years of  waiting to see if any of the contacts behind the scenes, the efforts of so-called 'silent diplomacy', would bear fruit. As several commentators have pointed out, numerous other Eritrean government critics were arrested together with Dawit Isaak in 2001, for whom no public campaign was launched. They have remained jailed or have died since that time, without any indication that their families were close to securing their release.

Secondly, much of the public criticism  has been directed against the failure of the Swedish government to force the Eritrean leadership into some kind of  dialogue, however basic, that would bring about a positive resolution of the case. Dawit Isaak is after all a full Swedish citizen and as such he should receive the full thrust of all possible governmental and legal action on his behalf. That effort appeared somewhat flagging at times and all questions about what exactly the Swedish government has or has not done to win Dawit's freedom have not been satisfactorily answered.

Also, Eritrea  formally grants its citizens the right of "habeas corpus" - the right to be informed in person, in front of a court, of  all accusations -  in its interim constitution. Should this legal right not be claimed by a man jailed by Eritrean authorities for more than ten years?   And yes, it may well be that there is such a thing as pushing Eritrean  govenment too far into a corner. As Bethlehem Isaak pointed out in her interview with Swedish Radio, the constant fingerpointing at Esayas Afewerki as "Dictator, Dictator" may sometimes be counterproductive. Undoubtedly, Afewerki must still retain a sense that there is a way  to end Dawit's imprisonment. If the family feels that it has evidence of such signals from the Eritrean government, then it is vitally important to explore all possibilities to pursue these contacts further. However, as Bethlehem stated quite clearly in that same interview, it does not appear  that there currently exists any such opening.

Finally, while comparisons  do not always work, history can offer helpful analogies. It is a fact that public attention in human rights cases matters, that it can bring vital change, even in seemingly hopeless situations. One example is Myanmar (Burma) where dissident Aung San Suu Kyi's lonely fight to oppose the ruling Junta of generals  came to an end only in late 2010, after more than  fifteen years under strict house arrest.

The Burmese government appears to finally realize that it cannot continue to exist in isolation and as a result recently decided to free more than 250 dissidents who had languished in jail for years.  Eritrea will sooner or later discover that despite valuable resources and important friends, it cannot secure its future by shutting out most of the world. Similarly, as Eritreans grow more prosperous, they will begin to ask the very same questions Dawit and his colleagues raised when they were arrested.

This brings us to another important point,  namely the question how would Dawit Isaak have handled such a case as his? It is obviously  impossible to answer, but one thing seems clear: Dawit was not one to remain silent in the face of oppression. He felt so strongly about freedom of speech and basic human rights that he left his family behind in Sweden to return to Eritrea to ensure a better future for his loved ones and all Eritrean people. As he wrote in 'Setit', the newspaper he cofounded, in 2001: "People can tolerate hunger and other problems for a long time, but they can not tolerate the absence of good administration and justice." He did not believe that change would come on its own, but instead needed to be given a strong, public (!)  voice to grow.

In spite of all the terrible difficulties and different points of view, one thing is certain: Dawit Isaak would be so proud of his children who stand up for him in the way they feel they must do.  Bethlehem and Yorun say that their father belongs to them and that they want to be in charge of handling his case. That is their right and their privilege, but I hope they will recognize that Dawit's cause was never so strictly limited and that the strong public activism on their father's behalf may yet yield the result that must seem so remote at the moment - that Dawit Isaak finally comes home again.

Susanne Berger (2 artiklar)

Anmäl

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Det verkar som om Susanne Berger säger att de inte kommer att respektera barnens önskan eftersom detta är ett fall som extremvänstern vill använda för att misskreditera regeringen.

Permalänk | Anmäl #1 Benny Balja, 2011-10-23, 10:51

As you well know, this case has been a difficult one for all policy makers across the political spectrum. Clearly, the children feel frustrated that efforts have failed, but one has to be careful to simply blame this failure on the public campaign pushing for DI's release. Many would argue that the opposite is true - that the publicity has kept him alive. So, all I am saying is let us weigh options, together, and try to identify the best way forward.

Permalänk | Anmäl #2 Susanne Berger, 2011-10-23, 12:13

Har man barn så gör man vad man kan för att ta hand om dem. Den som skiter i sina ungar och lämnar dem för att ta ideologisk strid i en brutal diktatur har förverkat sin rätt till hjälp.

Permalänk | Anmäl #3 Robert Pettersson, 2011-10-23, 16:59

Det är väldigt tur för oss att alla inte tänker som du Robert. För att se till att det förblir så bör vi hjälpa de som hjälper andra, så gott vi kan

Permalänk | Anmäl #4 u_18551, 2011-10-23, 17:11

#4 Rickard Norlander
Tvärtom. Det är hur vi tar hand om de egna barnen som bestämmer hur framtiden blir. Föräldrar som överger sina barn har vi ingen nytta av. Notera även att en stor mängd mödrar som lyckats ta sig ända från Somalia till Sverige vägrar att åka för att ta hand om sina barn trots att de vet var de befinner sig. Den egna bekvämligheten man funnit i Sverige väger tyngre än plikten att ta hand om sina barn. Skrämmande!

Permalänk | Anmäl #5 Robert Pettersson, 2011-10-23, 18:09

Varför skriver Susanne Berger på engelska? Hon kan ju svenska och frågan om Dawit Isaak är väl i första hand en svenska angelägenhet.

Permalänk | Anmäl #6 Tobias Bäckström, 2011-10-23, 20:04

Dawit Isaak är en journalistdröm som det är tacksamt att skriva om det förstår jag.
Visst vill jag att de ska släppa honom det vill väl alla. Hur kan det komma sig att jag funderar på vad han hade där att göra när han blivit Svensk medborgare och hade det ordnat för sig. Vad tänkte han på egentligen. Ville han bli martyr ?

Permalänk | Anmäl #7 Andersx Carlsson, 2011-10-23, 21:46

#2 Susanne

Det är ju bra att du kan prata engelska, Susanne - är det för Dawits barn du skriver? Om inte - sväng över till god svenska.

Det är bara en sak du måste förstå - Det är Dawit Isaaks barn som bestämmer. Om de vill att du lägger av så lägger du av - du har ingen talan i saken. Du kan prata med dem för att se om de vill ändra på sig men om de inte ändrar sig så gör du som de vill.

Permalänk | Anmäl #8 Benny Balja, 2011-10-23, 21:51

Bra skrivet Susanne. Det är klart att ni måste fortsätta kämpa för att Dawit Isaak ska bli fri. Om ni slutar kämpa så kommer han ju definitivt aldrig att bli fri, det är ju så uppenbart. Det behövs tvärtom ännu mer skrivande och protester för att få honom fri. Jag hoppas att ni ska lyckas få EU att införa sanktioner mot Eritrea. Jag hoppas också att ni ska få så många andra länder som möjligt att införa sanktioner mot Eritrea.

Permalänk | Anmäl #9 Jan Sjöberg, 2011-10-24, 17:29

#9 Sjöberg

Ännu en från extremvänstern som skiter i Dawit Isaak och hans barn. Vem är förvånad.

Permalänk | Anmäl #10 Benny Balja, 2011-10-24, 22:24