Commander Habtezion Hadgu

WHERE IS MY FATHER

Semhar Habtezion

Posted on Oct'10, 2006. view

This is my father Commander Habtezion Hadgu(Babbi) next to his favourate toy! His dream of flying a plane in a free Eritrean air space came to reality in 1991. When he took to the skies an old MIG 21, a left-over from the former Ethiopian regime and roared the skies of Asmara. That day of September 1st marked the begining of a long journey to give the newly independent Eritrea, her own Air Force! An Air Force, that will have its own national emblem, to be flewn by Eritrean children and defend her territories. That journey, which begun with no more than fifteen staff members accomplished what no nation in Africa or anywhere else achieved; a full fleged Eritrean Air Force (ERAF). In only seven years, in April 1998, ERAF graduated its pilots, technicians, teachers etc...and had staff that was the pride of Eritrea.

Three odd years now that President Isayas Afewerki cliped my father's wings, and had thrown him to jail, like so many before and after him; to rot to death!
Like so many before and after him, no charges were brought forward. No doctors, Children or lawyers can visit him! And may be like so many, I will be told of his death.
But then again, I prefer him to be in jail than be with this regime. Current Eritrea is not for the independent and free mind, not for the out spoken, and not for those who criticise.Semhar Habtezion talesofamockingbird@gmail.com

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Semhar Habtezion’s father, Brigadier General Habtezion Hadgu, founded the Eritrean Air Force, Semhar told VOA. He was incarcerated in 2003.

“He had direct altercations with the president,” Semhar said. Those disagreements concerned how the air force was managed and why colleagues like Dejen had been imprisoned.

“He had the fancy of owning and running his own farm in the countryside where he was born,” Semhar said, and would have been content to simply step away from the air force.

But Habtezion never got that chance. He has been held incommunicado for 15 years, and his family’s attempts to even learn about his health have gone nowhere. source [Fighter Pilot, Escapee, Calls for Justice for Jailed Compatriots

Tweets Conversation Semhar @SHabtezion
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25 Feb 2018
For many non-Eritreans that are not familiar with the country, hearing your family member is held incommunicado is simply incomprehensible. When I first moved to the UK, I had my neighbour, who innocently asked “what if I travel to Asmara & ask to see your father?”

25 Feb 2018
As a 20 something, I was certain if I spoke to as many in politics, I would get answers.Back in 2004/5 I called the FCO, people on the phone were so gracious, I had the Attorny General on the other line. He was kind too, mostly surprised by how I was able to get him on the line.

25 Feb 2018
In 2004, I thought I should become a journalist. South Africa was the country that held the ideals for me. And since the Eritrean regime disliked western media, I thought how about RSA- A rainbow nation & a solid constitution.

25 Feb 2018
And in 2005/6 I ended up getting an offer over a proposal I made, to offer the continent a bilingual channel. And I was to work as a producer/presenter with SABC. Alas by then, I was giving up my ideals on any difference independent Media could make.

25 Feb 2018
That is, a difference specific to Eritrea. But I will forever be grateful to SABC & I often question my decision. I dont know the path my life would have taken had I taken up the role.

25 Feb 2018
As a child seeking to have access to her father in Eritrea, in my twenties alone have been granted audience with as many people in power as possible. Invariably all with the same answer. “We really dont know what we can do!” “We really dont understand”

·25 Feb 2018
A particular government minister even tricked an Eritrean visiting official into going out for drinks then ambushed him with my presence in the same bar. This minister was embarassed but not too aggressive with me. Just said, I dont understand why your father is in jail.

25 Feb 2018
When i asked this Eritrean minister if I can be allowed a call or send in a doctor. He said “only the president can do that”. My request have always been consistent. I want access to my father by phone & to send in a medical doctor to see him.

25 Feb 2018
What has also been consistent from Eritrean regime & its supporters is the attempt at separating prisoners in the county by religous, jounalists, gov ministers and so on. Ultimately an attempt to disable any united request for Access to Prisoners.
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25 Feb 2018
In the 15 years I seek to have access to my father. I have made wonderful friendships with both Eritreans & other nations’ citizens. But like many, I have also lost childhood friends & distant relatives who feel inconvenienced because I refuse to normalise the system.
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25 Feb 2018
Except for one charlatan British lawyer I met in London, who learned about the existence of Eritrea as a country & its government from me, I can say that the past 15yrs have shown me the g
oodness in people. The kindness that comes with empathy.

ኮማንደር ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ ንነዊሕ ዓመታት ኣብ ሓይሊ ኣየር ኢትዮጵያ ከም ፓይሎት ኣብራሪ ነፋሪት ውግእ ሚግ 23 ብሙዃን ኣብ ሓይሊ ኣየር ኢትዮጵያ ስምን ዝናን ዘጥረየ፡ ኣብ ራሻ ኣብ ዝወሰዶ ትምህርቲ ካብ መላእ ኢትዮጵያውያን ብዝላዓለ ነጥቢ ቀዳማይ ብምውጻእ እተመረቐ፡ ከም ሰብ ምንም ነገር ዘይግድሾ ተባዕ፡ ኣስተብሂሉ ዝዛረብ፡ ሰባት ክሃሲ ዘይብገስ ሎዑል ወተሃደራዊ ዲሲፕሊን ዝውንን ምኩር ፓይሎት'ዩ ዝነበረ ኮማንደር ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ።
ኣብ ትሕቲ ከምዚ ኩነታት ካኣ'ዩ፡ በቲ ግዜ'ቲ ኣዛዚ ሓይሊ ኣየር ኢትዮጵያ ጀነራል እምሃ ደስታን፡ ምኒስተር ንግድን ኢንዳስትርን ዝነበረ ሜጀር ጀነራል ፋንታየ በላይን ነቲ ናይ ኣጽዋር ሓገዝ ክልምን ናብ ጀርመን ኣቕኒዑ ዝነበረ ኮሎኔል መንግስቱ ሃ/ማርያም ዕልዋ መንግስቲ ከካይደሉ ዝወሰኑ።እቲ ናይ ዕልዋ መንግስቲ ዕለት፡ ኮሎኔል መንግስቱ ሃይለማርያም ናይ ምብራቕ ጀርመን ወግዓዊ ናይ ስራሕ መገሻኡ ኣብ ዝዛዝመሉ (10 ግንቦት 1989) ብምንባሩ፡ ጀነራል ፋንታየ በላይ፡ መንግስቱ ናብ ክሊ ኣየር ኢትዮጵያ ኣብ ዝኣትወሉ ግዜ፡ ናብ ቦሌ መዕልቦ ነፈርቲ ከይዓለበ ኣብ ሰማይ እንከሎ ብነፋሪት ውግእ ተወቒዑ ክካረጅ ወጢኑ ነበረ። ነዚ ክትግብር ዝኽእል ተባዕ ሰብ ሃሰው ብምባል ካኣ መወዳእትኡ ኮማንደር ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ፡ ነቲ ዕማም ክፍጽም ዝኽእል እንኮ ፓይሎት ብምባል ሮቖሖ። መዓልታት ብሰዓታት፡ ሰዓታት እውን ብደቓይቕ ተተኻኺኡ ናይ ፍጻመ ዜሮ ሰዓት ምስ ኣኸለ ግዳ፡ እታ ንመንግስቱ ሒዛ ዝነበረት ነፋሪት ብዙሓት ኢትዮጵያውያን ሒዛ ብምንባራ ንከይትህረም ተወሲኑ። በዚ ግዜ ስለ እተበልዐ ካኣ፡ እቲ ዕልዋ መንግስቲ እውን ፈሺሉ ተረፈ። ኤርትራዊ ብርጋዴር ጀነራል ገብረመድህን መድሃኔ (ኣዛዚ ኮር 606 ዝነበረ ኮይኑ፡ ዛጊት ኣብ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ሰምበል ተኣሲሩ ዝርከብ'ዩ) ብርክት ብዝበላ ኣንተኖቭ ተጠቒሙ ብዙሓት ወተሃደራት ብውራድ ንኹሉ ስርሒታት ኣፍሸሎ። ኮሎኔል መንግስቱ ሃይለማርያም ምስ ነፋሪቱ ንምሕምሻሽ ኣብ ናይ ቋሕ ሰም ኩነት ዝነበረ ጅግና ኮማንደር ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ ካኣ፡ ነገራት ከም እተቐያየረ ብኡ ንቡኡ ኣስተብሃለ። ጅግናን ትክን መውጻኢ ነይስእኑ ከም ዝባሃል ካኣ፡ ሃብተጽዮን "ቁም"! እናተባህለ እንከሎ ሚግ 23 ኣልዒሉ ኣንፈቱ ሰሜን ብምቕናዕ ኣብ ከተማ ናቕፋ ወረደ። ብዙሓት ተማሃሮ ቤት ትምህርቲ ሰውራ ኣኻኺቡ ካኣ፡ ሓይሊ ኣየር ሰውራ ኤርትራ ንምቛም በርቲዑ ሰርሐ። እናበለ ናጽነት ብዘርከበ ካኣ፡ ከም ቀዳማይ ኣዛዚ ሓይሊ ኣየር ኤርትራ ብምዃን ሓይሊ ኣየር ኤርትራ ማዕረ'ቲ ናይ 70 ዓመት ዕድመ ዝነበሮ ሓይሊ ኣየር ኢትዮጵያ ከም ዝዳረግ ገበሮ።
http://www.ehrea.org/generalhab.php
ምንጪ #mewal mhansho

ብሪገደር ጀነራል ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ ብኣቃበ ሕጊ ዝተጻረየን፣ ብወኪል ሕጊ
ጠበቓ ዝፈጦ ዝቐረበሉ ክሲ ኣብ ቤት ፍርዲ ቀሪቡ ብይንን ፍርድን ከይረኸበ፣ ብክሲ
የማነ ገብረኣብን ብሓጎስ ክሻን ዝተEልመ ክሲ ተመርኵሱ ፕረሲደንት Iሳይስ ብዝኣዘዞ
ትEዛዝ፣ ብEለት 18 የካቲት 2003 ብዘይተፈልጡ ብኣባላት ጸጥታ “ሃገራዊ ድሕነት” ካብ
ገዝU ተጨውዩ ንቤት ማEሰርቲ ከምዝተወስደ፣ ኣብቲ Eዋንቲ ካብ ኣስመራ ዝመጸና
ዝተረጋገጸ መንጪ ሓበሬታ ሓቢሩ። ክሳብ ሕጂ ክኣ ጕዳይ መEሰሪU ብሕጋዊ ክትትል
ተገሩሉን፣ ብሕጋዊ ጠበቓ ተሰንዩን ምሰኻኽር ቀሪቦምሉን፣ ጕዳዩ ብቤት ፍርዲ ተራEዩ
መርትO ዘለዎ ብይን ከይረኸበ ክሳብ ሕጂ ኣብ ቤት ማEሰርቲ ይርከብ ከምዘሎ፣ ብዙሓት
ንዓU ዝፈልጡን፣ ሓለፍትን፣ መሳርሕቱን፣ ኣብ ትሕቲ ምምሕዳሩ ዝሰርሑ ፓይሎታትን
ኣጸቢቖም ዝፈልጡዎ ቅሉEን ምስጢራዊ ዘይኮነን ሓቂ ምዃኑ፣ ካብ ኣስመራ ዝመጸና
ሓበሬታ ኣፍሊጡ።
ካብ ዝተረጋገጸ መንጪ ሓበሬታ ከምዝረኸብናዮ፣ ዋላኳ ቅድሚ ምEሳሩ ይኹን Eንበር፣
መኽንያት መEሰሪU ብኸምዚ ዝስEብ Eዩ ነይሩ፣ ይብል Eቲ ዜና።
ካብ ፕረሲደንት Iሳይስ ኣፈወርቂ ዝተዋህበ ትEዛዝ መሰረት፣ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ነፈርቲ
ክገዝE ኣብ ዝመደበሉ ግዜ፣ የማነ ገብረኣብን (ማንኪ) ሓጎስ ክሻን ተመዚዞም ከምዝነበሩ
ይሕብር። ነፈርቲ ክግዝኣ ከምዘለወንን ብሓላፍነቶም ዋጋ Eዳጋ ገሮም ነፈርቲ ሸሚቶም
ከምጽU ከምዘለዎምን ተኣዘዙ። ነቲ ዝተመዘዝዎ ሓላፍነት ግን ብዘይ ሓገዝ ክIላ
ብሪገደር ጀነራል ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ ክኸውን ከምዘይክEል ጸኒሑ ተረደOም። የማነ
ገብረኣብን (ማንኪ) ሓጎስ ክሻን፣ ነተን ክግዝኣ ዝነበረን ነፈርቲ ተክኒካዊ ርግጸኛነተን
ብሪገደር ጀነራል ሃብተጸን ሓድጉ ጥራሕ ከረጋግጸሎም ከምዝኽEል ምስፈለጡ፣ ገና ኣብ
ምድስካል Eንከሎ፣ ኣብዚ ጕዳይ ምግዛE ነፈርቲ ንኽተሓጋገዞም ተወኪስዎ Eዩ ዝብሃል።
ካባU ንሸመታ ነፈርቲ ገሹሞ ኣብቲ ነፈርቲ ዝሽየጣሉ ቦታ ክኣ በጽሑ። ኣብ ዋጋ Eዳጋ
ኣትዮም ክኣ ነተን ዝርኣዩወን ነፈርቲ ክEድጕወን ደለዩ። ካባU ንብሪገደር ጀነራል
ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ ንኽሰማምOም ተወከስዎ። ጀነራል ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ ግን ከምዚ
በሎም፣- “በዚ ትብሉዎ ዘሎኹም ዋጋ ነዚAን ነፈርቲ EዚAን ንኽትገዝUወን ኣየዋጽEን
Eዩ፣ ኣነ Eዘን ነፈርቲ EዚAን ጥUያት ኮይነን ስለዘይረኸብኩወን Eቲ ዋጋ ክኣ ኣዝዩ
ብዙሕ ስለዝኾነ ኣነ ኣይሰማምዓሉን Eየ” በሎም። ምኽሩ ሰሚOም ከብቅU ክኣ ባIደ
ወናኒOም ውረድ ደይብ ብምባል ነተን ነፈርቲ ንኽገዝUውን ተሰማምUሞ ዓደጉወን ክኣ።
ካብU ጸኒሖም “ንኽንገዝAን ወሲና Iና፣ ግን ፈርማ ናትካ ከድልየና Eዩሞ ፈርመልና”
Iሎም ተወከስዎ። ብሪገደር ጀነራል ሃብተጺOን ሓድጉ ግን፣ ኣነ ነዚ “Iደይ ኣየንብረሉን
Eየ” በሎም። ካብዚ የማነ ገብረኣብን ሓጎስ ክሻን ንቤት-ጽሕፈት ፕረሲደንት Iሳያስ
ኣፈወርቂ ከይዶም፣ ብሪገደር ጀነራል ሃብተጺOን ሓድጉ ነተን ነፈርቲ ክንገዝAን Eንተዀና
 - 2 -
ፈርማ ናቱ የድልየና Eዩ፣ ንሱ ግን ኣይፍርመልኩምን Iሉና ቢሎም” ጥርዓኖም
ኣቕረቡሉ። ፕረሲደንት Iሳይስ ክኣ ንብሪገደር ጀነራል ሃብተጺOን ሓድጉ ንቤት ጽሕፈቱ
ጸዊU “ስለምንታይ ዘይፈረምካ”? ክትፍርም ኣሎካ! በሎ። ብሪገደር ጀነራል ሃብተጽዮን
ሓድጉ ግን፣ ኣብዚ ጕዳይዚ ክፍርም ከምዘይደሊ ሓበሮ። ኣብዚ ክርሳE ዘይብሉ ብሪገደር
ኣብዚ ተዓዛባይ ከስተውEሎ ዘለዎ፣ ብሪገደር ጀነራል ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ ኣብዚ ንኽፍርም
ትEዛዝ ዝEዘዞ ዘሎ Eዋን፣ ኣብ ምድስካልን ኣብ ቍጽር ሓለዋን Eንከሎ Eዩ። Eሞ Eቲ
ጕዳይ ከምዚ ኣብ ላEሊ ዝተዘርዘረ Eንተድኣ ኰይኑስ ክሳብ ክንድዚ ንሓደ ብዓለምለኻዊ
ደረጃ ብዝልዓለ ስልጣን ሓይሊ ኣየር በረራ፣ ሞይU ዝተፈልጠን፣ ዝተመስከረሉን፣
ንሃገራዊ ድሕነትን ረብሓን ንኸገልግል ብወግI መዝነት ሂብካ፣ ብሓላፍነት ንኸገልግል
ዝመዘዝካዮ ክIላ፣ ብስውር ሜላዊ ብፕሮፓጋንዳን ብዘይኰነ ሕንዛዊ ወረታት Eናነዛሕካ
ስሙ ንኸተጥፍEን ዝሰርሖ ሃገራዊ ቅያታትን ሞይUን ባዶ ከምዝተርፍ ንኽትገብር
ፍታን፣ ካባU ሓሊፍካ ክኣ ብዘይተፈልጡ ብኣባላት ጸጥታ “ሃገራዊ ድሕነት” ዝብሃሉ
ባንድ ኣዚዝካ ብዘይ ፍትሒ ንቤት ማEሰርቲ ምውሳድ፣ ብዓለምለኻዊ ሕጊ ናይ ገበን ገበን
Eዩ።
Eዚ ጥራሕ ከይኣክልውን ብEለት 05.03.2003 ስዓት 4:20 ወጋሕታ ብሪገደር ሃብተጽዮን
ሓድጉ ብትEዛዝ ፕረሲደንት Iሳያስ ኣፈወርቅ፣ በቶም ፍሉጣት ኣባላት ጸጥታ “ሃገራዊ
ድሕነት” ዝዀኑ፣ ኮለኔል ኣማኗኤል ጳውሎስን ኮለኔል ጋይም ተስፋሚካኤልን ሓላፊ ሓለዋ
ፕረሲደንት ኮለኔል ተስፋልደትን ተገዲዱ፣ ካብቲ ትኣሲሩሉ ዝነበረ ኣብ ነፋሲት ዝርከብ
ግዝያዊ ነቝጣ ቤት ማEሰርቲ ናብ ኣካባቢ ከረን ዝርከብ ማEሰርቲ ከምዝተወስደ Eዩ ካብ
ኣስመራ ከምዝመጸና ዜና ዝፍለጥ። ድሕሪ Eስታት ክልተ ወርሕን 18 መዓልታት ጽኑE
ማEሰርቲ ክኣ ብ5.5.2003 ካብU ተፈቲሑ፣ ኣብ ቤተሰቡ ከምዝተመልሰ ካብ ውሽጢ
ኣስመራ ዝተረኽበ ሓቀኛ መንጪ ዜና ሓቢሩ።
ካብU ኣብ ትሕቲ ሓለዋ ቍሩብ መዓልታት ድሕሪ ምጽናሕ፣ Eንደገና ካብ ቤተሰቡ
ብኣባላት ጸጥታ “ሃገራዊ ድሕነት” ተወሲዱ፣ ኣብ ኣስመራ ዝርከብ ቤት ማEሰርቲ (ቀደም
ሰላሳ ኣምስተኛ ዝብሃል ዝነበረ መዓስከር ጦርሰራዊ ገጅረት ስሳንታ Oቶ) ክሳብ ሕጂ
ተEሲሩ ከምዘሎ፣ ካብ ውሽጢ ኣስመራ ዝተረኽበ መንጪ ሓቤረታ ኣፍሊጡ።
ስለዚ Eዚ ሕጂ ኣብሓውና ብሪገደር ሃብተጽዮን ሓድጉ ብትEዛዝ ፕረሲደንት ወሪዱ ዘሎ
ዘይሕጋዊ ውሳኔ፣ ኣብ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ሓዲሽ ከምዘይኮነ ንዅላትና ደቂ ሃገር ብሩህ
ከም ጽሓይ ቀትሪ Eዩ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ኣብዚ Eዋንዚ ብሕልፊ ብሕልፊ ካብ 1993 ጀሚሩ
ብዙሓት ዝልዓሉ ሰበስልጣንን ተባዓት ሓርበኛታት ደቂ ሃገር፣ ብዘይ ፍርዲ ኣብ ቤት
ማEሰርቲ በልዮም ከምዘለው ዘይክሓድ ሓቂ Eዩ። ኣዝዩ ዝተጋህደ ክኣ ካብ 18, 2003
11 ኣባላት መሪሕነት ህዝባI ግንባር ሓርነት ኤርትራን፣ ጋዜጠኛታትን፣ ዓበይቲ መራሕቲ
ሃይማኖታትን: ክሳብ ሕጂ ፍርዲ ከይረኸቡ ምስተኣስሩ Eዩ። Eዞም ጕዳዮም ብፍትሒ
ከይተራEየ ክሳብ ሕጂ ዝሳቐዩ ዘለው ታሪኽ ዝሰርሑ ደቂ ሃገር፣ ንዅሉ ብጕዳይ ኤርትራ
ዝግደስን ኣምነስቲ Iንተርናሽናልን ካልOት ብሰብኣዊ መሰል ወድሰብ ዝግደሳ
ማሕበራትን ከምዝፈልጥOን፣ Eቲ ጕዳይውን ኣብ ዓለምለኻዊ ሕጊ ተመርኵሰን
ብጠበቓታት መልክE ንቤት ፍርዲ ኣቕሪበንO ኣለዋ። ሓደ ኤርትራዊ ጋዜጠኛ ዝሓለፈ
ዓመት ብጸቢብ Eድል ካብ ኤርትራ ኣምሊጡ ንወጻኣI ሃገር ምስወጸ ከምዝበሎ፣ “ነዞም
ኣብ ትሕቲ ጸልማት ብዘይ ፍርድን ፍትሕን ተኣሲሮም ዘለው ደቂ ሃገር፣ ክንርስOም
የብልናን፣ ክሳብ ሕጂ ኣብ ቤት ማEሰርቲ ምህላዎም ክኣ፣ ኣብ ኤርትራ ሕግን ስርዓትን
መሰል ፕረስን ከምዘየለ ህያው ምስክርን ጭብጥን ኰይኖምና ኣለው”፣ ይብል። (ትርጕም
ብቋንቋ Eንግሊዝኛ።)
As one Eritrean journalist who managed to flee the country said it last year, 'we cannot

source

http://www.ehrea.org/hadgu.pdf