"Enda Afras” Ethiopian torture room
Asmara, Eritrea
Martyr Berhane Tesfamariam (wedi Balilla)
Berhane was arrested and killed 1 month after his arrest on July 1978. At that time Mariam Gimbi did not exist. They were taken to Enda Afras and then Sembel. Either for court (Chelot) or execution.
By Kiki Tzeggai
Dedicated to “Enda Afras”
September 17, 2015
The ordinariness of the surrounding places and the suburban areas makes “Enda Afras” even more difficult to accept, for this place is the symbol of humanity at his worst. “Enda Afras” torture room and the former prison under the Ethiopian occupation is located in the heart of Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea. When you look at this place from outside, it has a grassy area that calls for kids to play and run from on end to the other.
You see, Enda Afras” means “stable for horses” and it is part of the compound formerly hosting the Ethiopian Emperor’s palace, during the occupation of my country – Eritrea – by said Emperor and his government. The gardens were beautifully tailored to meet the tastes of the Emperor and his royal family vacationing in Asmara. The leaves of palm trees surrounding the palace, shifting benevolently in the afternoon breeze.
Some privileged young people of my generation, had access to request a horse and would ride the street of Asmara towards the fields surrounding the airport of Asmara. Later on – during the Ethiopian Derg {that took over power with a coup overthrowing the Emperor}, turned the stable “Enda Afras” into a torture room and jail. My husband was tortured and killed at “Enda Afras”.
The torture room of “Enda Afras” is a very small and dark room sitting next to a fountain that served in the past as a water fountain for the Emperor’s horses. Eritreans that went through that place underwent tortures such as drowning, removal of toe-and-fingernails followed by electric shocks applied to genitals, suffocation with plastic bags, forcing prisoners to eat humans’ excrements, along rape with metals sticks and roughed wood sticks to both female and male prisoners. At times, some soldiers would urinate on prisoners that refused to talk. The Ethiopian occupier carefully refined its ideas about torture and applied it to Eritreans.
The victims’ remains were dumped in the same gardens once admired for the flowers and palm trees, then turned into mass grave after mass grave. “Enda Afras” is in the middle of a large compound that was also used to host soccer games among the Ethiopian torturers and military, all while taking turns in the torture room.
The only crime these prisoners were accused of was to be proud Eritreans.
“Enda Afras” is today a lonely place. I do not dare say “neglected”, for it has been decades I did not visit the place; but nevertheless it should be turned into a symbol of the occupier’s dystopia.
Maybe a museum showing the graffiti our prisoners left on each wall of that stable turned into prison. “Enda Afras” became one of the most infamous prison camps of the Ethiopian occupation in Eritrea.
When I had permission to visit “Enda Afras’ - in 1993 - to my horror, I saw a person painting the wall of the main room called “Adarash”. He was standing on a tall ladder and painting the walls in white color all while whistling a melody of his own. I remember standing at the bottom of his ladder and telling him:”If you do not stop, I will make you fall by pulling this ladder”. He stopped his whistling sound, but kept puckering up his lips on a whistling shape.
He was surprised, but immediately said, “If you do not want to be hurt, please, move away”. I kept my eyes staring up to his face and did not move. I was still holding the ladder. He slowly came down and – with a very defiant attitude- stared at my face. But once he saw tears silently streaming all over my face, with a very soft and sad voice he said “Were you tortured here?”
I replied, “My husband was and he died at the hands of his torturers. I am trying to find his name or a message from him on these walls. I beg you not to cover their messages and help me find his”.
The man put down his brush, took off his hat and asked for my husband’s name. “Berhane” I replied.
He suggested we walked around and try to find his name. But
he said “There were so many Berhane here” I smiled bashfully and told him that he would have left a message for me using the nickname he gave me. “And what was that?” he asked. “Fekrey” {my love} I replied.
The man said, he liked the nickname. I asked him to hold my hand and walk me around. He hesitated because of the paint on his hands, but I grabbed his hand and asked his name. He said “You will not believe it, but my name is Berhane as well”.
I felt it as an omen for a good friendship that was born in such a sad place; the name sharing gave it a much better feeling.
We looked around and wondered how some writings were all the way up to the ceiling. He said that the only possibility was that the prisoners took turns to hold one another on their shoulders and reach higher levels of those walls. He walked me around and took me to the single stalls used in the past to hold one (1) horse at a time. But Eritrean prisoners were stuffed by a large number in said stall/booth – sometimes 20 at a time making them standing at all times. They would breathe on each other’s faces and sleep on a standing position until the next round of torture. I was told that each “stall” would stink with human excrements and urines. Often with human remains of someone dead by asphyxiation. We could not find any writings that personally belonged to my husband. The man tried to console me by saying that all the general writings, such as “pray for me; forget-me-not; I love you, etc.etc.” could have been my husband’s. At the end of my allowed time, I asked him what he was going to do after I left. He said, “I am going home and give a nickname to my wife, just like your husband did”
We laughed and I told him it was good idea. He told me that both himself and his wife met in the field during the liberation war and walked hand-in-hand after the fall of Asmara to a liberated Eritrea.
Before we parted I asked him to stop covering up our history for, many souls would scream at him! He said he would try, but orders had to be followed.
Berhane/the painter soldier and I became friends. When I met him a while later, I asked him if the place was honored and kept the same as our martyrs left it. He kept his eyes to the ground. I knew he had to follow orders and paint it.
I again held his hand and asked what nickname he chose for his wife. He said
“Abaditey” {my source of peace}.
I asked him if he could paint with some washable and light colors.
He said he would try and promised me to be there to wash it off when the moment came. I still long for the day I can take my children, my grandchildren and all my friends to visit “Enda Afras” in the beautiful city of Asmara. We are all ready to volunteer in washing away the paint and carefully bring back all the cherished messages our hero Eritreans left for us. I hope our government is protecting such places saturated with our history and human pain. I have faith they are.
I also hope to find Berhane the painter/soldier and his wife. Her and I will compare the nicknames our husbands gave us, all while listening to her husband’s whistling and feeling my own husband’s gratitude.
Kiki Tzeggai
Dedicated to “Enda Afras”
September 17, 2015
Source
www.snitna.com
Wedeb Tedros is with Fikrey Birhin.
tn2t2Sptma aJonausnde lratsf 0u9:go1frn2edc ·
#milesforeritreanmarterys I am greatly honoured to remember Martyr Birhane Tesfamariam, who paid an ultimate price for Eritreas independence. According to testimonies of people who knew Birhane he was an extremely loving and caring family man who was running a company in Asmara after completing his education in the US. Birhane was not only a manager in the company where he used to work, he was also a friend and a brother of his employees. He treated them with love and brotherhood. He used to chatt, laugh and have lunch with them. He loved education and encouraged his employees to send their children to school. He loved his people a lot.
Birhane had a beautiful family. As a person he accomplished things many of us could only dream of. But one thing was missing. ERITREA! His Eritrea was under Ethiopian totalitarian regime. So he decided to fight for its independence. Fighting the Ethiopian regime inside their cells requires a great bravery and dedication. But Birhane managed to do it. Unfortunately Birhane caught by the intelligence agency like many fighters who were engaged in undercover activities. It was obvious what would happen if someone got caught while working as undercover agent. But Birhane was a strong man who would never betray or compromise his solid belief in ERITREANISM at any cost. He refused to tell anything about his undercover activities despite the brutal interrogation.
He finally choosed the ultimate price which is the execution leaving his all he built up in his life and his beautiful family behind rather than compromising his ERITREA. "AN ERITREAN IS NEVER ALONE!" said to his wife before he got executed. "VICTORY TO THE MASSES!!" were his last words before they took his life. That is the history behind the independence of Eritrea. Birhane represents thousands of Eritrean fighters who choosed execution than betraying Eritrea. So many beautiful souls did we lose to gain our independence.
That is why WE ALL should continue the fight until Eritrea becomes that Eritrea Birhin and his comrades were dreaming of. We never betray our Martyrs as they did not betray Eritrea.
Glory to our Martyrs!!
ሎሚ ንጅግና ስዉእ ብርሃነ ተስፋማርያም ብሓበን ክዝክሮ መሪጸ። ፈለጥቱ ከምዝምስክርዎ ብርሃነ ኣዝዩ ፈቃርን ርህሩህን ኤርትራዊ እዩ ኔሩ። ኣብ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ኣሜሪካ ትምህርቱ ብምዝዛም ናብ ኤርትራ ተመሊሱ ኣካያዲ ስራሕ ናይትካሉ ብሙኻን ይናበር ኔሩ። ብርሃነ ኣብ ትካሉ ኣካያዲ ስራሕ ጥራይ ኣይነበረን። ነቶም ኣብ ትሕቲኡ ተቖጺሮም ዝሰርሑ ዝነበሩ ሰራሕተኛታት ሓዎምን ዓርኮምን ብሙኻን ይሕብሕቦምን ብፍቕሪ ይሕዞምን ኔሩ። ምስ ሰራሕተኛታቱ ከዕልል: ክስሕቅን ካብቲ ዘምጽዎ ምሳሕ ምስኦም ኮፍ ኢሉ ክበልዕን ይፈቱ ኔሩ። ከምዚ ዓይነት ክእለት ኣብ ኣዝዮም ውሑዳት ሰባት ዝርከብ ትዕድልቲ እዩ። ትምህርቲ ኣዝዩ ይፈቱ ብምንባሩ ነቶም ሰራሕተኛታቱ ደቆም ንትምህርቲ ክልእኹ የተባብዖም ኔሩ። ብርሃነ በዓል ሓዳርን ኣቦ ቖልዑን እዩ ኔሩ። እቲ ይትረፍ ንሓዳሩ ንማንም እኳ ሕሉፍ ርህራሄን ፍቕርን ዘለዎ ብርሃነ ኣብ ሓዳሩ ክህልዎ ዝኽእል ሂወት ንምግማቱ ኣየሸግርን። ብርሃነ ሓደ ወዲ ሰብ ክበጽሖ ዝኽእል ደረጃ ናይ ዓወት በጺሑ ብጽቡቕ ዝነብር ዝነበረ ሰብ እዩ ኔሩ። ብውልቁ ነዚ ኩሉ በጺሑ ከብቅዕ: ካልእ ካብዚ ዝዓበየ ዘይተማልአ ነገር ግን ኔሩ: ሕቶ ኤርትራ። ንህዝቡን ሃገሩን ኣዝዩ ዝፈቱ ብርሃነ እምበኣር ነታ ኣብ ትሕቲ መግዛእቲ ኢትዮጵያ ትሳቐ ዝነበረት ሃገሩ ክቃለሰላ ወሰነ። እቲ ቃልሲ ግን ፍልይ ዝበለ ትብዓት ዝሓትት ቃልሲ ኣብ ውሽጢ ከተማ። ብርሃነ ስድራቤቱ እንዳኣለየ ኣብቲ ዓቢ ትብዓት ዝሓትት ናይ ከተማ ቃልሲ ተጸሚዱ ከሎ እዩ ብስርዓት ደርግ ዝተኣስረ። ተቓላሳይ ኴንካ ኣብ ኢድ ጸላኢ ክትኣቱ: ብድሕሪኡ ዝስዕብ ነገር ፍሉጥ እዩ። ጅግና ብርሃነ ግን ነቲ ኩሉ ናይ መርመራ ስቓይ ተጻዊሩ ብዛዕባ ስርሑን ብጾቱን ወላሓንቲ ምስጢር ምውጻእ ኣበየ። ኣብክንዲ ብጾቱን ኤርትራን ኣሕሊፉ ዝህብ ሂወቱ ኣሕሊፉ ክህብ ወሲኑ። ነቲ ኩሉ ንዓመታት ዝሃነጾ ሂወት: ዘፍቅራ በዓልቲቤቱን ዘፍቅሮም ደቁን ንድሕሪት ገዲፉ ስለ ኤርትራ መስዋእቲ መሪጹ። "ኤርትራዊ በይኑ ኣይኮነን!" ኢሉዋ ንብዓልቲ ቤቱ ክፋነዋ ከሎ። ከይትቖርር ክይጽምዋ መጸናንዒ እዩ ኔሩ። ንመርሸንቲ ኣብ ቅድሚ እቶም ኣሬሜናውን ሰራዊት ደርጊ ደው ምስበለ ብዛዕባ ምንታይ ሓሲቡ ይኸውን? ሰበይቱን ደቁን: እታ ስሌኣ ገንሸል ዝኾነላ ዘሎ ሃገሩ ሓራ ኾይና በልጺጋ ኣብ ዝለዓለ ጥርዚ ምዕባለ ቤጺሓ ዶ ርኢዋ ይኸውን? "ዓወት ንሓፋሽ!" ናይ መጨረሽታ ቃላቱ ከምዝነበራ ግብሩ ይምስክር። ብርሃነ ነቶም ኣሽሓት ሓርበኛታት ተማሳሳሊ ዕጫ ዘጋጠሞም ዝውክል ጅግና እዩ። ኤርትራ ንክትመጽእ ዝተኸፍለ ዋጋ እምበኣር እዚ እዩ። ኤርትራና: ምእንቲ ዕላማ መስዋእቲ ዝመረጹ ጀጋኑ ዝፈረየት ዕድለኛ ሃገር እያ። ነታ ብርሃነ ቅድሚ ምስውኡ ዝረኣያ ብልጽግቲ ሃገር ክሳብ ንሃንጻ እቲ ቃልሲ ክቅጽል እዩ። ከምቲ ስወኣትና ንኤርትራ ዘይጠለሙ: ንሕና ድማ ኣይንጠልሞምን!!
ዘልኣለማዊ ክብርን ዝኽሪን ነሰማእታትና!!
Haileyesus Teckle
He Came to Asmera after He graduated in America to run his family bussiness They called him ( Wede Balela ) I was reading about him in Hadds Eritrea long time ago .The Ethiopian solder took him from his home July 15 1978 They found in his home the E.P.L.F Megazine that called Mehta they tortured him He was so brave he didn't talk any secreat He died in dignity He was a true patriotic Ethernal Glory to our martyrs R.I.P Eritrean Hero
Desalegn Abraha Gebrekidan
Balila was the nick name of his father and that is why we used to call him wedi balila. The magazine thay was found in his home was "Merih". "Mahta" was not available in Asmara at that time and it was only the high ranking fighters who had access to it
Hara Eritra
ዘይተነገረሎም ብዙሓት ብሉጻት ኢና ኣጥፊእና...ነዚኦም ኣጥፉእካ ተዛሪቦሙሎም ውን ኣይፈልጡን 
ብባዓል ኢሳያስ ማንኪ ክሻ ክትምራሕ ዘሕዝን እዩም
43 years ago
Ethiopia assassinated my husband
Berhane Tesfamariam.
by Kiki Tzeggai
15 July 2021
43 ዓመት ብሂወት ምፍልላይ፡ ንስለ ክቡር ዕላማ
Forty-three (43) years ago Ethiopia assassinated my husband, Berhane Tesfamariam!
by Kiki Tzeggai.
My dearest love! My heart will never bid goodbye to you.
Your life was cut short, but you lived it fully enough because you lived with honesty, principles and loyalty to our Eritrea. You broke the Ethiopian rules of slavery and gave us smiles! On this day - you and I - will forget for a little while your Ethiopian assassins and I want to remind the world about your achievements and the sacrifices you took upon yourself.
You grew up and assumed responsibilities since you were that child born in Asmara. You asserted your personality, your real dreams you kept always secret. Your dreams for a free Eritrea, tempted by better horizons for your family and for your Eritrea. Always thinking!
How do I say what meeting you at the gates of Asmara university meant? How to explain that I was introduced to true love and the meaning of fear? How do I choose words to tell the world about the feelings of being the wife of an Eritrean hero? Ethiopia can tear away my wounded heart but cannot destroy the proud history you left behind!
Your assassination by the Ethiopian regime introduced me to the meaning of loss, but they miscalculated the Eritrea they were facing! Those years of occupation by Ethiopia, will always sully our nation’s history!
The mad minds of the occupier were abetted by all superpowers, but Eritreans’ minds such as yours, were above and your steps ahead of any dirty Ethiopian boots walking our land! You left the enemy with nothing but rubbles at their feet!
Forty-three years later, I am not sure when THAT dance you promised me in Babylon Street will happen.
Our house in Babylon Street Asmara-Eritrea
Under these windows you and I hoped for a dance dedicated to freedom.
Those five windows and a balcony – Birhin, Vynak, Stefanos and many more - are witnesses to your meetings filled with so much courage. Some of your names were cover names when introduced to me. I can still picture you in our living room, watching from behind the curtains the movements of our enemy in Babylon Street, Asmara.
Telling me about your dreams for a free Eritrea, you led me to saunter among clouds. It was a race ahead of the world and of self-centered aged Eritrean leaders betraying our people by dividing fighters’ groups. You understood - way ahead - that they made Ethiopia’s game walk parallel with our struggle. You faced your fate without a fright, knowing that a bright tomorrow would belong to your people!
How often I asked you if it was real or to remain only a dream. You would pull me out of my questions and wake me up to be part of the Eritrean determination for freedom. Oh! how much the occupier feared you! We could tell by the number of soldiers that invaded our little house to arrest ONE Eritrean man!
You - and half a million Eritreans Martyrs – were constantly seeking alternatives to our growth, promoting our dreams for freedom from slavery of Ethiopian occupation! And you never dodged the subject of courage. بعد مضي أكثر من ثلاثة وأربعين 43 عاماً المجد والخلود لشهدائنا الأبرار...
You ALL explained and promoted forgiveness among Eritreans; and asked us to put ourselves in others’ place. You asked us what we – your people – expected from you and never bothered to tell us what you expect from us. You believed we understood. Your perspectives on others were based on actions and wishes. Not expectations and frustrations.
You gave up greed and understood that selfishness unifies only the insignificant.
Berhane, you screamed to let the enemy take your blood in order to gift us freedom!
I wonder where Eritrea is heading now. Chewed by a dictatorship and by greedy so-called opposition groups. Now, we have plenty of useless political leaders and it is hard to tell enemies from friends.
They either transformed our youth into cannon fodders or raised tales of fake princes, paupers and muggles. In each of our cities, family dislocations - that started with Ethiopian occupation – steadily persist!
Nevertheless, I hold on to the dreams you died for. Surrounded by my people; we hope to soon feel our land beneath our feet! All this thanks to you Jigna/Eritrean hero!
You told me “Fikrey , let’s live a lifetime in every moment “ .
Forty-three (43) years after your murder, I am still a student trying to tell the world about the past we left behind and your hopes to weave freedom ahead of the fall of Asmara. That one inclusive future our Martyrs and our Veterans designed to accelerate the transition to a just leadership for ALL, that could create an equitable and sustainable society. Our unity and determination will make the perennial enemy to the south, back off for eternity and leave our borders!
Let Ethiopians of good-will hear our national anthem and know that Eritreans stand united, in protecting our land and in honoring our Martyrs.
Birhin, each morning I wake up, I lean on you and your dreams for a free Eritrea! Nevertheless, I am fearful as to where the independent Eritrea you gifted us is heading! Behind us lurks darkness, ahead lies a storm, but fear not my beloved! In unity we look up and soar high from ground to sky. We have been defamed, but Eritreans always take battles to the end and shorten distances among ourselves!
If anguish was my fate, I said so be it! With you by my side I would have accepted any further anguish if I were not left in the pathos of longing! We did not know that our life together would be so short. But neither did we know that we could love so unconditionally. In few years, we have lived a lifetime and that neither the enemy nor others can destroy.
However, I understand that then and now Eritrea has expectations from you to keep the flickering torch of hope alive! Like a traveler that goes from one era to another without any belongings, you wonder why we ask and what are we expecting more than the price you paid.
Every inch of us, every breath spells our loyalty to Eritrean sovereignty! The plethora of memories about our struggle for freedom, only leads our people towards unity.
In these restless times, the only image that dwells in our hearts is the courage of Eritrean Martyrs like yourself!
Kiki Tzeggai and husband martyr Berhane Tesfamariam
I share with the world the last words you told me - while several Ethiopian soldiers holding guns and Kalashnikovs were taking you away - when you saw me tearing up:
“ፍቕረይ:
እንተ በኺኺ፡ ክነብዕ እየ!
ፍሽኽ እንተ ኢልኪ፡ ፍሽኽ ክብል እየ።
ጽንዓት!!"
Your wife,
Kiki Tzeggai
July 15, 2021
"Peace is a wall we will all create by building it brick-by-brick together". Martyr Berhane Tesfamariam (Trade mark)