
Title Details
232 Pages
23.4 x 15.6 cm
1 line illus.
Series: Eastern Africa Series
Series Vol. Number:
36
Imprint: James Currey
The African Garrison State
Human Rights & Political Development in Eritrea REVISED AND UPDATED
- Description
- Contents
- Author
- Reviews
Examines Eritrea's deprivation of human rights since independence and its transformation into a militarised "garrison state", updated to include the recent UN Commission of Inquiry and the new geopolitical dynamics.
When Eritrea gained independence in 1991, hopes were high for its transformation. In two decades however, it became one of the most repressive in the world, effectively a militarised "garrison state". This comprehensive and detailed analysis examines how the prospects for democracy in the new state turned to ashes, reviewing its development, and in particular the loss of human rights and the state's political organisation. Beginning with judicial development in independent Eritrea, subsequent chapters scrutinise the rule of law and the court system; the hobbled process of democratisation, and the curtailment of civil society; the Eritrean prison system and everyday life of detention and disappearances; and the situation of minorities in the country. While the situation is bleak, it is not without hope: the epilogue describes the recent UN Commission of Inquiry process, the renewed international dialogue with Asmara and the new geopolitical dynamics.
Kjetil Tronvoll is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjørknes University College, Director of Oslo Analytica policy research and advisory company, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo. ; Daniel Mekonnen is the Executive Director of the Eritrean Law Society, and a Guest Writer at the Writers in Exile Program of the Swiss-German PEN Centre in Luzern, Switzerland. Formerly, he was Judge of the Central Provincial Court in Asmara, Eritrea.
When Eritrea gained independence in 1991, hopes were high for its transformation. In two decades however, it became one of the most repressive in the world, effectively a militarised "garrison state". This comprehensive and detailed analysis examines how the prospects for democracy in the new state turned to ashes, reviewing its development, and in particular the loss of human rights and the state's political organisation. Beginning with judicial development in independent Eritrea, subsequent chapters scrutinise the rule of law and the court system; the hobbled process of democratisation, and the curtailment of civil society; the Eritrean prison system and everyday life of detention and disappearances; and the situation of minorities in the country. While the situation is bleak, it is not without hope: the epilogue describes the recent UN Commission of Inquiry process, the renewed international dialogue with Asmara and the new geopolitical dynamics.
Kjetil Tronvoll is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjørknes University College, Director of Oslo Analytica policy research and advisory company, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo. ; Daniel Mekonnen is the Executive Director of the Eritrean Law Society, and a Guest Writer at the Writers in Exile Program of the Swiss-German PEN Centre in Luzern, Switzerland. Formerly, he was Judge of the Central Provincial Court in Asmara, Eritrea.
Introduction: The Eritrean African garrison state
Judicial development in independent Eritrea: Legal pluralism and political containment
Rule of law(lessness) in Eritrea: The special court and the judiciary
Democratic curtailment in Eritrea: 'Never democracy, always control!'
Obliterating civil society in Eritrea: Denying freedom of organisation and expression
The Eritrean Gulag archipelago: Prison conditions, torture and extrajudicial killings
Everyday life of detention and disappearances in Eritrea: Vulnerable groups in a population under siege
Minority marginalisation in Eritrea: EPLF's politics of cultural superiority
Diversity diminished in Eritrea: Targeting the Kunama minority group
The militarisation of Eritrean society: Omnipresent and neverending military service
Eritrea? Towards a transition?
Postscript: Eritrea - renewed international engagement to sustain control at home
Judicial development in independent Eritrea: Legal pluralism and political containment
Rule of law(lessness) in Eritrea: The special court and the judiciary
Democratic curtailment in Eritrea: 'Never democracy, always control!'
Obliterating civil society in Eritrea: Denying freedom of organisation and expression
The Eritrean Gulag archipelago: Prison conditions, torture and extrajudicial killings
Everyday life of detention and disappearances in Eritrea: Vulnerable groups in a population under siege
Minority marginalisation in Eritrea: EPLF's politics of cultural superiority
Diversity diminished in Eritrea: Targeting the Kunama minority group
The militarisation of Eritrean society: Omnipresent and neverending military service
Eritrea? Towards a transition?
Postscript: Eritrea - renewed international engagement to sustain control at home
"2015 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title" .
"The book will be well received by a wider readership, particularly among students of African regimes. . . . It will certainly stimulate and inform an ongoing debate on the national identity and constitutional future of Eritrea." AFRICAN STUDIES QUARTERLY
"This fantastically dense, thorough, rich, comprehensive tome breaks down Eritrean contemporary statehood and civil society in a way that should be copied as a model for modern political/national security case studies. Highly recommended." CHOICE
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9781847011671
June 2017
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Title Details
232 Pages
2.34 x 1.56 cm
1 line illus.
Series: Eastern Africa Series
Series Vol. Number:
36
Imprint: James Currey