1 - Introduction: The Eritrean Garrison State

Summary

The People's Front [EPLF/PFDJ] struggled for the independence and liberation of the Eritrean people. If it does not ensure human rights of the people of Eritrea, independence alone has no meaning.

Yemane Gebremeskel Director of the Office of the Eritrean President

It was better during the Derg [the Ethiopian military junta ruling Eritrea until 1991]. At that time the Ethiopians tortured us, but that made us only more determined in our struggle to become independent. Today, it is our own people who torture us, something which breaks down our spirit, as there is no hope for the future.

Eritrean refugee in Sudan

INTRODUCTION

A perennial issue in the study of civil-military relations is the understanding of why and at what point a government perceives the need to militarise its structures of administration, leading to a perversion of civilian rule and a gradual slide towards military autocracy. This book's objective is to address this issue and assess the political context and human rights situation in Eritrea to attempt to explain why the country, since its liberation in 1991 and de jure independence in 1993, has developed into one of the world's most authoritarian states, militarised with a reputation for human rights abuse.

As early as 1937, the American sociologist George Lasswell presented the garrison state theory, which projected that a military elite could rise to power in response to long-term international tension, under which condition freedom is curtailed while preparation for war becomes the dominant thrust of a society.