Statement made by Ambassador ESTIFANOS Afeworki during theConvention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, 8 12 November 2010 Vientiane, Laos1Mr. Chairperson
Honorable Delegates
Ladies and GentlemenFirst of all let me join previous speakers and use this occasion toexpress my heartfelt gratitude to the warm welcome, hospitality andsupport extended by Laos and the organizers for a successful
participation of our delegation to this important conference.

I am present here among you not only as a diplomat and a
representative of my country to this important conference; I am here
to give you my personal testimony and message, as a living witness,to the more than 60 years of injustice. My name is Estifanos Afeworki.
I am the Ambassador of Eritrea to Japan. I was born in 1947.

Elected “Assembly of Eritrea”, federal constitution, our law andjustice system, freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom tobelong to political parties, human rights, the right of the Eritrean
people to self determination and independence, any right leading tothe continued building of a vibrant free, peaceful country in the Hornof Africa, was systematically and forcefully wiped out from ourbeloved country by the Allied Forces and their associates after the 2ndWorld War.
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These were replaced by almost every crime known against humanity.
A savage war was unlashed against the people of Eritrea. The people
were put in strategic hamlets, dungeons, tortured, maimed, mass raped, forced into starvation, pushed into mass displacement,summarily executed, poisoned with chemicals and were blanket
bombed indiscriminately from air, land and sea with cluster, sulfer,
napalm, acid, nitroglycerin “facist”, bombs and ammunitions. Nameit, it has landed in Eritrea. Even the stones were burning in Eritrea for
30 years during the struggle for independence. I assure theparticipants of this conference that I am ready to stand in front of any
justice system, among many others who have outlived these crimes,
to testify and share our experience about these events before naturetakes its course.

No one expect few peace loving people, here-and-there; have raised
their voices in protest to this barbaric act. There is a total conspiracyof silence. No international body has called for justice to be met or for
the wounds of the people to be dressed. Tyrants are kept protected in
the many big capitals of the world.

The people of Eritrea were betrayed by the old and the neo colonizers
and their allies – Italian, British, US, USSR for more than a century.
Eritrea hosted Italian, US and USSR military bases including arsenals
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of nuclear submarines and weapons of mass destruction during thisimportant period of its history.

Ladies and gentlemen,This conspiracy of silence is still on and chemicals including chemical
weapons of mass destruction and cluster bombs are freely flowing
into our region under the lime-light of the super powers to suppress
stability, peace, hope, freedom and justice in our region today. Even
now, there is a complete conspiracy of silence. History shall make its
judgment, millions are suffering in our region and millions willcontinue to die if this silence continues now.
Eritrea and its people support the convention of cluster munitions
and are looking forward to its full implementation not tomorrow butyesterday.

Thank you4

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