Remarks	   made	   by	   H.E.	   Mr.	   ESTIFANOS	   Afeworki	   Ambassador	   of	   the	   State	   of	  Eritrea	   to	   Japan	   on	   the	   occasion	   of	   the	   26th	   Anniversary	   Celebration	   of	   the	  Independence	  Day	  of	  Eritrea	  here	  in	  Tokyo	  on	  May	  26th	  2017:	  	  	  Ms.	   Narumi	   SEINO	   Director	   Global	   Community,	   Art	   &	   Culture	   Planning,	  Minato	  City	  Mr.	  Hajime	  INOUE,	  Executive	  Director,	  SEISA	  Group	  Head	  Office	  Excellencies	  and	  Dear	  Colleagues	  Honorable	  Guests	  Ladies	  and	  gentlemen	  	  First	   of	   all	   let	   me	   welcome	   all	   of	   our	   guests	   to	   this	   event,	   which	   is	   being	   held	   to	  commemorate	  26th	  Anniversary	  of	  the	  Independence	  Day	  of	  Eritrea	  here	  in	  Tokyo.	  
At	   this	   auspicious	   and	   historic	   moment	   -­‐	   it	   is	   important,	   for	   all	   our	   friends	   and	  ourselves,	   to	   remember	   and	   share	   through	   available	   means	   of	   communications	  where	   we	   came	   from	   and	   where	   we	   are	   currently	   heading	   to.	   This	   event	   is	   blessed	  to	   portray	   this	   reality	   with	   1978	   NHK	   TV	   documentary	   “Liberated	   Area	   in	   the	  Desert”	   showing	   an	   outstanding	   part	   of	   a	   pre-­‐independence	   event	   as	   well	   as	   the	  “Sense	  of	  Freedom”	  photo	  exhibition	  by	  a	  senior	  Japanese	  photojournalist	  in	  Africa	  Mr.	   Nakano	   for	   the	   post	   independent	   Eritrea.	   	   Our	   heartfelt	   gratitude	   and	   thanks	  also	  goes	  to	  Minato	  City,	  SEISA	  Group	  and	  other	  friends	  of	  Eritrea	  for	  their	  strong	  support	  to	  	  this	  event.	  	  In	   1977,	   I	   remember,	   I	   was	   responsible	   and	   commanding	   the	   Northern	   Front,	  which	  was	  controlling	  the	  outskirts	  of	  the	  capital	  of	  Eritrea	  (Asmara).	  I	  was	  also	  a	  member	   of	   the	   Central	   Committee	   of	   the	   Eritrean	   People	   Liberation	   Front	   and	  Army	  of	  that	  period.	  In	  those	  days,	  most	  of	  our	  country	  was	  totally	  liberated,	  except	  for	  some	  part	  of	  port	  cities	  and	  the	  capital,	  which	  were	  controlled	  by	  enemy	  forces.	  
This	   was	   a	   historic	   period	   for	   the	   people	   of	   Eritrea	   because	   it	   was	   during	   this	  period	   that	   we	   started	   for	   the	   first	   time	   to	   breathe	   the	   air	   of	   freedom	   and	   self-­‐rule.	  
Unfortunately,	   the	   ruling	   military	   junta	   in	   Ethiopia	   painted	   itself	   red	   and	   labeled	  the	  independence	  forces	  of	  Eritrea	  	  "as	  agents	  of	  imperialism	  and	  Arab	  petro-­‐dollar	  sell-­‐outs"	  -­‐	  luring	  USSR	  and	  its	  allies	  come	  to	  its	  rescue	  and	  escalated	  the	  war	  to	  a	  	  1	  brutal	   and	   savage	   level	   -­‐	   in	   a	   very	   short	   time	   -­‐	   through	   massive	   military	  intervention	   never	   seen	   in	   the	   region	   before.	   It	   was	   this	   time	   that	   our	   freedom	  struggle	  became	  a	  showdown	  between	  Goliath	  and	  David.	  	  	  As	   a	   living	   witness	   of	   this	   period,	   it	   was	   a	   pleasant	   surprise	   for	   me	   to	   see	  “Liberated	   Area	   in	   the	   Desert”	   NHK	   TV	   documentary	   on	   Eritrea	   when	   I	   was	  assigned	  to	  Tokyo.	  Therefore,	  it	  is	  a	  great	  honor	  for	  me	  and	  I	  am	  very	  lucky	  to	  be	  alive	  to	  introduce	  this	  documentary	  film	  today.	  NHK	  camera	  has	  a	  better	  memory	  than	   mine.	   This	   wonderful	   Japanese	   work	   shows	   not	   only	   some	   aspects	   of	   the	  savage	  war	  instigated	  by	  foreign	  powers	  but	  also	  the	  local	  humanism	  involved.	  	  	  There	  was	  a	  total	  conspiracy	  of	  silence	  on	  the	  illegal	  intervention	  of	  USSR	  and	  its	  Warsaw	   pact	   allies	   in	   Eritrea	   during	   this	   historic	   period,	   until	   a	   Tanzanian	  journalist	   sounded	   the	   alarm	   about	   the	   genocide	   perpetuated	   by	   the	   military	   junta	  of	  Ethiopia	  and	  its	  Soviet	  allies	  in	  late	  1986.	  There	  was	  very	  little	  media	  coverage	  of	  the	   war	   that	   was	   unfolding	   in	   the	   rest	   of	   the	   world.	   Journalists	   from	   far	   off	   place	  Japan	   like	   Mr.	   Osamu	   Eya,	   the	   late	   Mr.	   Masataka	   Ito,	   accompanied	   by	   martial	   art	  teacher	  Mr.	  Harunobu	  Chiba	  and	  NHK	  TV	  Camera	  crew	  lead	  by	  Mr.	  Michiyuki	  Ozaki	  the	   late	   Mr.	   Itaru	   Tanaka,	   consecutively	   visited	   our	   northern	   front	   to	   witness	   and	  record	  this	  historic	  period	  of	  a	  huge	  repercussion	  to	  the	  people	  of	   Eritrea,	  Ethiopia	  and	  the	  rest	  of	  the	  Horn	  of	  Africa	  –	  a	  proxy	  war	  at	  its	  best	  in	  Africa.	  	  A	   glimpse	   of	   the	   innocent	   Ethiopian	   prisoners	   of	   war,	   captured	   in	   this	  documentary,	   with	   a	   hummer	   and	   sickle	   insignia	   stitched	   to	   their	   shirt’s	   collar,	  studying	  calmly	  in	  the	  liberated	  areas	  to	  read	  and	  write	  alphabets,	  tells	  thousands	  of	   stories	   of	   geo-­‐political	   interest	   which	   is	   in	   direct	   conflict	   with	   basic	   human	  security	  and	  freedom	  of	  the	  people	  of	  our	  region	  and	  their	  dignity.	  	  Lets	   take	   this	   important	   occasion	   to	   celebrate	   truly	   the	   life	   of	   all	   the	   people	   who	  contributed	  to	  this	  documentary	  and	  Mr.	  Ozaki	  and	  the	  late	  Mr.	  Tanaka,	  who	  made	  it	  happen.	  I	  also	  would	  like	  to	  this	  opportunity	  to	  thank	  the	  other	  staff	  of	  NHK,	  who	  gave	   this	   dead	   analogue	   documentary	   film	   a	   new	   life	   by	   digitizing	   it.	   This	  documentary	   is	   the	   living	   testimonial	   of	   the	   struggle	   of	   Eritrea	   and	   Ethiopia	   for	  	  2	  freedom,	  peace,	  development	  and	  justice.	  	  	  	  It	   was	   40	   years	   ago	   and	   also	   a	   very	   intensive	   period	   militarily,	   socially	   and	  politically	   both	   for	   Eritrea	   and	   Ethiopia.	   People	   who	   were	   marginalized	   have	   a	  voice.	  So	  does	  people	  in	  the	  main	  stream.	  It	  is	  true	  that	  the	  media	  belongs	  to	  the	  latter.	  But	  this	  documentary	  has	  crossed	  over	  to	  the	  other	  side	  to	  find	  out	  some	  of	  the	   truth,	   if	   not	   all	   the	   truth.	   The	   coming	   generation	   can	   criticize	   or	   applaud	  objectively	   such	   kind	   of	   material	   and	   work.	   But	   this	   documentary	   gives	   clear	  answer	  to	  the	  questions	  why	  the	  expansion	  of	  USSR	  failed	  in	  Eritrea	  and	  Ethiopia?	  
Why	  Italian	  empire	  failed	  in	  the	  colonial	  rule	  in	  Eritrea	  and	  Ethiopia?	  Why	  foreign	  intervention	  in	  our	  region	  is	  bound	  to	  fail	  always?	  	  In	   2017	   forty	   years	   after,	   I	   am	   the	   Ambassador	   of	   the	   State	   of	   Eritrea	   to	   Japan	  striving	  to	  pass	  the	  baton	  of	  friendship	  of	  Eritrea	  to	  Japan.	  Please	  enjoy	  the	  film.	  	  I	  hope	   this	   film	   conveys	   some	   lesson	   to	   learn	   from	   the	   long	   struggle	   for	   the	  independence	  of	  Eritrea,	  and	  thank	  you.	  	  3