Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-03-27


Along the CorSo Italia, form
Gently renamed the Ayenut
Halle SelasSie. the shutters clang
down every day on another shop
whose Italian owner has applied
for repatriation to Italy. The
espresso shops are half empty
and the paint is beginning to
peel from the walls Of the pastel
colored villas.
The physical deterioration
which is the hallmark of other
Eritrean cities as we'll as Asmara
goes hand-in glove with a with
ering away of political freedom
Still-Born Freedom
That freedom. at best, was
still-born.
Under the British administra-
ton. which lasted from 1912
1852. Eritrea was ruled as con-
quered enemy territory, But a
free press and free political
parties were allowed and encour-
aged. And the British system
OF justice was installed.
Ethiopia. with one eye on the
Eritrean ports Of Massawa and
Assab, and the other on the
French customs rates at Diibouti,
pressed her claim for Eritrea
on historical and chronological
grounds which. although not
without substance, were certainly
not conclusive. Eritrean nation
alists. backed up by the Moscow
Mecca axis, sought independence
A partition plan which would
have given the Molslem areas
of Eritrea TO the Sudan and the
Coptic highlands TO Ethiopia
having failed in the General
Assembly By one vote. the United
Nations decided. in 1851. to fed
crate Eritrea with Ethiopia.
The U. N. sent Eduardo Mate
inzo to Eritrea as its represent
tative to arrange for the trans
fer Of power from the British
administration to the Ethiopian
and Eritrean governments. Mr..
Mateinzo travelled into virtually
inaccessible areas Of the country
and talked with representatives
of every tribe and strata of So
ciety, then went to Switzerland
to draw up a constitution for
Eritrea which one wag was to
cali "a Bolivian concept of a
Swiss federation adapted to an
African absolute monarchy"
Guarantees Given
The Eritrean constitution pro-
vides for separation of powers
between the federal Ethiopian
and Eritrean governments. II
guarantees free elections. uni
versal male suffrage, and the
existence Of an Eritrean flag,
seal. and coat Of arms. 1t estab-
fishes Arabic and Tigrinya, the
two local tongues, as the official
languages and outlaws the use
of torture, not unknown in this
part Of the world, as political
weapon. II guarantees freedom
OF movement, religion, speech.
and assembly.
When the British left. the
Eritreans learned the political
facts of life: There can be no
such thing as federation, which
implies a union Of equals, be-
tween two unequal political sys-
TENS.
The first changes we're subtle
ones. Many members of the Erit-
rean legislative assembly. equally
divided by law between Moslems
and Copts. began to wear expen-
sive clothes and to frequent the
bars of the Corso Italia. Their
voices were raised infrequently
against the edicts from Adds
Ababa.
Pressure Applied
In a few cases, economic pres
sure was applied. One assembly
man, who happened to own an
Eritrean bus line, had been ex-
tremely critical of Ethiopian
policy. The next month the name
OF his firm did not appear among
the list Of quasi-public utilities
exempted from the heavy import
taxes on gasoline. Nor did it APP
pear the following month. No
official explanation was forth
coming He sold out and the
exemption was restored to the
new owner
When the new Eritrean legis-
lative assembly was elected last
year, advance planning assured
sweep OF all but two of the SO
seats for ro-Ethiopian candi-
dates.
A case in point is the story
Of Mohammed Omar Akhito. a
young Moslem delegate from the
port OF Assab. Akhito was one
OF the two assemblymen who
sometimes raised their voices
against Ethiopian policy. But
apparently an opposition of two
is too many.
The Assab supervisor Of cleo
tions confessed" a few weeks age
that he had forgotten to write
the names Of the two Assab cam
didates on the ballot boxes and