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Martin Plaut
Person source name · identity unresolved
Names below group exact source spellings. Identity remains unresolved: the same spelling can refer to different people. A mention does not establish participation, association or corroboration. Assignments use automatic source rules and have not received human review.
Original spelling: Martin Plaut. No reviewed aliases or translations have been assigned.
5 unique documents. Mentioned in source: 5. Role counts can overlap within a document.
If the BBC’s Jonah Fisher proved himself to be a poor reporter, another BBC employee, Martin Plaut, is showing himself to be a sluggish analyst. Eritrea is not immune from the follow-the-herd scholarship that affects every subject, which has resulted in books about Eritrea that are, in the words of Awate columnist Burhan Ali, “a re-arranged reproduction of the contents of the previous one.” Several years ago, we wrote “Chronology of the Reform Movement” and, sure enough, Mr. Plaut merely rearranged what we wrote and christened it “The Birth of The Eritrean Reform Movement.” We forgot to be flattered: you see, to us, the Reform Movement of 2000 is just one in a series of attempts to bring liberty to Eritreans; to people like Martin Plaut, it was "the birth."
But that is history. Or is it? Just when we thought we had buried our old ELF-EPLF feuds, some experts of wedge-issues are trying to repackage it and re-sell it and, sure enough, Mr. Martin Plaut is already a volunteer in this cause. As everyone who can read knows, in August, two Eritrean unity blocs were formed: the Four Plus One and the ELF-ELF/RC-EDP. Although quantifying sizes is always hard, if one assumes the following:
Up to 400 people, mainly Eritreans, are being held for ransom by people-traffickers in Egypt's Sinai desert, a Catholic priest has told the BBC.
Father Mussie Zerai, who heads a Rome-based refugee charity, says they are tortured and forced to phone relatives for ransoms of up to $10,000 (£6,000).
He said one hostage told him a 24-year-old Eritrean man had recently died after electric shock torture.
Appeals for action to the authorities in Egypt have gone unheeded, he said.
"Many, many, many times I have talked with the Egyptian ambassador here in Italy," he told the BBC.
Eritreans 'being tortured in Egypt's Sinai for ransom'
Up to 400 people, mainly Eritreans, are being held for ransom by people-traffickers in Egypt's Sinai desert, a Catholic priest has told the BBC.
BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says this testimony has been supported by an Israeli group, Physicians for Human Rights, which has documented the evidence of torture on 300 Eritreans who survived a similar ordeal.
Migrants are usually attempting to cross the desert from Egypt to Israel.
'Held in containers'
Father Zerai, an Eritrean by birth, runs the Habeshia Agency for Development Cooperation from the Vatican - a charity for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants.
The hostages sometimes contact him by phone, relating the conditions in which they are kept.
They are held by Bedouin gangs, often in appalling circumstances - detained in shipping containers or in pits.
Father Zerai says they are tortured with electric prods and others are raped to force them to get ransoms transferred to the accounts of the traffickers.
He said he had spoken to three sets of hostages on Thursday, who explained they are usually held in groups of up to 35.
Sometimes they are passed from one gang of smugglers to another, he said.
From the phone calls on Thursday, he learnt about the death of the 24-year-old Eritrean and also of a 27-year-old Ethiopian man who had died on Wednesday.
"They are threatening the lives of two other young boys, the youngest of the hostages [is] a boy of 13 years," he said.
"In recent months dozens of hostages have died in the Sinai at the hands of robbers, we ask the European Parliament to put pressure on governments in the region to secure the release of these hostages and put an end to trafficking in human beings."
Hundreds of people are estimated to flee Eritrea every month, often making risky journeys to reach Europe or Israel in search of better opportunities.
Critics say they are fleeing the country's repressive government, poverty and national service for men until the age of 40.
If the BBC’s Jonah Fisher proved himself to be a poor reporter, another BBC employee, Martin Plaut, is showing himself to be a sluggish analyst. Eritrea is not immune from the follow-the-herd scholarship that affects every subject, which has resulted in books about Eritrea that are, in the words of Awate columnist Burhan Ali, “a re-arranged reproduction of the contents of the previous one.” Several years ago, we wrote “Chronology of the Reform Movement” and, sure enough, Mr. Plaut merely rearranged what we wrote and christened it “The Birth of The Eritrean Reform Movement.” We forgot to be flattered: you see, to us, the Reform Movement of 2000 is just one in a series of attempts to bring liberty to Eritreans; to people like Martin Plaut, it was "the birth."
But that is history. Or is it? Just when we thought we had buried our old ELF-EPLF feuds, some experts of wedge-issues are trying to repackage it and re-sell it and, sure enough, Mr. Martin Plaut is already a volunteer in this cause. As everyone who can read knows, in August, two Eritrean unity blocs were formed: the Four Plus One and the ELF-ELF/RC-EDP. Although quantifying sizes is always hard, if one assumes the following:
Speakers and those taking part include Dan Connell, Dr Gaim Kibreab, Mussie Ephrem, Michaela Wrong, Martin Plaut, Dr Jelaledin and representatives from Amnesty, Release Eritrea, Reporters Without Borders and Eritreans who were victims of human rights abuse or families of those imprisoned & disappeared. Eritrean government and opposition representatives have been invited. People from a number of other NGOs and British government departments will also be attending.
[21] For further details and reports about the government’s ever-growing autocrat deeds, reference can be made to “Crimes Committed in Zemene Isaias,” online: Eritrean Human Rights Advocacy Group (EHRAG), Awate Foundation Home Page <http://www.awate.com/artman/publish/article_2888.shtml> (date accessed: 4 January 2004); “Human Rights Overview: Eritrea,” online: Human Rights Watch Home Page <http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/01/21/eritre6987.htm> (date accessed: January 2004); US Department of State “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003,” online: US Department of State Home Page <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18202.htm> (date accessed: 11 March 2003); “Human Rights Watch World Report 2003,” online: Human Rights Watch Home Page <http://www.hrw.org/wr2k3/africa4.html> (accessed on 14 January 2003); “Inter-Parliamentary Union: Resolution Adopted Uninanimously by the Governing Council at its 173rd Session,” online: Inter-Parliamentary Union Home Page <http://www.ipu.org/english/issues/hrdocs/173/eri01.htm> (accessed 5 October 2003); “European Parliament Resolution on Eritrea,” online: European Parliament Home Page <http://www4.europarl.eu.int/registre/recherche/ResultatsAbreges.cfm> (date accessed: 7 February 2002); “Amnesty International Report: Arbitrary Detention of Government Critics and Journalists,” online: Amnesty International Home Page <http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engAFR640082002?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES\ERITREA> (date accessed: 18 September 2002); “Open Letter to President Isaias Afewerki”; “A Call for Peaceful and Democratic Dialogue” and “The Chronology of the Reform Movement” in note 5 supra”. For a well narrated account of the recent political developments in Eritrea see also Dan Connell “Enough: A Critique of Eritrea’s Post-Liberation Politics,” online: All Africa.com Home Page <http://allafrica.com/stories/200311060876.html> (posted and accessed on 6 November 2003); Paulos Tesfagiorgis “In search of a Normal Eritrea,” online: Eritrea One Home Page <http://eritreaone.com/pipermail/opinion_eritreaone.com/2003q4/000001.html> (date accessed: November 3 2003); Martin Plaut “The Birth of Eritrean Reform Movement” ROAPE 91 (2002) at 114-122; Adhanom Gebremariam (translated by T.Giorgis Zewde) “The Warsay/Ykalo Campaign – A Campaign of Slavery,” online: Eritrea One Home Page <http://news.asmarino.com/Articles/2002/09/TesfagiorgisZewde-1.asp> (accessed on September 2002); “Interview with Ambassador Abdella Adem” online: Awate Team, Awate Foundation Home Page <http://www.awate.com/artman/publish/article_2973.shtml> (date accessed: 25 January 2004); Saleh A A Younis “Why We Should (And Will) Dialogue?,” online: Alnahda, Awate Foundation Home Page <http://www.awate.com/artman/publish/article_2596.shtml> (date accessed: 13 November 2003); Yosief Ghebrehiwet” The Continuous Deferral of Civil Liberties: The Culture of Martyrdom,” online: Asmarino.com Home Page <http://news.asmarino.com/Comments/July2003/YosiefGhebrehiwet_01.asp> (date accessed 1 July 2003)