THE SAMARA DECLARATION

We, the Afar People, including the Afar State President, the Afar State Cabinet, the Afar State Officials, the Leaders of the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO), and the Afar Refugees from our homeland in Eritrea, assembled in Conference today of 1500 people together declare to the World the solemn will of the Afar People as follows:

1. WE REAFFIRM the Principles of the Samara Declaration to which the Leaders the Afar People solemnly committed in Samara on 26 July 2011;

2. WE CONDEMN the Murder, Torture, Rape, Disappearances, Expulsions, Forcible Confinements and Aggression against our Afar People in our ancestral homeland in Eritrea;

3. WE EXTEND OUR HANDS to our brother and sister nationalities in Eritrea to establish with them a liberal democratic federation based on the principles of Freedom , Autonomy and Equality for all nationalities;

4. WE NOW DECLARE that it is the solemn will of the Afar People to participate in a reformed Eritrea on the basis of these principles:

a. The rule of law;

b. Democracy;

c. The equality of each nationality;

d. That each nationality shall exercise the rights of self-government and self-determination in a federated autonomous region;

e. That the rights of freedom of religion, conscience, political opinion, expression, assembly, equality, mobility, association and liberty shall be guaranteed;

f. That the people of all nationalities shall be secure in their persons, shall be free from arbitrary search, seizure, arrest, detention, and charge;

g. That no conviction shall occur except by due process of law;

h. That the judicial branch shall be independent and secure in its tenure;

i. That each nationality shall, through the governments that they freely elect, have the right to own and control their lands and resources including surface and sub-surface resources, sea coasts, fisheries and air space and shall enjoy the profits there from under conditions established by law.

j. That each nationality shall, through the governments they freely elect, have the right to protect and preserve the vitality of their language, culture, way of life and economy;

k. That each nationality shall enjoy the right of self determination up to and including the right of secession;

l. That the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities shall be guaranteed and protected;

m. That Afar refugees that the refugees of all nationalities of Eritrea who have fled Eritrea shall have the right of return to their homes and properties in Eritrea and to Eritrean citizenship;

n. That all Afar People shall have the right of return to their ancestral homeland in Dankalia and to have Eritrean citizenship; and

o. That Dankalia shall have its traditional borders restored to those to which the Afar People enjoyed in 1991.

We, by our names, signatures and marks as set out below, pledge our commitment and resolve to these solemn principles.