Arhe Hamednaca (born 1953) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

politician and former member of the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

, the national legislature. A member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, he represented

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality or the City of Stockholm ( sv, Stockholms kommun or ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, maki ...

between October 2010 and September 2018. Hamednaca was born in the village of Yiker in the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea. He is an

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...

. Whilst a child Hamednaca witnessed many acts of brutality committed against

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

ns by

Ethiopian Armed Forces The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) ( am, የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት, Ye’īfēdērī mekelakeya šerawīt, lit=FDRE Defense Force) is the military force of Ethiopia. Civilian control of the military is carried out t ...

and Highland Eritrean paramilitaries opposed to

Eritrean independence An independence referendum was held in Eritrea, at the time part of Ethiopia, between 23 and 25 April 1993. The result was 99.83% in favour, with a 98.5% turnout. Independence from Ethiopia was declared on 27 April. Conduct The UN Observer Mis ...

. He began helping Eritrean rebels fighting for Eritrean independence. He was abducted and tortured for a month by the paramilitaries before his father secured his release. A year later, in 1968, Hamednaca, aged 15, joined the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) as a

child soldier Children (defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as people under the age of 18) have been recruited for participation in military operations and campaigns throughout history and in many cultures. Children in the military, includ ...

. The paramilitaries abducted Hamednaca's father, tortured him and kept him prisoner for years. In the late 1970s the ELF began to fragment and Hamednaca left the

front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or uninte ...

. He left Eritrea in 1977, first moving to

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

before arriving in Sweden in December 1984. Hamednaca and his family lived in the Östberga suburb of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. He studied at a Komvux whilst working as a cleaner at a kindergarten. Financial circumstances prevented him from attending university. He worked for Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) from 1990 to 2002 and for

Fryshuset Fryshuset is a Swedish non-profit youth organization. Today Fryshuset runs a total of around 70 project, activities, educational programs and schools within four main areas; * Role models and faith in the future (i.e. social programs) * Youth c ...

from 2002 to 2010. In 2002, following the

murder of Fadime Şahindal Fadime Şahindal (2 April 1975, in Elbistan – 21 January 2002, in Uppsala) was a Kurdish immigrant who moved to Sweden from Turkey at the age of seven. She was murdered by her father, Rahmi, in January 2002 in an honour killing. Life Fadime � ...

, Hamednaca founded the Sharaf Heroes organisation to help young people affected by honor crimes and change perception of women. He became a special advisor to Minister for Democracy, Metropolitan Affairs, Integration, and Gender Equality

Jens Orback Jens Olov Heinrich Orback (born 21 April 1959 in Stockholm) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician. He was Minister for Democracy, Metropolitan Affairs, Integration, and Gender Equality in the Ministry of Justice in the Cabinet of Göran Pers ...

in 2004. Hamednaca is a

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

of the totalitarian government of Eritrea led by dictator

Isaias Afwerki Isaias Afwerki ( ti, ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and partisan who has been the president of Eritrea since shortly after he led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) to victory in M ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamednaca, Arhe 1953 births Child soldiers in Africa Living people Members of the Riksdag 2010–2014 Members of the Riksdag 2014–2018 Members of the Riksdag from the Social Democrats Politicians from Stockholm Swedish people of Eritrean descent