Eritrea: AI Launches Campaign to Free 21 Detainees

By Development Diaries
September 20, 2021

Amnesty International (AI) has launched the #WhereAreEritreasDissidents campaign with the goal to force the authorities in Eritrea to release 21 journalists and politicians who were arrested in a crackdown on dissent 20 years ago.

11 prominent politicians, all former members of the Central Council of the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) party, were on 18 September, 2001, arrested after calling for democratic reform.

They had formed the G-15 group and published an open letter to the government and President Isaias Afewerki, calling for democratic dialogue and reforms.

Ten journalists were also arrested between 21 and 23 September after the banning of independent media.

‘Days have turned into months, months into years and now years have turned into decades of unending anguish for these detainees, their families and loved ones’, AI’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Deprose Muchena, said in a statement.

‘We call on President Isaias Afewerki to take meaningful steps to bring an end to this travesty of justice.

‘It is unconscionable that these brave prisoners of conscience are still languishing in jail 20 years since they were arrested for exercising their human rights, with no word from the authorities on their current circumstances, and that the ban on independent media remains in place’.

Nine of the politicians and journalists have previously been reported to have died in detention, a claim the Eritrean authorities refuse to confirm.

AI documented extremely poor prison conditions in Eritrea, in some cases amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The human rights organisation has also reported that prisons in Eritrea are generally overcrowded, with inadequate water, sanitation facilities and poor-quality food and drinking water.

The journalists being held are Dawit Isaak, Seyoum Tsehaye, Dawit Habtemichael, Mattewos Habteab, and Fesseaye ‘Joshua’ Yohannes.

Others are Amanuel Asrat, Temesegn Gebreyesus, Said Abdelkader, Yosuf Muhamed Ali, and Medhanie Haile.

Former Vice-President, Mahmoud Ahmed Sheriffo, and his wife and independence war heroine, Aster Fissehatsion, and former foreign ministers, Haile Woldetensae and Petros Solomon, are other detainees.

Also among the detainees are former Finance Minister, Berhane Abraha, and 15-year-old Ciham Ali.

‘There are also many other politicians, journalists and activists that were arrested and detained without charge before September 2001…’, Muchena added.

A 2020 human rights report on Eritrea by the United States described president Afwerki’s administration as highly centralised and authoritarian.