Committee to Protect Journalists - Eritrea

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Journalists In Prison

2012-02-21T21:41:35Z

Iran is the world's worst jailer of the press. Detentions rise in the Middle East and North Africa.

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Eritrea

2012-02-21T16:31:10Z

No independent press has operated in this Red Sea nation since a September 2001 government crackdown on dissent that led to the imprisonment of 11 leading journalists without charge or trial and the enforced closure of their publications. President Isaias Afewerki's administration consistently refused to account for the whereabouts, legal status, or health of the jailed journalists, or even confirm reports that some had died in custody. All of the journalists were held without access to their families or lawyers. The only media allowed to operate in the country were under the control of Information Minister Ali Abdu, who enforced rigid control of information and ideas through intimidation and imprisonment. Even state media journalists braved border guards' shoot-to-kill orders to escape the country. Government agents abroad harassed and intimidated media outlets established by exiled journalists. The government's egregious actions drew condemnation from the European Parliament in September 2011, the latest in a series of international censures.

Journalists face threats in covering Isaac imprisonment

2011-09-26T17:12:17Z

New York, September 26, 2011--A Sweden-based journalist was publicly threatened Friday in connection with her reporting on the case of Dawit Isaac, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who has been imprisoned in Eritrea for a decade without charge, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. A day earlier in New York, bodyguards for the Eritrean leader Isaias Afewerki pushed and threatened two Swedish journalists seeking to speak to the president about the Isaac case, the journalists said.

Eritrean journalist attacked at public seminar in Houston

2010-05-27T22:23:46Z

New York, May 27, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a thorough investigation into a May 9 attack on an Eritrean expatriate journalist by supporters of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki at a public event in eastern Texas. The event was advertised locally in printed fliers, and on the pro-government Dehai.org Web site as a “Public Seminar for all Eritreans in Houston and Environs.” Tedros Menghistu Wondefrash, publisher and editor of Selam, a Tigrinyan-language, monthly newsletter printed in Houston, was attacked when he tried to attend, he told CPJ.

In African hot spots, journalists forced into exile

2010-02-16T05:57:00Z

By Tom Rhodes

High numbers of local journalists have fled several African countries in recent years after being assaulted, threatened, or imprisoned, leaving a deep void in professional reporting. The starkest examples are in the Horn of Africa nations of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, where dozens of journalists have been forced into exile. Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and the Gambia have also lost large segments of the local press corps in the face of intimidation and violence.

Long held in secret Eritrean jail, Isaac reported in hospital

2009-02-05T17:52:12Z

New York, February 5, 2009--Eritrean authorities must disclose the medical condition and care being provided to jailed journalist Dawit Isaac, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today following unofficial reports saying that he was hospitalized. CPJ points out that the well-being of the long-jailed Isaac, an Eritrean with Swedish citizenship, is the responsibility of the government, which has yet to provide any information as to his whereabouts, health, or medical care.

Attacks on the Press 2007: Eritrea

2008-02-05T16:25:00Z

Eritrea remained the leading jailer of journalists in Africa, with as many as 14 writers and editors held incommunicado in secret locations. At least one journalist died in state custody, sources told CPJ in February. The only country in sub-Saharan Africa without a single independent news outlet, Eritrea subjected its own state-media journalists to government surveillance and harassment. One state journalist died in June while trying to escape years of repression by fleeing into Sudan.

In bid to flee homeland, an Eritrean broadcaster dies

2007-07-10T16:00:00Z

New York, July 10, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the loss of respected Eritrean broadcaster Paulos Kidane who, CPJ sources said, died after attempting to join the dozens of journalists fleeing the government’s absolute control of the country’s media since a massive crackdown on the now-defunct private press.

German media aid to Eritrea raises concerns

2007-05-14T04:00:00Z

May 14, 2007

The Honorable Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
C/o German Embassy to the United States
4645 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington DC 20007-1998

Via facsimile: (202) 298-4249

Dear Minister Wieczorek-Zeul:

The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that the German government has decided to fund the training of journalists working for Eritrea's state-controlled media while the nation's independent press remains shut down and more than a dozen publishers and editors continue to be held incommunicado, many since September 2001.

CPJ Update

2007-05-01T06:00:46Z

May 2007

News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

In Eritrea, a prominent journalist dies in a secret government prison

2007-02-09T17:00:00Z

New York, February 9, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the reported death of prominent, award-winning journalist Fesshaye Yohannes, imprisoned without charges in September 2001, along with the majority of Eritrea’s independent press corps.

Yohannes, founding editor of the defunct weekly Setit and a recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 2002, died in a prison outside the capital Asmara, several sources have told CPJ. Repeated attempts by CPJ to reach Eritrean government officials in Asmara were unsuccessful. Officials at the Eritrean embassy in Washington, D.C., did not return messages seeking comment, but Voice of America quoted Eritrean presidential spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel as denying the reports. “In the first place, I don’t know the person you’re talking about,” he said.

Attacks on the Press in 2006: Introduction

2007-02-05T17:00:00Z

By Joel Simon

As Venezuelan elections approached in November, President Hugo Chávez accused news broadcasters of engaging in a "psychological war to divide, weaken, and destroy the nation." Their broadcast licenses, he said, could be pulled--no idle threat in a country where a vague 2004 media law allows the government to shut down stations for work deemed "contrary to the security of the nation."

Attacks on the Press 2006: Africa Analysis

2007-02-05T16:57:00Z

African Union fails to defend press freedom
By Julia Crawford

When African heads of state gathered in July in the Gambia's sleepy seaside capital, Banjul, their host had just shut down a leading private newspaper, jailed journalists, and halted a planned freedom of expression forum on the fringes of the summit. At the summit, the African Union swore in judges for a future pan-African court of justice and human rights, but said nothing about human rights abuses in the Gambia or the lack of due process for its detainees. In a declaration marking the 25th anniversary of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, AU leaders vowed to rededicate themselves "to ensuring respect for human and peoples' rights" as a prerequisite to their common vision of "a united and prosperous Africa." The charter, binding on all AU members, includes freedom of expression as a fundamental human right. Yet the heads of state failed to comment on the Gambia's vicious repression of the independent press and its lackluster effort to solve the 2004 assassination of a leading editor.

Attacks on the Press 2006: Countries That Have Jailed Journalists

2007-02-05T16:57:00Z

ALGERIA: 2

Djamel Eddine Fahassi, Alger Chaîne III
IMPRISONED: May 6, 1995

Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four well-dressed men carrying walkie-talkies. According to eyewitnesses who later spoke with his wife, the men called out Fahassi's name and then pushed him into a waiting car. He has not been seen since, and Algerian authorities have denied any knowledge of his arrest.

Attacks on the Press 2006: Africa Snapshots

2007-02-05T16:46:58Z

Attacks & developments throughout the region