Schlagwort: media

Journalists in prison

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The President also accused the ten journalists detained a few days after the G15 arrests in September 2001 of being „spies and mercenaries“ who had supposedly clandestinely supported the G15 „traitors“ on behalf of Ethiopia. They include Fessahaye Yohannes (also known as „Joshua“), an EPLF veteran, poet and dramatist, and founder of Setitnewspaper; Dawit Habtemichael, a science teacher and co-founder of Meqaleh („Echo“) newspaper; Seyoum Tsehaye, former director of Eritrean state television, a former French-language teacher and photographer; Temesgen Gebreyesus, a sports reporter and actor; and Dawit Isaak, a writer and theatre producer, co-owner of Setitnewspaper(5). Dawit Isaak is a Swedish citizen but has been denied access to the Swedish embassy. He had been in hospital when the others, on hunger strike at the time, were moved to secret detention. The journalists are reported to be held in secret security sections of the 2nd and 6th police stations in Asmara.

Amnesty International considers these ten journalists to be prisoners of conscience imprisoned for their non-violent opinions and for exercising their legitimate rights and professional responsibilities as journalists. They published articles about the democratic reform movement, including interviews with critics who were subsequently detained, and their own opinions advocating peaceful change. None of them has been taken to a court, allowed access or contact to their families or legal counsel, charged or tried. The entire private press was suspended at the same time and there has been no word of the supposed review of the ban by a committee (which has never been formed) of the National Assembly – which has not met since early 2002. International media associations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters sans Frontières, the International Federation of Journalists, International Press Institute, Article 19 and International PEN, are also campaigning for their release but have received no positive response from the Eritrean government.

Four more journalists have been detained since September 2001. There may be other journalists forcibly doing extended military service because of their criticisms of the government, since there had already been a pattern of arrests of critical journalists since the end of the war. After the 2001 round-up when the authorities detained the leading independent journalists and founders of the private print media, they turned later to arrest also members of the state radio and television media who appeared to have transgressed their own narrow limits of independent reporting. Government-employed journalists who had never been allowed to print any direct critical articles were now targeted for any suspicion of criticism. Three members of the Arabic-language service were detained in February 2002 when the issue of the subordinate status of the Arabic language in Eritrea was raised – Saadia Ahmed, a 22-year-old woman television reporter, Saleh al-Jezaeri, a radio and newspaper reporter, and Hamid Mohamed Saleh, a television news and sports editor. They are detained without charge or trial, incommunicado and in secret, and the government has given no reasons for their arrests.

Aklilu Solomon, a correspondent of the US-based Voice of America radio station, was arrested in July 2003, forcibly re-conscripted, and is reportedly detained in military custody(6).

Only one of these detained journalists has been released – Semret Seyoum, who was arrested for trying to flee the country in October 2001, and released in January 2003.

In all, a total of 14 journalists are currently detained in Eritrea – one of the largest number in any country of the world and possibly the largest in relation to the country’s population. In addition, over 50 other Eritrean journalists – including virtually all who had been working for the private press – have fled to various countries in the world and sought asylum. International media associations have recognized the plight of Eritrean journalists – a challenging new profession in this small and closed country – with awards for their human rights defence activities.(7)

[mehr über Seyoum]