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Embassy, November 29th, 2006 NEWS STORY By Lee Berthiaume
Eritrea Chooses Security Over Press Freedom
On the eve of an international day to recognize journalists in jail on Nov. 23, the Eritrean government arrested nine members of the state-owned press. At the same time Reporters Without Borders is investigating whether three others incarcerated without charges for more than five years have died while in custody. In September 2001, the Eritrean government under President Isaias Afewerki closed down all of the country's private media and arrested the country's most outspoken critics, including 13 journalists who had been working at privately-owned weekly newspapers. According to Reporters Without Borders, those who were arrested included Isaac Dawit and Fessaye Yohannes, co-founders of the country's first independent and most popular paper, Setit. Mr. Dawit returned to Eritrea after the country's independence from Ethiopia in 1993 where he met Mr. Yohannes, a former guerilla fighter, and the two eventually founded Setit to give the country an independent voice. In May 2001, the country's independent press published calls by 15 ruling party leaders for democratization within the country as elections had been scheduled then cancelled several times since 1993. On Sept. 9, 2001, Setit ran an open letter saying: "The people can put up with hunger and other problems for a long time, but they cannot tolerate the lack of good management and justice." Nine days later, the Eritrean government banned all privately-owned media, and on Sept. 23, arrested the 15 pro-democracy ruling party leaders and 13 independent journalists, including Mr. Dawit. Mr. Yohannes managed to escape, but, according to Reporters Without Borders, eventually turned himself in as a show of solidarity with his fellow journalists. The men have been held without charge and have been incommunicado since then. Reporters Without Borders says authorities have accused the men of a variety of crimes over the years, including spying, failure to do military service and being "threats to national security." Strangely, Mr. Dawit was released on Nov. 19, 2005 and was able to phone his wife and Eritrean exiles in Sweden, telling them he had been held in one of the country's worst prisons. He told his family he would join them soon, but two days later he was re-arrested. Third Worst for Reporters' Rights The arrest last week of nine more journalists working for the country's state-owned media, as well as reports that as many as three journalists originally arrested with Mr. Dawit and Mr. Yohannes, is "really frightening," says Leonard Vincent of Reporters Without Borders. "The information coming out from Eritrea is very disturbing," Mr. Vincent said. "It is one of the largest jailers of journalists in the world." According to the NGO, no other African country has jailed more journalists than Eritrea, while only China with 32 and Cuba with 23 have more in the world. In addition, Reporters Without Borders ranks the African nation as the third worst in the world in terms of reporters' rights, above only North Korea and Turkmenistan. But Mr. Vincent said the difficulty in trying to raise international concern is that Eritrea is so far off most countries' radars that many don't even know it exists. "Most people don't know where Eritrea is, or that it's not a province of Ethiopia," he said. "There is an indifference of the international community." Canada exported $1.6 million in goods to the country last year while importing $37,054, and contributed less than $1 million in development funds from 2003-2004, the last year information is available. In an interview yesterday, Eritrean Consul Nura Omer said she had not heard of the most recent arrests, but defended her government's jailing of Mr. Dawit, Mr. Yohannes and their colleagues as a matter of national security. Following years of colonization and war with Ethiopia, Ms. Omer said the government has been working very hard to rebuild the country, and originally included a free press as a way to help the country flourish. But she accused independent news organizations of threatening the country's stability with dissenting talk and attempts to split the military. "Whenever national security is touched, it affects everybody," she said. "The media broadcast things that were against the national unity. They will be held until it is convenient to us." When asked why the men are being held incommunicado and haven't been charged, Ms. Omer said the government is dealing with the national security threat as it sees appropriate, and that while more developed countries have the luxury of talking about overarching human rights, basic survival and development are the most important things to Eritreans. "Other rights come after people are fed and schooled," she said. "Our survival, our national security, comes above that. It has nothing to do with democracy, human rights, nothing. "We want a stable home and that is why these people are in jail." lee@embassymag.ca
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