(RSF/IFEX) – RSF and the Association of Eritrean Journalists in Exile have adjusted their figures for the number of imprisoned journalists in Eritrea to 15. The organisations have learned that three journalists who were thought to still be in detention – Zemenfes Haile, Biniam Haile and Simret Seyoum – have in fact been released, and […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF and the Association of Eritrean Journalists in Exile have adjusted their figures for the number of imprisoned journalists in Eritrea to 15. The organisations have learned that three journalists who were thought to still be in detention – Zemenfes Haile, Biniam Haile and Simret Seyoum – have in fact been released, and contrary to previous reports, Selamyinghes Beyene was never arrested.
The two organisations also denounced the secrecy that continues to surround the arrests of journalists and the blackout on information about their fate.
“While we are pleased to learn that these journalists are not detained, we firmly condemn their initial imprisonment, carried out without any trial or official reason being given, and we deeply deplore the complete lack of transparency regarding their situation,” the organisations said in a 20 August 2003 letter to President Issaias Afeworki.
“The authorities carry out arrests in the most arbitrary way and fail to provide any information as to where or why these journalists were detained, or why they were released,” the organisations noted in their letter. The Association of Eritrean Journalists in Exile groups about 50 Eritrean news media workers who have found asylum abroad.
Eritrea is still the only country in Africa, and one of the very few in the world, to have no privately-owned news media outlets. The state-owned media, which are closely controlled by the regime, are the only source of news. Only three foreign news media, the BBC, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Deutsche Welle, currently have correspondents in the country, and they cannot work freely or safely.
The letter was sent to President Afeworki less than one month before the second anniversary of a crackdown on Eritrea’s news media. On 18 September 2001, the government ordered the closure of all privately-owned newspapers and launched an unprecedented wave of arrests of journalists. Most of the 15 who remain detained two years later were arrested in the latter half of September 2001.
RSF and the Association of Eritrean Journalists in Exile have called for the release of all journalists who remain in detention, while recalling that the United Nations views imprisonment for the peaceful expression of an opinion as a serious human rights violation. They also criticised the authorities for using national service as a weapon against the news media. The government often justifies the imprisonment of journalists by claiming, against all evidence, that they failed to do their military service.
The most recent example of this was the 8 July 2003 arrest of local Voice of America (VOA) stringer Akhlilu Solomon, who was reportedly taken to a military camp on the official grounds that he had to do his national service. VOA said Solomon was taken away because of a report portraying the distress of soldiers’ families.
Zemenfes Haile, former editor and co-founder of “Tsigenay”, was arrested in late 1999 by the authorities, who accused him of not doing his national service. According to the latest information obtained by RSF, he was released a few weeks later.
Seyoum, managing editor of the independent weekly “Setit”, was arrested on 7 January 2002 near the Sudanese border as he was trying to flee. Without any explanation ever provided by the authorities, he was released a year later, on 9 January 2003.
Biniam Haile, a reporter with the government newspaper “Hadas Eritrea”, was held for a few weeks in November 2001 and was subsequently released. He is now working for his newspaper again.
It has now emerged that Beyene, of “Meqaleh”, who was thought to have been detained, was never arrested. According to the authorities, he is currently doing his national service.
