Eritrea

(RSF/IFEX) – On 6 June 2007, Reporters Without Borders voiced deep concern about the fate of Eyob Kessete, a journalist with the Amharic-language service of public radio station Dimtsi Hafash, who was arrested as he tried to flee across the border into Ethiopia and has since been held in the May Srwa detention centre, north […]

(RSF/IFEX) – With the number of days since Eritrea’s “Black Tuesday” of 18 September 2001 about to reach 2,000, Reporters Without Borders has urged the Eritrean diaspora to demand an explanation from the government in Asmara for the disappearance of at least 14 journalists in the country’s prisons, four of whom are feared dead. “Tomorrow […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has learned that three Eritrean state media journalists were recently released after being held for several weeks at police station No. 5 in the capital, Asmara, but a fourth is still being held. Those freed were Temesghen Abay of Radio Dimtsi Hafash’s Tigrinya-language service, Getachew Asfaha of Eri-TV’s Amharic-language service […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Credible Eritrean sources in Asmara and abroad have told Reporters Without Borders that poet and playwright Fessehaye “Joshua” Yohannes, who was a journalist with the now-banned weekly “Setit”, died in detention on 11 January 2007. “The death of Fessehaye Yohannes would be an appalling tragedy, one made all the more unbearable by the […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has disputed Eritrean information minister Ali Abdu’s claim that nine journalists arrested on 12 November 2006 have been released, insisting that only one of the nine has been freed and the other eight are still being held. The journalist who was released is Simon Zewde (previously identified as “Simon”), who […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders is appalled by a new round-up of journalists by the Eritrean government, in which at least nine employees of state-owned media outlets have been arrested since 12 November 2006 and are being held at undisclosed locations in conditions that are probably extremely harsh. “Terror reigns again among journalists in Eritrea,” […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has called on the Eritrean government to urgently produce evidence that three journalists illegally held since September 2001 are still alive, as information from credible sources indicates they died in the course of the past 20 months in a detention centre at a place called Eiraeiro, in a remote northeastern […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an 18 September 2006 RSF press release: Eritrea cut itself off from the world five years ago today. While the world’s attention was still totally absorbed by the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington of the previous week, President Issaias Afeworki shut down Eritrea’s privately-owned press on 18 September […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 15 September 2006 CPJ press release: After five years, Eritrean journalists still jailed in secret prisons without due process New York, September 15, 2006 – Five years after Eritrea’s brutal crackdown on the independent press, the Committee to Protect Journalists today called for the release of 13 journalists held […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On the eve of the 13th anniversary of Eritrea’s independence, on 24 May 2006, Reporters Without Borders appealed to President Issaias Afeworki to release all of his government’s prisoners of conscience, including 13 journalists being held incommunicado whose newspapers were shut down in a September 2001 crackdown. “Eritrea’s independence day is once again […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: ERITREA: A ‘freed’ journalist is sent back to jail New York, December 5, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by news that Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaac was returned to jail just two days after being released in mid-November. Isaac is one of 15 […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release: End Uncertainty over Release of Detained Journalist Says IFJ After Eritrea Breakthrough The International Federation of Journalists today called on the Eritrean Government to end uncertainty over the release of Dawit Isaac, reporter from the former weekly Setit, who had been locked away without trial and […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: ERITREA: Journalist freed without charge after four years in jail New York, November 21, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaac, who had been jailed without charge since a government crackdown closed the entire independent press in September […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 16 September 2005 CPJ press release: ERITREA: CPJ demands government account for “disappeared” journalists New York, September 16, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists demanded today that Eritrea, the worst jailer of journalists in Africa, account for 15 journalists who have been held, some in secret prisons, since […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 3 March 2005 CPJ press release: VOA correspondent freed in Eritrea 16 journalists remain in secret jails New York, March 3, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists has learned that Voice of America (VOA) correspondent Aklilu Solomon has been released after almost 18 months in jail. He was […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release: IFJ Calls for Action as Free Journalism “Faces Extinction” in Eritrea The International Federation of Journalists today condemned the Eritrean government’s “dictatorial” approach to press freedom, warning that free and independent journalism “faces extinction” in the country. “The international community must intervene to stop the rot,” […]