21 September 2005
15 JOURNALISTS STILL BEHIND BARS
Four years after Eritrean authorities launched a sweeping crackdown on independent media, Africa's youngest nation has become the continent's leading jailer of journalists and the only sub-Saharan country without any private media, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Fifteen journalists remain detained in undisclosed locations, says CPJ. They have virtually disappeared since the 18 September crackdown on privately owned newspapers. Eritrean officials have stonewalled attempts by CPJ to get information on the health, whereabouts or legal status of the detainees. Some reports say the journalists may have been tortured.
While authorities claim that the journalists are being detained on accusations of avoiding the military draft, threatening national security or failing to observe licensing requirements, CPJ research indicates that the crackdown was motivated by political anxiety ahead of elections which were later cancelled.
The crackdown occurred a year after the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia had ended, at a time when some politicians were calling for democratic reform, and editorial writers at private newspapers were promoting democracy and human rights.
RSF says the journalists and private media were targeted because they reported in May 2001 that 15 senior officials in the ruling party had called for democratic reform.
CPJ, RSF and IFJ have demanded that the Eritrean government account for the missing journalists and release them from captivity. On 18 September, Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu told Agence France Presse that "That is our own affair, a sovereign issue. It is up to us (on) what, why, when and where we do things."
IFJ says it will pressure the European Union (EU) to raise concerns over human rights and free expression in Eritrea. The EU funds several projects worth more than 150 million Euros in Eritrea through its European Development Fund (EDF).
The list of jailed journalists in Eritrea can be found here: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Eritrea16sept05na.html#prison
Visit:
- CPJ:
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Eritrea16sept05na.html
- CPJ Report on Eritrea: http://www.cpj.org/attacks04/africa04/eritrea.html
- Special Report on Fesshaye Yohannes: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/Joshua/joshua.html
- RSF Report on Eritrea: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13567
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?index=3389&Language=EN
- International Press Institute: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Africa/eritrea.htm
- IRIN News: http://tinyurl.com/c4lb6
- Amnesty International: http://web.amnesty.org/library/eng-eri/index
(Photo: Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki)
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