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Freedom of press in Eritrea

Although the Eritrean constitution guarantees freedoms of speech and press, reporters without border claim that Eritrea is the second worst country in terms of press freedom after North Korea. In the last couple of decades the government led by Issayas Afeworki took some drastic measures to eliminate press freedom.

Legal Status

The Eritrean Government passed several laws to limit press freedom in its country. In 1996 a law was passed banning media broadcasts and journalists, whom now need licenses to be able to work. In 2001 all independent media was banned^[1], making room for only government led media to be present. Furthermore, among limitations, "media publications must be submitted for government approval prior to release" according to Freedom House^[2].

Since 2001, several journalists were arrested without any charges according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), including 17 journalists whom were imprisoned in Eritrea as of December 1, 2015. Among the most recent imprisonments, in 2011 four journalists^[3] working for the government radio and television station (Dimtsi Hafash), were arrested and imprisoned. There is no information on the condition of those imprisoned, a lot are believed to have died since, even though there is no confirmation. In 2014 lawyers tried to press Swedish courts to investigate crimes against humanity, torture, and abduction, because of the imprisonment of the Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak according to the Committee to Protect Journalist. Eritrean authorities refused to cooperate, therefore, the case was closed. While there have been reports that Isaak died in detention in 2011, this has not been confirmed, and other reports claim that he may be alive in 2015.

Political Status

The majority of independent or critical journalists have fled Eritrea due to the intimidation and arbitrary imprisonment. Furthermore, the journalists who have remained, obide and engage in self-censorship. However, in 2013 a dissident group began creating and circulating an underground newspaper, Echoes of Forto, in Asmara. The newspapers are written by a team based both inside and outside the country. The disagreeing group described the paper as a pilot project, and hoped to expand it. Radio Erena— is both run by Eritrean activist and Reporters Without Borders from Paris was launched in 2009. It can reportedly can be accessed the internet, satellite, and through a “call-to-listen” platform. Although Eritrea has one of the lowest internet infiltration rates in the world, at around 1 percent, the government still makes an effort to block many websites managed by Eritrean exiles. It is believed that authorities monitor e-mail communications, and some users suspect that government informants track users’ activity in internet cafés.

Foreign journalists are not able to freely enter the country and are generally not welcome unless they agree to report favorably about the regime^[4]. There have been occasional reports from journalists operating undercover, and Isaias has granted interviews to foreign broadcasters such as Sweden’s TV4 and the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera. However, in 2013 the Eritrean government blocked Al-Jazeera for 11 days. The station was reportedly censored due to its coverage of demonstrations outside diplomatic missions in cities such as London, Rome, and Stockholm by Eritrean natives.

Personal Cases

Following laws passed censoring media and press, a lot of journalists have been detained since 2001.

Dawit Habtemichael^[5]

One of the most notable cases is the one of Dawit Habtemichael. Dawit was a journalist who was imprisoned without any charges by the Eritrean Forces during the first round-up on journalist in 2001. He was considered by his former colleagues at the newspaper (The Echo) as a talented editor and a hard worker who would spend hours working on the newspaper after his classes at school.Habtemichael co-founded an independent newspaper (Meqaleh) in 1998. It started in a tiny office, they only had one computer, an old printer and a telephone. They continued working up until the ban on independent media in 2001.

In addition to editing, Habtemichael also wrote critical articles: his regular column, (Never too late) scrutinised key issues in society and government on which, he assumed, it was never too late to improve.

Dawit was not arrested in the first dawn round-up of journalists in 2001. However, wrongly assuming that they would probably arrest him and release him shortly afterwards – as was common practice at the time – he went to work as usual. However, security police arrived at the Asmara comprehensive secondary school the next day, and detained him.

There are conflicting reports about Habtemichael’s whereabouts today: according to Reporters Without Borders, he died in Eiraeiro prison camp in the second half of 2010, along with his colleague and editor Matios Habteab.

Dawit Isaak^[6]

Dawit Isaak is a Swedish-Eritrean journalist and writer who was imprisoned in 2001 by the Eritrean government without trial. His first job in Eritrea was as a reporter for the country's first independent newspaper, called Setit.

He was arrested in his home in Asmara. Other Eritrean journalists were also arrested for demanding democratic reforms in a series of letters to President Isaias Afeworki.

In April 2002, CPJ reported that Dawit had to be hospitalized due to torture. On November 2005 he was released from jail, but two days after that, he was imprisoned again.

Rumors about his death have circulated several times, but it isn't known if he is still alive or he is dead.

Fessayah "Joshua" Yohannes^[7]

Fessayah "Joshua" Yohannes A circus performer, a publisher, poet and short story writer, Yohannes was known to be amicable, friendly, reliable – “a dedicated journalist who never missed deadlines. He had a great ability working in a very tight schedule. He was also passionate about life,” recalls Aaron Berhane. Adding “You’d always see him joking around and laughing loudly.”

Among the other editors of Eritrea’s other private newspapers, Yohannes was also rounded up on the morning of 23 September 2001 at his home. There are claims stating he died in 2006 or 2007, due to poor health and mistreatment in prison.

Idris Abu'Are^[8]

Idris Abu’Are was a critical thinker, he did a lot of public readings and seminars on the history of the Eritrean independence struggle.After freedom from Ethiopia in 1991, Abu’Are worked in the newly established Ministry of Foreign Affairs and alongside his duties regularly contributed to the government-run Arabic daily newspaper, Eritrea al-Haditha.

But with time, Idris criticized a lot the ministry and publicly called them out. Abu’Are later freelanced for the independent newspaper (Tsigenay), and published a collection of short stories in Arabic in 1992.

With time the increasingly nervous government blacklisted the writer for his methods and ideas that aren't aligned with governmental ideology, and was arrested at his home in October 2001 after openly denouncing the arrest of the G-15 group.

Aba’Are is married and has one daughter. He remains in prison.