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Yusuf Mohamed Ali, Mattewos Habteab, Dawit Habtemichael,
Medhanie Haile, Temesgen Ghebreyesus, Emanuel Asrat, Wedi Ade, Dawit
Isaac, Fesshaye Yohannes, and Said Abdulkader
Professional background:
All of these journalists are members of the independent press in Eritrea. Yusuf Mohamed Ali is editor-in-chief of the weekly Tsigenay.
He was previously detained for several weeks in October 2000.
Editor-in-chief Mattewos Habteab and journalist Dawit Habtemichael both
work for the weekly Meqaleh. There are reports that Habteab
was arrested several times during the first months of 2002. Medhanie
Haile is editor-in-chief of the weekly Keste Debena,
where Temesgen Ghebreyesus is a columnist and member of the board of
directors. Emanuel Asrat is editor and Wedi Ade an assistant editor of
the weekly Zemen. Journalist Dawit Isaac is with Setit, as is Fesshaye Yohannes, who is publisher and editor-in-chief of the weekly. Said Abdulkader is editor-in-chief of the weekly Admas.
Case history:
On September 18, 2001, Eritrean
authorities abruptly banned all non-state print media outlets.
According to sources in the capital, security forces then sealed off
the newsrooms of Tsigenay, Meqaleh, Keste Debena, Zemen, Setit, and Admas
after removing computers, phones, fax machines, and other equipment. A
few days later, police began rounding up independent news
professionals. By September 25, 2001, officers had arrested at least 11
reporters and held them incommunicado.
Yusuf Mohamed Ali was arrested at his home on September 18, 2001.
Mattewos Habteab was picked up on September 19, having just been
released from an earlier detention. It is reported Dawit Habtemichael
was arrested on or about September 21. Temesgen Ghebreyesus was
arrested on September 20. Emanuel Asrat was picked up by plainclothes
security agents sometime during the month of September. Fesshaye
Yohannes was arrested in the early hours of September 27. Said
Abdulkader was picked up by security agents on September 20. Wedi Ade
was arrested around September 20. No charges are known to have been
filed against any of the 11 journalists.
Current status:
All but the last two of these
journalists began a hunger strike on March 31, 2002 in what they said,
according to a letter smuggled out of prison, was a protest against
their illegal detention and to demand "justice before a fair and
independent court." Those on hunger strike report that they have only
undergone questioning on one occasion. Their interrogators wanted to
know if they had links with 11 government officials who were detained
in September 2001 after publishing an open letter critical of the
government. Several other journalists have fled the country to avoid
arrest.
In April 2004, it was reported that the journalists were being held in secret security sections of the 2nd and 6th Police Stations of Asmara.
PEN is deeply disturbed at the Eritrean authorities' practice of
detaining independent journalists under the spurious guise of national
security. It calls on the Eritrean authorities to release all
imprisoned journalists as a matter of urgency and to desist from all
measures that hamper freedom of expression in the country.
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