Professional Background
Yusuf Mohamed Ali, Mattewos Habteab, Dawit Habtemichael,
Medhanie Haile, Temesgen Ghebreyesus, Emanuel Asrat, Wedi Ade, Dawit
Isaac, Fesshaye Yohannes, & 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 was Fesshaye Yohannes, who was 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 has received reports that
Fessehaye (Joshua) Yohannes died on January 11, 2007 due to severe ill
treatment and denial of medical treatment while in detention.
PEN
is deeply disturbed at the Eritrean authorities' practice of detaining
independent journalists under the spurious guise of national security.
It calls for the Eritrean authorities to state publicly what has
happened to Yohannes and the other journalists detained. Furthermore,
PEN calls on the Eritrean authorities to release of 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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Send a Letter of Appeal
Please
write a polite letter on your personal or institutional letterhead
requesting that journalists be released.
>> Sample appeal letter
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