Your Excellency: We are writing to express alarm over the deteriorating human rights situation and growing repression of freedom of expression in Eritrea. In particular, we are concerned about the ban that your government has imposed on all independent non-governmental press since September 2001, when an unknown number of critics of your government were detained. Those detained include more than a dozen journalists who have been incarcerated for over three years without being formally charged.
New York, September 17, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists and nine other nongovernmental organizations today wrote to Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki expressing alarm at his government’s growing repression of press freedom and calling for the release of 17 jailed journalists. The letter marks the three-year anniversary, on September 18, of a brutal clampdown in which…
New York, September 10, 2004—The last remaining foreign correspondent in Eritrea left the country yesterday after the government ordered his expulsion, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists in an interview today. Jonah Fisher, who worked in Eritrea for 18 months as correspondent for the BBC and Reuters, said authorities gave no reason for his…
By Ted KoppelThis is not a good day. As I write, pop star Michael Jackson has been arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with a minor. His residence cum theme park, “Neverland,” has been invaded by police, sheriff’s deputies, and a team of forensic specialists. I am not empathizing with Michael Jackson, although this…
Although the number of journalists in prison in Africa at the end of 2003 was lower than the previous year, African journalists still faced a multitude of difficulties, including government harassment and physical assaults. Many countries in Africa retain harsh press laws. In the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, some…
Since the death of Jonas Savimbi, leader of the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), brought an end to Angola’s civil war in 2002, the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has become somewhat more tolerant of the independent press. Journalists say the climate has improved, but problems…
There were 138 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2003 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is the same as last year. An analysis of the reasons behind this is contained in the introduction on page 10. At the beginning of 2004, CPJ sent letters of inquiry to…
New York, September 18, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today marked the second anniversary of the Eritrean government’s crackdown on the country’s political opposition and the private press by calling for the release of 17 jailed journalists.[See list of jailed journalists.] With the journalists in prison and no domestic independent media, Eritrea has earned…
New York, July 14, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the arrest of Eritrean journalist Aklilu Solomon, Asmara-based stringer for the U.S. governmentfunded Voice of America (VOA) news service. Eritrean security officers arrested Solomon at his home on Tuesday, July 8, and took him to an undisclosed location. Ten days earlier, authorities had stripped…