By: Jeffrey Fleishman Los Angeles Times, RAFAH, EGYPT—He counted his scars at the desert’s edge. Scabbed electrical burns, purple splotches etched by chains, a map of blisters raised by candle wax dripped across his back. His captors threatened to bury his body beneath the sand and stars. They had buried others, he … more
Eritrea’s human rights record has long faced international criticism. Located in the Horn of Africa, the country is home to five million people, but so closed to the outside world that individual stories tend to come almost exclusively from those who have fled.
Escape From An Eritrean Prison
April 29, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) – A Chicago student inspired by the life of baseball legend Jackie Robinson won an essay contest about her own struggles with the death of her brother. Arsema Tesfai was honored Monday by Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson, at the seventh-grader’s school, St. Thomas of Canterbury. “So, … more
Containers—and containing dissent A strategic port is booming yet politically vulnerable The Economist May 4th 2013 | DJIBOUTI VILLE A RED shipping container is suspended from a crane above a tandoori-hot dock alongside the freighter on which it has just crossed the Indian Ocean. Suddenly something goes slightly wrong. The container slips, … more
By Robert MacPherson (AFP) WASHINGTON — Life in authoritarian states is likely to get tougher before it gets better as their citizens gain more access to the Internet, Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt said. Speaking at a seminar in Washington, Schmidt said hundreds of millions of people in non-democratic nations … more
April 29, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, is due to begin an official visit to Ethiopia and Djibouti on Tuesday to collect first-hand information from Eritrean refugees on the situation inside their country. The visit comes as … more
April 28, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Eritrean women fleeing their country’s oppressive regime are increasingly finding themselves the repeat victim of abuse, exploitation and violence once outside their homeland, a new report by a women’s rights group has found. The report titled ‘Letters from Eritrea: Refugee Women Tell Their Stories’ was … more
Gone are the days, when DIA was lecturing Eritreans wherever it may be, in Asmera Municipality Hall, Cinema Capitol or in Washington DC. He has been putting his head in the sand like the Ostriches found in the Danakil Desert near Edi on the way to Tio in eastern Eritrea. … more
A vital document that exposes Isaias Afewerki’s hidden agenda in his outlook about the fate of Eritrea is uncovered. It was the late Prime Minister of Ethiopia, who divulged such a vital secret in exceptionally candid interview with Paul B. Henze, former CIA and national security specialist in 1990. For … more
by Tesfai Yitbarek 25/3/2013 Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall apart” is a milestone of African literature: Starting in the 1950s, Achebe was central to a new Nigerian literary movement that drew on the oral traditions of Nigeria’s indigenous tribes. Although Achebe writes in English, he attempts to incorporate Igbo vocabulary and … more
TEL AVIV, 11 March 2013 (IRIN) – Testimonies of jailed Eritrean migrants and asylum seekers (collected by a local NGO) say officials at Saharonim prison in Israel’s Southern Negev desert are coercing them to sign “voluntary repatriation” forms. In one of the many testimonies a 28-year-old Eritrean detainee reported being … more
Addis Ababa — Media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, said on Wednesday that, the African Union’s main human rights body has decided to investigate the case of imprisoned Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak. Eritrean authorities detained Isaak in September 2001 for writing articles critical of the government and has since been held … more
Dedicated teachers are essential to a good quality education, especially for students with disabilities. I strive to kindle the passion of those who have chosen this sometimes stressful yet incredibly valuable career, and inspire students to learn the secret to success that is self-advocacy. In November I gave a keynote … more
Every year thousands of young men and women make the treacherous journey from Eritrea to Egypt via Sudan in search of a better life. Along the route many fall victim to unscrupulous people traffickers who kidnap them and demand ransom money from their families. Some are able to pay and … more
The kidnap trade in Sinai has been described by the United Nations as one of the most unreported humanitarian crises in the world and little seems to be being done to stop it. Mike Thomson travelled to the heart of the kidnap region in northern Sinai to report. Click on … more
Sinai torture for Eritreans kidnapped by traffickers By Mike ThomsonBBC News, Sinai Lamlam, 17, is one of thousands of people who make the treacherous journey from Eritrea to Egypt each year. Many fall victim to unscrupulous people traffickers, who kidnap them and demand ransom money from their families. “The kidnappers … more
FORTO: THE TOMBSTONE OF THE PANOPTICON PFDJ REGIME By Ezana sehay For quite some time, the kaleidoscopes of Eritrea have been signaling, that the hermit state of Isayas is limping into the sinkhole it has dug itself. Besides the obvious socio-political crisis, its economy is crumbling, exacerbated by bad policies … more
Agroup of Winnipeggers is trying to prevent a U.S. woman who made incendiary remarks such as “evil” Jews from entering Canada again. “I don’t know how the Canadian border agency would let this woman come again,” said Eritrean refugee Daniel Awshek. He attended an event in Winnipeg in 2010 where … more
Dan Connell The Boston Globe Last week, soldiers in one of Africa’s most closed and repressive nations — Eritrea — occupied the country’s Ministry of Information and issued demands. The pattern was a familiar one. News spread quickly that a coup was underway. But feisty little Eritrea, which got its … more
Expressen newspaper interview translated by Google Translate from Swedish, 30 January 2013 BEIRUT. Eritrean dictator Isaias Afewerkis Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed has fled the country and is living today in a secret location. It confirms himself today in a world exclusive interview with Expressen Kassem Hamade. Ali Abdu says … more