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On September 18, 2001, as the world reeled from the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York and international attention focused on the United States, the president of a tiny African country decided journalists were no longer needed in his country.

Isaias Afwerki, the president of Eritrea— which borders Ethiopia and lies 20 miles across a strategic shipping canal from Yemen—announced that all independent media organizations were to cease activity. Private presses were shuttered and broadcasters closed down; journalists were rounded up and put in prison.

The deplorable state of press freedom in the Horn of Africa country—Eritrea has been ranked bottom of Reporters Sans Frontieres’ (RSF) Press Freedom Index in eight out of the last nine years—has led to the country being dubbed Africa’s North Korea, in comparison with the East Asian totalitarian dictatorship.

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But Fathi Osman, an ex-Eritrean diplomat who fled the country and now works for Paris-based Radio Erena, an Eritrean media outlet in exile, says that comparison doesn’t do the situation in his home country justice. The Eritrean capital Asmara, he says, is a less open place than Pyongyang.

An Eritrean migrant simulates what she says is a torture technique during a protest outside the European Union delegation in Israel, in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv on June 25, 2015. Eritrea, a repressive state with no free press, is one of the most closed countries in the world. Baz Ratner/Reuters

“This is not a catchphrase, this is a well-deserved description. When you have one newspaper, one radio, and people are not allowed to leave the country from aged nine to 57—imagine that,” Osman, 51, tells Newsweek . “So we are maybe the worst copy of North Korea, [like] when you have a genetic mutation...Eritrea is a deformed copy.”

Read more: Who is Isaias Afwerki, Eritrea’s enigmatic dictator?

Today, there are no independent media outlets in Eritrea, a country where around 10 percent of the population has fled abroad as refugees and asylum seekers. The number of newspapers, broadcasters and internet news agencies can be counted on two hands; all of these are state-run. Eritrea is, effectively, a land with no journalists.

“The country gives only one version of the truth, the government version of the truth,” says Osman. “Internet is very difficult to access and, even if it’s accessed, it’s one of the slowest in the world. It takes maybe two hours to see a very short video clip.”

Through Radio Erena, Osman and his colleagues are doing their bit to try and lift the information blackout in Eritrea. Founded in Paris 2009 with backing from RSF by Biniam Simon, an ex-government television presenter who fled Eritrea for France, Radio Erena—which means “Our Eritrea”—has a network of sources inside the repressive state and broadcasts in the middle of the day, when Eritreans workers can return home for lunch, shut the door, pull the blinds down and listen in the relative seclusion of their homes. This week, U.K. non-profit One World Media gave Radio Erena its special award for its role as the country’s sole independent source of information.

Osman leads the station’s Arabic news team, which broadcasts a 30-minute program three times a week. (Radio Erena also broadcasts in Tigrinya, the local language in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.) He is reluctant to reveal how the station’s journalists contact sources in Eritrea—the government views Radio Erena as a public enemy, working on behalf of political opposition—but says that steps are taken to ensure their safety. “Numbers, whereabouts, things like that [we do not disclose], but we have our own confident and reliable sources inside the country. This gives Radio Erena an advantage.”

But Osman says that the station sometimes has to turn away potential sources and stories for the safety of those providing information. “We don’t encourage people to call us. There are some people that want to call us and comment in hotel rooms. We advise them not to do that,” he says.

Having worked within the Eritrean government for more than a decade, Osman knows from the inside how dangerous life can be inside the country. He started working for the Ministry of Information—which oversees state-run media—in the 1990s. Those were heady days in Eritrea: the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) had claimed victory in 1991 in a 30-year war against Ethiopian occupiers, and independence was sealed in a 1993 referendum.

Fathi Osman collects an award on behalf of Radio Erena at the One World Media Awards in London on June 7. Radio Erena, based in Paris, is one of the only independent sources of information for people living in Eritrea. Kinga Kardynal/One World Media

But in 1996, things began to turn sour for Eritrea’s journalists. The government passed a law that required all journalists and publications to be licensed by the administration and for publications to be submitted for government approval before dissemination. Osman, who was working as an editor for a state-run Arabic language newspaper, lost his job in what he says was described by the government as a “downsizing” of the media industry. He then worked in the foreign ministry for several years before being posted as a diplomat, first to Pakistan in 2003, then to Saudi Arabia in 2004.

After eight years in Riyadh, Osman defected in 2012—a year after the government rounded up independent journalists. He is reluctant to explain why, but says he was subjected to “threats” and had disagreements with his colleagues over the government’s increasingly authoritarian policy. “You cannot defend the policies of a government that you don’t believe, that you don’t have faith in,” he says.

Many of the journalists arrested in Eritrea in 2001 remain in prison, and the country is the biggest jailer of reporters in sub-Saharan Africa, with at least 17 journalists in jail as of December 1, 2016, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The climate does not seem to be improving, according to Jennifer Dunham, research director at Freedom House, a pro-democracy U.S.-based NGO that works on press freedom. “[The climate] has led to either extreme self-censorship in the country and a climate of fear for any remaining journalists and the general population,” says Dunham. “Even the [journalists] working for state-run outlets are under threat.”

Osman says that Radio Erena has dedicated its award to the journalists currently imprisoned in Eritrea. And while he is not optimistic about the future of press freedom in Eritrea, he says it is important to keep supplying the Eritrean people with some degree of news.

“There is not a hint or a tip that [the government] may release these people, so it’s dark at the moment, but one believes in change and one should work for this change,” says Osman. “We did not coin the North Korea [comparison] but we are confirming it and telling the truth about the situation in Eritrea and give the facts and give people the chance to judge for themselves.”

Source=http://www.newsweek.com/eritrea-north-korea-press-freedom-isaias-afwerki-623641

In a strongly-worded message to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, two human rights advocacy organizations charged Ms Christine Umutoni, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP-Eritrea country representative, of becoming "cheerleader" and top promoter of the repressive Eritrean regime by violating standard rules of conduct that govern international civil servants. Blamed as her collaborator in blindly working on behalf of the Eritrean regime is Mr. Mansoor A. Mirza, a UNDP policy specialist assigned to Asmara, Eritrea.

In their message dated 7 June 2017, the London-based Human Rights Concern-Eritrea and Christian Solidarity Worldwide, made an urgent request to the UN Secretary General to take appropriate measures against the errant two UNDP officials, who have literally become unrepresentative of the UN mission by devotedly speaking and acting on behalf of the dictatorship in Eritrea. It was not for nothing that Ms Umutoni was mockingly listed as one of the trio-foreign ministers of Eritrea together with presidential advisor Yemane Ghebreab and Mr. Osman Saleh.

The UNDP representative was undermining the conclusions of the UN Inquiry Commission and negating the glaring facts regularly presented by the UN Human Rights Rapporteur on Eritrea. She also reportedly took it as her priority job to meet donors in private and open forums to promote the Asmara regime and attended hearings and conferences to tell that Eritrea has a regime which is a credible partner in development efforts.

Similarly, her UNDP colleague, Mr. Mansoor Mirza, reportedly attended last year's UN Human Rights Council meetings and was spotted to be lobbying on behalf of the Eritrean regime and against the UN COI and the UN Human Rights Rapporteur.  

Signed by Dr. Khataza Gondwe  of the Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Ms Eliabeth Chyrum of the Human Rights Concern-Eritrea, the message to Mr. Antonio Guterres underlined that the actions of  the two UN officials have already created the impression that "the UN speaks with  two mutually negating voices: one which recognises that atrocity crimes are underway and seeks to address this urgently, and another which appears to overlook atrocity crimes and other grave violations, disregards the inalienability of human rights and, despite the human rights upfront initiative, accepts claims of economic advancement blindly in spite of the absence of independent verification mechanisms".

ኣብቲ  ብዕለት 10-06-2017 ብግዱሳት ደቂ ኣንስትዮን፣ ብኣባላት ማሕበር ኣካለ ጽጉማን ኤርትራን ተዳልዩ ድራር ውጉኣት መደበር ከሰላ  ምስዮት  በዓል  ብዓወት ተዛዚሙ። ኣብ ኣዳራሽ  ዛልባው ጋሉስ ቫርተ  ከተማ ፍራንክፈርት ካብ ሰዓት 16.00 ክሳዕ 23.00  ንእዋናዊ  ሃለዋት መደበር ከሰላ  ዘንጸባርቕን፣ ዝገልጽን ተንቀሳቓሲ ስእሊ ተሰንዩ  ከም  ዘምሰየን፣ ዝበዓለን  ዝመጸና ሓበሬታ እነሆ።

ኣብዚ ዕዉት ምስዮት እዚ ብመሰረት ናይቲ ዝተራእየ ሓብሬታን፣  ዕዱማት ብዛዕባ ህሉው ኩነታት መደበር ኣልዒሎም እዚ መደበር እዚ ካብዚ ዘለዎ ኩነታት ባዕላቶም ዝናበርሉ መንገዲን ጥዑይ መነባብሮ ዝነብርሉን  ካብ ህዝቦም ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ካብ ካልኦት ዓበይቲ  ዜጋታትን፣ ዓበይቲ ገበርቲ ሰናያትን፣ገንዘባዊን  ንዋታዊን ብርኩት ሓገዝ ክረኽቡ ከም ዝክኣልን፣ ኣብ ርእሲኡ  ድማ እዚ ማሕበር እዚ ሓደስቲ ማሕበርተኛታት ተመዝጊቦም ንማሕበር  ከዳብርዎን፣  ብሰፊሕ ዘትዮምን  ርእይቶታቶምን ለበዋታቶምን ለጊሶም።

ብድሕሪዚ  ልብኻ  ኣብ ዝሃለወሉ ትሕዝቶኻውን  ኣሎ ከምዝብሃል  ገንዘባዊ ኣስተዋጽኦም ብምልጋስ 1200.00 ( ሓደ ሽሕን ክልተ ሚእቲን ኤውሮ)  ንመደበር ከሰላ ውጉኣት ሓርነት ተዋጺኡ ።

እዚ  ሸውዓተ ሰዓታት ዝወሰደ ዕዉት ናይ ድራር ምሸት በተን ነዚ ዘዳለዋን፣ ዘዳለዉን ኣካላት ዝቐረበ ምዑዝ ድራርን ዝስተን እኹል ትሩፍ ብምንባሩ ዝኣክል ብደስታን  ፈገግታን  ዋዛ  ምስ ቁምነገርን  ዘሰነዮ ምሸት ኮይኑ  ከም ዘምሰየ በዚ ኣጋጣሚ ነበስረኩም ።

ወዲ ሰብ ክፍጠር እንከሎ ብዘይካ ሳሕቲ ብገለ ሕማማት ተዘይተጠቒዑ፡ ምስ ምሉእ ጥዕንኡን ኣእምሮኡን እዩ ዝውለድ። ጎደሎ ዲዩ ምስ ምሉእ ጥዕንኡ ይወለድ ኣብ ቅድሚ ተፈጥሮኣዊ ሕጊ ኩሉ ባህሪያውን ሰብኣውን መሰላቱ ማዕረ እዩ። ይኹን እምበር ነፍሲ ወከፍ ፍጡር ነናይ ገዛእ ርእሱ ደረት ከም ዘለዎ ርዱእ እዩ። ነታ ናቱ መሰል ንናይ ካልኦት መሰል ግሂሱ ዝፍጽም ብሕጊ ዘኽስሶ እዩ። እዚ መስመር ሕጊ ክጠሓስ እንከሎ እቲ ማዕርነት ይትንከፍ’ሞ ናብ ዘየድሊ ምፍሕፋሓት ገጹ የድህብ።

እቲ ሕጊ ጥሒሱ ክጎዓዝ ዝደሊ ነቲ ባህርያዊ መሰል ካለኦት ክጥሕሶ እንከሎ ስኽፍ ኣይብሎን። ብዝኾነ ግን ሕጊ ከይተጣሕሰ ንምትግብሩ ዝከኣል ኩነት፥ ወዲ ሰብ ክብሩ ሓልዩ ንኽብርን መሰልን ካልኦት ክሕሉ እንከሎ እዩ። ነቲ ሓባራዊ ክብርን መሰልን ዘይሕሉ፡ ግን ከኣ ነዓይ ጥራሕ ኣኽብሩኒ በሃላይ እንተኾይኑ ሽግር እዩ ዝፈጥር። ብፍላይ ከኣ እቲ ሕጊ ኣብ ልዕሊኡ ክትግበር እንከሎ ዝመሮ ኣካል ናይ ብሓቂ ንልዕልና ሕጊ ከኽብር ኣይክእልን እዩ።

ሕጊ ኩሉ ግዜ ሰባት ኣብ ነንሓድሕዶም ከይጓድኡን ከይተዓማመጹን ዝሕሉን ዝከላኸልን መንጎኛ ኮይኑ፡ ዝከባበሩሉ ሃዋህው ዝፈጥር እዩ። ሕጊ ልዕሊ ኩሉ ምዃኑ ኣሚንና ብኡ ክንግዛእ እንተዘይበቒዒና፥ እቲ ዘይምርድዳኣትን፥ ቅልውላዋትን፥ ናተይ እንተዘይሰማዕኩም ወይ ዘይተቐበልኩም ዝዓይነቱ ብሓባር ዘየንብር ኣተሓሳስባ እዩ ዝስዕርር። ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት፥ እቲ ሕጊ ካብ ዘይከበረ እቲ ፍታሕ ዘድልዮ ጸገማት ብፍንው ኣገባብ ይኸይድ እሞ ናብ ሃልክን ህልኽን ገጹ ብምኻድ ኣብ ክንዲ እወንታዊ ፍታሕ ኣሉታዊ ሳዕቤን እዩ ዘኸትል።

ዝኾነ ሽግር ፍታሕ ክርከበሉ ሕጊ ክኸበርን ክጸንዕን ኣለዎ። እቲ ሕጊ ክኸብር ኣለዎ ከበሃል እንከሎ ምዕማጽ፥ ኣድልዎን ሸለልትነትን ከምኡ እውን ነሓፍነት ክህሉ ኣይግባእን ማለት’ዩ። ንኹሉ ብማዕረ ዝቕይድ ሕጊ ካብ ኮነ ሕጊ ምኽባር ወይ ምምእዛዝ ማለት እወንታዊ ዝኾነ ክንሰርሕን ክንሓስብን እምበር ከም ቃሕታኻን ድላይካን ናብ ጸቢብ ጥቕማኻ ከምዝውዕል ናይ ምጥምዛዝ፡ ዘይምምእዛዝን ንግርጭት ብስልጡን ኣገባብ ንኽፍታሕ ዘይሕግዝን እዩ። ሓደ ካብቲ ኣፈታትሓ ግርጭት ድማ ነቲ ሕጊ ተማእዚዝካ ምኻድ እዩ። ምኽንያቱ ሕጊ እዩ ንሽግራት ናይ ምፍታሕ መግዲ ዝኸፍት። ሕጊ ምምእዛዝ ከኣ እዩ፡ ቅኑዕ ኣፈታትሓ ግርጭት ዝወልድ። እቲ ሕጊ ዋላ ኣንጻር ድሌትካ እንተኾነ፡ በቲ ነዓኻ ዝምእምኣካ ጥራሕ ክትሓስብ እንከለኻ ሕጊ ይጠሓስ ማለት እዩ።

ነቲ ብዛዕባ ሕጊ ዋላ ሓንቲ ዘይፈልጥ፡ ብሕጊ እንተዘይከድካ ኢልካ ዓቕሉ ክተጽብበሉ ኣድላዪ ኣይመስለንን። እቲ ሕጊ ዝፈልጥን ባዕሉ ኣብ ልዕሊ ባዕሉ ዝሓንጸጾ፡ ጥሕሰት ከዘውትርን ቀይዲ ክበትኽን እንከሎ ግና ዝግበኦ መቕጻዕትን መግናሕትን ክቕበል ናይ ግድን እዩ። ሕጊ ሓደ ሓባራዊ ዕላማ ንምዕዋትን ንምትግባርን እንሰማማዓሉ ግዴታ እዩ። ሕጋዊ ግደታ እዩ። ምኽንያቱ ንኹልና ብማዕረ ዝዳንየናን ወጻዒ መቕጻዕቱ ዝቕበለሉን ብምዃኑ ፖለቲካዊ ግደታ እዩ። ምኽንያቱ ብሕጊ ተቐይድና ንኹልና ዝተኣሳስረናን ዘርብሓናን ኣብ ምስራሕ ንዝመስረትናዮ ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፊ ቅኑዕነቱ ዘረጋግጽ ስለዝኾነ። ነዚ ፖለቲካዊ መስርሕ’ዚ ከኣ ካብዚ ሕጋዊ ግደታ ነቒልና፡ ውሳነታት ካብ ክመርሑና ኢልና ዝመረጽናዮም ኣካላት ተቐቢልና ኣብ ግብሪ ክነውዕል ናይ ግድን እዩ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ንፍነውነትን ንናይ ገዛእ ርእስና ፍሉይ ረብሓን ጸቢብ ኣተሓሳስባን ክንብል፡ ነታ መራር ሓቂ ካብ ምቕባል ምድሕርሓር ቀይዲ በተኽነት እዩ ዘስዕብ።

ምምሕዳራዊ ውሳኔታት ካብቲ ሓፈሻዊ ዝተሓንጸጸ ሕጊ ከይወጸ ብናቱ መሳርሒታትን ቀየድቲ ዝኾኑ ነኣሽቱ ሕግታትን በቲ መሪሕነት ክሕንጸጽ ናይ ግድን እዩ። ነዚ ከኣ ኢና ካብቲ ሓፈሻዊ ሕጊ ነቒልና ነቲ ሓላፍነት ዝሃብናዮ መሪሕነት ክንምእዘዞ ናይ ግድን ዝኸውን። ጌጋ እንተልዩ ከኣ ነቲ መሪሕነት ኣብ ክንዲ ብስምዒት “ሆ” ዘበሃህሉኻ ጃንዳታት ምፍጣር፥ በቲ ግቡእ መስኖ ኣቢልካ ዕቃበኻ ምስማዕ ዝንፈግ መሰል ኣይኮነን። ካብኡ ወጻኢ ምኻድ ግና ነቲ ብሓባር ዝተለምካዮ ድሲፕሊን ይግህሶ እሞ ቃሕ ከከምዝበለና ክንውስንን ኣንጻር መሪሕነት ክንከይድን ንህንጠ። እዚ ጥራሕ ዘይኮነ እቲ ደረት ስልጣን ሕውስውስ ነብሎ እሞ ነቲ ሓባራዊ ራኢና ዝጻባእን እቲ መሪሕነት ንሕግታትን ፖሊሲታትን ንሓባራዊ ረብሓታትና ዘገልግል ወይ ንኹልና እንተዘይኮነ ከኣ ንዝበዝሐ ዘዕግብ ክይሕንጽጽን ክይውስንን ምዕንቃጽ የኸትል። ክዉንን ዘይክዉንን ደዋዊስካ፡ ደርሆዶ እንቋቁሖ ይቕድም ዝዓይነቱ ተግባራትን ምትህልላኽን ምኽታል ንመስርሕ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ቃልሲ ጐዳኢ ይኸውን። ስለዚ ገደብ ኣልቦ ናጽነት ዝህብ መሰል ፈጺሙ ስለዘየለ ነቲ ሕጊ ንምምእዛዝ ካሳብ ንስምዒትካ ኣሕሊፍካ ምሃብ ማለት ምዃኑ ክንርዳእ ኣሎና።

ኣብ ሕጊ ሰፊሩ ካብ ዝርከብ ኣገደስቲ ነጥብታት፡ በቲ ኣብ ምሕንጻጹ ብኣካል ተሳቲፍካ ይኹን ብውክልና ዝተሰማማዕካሉ መሰረት ነቲ ዝመረጽካዮ መሪሕነትን ዘጽደቕካዮ ሕግን ክትምእዘዝ ኣሎካ ዝብል ቀንዲ’ዩ። ዝተመርጸ መሪሕነት ነቲ ዝተሓንጸጸ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮን ቅዋምን ኣብ ግብሪ ንምትርጓም ብዘውጽኦ ኣገባብ ኣመሓድራ ክተግብሮ ሓላፍነቱ እዩ። ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት፡ ውክልና ሂብካዮ ክንስኻ ብመሪሕነት ንዝተዋህበካ ትእዛዝ እንተ ብዕግበት ወይ ብጥርናፈ ተቐቢልካ ካብ ምፍጻም ካልእ ምርጫ የለን።

ንኣብነት ብመሰረት ቅዋም ጉባኤ መዓስ፡ ከመይን ኣበይን ይካየድ ዝውስን መሪሕነት እዩ ዝብል ሕጊ እንድሕሪ ጸዲቑ፥ እቲ ኣገባብ ኣወዳድባኡ ንዝምልከት እቲ መሪሕነት ብዝውስኖ፥ ኣሰናዳኢት ሽማግለ ኣቚሙ መምርሒ ሂቡ ንስራሓታ እናተኸታተለ የተግብር። ነዚ ኣሰራርሓ ምጽባእ ከምቲ “ምሳር ኣብ ዘይለዓቱ” ዝበሃል ናብ ኣድማዕነት ዘይኮነስ ናብ ዝርጋን ከም ዝወስድ ነስተብል።