Eritrea
Six years of oppressionPosted Oct 20 2007
On Sept. 18 the African nation of Eritrea marked six years of government sponsored media oppression. On that day in 2001, according to Reporters Without Borders, the Eritrean government ordered all privately owned media organizations to be closed and executives and editors were imprisoned. Since then hundreds of people and journalists who were deemed as opponents to the government have been held in an unknown location in conditions that escapees describe as atrocious.
Journalists who become suspect are either forced to flee the country or face arrest. Families of those who have fled are exposed to government retaliation that includes arrest and imprisonment.
Paulos Kidane of Amharic-language service of state-owned Eri-TV and radio Dimtsi Hafash (Voice of the Broad Masses) spoke to Reporters Without Borders about his experience with the government last year: “We were beaten and tortured in prison for refusing to give the passwords to our email accounts. In the end we cracked because the pain was too much.”
Kidan was killed in June 2007 while attempting to flee to Sudan.