Rights body asks gov't to account for detained journalists

A media-rights watchdog has asked the Eritrean government to account for 15 journalists the organisation said have been held - some in secret prisons - since authorities banned the private media and independent reporting more than four years ago. "Holding these journalists incommunicado without due process is a gross violation of human rights," said Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a statement on Friday. "We have not forgotten those brave journalists who continue to languish in Eritrea's secret jails and our hearts go out to their families at this difficult time," she added. The CPJ said the journalists had virtually disappeared since the 18 September 2001 crackdown on the press and the closure of privately owned newspapers. Eritrean officials had refused to provide information on their health, whereabouts, or legal status, CPJ said. The watchdog quoted "some reports" that the journalists had been tortured. "The government's monopoly of news, and the families' fear of intimidation, make it extremely difficult to gather information about the detainees," it said. At least 10 journalists were arrested during the crackdown and accused of various infractions, including avoiding the military draft, threatening national security and failing to observe licensing requirements, CPJ said. In the past Eritrean authorities have denied allegations that they detained dissidents. Yemane Gebremeskel, spokesman and director of the Eritrean president's office, told IRIN on 6 May: "We don't have political dissidents. No one is jailed because he has a different opinion." In another interview in April 2004, Yemane said: "The problem with the existing papers was that they were few, most of the journalists were not experienced. They could have been easily manipulated, easily infiltrated, especially if there is money involved. "If you tell me you are going to be a journalist, there are standards, there are ethics. In the previous press law, that was not there, so anybody who wanted to be a journalist could be a journalist. But then you also pay the price, because sometimes things get distorted," he added. The New York-based CPJ said its research had shown that the 2001 crackdown on the press was motivated by political anxiety ahead of elections, which were later cancelled. "Eritrea is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa which does not allow private media, depriving all its citizens of their basic right to free expression. Its record on press freedom is an outrage," said Cooper. CPJ said that three journalists arrested before the 2001 clampdown remain deprived of their liberty, with two doing extended military service. Two journalists arrested in 2002 also remain in secret jails. Those detained include Fesshaye "Joshua" Yohannes, whom CPJ honoured with an International Press Freedom Award in 2002, and Dawit Isaac, who has both Eritrean and Swedish citizenship. Sweden's repeated requests for his release have proved fruitless so far, and Swedish officials have not been allowed to visit him, according to CPJ.