Tesfaldet A. Meharenna owner of Asmarino .com received an award in recognition of his outstanding achievement and excellent services at the recent Eritrean Global Solidarity symposium in Washington D.C. When the award was presented by a distinguished professor and one of Africa’s few constitutional scholars, Dr Bereket Habteselassie, there was jubilation and ululation from the audience and everyone celebrated with tears, screams of joy and finally they rocked the house with “Wesede Ayay Wesed, Wesede Tes Beal Sere” The aura of jubilation left Tes speechless, he tried to utter some words, he looked around, up and down and no words; he was totally over whelmed with joy. Other award recipients include Elsa Churum, champion Eritrean human rights activist and Dr Tricia Heppner, a long time friend of Eritrea and advocate of the prisoners of conscience.
Asmairno.com has been one of the major sources of first hand information about Eritrea for the last decade. The website is ardent supporter of Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Press. It provides open platforms for all Eritreans including supporters as well as opposition of the present government of Eritrea.
Kelit Alazar
New York
The conditions in Wi’a concentration/training camp in the past 7- 9 months have worsened more than any other time. Food rations were reduced further to 3 pieces of sorghum bread per person per day without any supplements such as sauce except limited ration of tea. The shortage of food is compounded by the closure of the camp for family visits which used to facilitate the supply of food from families and relatives to the prisoners/trainees. The shortage of food combined with the very poor sanitation conditions, harsh environmental conditions, fatigue resulting from training exercises and almost non-existent health facilities and health care services in the camp has lead to sustained outbreaks of meningitis, typhoid and scabies resulting in alarming mass deaths. 
The Association of Eritrean Journalists in Exile (AEJE) would like show its gratitude to the Swedish PEN for presenting the Tucholsky Award to our compatriot, Mr. Dawit Isaak who has been in Eritrean jail since September 23, 2001. This award is another remarkable addition to the serious of tireless efforts and achievements of Swedish human right groups and NGOs to take up the cause of freedom of expression in Eritrea in general and the case of Dawit Isaak in particular. It can be recalled that last month, Dawit Isaak had been honoured to be a finalist for European Union’s Sakharov Prize. 
