Eritrea: Africa's Human Rights Black Hole

[There is an excellent article that just came out in the prestigious Huffingtonpost.com that succinctly summarizes the humanitarian plight of Eritrea - probably because the writer herself is Founder & President, Leadership Council for Human Rights. We have provided a link to the FULL REPORT at Huffinftonpost.com because we want our readers to comment in her blog too – that is, besides asmarino’s.]

Eritrea, one of the youngest countries on earth, is quickly emerging as one of the largest violators of human rights. Born in 1993 out of a brutal and hard-fought 30-year war with Ethiopia, Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki wasted little time in rewarding his beleaguered nation of five million people with a regime based on violence and oppression.

Following a border-war flare-up with Ethiopia in 1998 that lasted two years, President Isaya Afewerki abruptly initiated swift and immediate actions to consolidate his power and eliminate any independent civil society and rule of law. Top government officials were immediately thrown in jail -- where they remain today, if any are still alive. All independent media organizations were shut down with the immediate arrests of all journalists and media members. This policy continues today, effectively eliminating all freedom of speech.

The soldiers who fought long and hard for most of their lives under President Afewerki have all been compensated with indefinite national service until the age of 55. Secondary-level students spend the last year of school in war camps preparing for a lifetime of military conscription and government-assigned labor. Paid meager salaries that do not provide for basic necessities, desertion is common despite that fact that it is punishable by death and imprisonment. The families of deserters suffer as they lose their land to the government and face heavy fines and imprisonment.

There are no elected officials or semblance of political representation of any kind. Anyone suspected of dissent or any form of government opposition is promptly arrested. This results in an atmosphere of paranoia in which no citizen is safe from random arrests at any point in time. If caught without proper papers from the government approving of their location and actions, all citizens are subject to arrest. Freedom of movement is prohibited within Eritrea.

For a Full Report: Eritrea: Africa's Human Rights Black Hole