A Swedish journalist who was released after four years from an Eritrean prison for demanding press freedom in the east African country last month has been imprisoned again. Dawit Isaak, who holds dual Swedish and Eritrean citizenships, was unexpectedly released on November 19, but was sent back to prison two days later for unknown reasons, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement Monday. Isaak is one of 15 Eritrean journalists who have been jailed incommunicado and without charge or forced into extended military service following a September 2001 clampdown that shut down the country's private press.
Sources told CPJ that that Isaak has been returned to jail. During his brief release, he was able to phone his wife in Sweden as well as Leif �brink, a close friend who heads a campaign in Sweden for his release. Obrink had credited diplomatic efforts by Swedish Ambassador Bengt Sparre, who had spent several months pressuring Eritrean authorities to release Isaak.
"We are appalled at the Eritrean government's decision to return Dawit Isaak to jail," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "This only serves to underline the cynical disregard for human rights in Eritrea, Africa's worst jailer of journalists." In Asmara, Information Minister Ali Abdu, in brief remarks to journalists, confirmed Isaak had been sent back to prison. He added: "It is none of their (the CPJ's) business."
Shortly after Isaak was released Abdu had told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the release was just a temporary leave for medical tests. He had indicated clearly that Isaak would have to return to prison within a few days. The minister had said that Isaak was an Eritrean citizen at the time of his arrest in September 2001. "At the time (of his arrest), he had obligations and rights as an Eritrean, he was living in Eritrea. We have legal grounds," he said.
The Swedish-Eritrean journalist did not seem aware that his release was only temporary. From the Asmara prison, he went to the house of his sister, where he contacted family and friends in Sweden. Together, they planned for his return to Sweden. Isaak, however, was sent back to jail on November 21 for reasons that were not explained, �brink told CPJ. A second source confirmed Isaak's return to jail.
Isaak came to Sweden in 1987 as a refugee from Eritrea's bloody war for independence war. He lived in Lerum, worked as a cleaner and became a Swedish citizen in 1992. When Eritrea gained independence in 1993, Isaak returned to his native country. He got married and had children. Eventually he became a part-owner of the country's first independent newspaper, Setit, where he came to work as a reporter.
But the country's independence proved fragile: in 1998, the conflict with Ethiopia unexpectedly flared up again, leading to a devastating border war. Isaak returned to Sweden, preparing to bring his family to safety. His wife and three children followed in April 2000. They settled down in Gothenburg. A year later Isaak again travelled to Eritrea.
That spring, Asmara was boiling with political activity. The border war had caused an intense political debate. A group of 15 cabinet members demanded, among other things, democratic reforms and a thorough, objective evalutation of the events leading to the war. In May that year, when the demands of the dissidents had not gained a hearing, they put their critique on the internet in an open letter to the PFDJ.
The letter was published by the free press, along with analyses, comments and interviews with several of the 15 politicians. Then, while the international community turned its gaze toward the ruins of World Trade Centre, the government struck back against the reformists. Within a few days, 11 of the politicians were arrested, as were ten of the leading journalists from the free press including Dawit Isaak.
He was first held at a police station in Asmara before being transferred in March 2002 to the Halibet hospital where he was treated for the effects of abuse suffered in his cell. Since his arrest the Swedish authorities have on several occasions tried to visit him, but the Asmara government always refused to allow it.
Since the Horn of Africa country gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991, President Isaias Afwerki has shelved the country's constitution, delayed presidential elections, closed down independent media and jailed hundreds of journalists, opponents and members of Eritrean civil society.
Ravaged by war with neighbouring Ethiopia, the country's economy is in a shambles and poverty is an every day reality. Eritrea is also a country where attempts to report on the state of the country, and the way it is run by the government, often lead to harassment and incarceration. Eritrea is a country without any privately owned media outlets, and the government puts a tight leash on the flow of information. The 1996 press law forbids private ownership of broadcast media, and requires that all newspapers and reporters are licensed, according to the International Press Institute (IPI).
Many journalists are detained at undisclosed locations. Being held incommunicado, their condition is unknown – even though Eritrean law stipulates that an individual cannot be detained without charges for more than 30 days. Few of the detainees have appeared before a judge or been provided with legal counsel, and officials have refused to supply any information regarding their health, whereabouts or legal status. Foreign correspondents cannot work freely and also face the threat of government-sponsored harassment. Government agents closely monitor correspondents for the foreign news media.
