Apart from small leaflets pasted at the bus stations at Asmara, candidates are prohibited from participating in any public debate in the country (Connell, 2009; personal communication, January 2007). September 11, 2001 was a black day in the history of the press in Eritrea, as several independent newspapers were banned, arresting the owners and the editors of these newspapers, as they gave wide coverage to the ongoing political activity in the country. As many as thirteen local journalists who were the owners and editors of the private newspapers and two other foreign journalists were imprisoned in the year 2001.
The journalists invited the wrath of the ruling party by publishing the open letter that Issais colleagues ('G-15') shot to the government demanding the implementation of the constitution and revival of the democratic process in the country. Journalists have been held in secret underground cells in the northeastern desert region, known for its scorching heat. Saleh Al Jezaeeri, a reporter from Arab Radio, was also arrested that year.
As a result, we find no mention of military excesses in the current affairs of the Eritrean people. Most of the senior officials and policy makers who enjoy high positions in the government today are veteran soldiers based on the revolutionary ideology of the front.
Lack of Religious Freedom
Much] of the writing on Eritrea has actually been at the level of polemic or a product of.
Ban on Civil Societies
Suppression of Academic Freedom and Compulsory Military Service
Under the guise of national development, the government has imposed several social, economic and military sanctions in the country, especially against the youth. Among them, the 'compulsory military service', popularly known as the 'National Service Programme', stood out. Warsai Yekalo.” Under this program, Eritreans who complete high school and those between the ages of 18 and 45 are required by law to attend 18 months of military training at SAWA, a military base in northern Eritrea.
Young people are deployed in the armed forces or in the state-run public works in the arenas of defence, infrastructure construction, agriculture, education and capacity building. Consequently, there is no higher secondary education in the entire country except that at SAWA, and no academic and professional progress is possible without going through this 'SAWA' training. Only the pass outs of SAWA are allowed to take courses at Eritrea Institute of Technology (EIT).
By the year 2000, young people were happy to do their civil service and could leave in search of greener pastures, including careers abroad. Unless they are free civil servants, young people are not allowed to earn a living outside the government (in the private sector) and are only paid 400 Nakfa (15 Nakfa = 1 USD) per month while they are in civil service and are not allowed to leave the country. Strict controls are in place throughout the country, banning the free movement of people who fear they will flee across borders, and written documents must be presented at hundreds of military checkpoints in the country.
Foreigners were not allowed to travel beyond the capital Asmara for security reasons (field notes, December 2004). The country, which is largely dependent on food aid and remittances from the Eritrean diaspora, came under intense international scrutiny after most donor countries, including UN organizations, stopped food aid and blacklisted Eritrea as a country of particular concern. due to poor human rights records (Human Rights Watch, 2012). Industrial production almost came to a halt as infrastructure was destroyed in the war and there was a severe food shortage in the country, including milk and basic medicines.
In present-day Eritrea, all men between the ages of 18 and 45 and all women between the ages of 18 and 27 are required to perform national service for a wage equal to .
Research Methodology
Long queues for basic foodstuffs, such as bread and milk, snake around many city blocks of Asmara from the early hours. Using the purposive sampling technique, the researcher collected data in the period 2003-2007 through personal interviews. Although the researcher contacted several informants, forty key informants – journalists, students, writers, playwrights, government officials, NGO and private sector employees, housewives – actively participated as key informants.
It was neither possible nor desirable to limit this study to journalists alone, as they did not voluntarily participate in it due to the strict surveillance of them. This would not be complete without tackling human rights violations in general to present the issues regarding the safety of journalists in this country.
Data Presentation
Young people are not happy with the very mention of the word 'SAWA', the military camp for obvious reasons. The extreme temperature, humidity and the harsh punishments in the military threaten the young people. Goitom, aged 20, who was on a short holiday, said: “Our day starts at five in the morning with several hours of running, chasing and exercises.
Students used to approach the University of Asmara and several other professional colleges in the capital for higher education. Although in principle it said that only boys over 18 served in the army, in practice it was young boys and girls in their early teens. His wife was anxious to see him at least once in a month, and she was worried about his stay in the extreme desert climate, without a personal/family attention.
In the absence of her husband who died in the previous war, she lived with her 18-year-old son Abraham. He always had to stay alert while going home from his shop in the evenings. We are ready to see them off rather than die at the hands of our brutal army,” she added.
Although the Eritrean assembly decided to hold elections in 2001 and agreed to demobilize the long-established army, the hardliners were not in favour. The government considered mobilizing students in the name of the summer work program to use their services for road construction and other infrastructure activities, with the aim of diverting their attention from the country's ongoing political strife. A female informant (22), who studied engineering, added: “Those who did not follow the rules are always subject to severe punishment.”
Young boys are made to lie bare-skinned (without a shirt) on fine, sharp stones in the hot sun for hours for disobedience. With few exceptions, faculty members may not detect the horrific events on campus due to language restrictions and strong surveillance mechanisms. Jehovah witnesses have no business opportunities, no driver's licenses. They are denied the national identity card to move within Eritrea as they did not participate in referendum, national service.
Discussion
These are parallel, unofficial legal systems, and the sudden disappearance of a particular political figure can be perceived as suppression of any political dissent. When the person who works in the Ministry of Information was asked to comment on arbitrary arrests by the journalist, he said: "After all, it is his government and he is our boss. Eritreans in particular feel insecure to respond even to simple inquiries when other Eritreans are nearby as there is a traditional practice of spying on each other dating back to Ethiopian times and the fear continues even today.
The government deliberately suppressed independent agencies such as the national parliament, the media, NGOs, civil societies, churches and other places of worship by unleashing terror through brutal punishments, assassinations, compulsory military service and the deliberate suppression of information. According to the 2015 UNHRC report, 9% of the 4.5 million population have fled the country to neighboring Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and European countries as refugees risking their lives in the wild sub-Saharan deserts. Safety of journalists as a phenomenon does not exist in Eritrea as they have been hunted continuously since the border conflict of 1998-2000.
Eritrean journalists work under constant surveillance and are forced to reflect the highly censored information the government allows, legitimizing its nation-building actions. Journalists cannot risk their lives digging up information as the whole system is highly hierarchical and information is passed from top to bottom. It is neither possible nor desirable to conduct surveys, interviews and information gathering in any form because society is afraid of spying on each other.
The existing information about Eritrea, including its demographics, are distorted and fabricated figures from the government. President Isias received ideological training and the intricacies of warfare in China, and the EPLF never tolerated disobedience (Connell, 2009). After gaining independence, the former warlords assumed offices at the higher levels and are in power till date.
Although the warring front promised a free and independent Eritrea, Eritrean dreams were shattered within a few years of independence as the totalitarian regime suppressed debate, discussion and aspirations of the people in every aspect.
Conclusion
Countries at the Crossroads: Eritrea, Freedom House. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/4ecba64ec.html. Nine journalists arrested; two others flee as the crackdown continues. Retrieved from https://cpj.org/2001/09/nine-journalists-arrested-two-others-flee-as-crack.p. Reid (Ed.), Eritrea's foreign relationship: understanding its regional role. 2004). Rapid exit: BBC expelled from Eritrea.
Retrieved from http://mg.co.za/article in-eritrea-youth-frustrated-by-long-service Mohammad, A. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/report service-life/state-repression - and-indefinite-conscription-eritrea/. Mai-Weni: A Highland Village in Eritrea: A Study of People, Livelihoods and Land Tenure in Times of Turbulence.
