Gual Haile

ካብቲ ኣዴታት ኤርትራ: ደሃይ ደቐን ተሓሪሙወን ዘሕልፍኦ ዘለዋ ስቕያት ዝኸፍእ የለን። ሻቕሎትን ሰንፈላልን ኣዴታት ንኸብቕዕ ሓቢርና ኽንጽውዕ ግዴታና እዩ። #RevealTheirNames #Eritrea

🚨Dawit Isaak, #Eritrean author, playwright, journalist and publisher is now remembered only as a #Swedish-#Eritrean prisoner who has been detained for more than a third of his life. Here’s what #PFDJ has said about him since it disappeared him 22 years ago plus a brief bio & his accomplishments. ~~~~~ 2009: “We will not have any trial and we will not release him. We know how to handle him and others like him.” ~ President Isaias Afwerki (1) 2016: He will “eventually receive his sentence when the country’s government sees fit.” - Foreign Minister Osman Saleh (2) 2018: We have dealt with him “in our own way” - Presidential Advisor Yemane Gebreab (3) ~~~~ Dawit Isaac was born on the 27th of October in 1964. One of 6 children, his parents owned an Italian deli. He started writing as early as elementary school but it was interrupted when he was exiled to #Sweden during #Eritrea’s armed struggle. He returned to Eritrea in 1992 where he pursuing his passion for writing and, after the government issued the Press Proclamation in 1997, he started contributing to the first private paper, Setit, later on becoming its co-publisher. Late September 2001 was the journalists’ turn after the government had arrested the dissident politicians (G-15) who used to be interviewed by the private press. Two armed men knocked on his door on September 23, 2001 and uttered the last words citizens hear before they lose their freedom sometimes forever: “ትድለ ኣለኻ" (you are needed). Since these abductions are common and they never follow any due process (court hearing or even a publicly known verdict/sentencing) and since are no family visitation rights for the abducted, #Eritreans refer to them as “ወሲዶሞ" (he, she, they are “taken”) befitting the act of a hostage-taker. His paper, and all private papers, would be shut down, in a hurried way, as was later narrated by the Eri-TV news reader (Solomon Aberra) who announced their closure (4) In 2005, he was taken from prison to a hospital for medical treatment. Witnesses mistakenly told media advocates and his family in Sweden that he was freed. To spite them, the vindictive government moved him to an even harsher prison. Nothing has been heard from him since. ~~~~~ In addition to his books (in Tigrinya), his accomplishments include (5) 💠Reporters without Borders’ Freedom of the Press Prize 💠The Anna Politkovskaya Award 💠The Tucholsky Prize by Swedish PEN 💠The Norwegian Authors Union Freedom of Expression Prize 💠Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Happy Birthday Dawit Isaak! You are not forgotten. And we are sorry we have not been able to do anything meaningful to end your (and your family’s) suffering! Sources (and commentary) below:

A historic crime is unfolding in Gaza & the EU is in it up to its neck. MEPs sit & watch the slaughter & cannot even condemn it, calling it a "humanitarian crisis," as if it was caused by the weather. Infamy. EU will never live down the shame of today's resolution. #LongLiveGaza