Thread by @onedayseyoum

The Eritrean regime has done everything in their power to hide their crimes against the people. On the 18th anniversary of the dictatorship, the 18 day campaign #18StolenYears chronicles each of these stolen years, one year for each day.

Welcome to 2004 in #Eritrea!

[THREAD]

"In 2004, [there were] more than 18 externally based factions opposed the PFDJ...Most seek the ouster of the Isaias Afwerki regime by extralegal means and maintain military bases or offices in neighboring Ethiopia or Sudan." (1/6)

"In 2004, 13 such groups were affiliated with the Ethiopia-based Eritrean National Alliance (ENA), which is committed to the armed overthrow of the Isaias government. Its adherents are drawn mainly from among former ELF fighters and from refugees in Sudan and Ethiopia." (2/6)

"Eritrea expelled the last resident foreign reporter, Jonah Fisher (BBC, Reuters), in September 2004 after he reported on human rights issues." (3/6)

"Questioned by a local stringer about the country's continued incarceration of indigenous reporters and editors, Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed characterized the jailed journalists as "agents of the enemy" who "were not journalists, either professionally or ethically." (4/6)

"On October 19, 2004, the Ministry of Information announced new controls on Internet cafes and on public libraries, ostensibly to limit access to pornography. Many view this as an effort to block links to the proliferating independent Web sites based outside Eritrea." (5/6)

"Amnesty International reported in May 2004 that torture of prisoners is "widespread and systematic" and that it is the "standard form" of military interrogation and punishment." (6/6)

Source: refworld.org/docid/47386907…

"Helen Berhane, aged 30, a well - known gospel singer of the Rema Church...was arrested in Asmara." (1/1)

"She is held in a metal shipping container in Mai Serwa army camp. She refuses to abandon her faith and gospel singing, despite promises of release if she does so." (2/2)

"Dr Kiflu Gebremeskel has been in prison in Eritrea since May 2004. Before his arrest he was chair of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance and a leader in a network of house churches that was banned by the government." (1/2)

"Dr Kiflu and his fellow leaders have never been tried, and have been held incommunicado since their arrest." (2/2)

Source: churchinchains.ie/prisoner-profi…

"Futsum Gebrenegus is an Eritrean Orthodox priest and psychiatrist who was arrested in November 2004 because of his involvement in the Medhane Alem Bible study group, a renewal movement within the Eritrean Orthodox Church." (1/2)

"He has remained in prison, incommunicado, ever since. Dr Gebrenegus was Eritrea’s only psychiatrist and... he was the most senior doctor at St Mary Psychiatric Hospital in Asmara. (2/2)

Source: churchinchains.ie/prisoner-profi…

"On 25 July, police arrested scores of people at a church wedding ceremony in Senafe town, 136 kmsoutheast of Asmara, including the bride’s 80-year-old father, Woldegabriel Gebremichael." (1/3)

"28 members of the Kale Hiwot and Mullu Wongel churches were detained in Senafe police station for some days, until they signed a document agreeing not to attend any evangelical wedding in future." (2/3)

"The two wedding organisers - Teame Kibrom, aged in his 80s, and an evangelist named Michael - were detained longer." (3/3)

Source: amnesty.org/download/Docum…

"Eritrea is a one-party state. No political party other than the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) is allowed to exist. No group larger than seven is allowed to assemble without government approval." (1/3)

"During a massive roundup in November 2004, security forces shot into hundreds of detainees being held in an overcrowded military prison camp... killing as many as twenty and injuring dozens more, after some detainees managed to collapse part of the compound wall." (2/3)

"At the end of 2004, there were reliable reports that over 300 members of unrecognized churches were incarcerated. Many of those arrested were beaten or otherwise tortured during their arrest or while in captivity." (3/3)

Source: hrw.org/world-report/2…