Eritrean Child Prisoners Join Hunger Strike in Aswan Prison

Yesterday, a large group of Eritrean prisoners in an Aswan prison concluded a three-day hunger strike, in desperation protesting their continued incarceration without charge or trial.  They were joined by some of the young children incarcerated with their mothers in the prison.  The Government of Egypt has apparently accepted that they are victims of human trafficking, brought into Egypt against their will, yet they are not being released after many months.  The prisoners report poor conditions in the prison, and a lack of food and access to medicine and treatment.  ...

Freedom Friday makes over 10,000 Independence Day Calls and distributes flyers in Asmara

(Asmara 16- 05-2013) Freedom Friday Activists in Asmara have started their Independence Day 2013 Campaigned themed, From Here to Dignity, by distributing hundreds of high definition glossy posters depicting the Eritrean Tragedy and calling on all Eritreans to play their role in putting a stop to these. The flyers with the word ‘Enough!’ written in bold across the middle were distributed in the centre of Asmara as well as some of the outskirt regions.

The Disappearance of Sudan

In this context, the renewal of Sudanese citizenship is vital if further rupture between the Sudanese peoples and, ultimately, the further physical disintegration of the state, are to be avoided.

However, and as the report contends, this renewal can only be achieved by ending the violence that is currently targeted overwhelmingly at marginalised communities; transforming practice, policy and law around the construction of a genuinely non-discriminatory and fully participatory Sudanese citizenship; and committing to the creation of an all-Sudan political and constitutional process that allows grievances and programmes for change from the margins to be heard and heeded.

Escape From An Eritrean Prison

Eritrea's human rights record has long faced international criticism. Located in the Horn of Africa, the country is home to five million people, but so closed to the outside world that individual stories tend to come almost exclusively from those who have fled.

Kidane Isaac was just 18 when he says Eritrean authorities arrested him for an unspecified crime. It's possible he was suspected of planning to desert military service. Thousands of Eritreans flee the country every month, many of them teenagers, to escape the

Eritrean Charity to Extend Assistance to Victims of Trafficking

(London 17th May 2013) Release Eritrea is to extend its support to victims of trafficking through two projects in Egypt and Israel respectively. The projects which have been funded for three years starting this month will build on the work that was carried out over the last two years enabling local staff and volunteers to provide relevant services as identified by those already engaged in the field.

Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change (EYSC) Launches New Television Program: EYSC TV

EYSC (15-05-2013): The Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change - Global Group - announced today the launch of its new television program, EYSC TV.

The television program, which will air twice a month beginning on Wednesday May 22nd at 7:33 PM Berlin time, covers over half a million households in the Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Darmstadt areas in Germany and will be accessible world-wide at the same time via YouTube or via the distribution links of the TV studio. EYSC ensures interested viewers that it will publish the programme simultaneously to the TV broadcast on EYSC Facebook and in YouTube.

DEMONSTRATION FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE IN ERITREA

Date: 24 May 2013- Time: 2:00PM – 6:00PM -Venue: in Front of 10 Downing Street

The Coordinating Committee representing the different exiled opposition political and civil society organizations in London calls on all Eritreans and the friends of Eritrea to participate in the Pro-democracy Peaceful Demonstration.

ENDF Mourns Former Colleague and Compatriot, Amare Gebremariam

It is with deep sadness that the Coordination Committee of the Eritrean National Democratic Forces (ENDF) learned the passing away on 12 May 2013 of compatriot Amare Gebremariam at the age of 70.

The late Amare Gebremariam was one of the founding members of ENDF which he served also for one year as its active vice-chairman actively supporting the ENDF chairman, Diplomat Humad Kullu.

With Robocalls, Eritrean Exiles Organize Passive Resistance

From his perch in California, Sium tries to stay politically connected to his country. He marches when there's a local demonstration, contributes to refugee causes and posts on Facebook.

But there's always one thing missing. The people inside Eritrea don't dare to "like" his Facebook posts. And they never march in the streets themselves. For Eritrean activists living abroad, this silence can be frustrating.

So Sium had an idea: If we can't ask them to come out, what if we ask them to stay home?

African Heads of States Challenged About Human Trafficking in the Sinai

Sharing her experience and expertise in the struggle against human trafficking in the region was Ms Meron Estifanos, Eritrean human rights activist and journalist with the diaspora based Radio Erena. In a moving presentation focusing on the narrative of a young victim of trafficking who died leaving her toddler son, in the hands of her abductors; Meron challenged every head of state present to respond to the plight of countless victims and address this shameful issue taking place in the region.

In his own presentation President Omer Hassan al-Bashir admitted that the concern is indeed a grave one that requires urgent attention. For his part president Paul Kagame also made a personal commitment to highlighting this concern at the UN Security Council, over the coming few months.

Israeli Supreme Court: "exceptional humanitarian reason" for release under the Anti-Infiltration Law

We are happy to report that the Supreme Court accepted our appeal against a verdict issued in a lower instance court that rejected the Hotline for Migrant Workers' request to release an asylum seeker who survived the torture camps in Sinai from the Saharonim internment camp. The outrageous lower instance ruling by Judge Eliyahu Bitan stated that severe torture cannot be considered as an "exceptional humanitarian reason" for release under the Anti-Infiltration Law. All asylum seekers who have entered Israel since June 2012 have been jailed under this draconian law according to which asylum seekers can be released only in exceptional circumstances  including "exceptional humanitarian" cases. ...