Today marks 23 years since the Eritrean government launched a brutal crackdown on dissent, arresting members of the G-15 reformist group and shuttering all independent media outlets. In September 2001, the Eritrean regime silenced advocates of democratic reforms, the free press, and voices of conscience, a silence that continues to reverberate through the country today.
The G-15, a group of senior government officials and prominent members of the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), dared to challenge the growing authoritarianism of President Isaias Afwerki. In an open letter, they called for the implementation of the ratified constitution, democratic reforms, and rule of law. In response, the government arrested 11 of these individuals, subjecting them to incommunicado detention. To this day, they remain imprisoned without charge or trial, in violation of both Eritrean and international law. Their families and the world have been kept in the dark about their fate and whereabouts.
Simultaneously, the government moved to silence the independent media, arresting journalists who reported on the G-15’s call for reforms. Newspapers and media outlets were forcibly closed, marking the death of press freedom in Eritrea. Since then, Eritrea has consistently ranked among the world’s worst violators of press freedom, with journalists either imprisoned indefinitely, forced into exile, or disappeared without a trace.
In the years since the crackdown, countless Eritreans have been subjected to similar fates, detained arbitrarily, denied legal due process, and held in inhumane conditions. Families continue to endure the agony of not knowing the whereabouts or health status of their loved ones, while the country’s political and civic space remains firmly closed.
23 years later, the silence must end. The Eritrean government’s continued repression has stifled not just individual voices, but the future of an entire nation. On this solemn anniversary, we stand in solidarity with the G-15, the imprisoned journalists, the over 10,000 prisoners of conscience, and all Eritreans yearning for justice, freedom, and a democratic society.
Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE)
