Protests in Eritrea
There has been a tradition of a certain political debate inside PFDJ and
after the war against Ethiopia a new critical political debate began in the
autumn of 2000. The criticism was evident in interviews and articles by "dissidents"
from the central committee of PFDJ and others published in the private press. In
October 2000 Eritrean professionals and academics met in Berlin writing a letter
to president Issayas Afewerki about "the political and economic challenges
that confront us as a new nation". The letter, known as the "Berlin
Manifesto", ended with an invitation to an open debate. The regime reacted
strongly against the letter and imprisoned editors from the private press to
stop the publishing. In May 2001 a dissident group within PFDJ reacted against
the methods of the regime on the Berlin Manifesto and at the same time
expressing strong criticism of president Afewerki. The group of 15 critics,
called G 15, gave interviews in the private press. The regime responded branding
the G15 authors as "defeatists" and accused them of disloyalty during
the 1998-2000 war. Journalists were again arrested, criticism grew stronger,
e.g.among university students in Asmara. The crisis culminated on September 18
when eleven of the G 15 members and ten journalists were arrested (three G15
members were abroad and one withdraw his support for the group). Free press was
totally banned referring to the 1996 Press Law. But no specified charges were
put forward.