Eritrea

Aaron Berhane Tesfazghi
Aaron Berhane was born in Asmara, Eritrea, in 1969. One of the first graduates of the University of Asmara's Journalism and Mass Communication program, he was co-founder and editor in chief of Setit, the largest independent newspaper in Eritrea, until the paper was closed down by the government in September 2001 during a sweep when many journalists were imprisoned without charge. Aaron lived in hiding for more than three months before escaping to Sudan. Through the UNHCR, International PEN helped him to find political asylum in Canada. Since finding refuge in Canada he has been awarded a Human Rights Watch Hellman/Hammett grant. In October 2003 he was selected for a prestigious Donner/CJFE Journalist at Risk Fellowship at Massey College. Berhane was awarded the PEN-Lecturer-in Residence position at George Brown College in Toronto in 2005.

Sara Habtemichael
While the eyes of the world were focused on the terrorist attacks in New York City in September 2001, the government of Eritrea took advantage of the situation to launch a massive crackdown on the independent media. Media outlets were shut down and thousands of opposition voices silenced and jailed. For Sara Habtemichael, the papers for which she worked were forced out of existence. She turned to a state-run paper in order to survive, but that was merely a mouthpiece for the government. Deciding that the freedom to express one’s opinions is more important, she left that job. Yet, conditions for independent-minded journalists in Eritrea were not safe. No one dared to speak out publicly. A climate of fear in the country – which has not dissipated – prompted her exile to Canada. Had Habtemichael stayed longer, she might have been detained. Or, like her brother, who was an editor at the defunct independent paper Meqaleh and whose whereabouts are not known since 2002, she may have been simply disappeared.