UNESCO chief voices concern over press freedom in Eritrea after writer’s death

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN agency mandated to protect press freedom, today voiced his “grave concern” over the treatment of journalists in Eritrea following reports that writer Fessehaye Yohannes had died in detention.

“I am concerned about press freedom in Eritrea and over the way journalists are being treated in the country,” UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement from Paris, where the agency is based.

“Reports about the conditions of detention of journalists imprisoned without trial are a source of grave concern, as are reports of the disappearance of journalists,” he said, calling for Eritrea to “shed light on these cases and to ensure respect for due process of law and basic human rights, including freedom of expression and press freedom, which are fundamental to democracy and rule of law.”

Mr. Matsuura’s remarks follow news from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that poet and playwright Fessehaye “Joshua” Yohannes, formerly a journalist with the now-banned weekly Setit, died in detention on 11 January.

Mr Yohannes was arrested in September 2001, along with 10 other journalists and many members of the opposition. At that time, the authorities also suspended the privately-owned press.

UNESCO is the only UN agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.”