Urgent action Eritrea - Yonas Embye

Yonas Embye is a Christian activist and journalist, who had been staging a one man protest against human rights abuses in Eritrea and the continuing detention of journalists at key locations in the Ugandan capital Kampala. In early May, Yonas was forced into hiding following threats from the Eritrean Consul to Uganda to kidnap and deport him – an all too common occurrence due to Eritrea’s aggressive policy towards anyone considered to be a dissident, even outside Eritrea.

Yonas was detained in September 2001, and was initially tortured to make him confess to a crime. At 5am each day he was forced into freezing water and then hung upside down as his hands and feet were beaten. He never confessed to anything for fear of harming his family. In 2005, Yonas was moved to a prison near the Sudanese border and dramatically escaped. Now in Uganda awaiting the outcome on his permanent asylum application, Yonas has not stopped speaking up for those imprisoned without charge or trial in Eritrea.

When Eritrea achieved independence in 1991, a thriving independent media quickly emerged. Following a devastating armed conflict with neighboring Ethiopia, and while international attention was diverted by 9/11, the government clamped down hard on anyone viewed as a dissident. Thousands of people now languish in the notorious Eritrean prison system, and many of these prisoners have died as result of the appalling conditions. Of an estimated 20,000 prisoners of conscience in Eritrea, approximately 3,000 are Christians, and at least 37 journalists are thought to be incarcerated in the ‘the North Korea of Africa – the only state on the continent without a privately-owned newspaper or media outlet.

CSW supporters recently lobbied on behalf of vulnerable Eritrean refugees in Israel, Libya and Egypt. We are now asking you to take action on behalf of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda, whose situation has deteriorated since the opening of the Eritrean Consulate in 2009.

You can send a message of hope to Yonas via Twitter!

Simply click here to tweet your message with the tag #SupportYonas. Your message will then appear in the box below, (see the right hand column for tips on adding your message to Twitter).