The Eritrean government has detained Voice of America
correspondent Aklilu Solomon. The Eritrean government claims this
was because he did not perform obligatory military service or its
civilian equivalent. In fact, documents show that Mr. Aklilu did
perform eighteen months of national service and had a medical
deferment for military service.
The real reason for his arrest appears to be a news story he
filed for the Voice of America on June 23rd. He reported that
families of Eritrean soldiers killed in the 1998 to 2000 war with
Ethiopia wept in sorrow when the names of their dead relatives were
announced. This contradicted Eritrea's state-run media, which
claimed that the families cheered with pride at the news. After the
V-O-A broadcast, Eritrean authorities stripped Mr. Aklilu of his
press credentials. Ten days later, they detained him. He is now
being held in an Eritrean military camp.
David Jackson, Director of the Voice of America, issued a strong
protest against Eritrea's treatment of Aklilu Solomon. “He has
distinguished himself as a journalist by telling the world of the
urgent needs of the Eritrean people during the drought which has
afflicted his country,” said Mr. Jackson. “All of us at [V-O-A] are
proud of his contributions. . . . We demand that Eritrean
authorities free him immediately.”
Adam Posluns [pose-luhns] of the Committee to Protect Journalists
says the detention of Aklilu Solomon is part of a pattern of
repression and harassment:
"It is further evidence of the Eritrean government's
determination to silence all reporting that differs from the
official version of events. And it’s not the first time the
government has used the pretext of mandatory national service to
arrest journalists who have written reports that are not to the
authorities’ liking. With Aklilu's arrest, there are almost no more
independent sources of information in the country."
Aklilu Solomon’s only offense appears to be doing what good
reporters do -- accurately reporting the news. That's the kind of
national service the people of Eritrea need more of.
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