On September 23, 2001, Eritrean authorities rounded up ten independent journalists as part of a brutal crackdown on free speech and human rights.

Twenty two years later, Dawit Isaak, Seyoum Tsehaye, Amanuel Asrat, Dawit Habtemichael, and their colleagues are still in jail.

To honour this solemn anniversary, we’re launching Hear Their Voices - a global advocacy campaign on behalf of these men, the longest detained journalists in the world.

They have been held incommunicado for 22 years without charge or trial, and without access to family, consular assistance, or the right to legal counsel.

Four of the journalists’ families have come together to ask the Eritrean government and the international community to take action on behalf of their loved ones.

For 22 years, their hearts have been aching.

At a minimum, they want to hear their voices again.
Standing alongside these families and a global coalition of advocates, we are demanding that the Eritrean regime prove that these journalists are still alive.

We want to #HearTheirVoices.

Our call is amplified by Dr. Mohamed Babiker, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Eritrea, whose office recently issued this scathing report on the human rights situation in the country, noting that its widespread and systematic practice of enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity.
“Let their families, and let all Eritreans, hear their voices. After 8,000 days of incommunicado detention, I urge the Eritrean government to provide information about the whereabouts of Dawit Isaak and his colleagues.”
- Dr. Mohamed Babiker, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Eritrea
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*Click here to share your own message of support for Eritrea’s missing journalists, using the hashtag #HearTheirVoices.

“If the international community cannot hold Mr. Afwerki’s regime to account, how can we secure justice and accountability in a rules-based international order in the face of even bigger challenges? As long as Mr. Isaak is detained, the fundamental rights and freedoms that form the bedrock of democracy will only continue to erode.”

- Irwin Cotler (International Chair) and Judith Abitan (Executive Director) in this powerfully worded opinion piece focused on the case of journalist Dawit Isaak, a dual Eritrean-Swedish citizen