The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
8 December 2007
Addis Ababa — The Reporters without Borders (RSF) media watchdog on Thursday urged the European Union to bar Eritrea from an EU-Africa summit this weekend over human and press rights violations.
The Paris-based group questioned why alleged abuses by Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki did not raise as many objections in Brussels as those blamed on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
On Wednesday, three days ahead of the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon, RSF gave its 2007 Journalist of the Year award to jailed Eritrean reporter Seyoum Tsehaye.
"After years of impunity, the contempt shown by the Eritrean authorities for the agreements they have signed with the EU must finally be punished," RSF said in a statement.
"One cannot carry on making an issue about Mugabe's presence or absence and yet ignore the question of Eritrea," it added, demanding Afeworki and his aides be declared persona non grata at this weekend's EU-Africa summit.
In May, the EU granted Eritrea a large aid package in exchange for "a constructive approach to the crises in the region and to progress on human rights and press freedom."
Eritrea recently took over from North Korea as the world's worst place for journalists, according to RSF's press freedom index.
According to the watchdog, the Eritrean regime has since cracked down on private media, at least four journalists have died in prison while several others remained held incommunicado.
The Eritrean authorities frequently deny allegations of curbs on press freedoms and other rights abuses, arguing that their critics lack information to support their claims.
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