On 24 May 1993, Eritrea was formally recognised as an independent nation after a UN-supervised referendum that confirmed the country's separation from Ethiopia, against whom it had fought a 30-year war. Twenty years on from the euphoric celebrations and promise of independence, thousands of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners languish in Eritrea's prisons without charge or trial, for expressing their opinion, practising their religion or attempting to flee the repression in their country.

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