Long-detained Eritrean journalist wins rights prize

By Phoebe Martel

In September 2001, the Eritrean government detained journalist and playwright Dawit Isaak for demanding democratic reforms. Isaak, a Swedish dual citizen, founded Setit, Eritrea’s first and only independent media outlet.

23 years later, Isaak remains imprisoned without indictment or trial in Asmara, Eritrea’s capital. Press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders has designated him and his Setit colleagues as the longest arbitrarily-held journalists in the world, and United Nations watchdogs have continuously called for their immediate release.

On November 11, a Swedish human rights institute selected Isaak as the recipient of the Edelstam Prize, which honors individuals who are staunch defenders of democratic principles.

“We award an international prize biannually, and this year it is awarded to Mr. Dawit Isaak for his outstanding contributions and exceptional courage in standing up for freedom of expression,"  Caroline Edelstam, the Foundation's president, told Vatican News in an interview.

The eponymous Edelstam Foundation bestows the prize in memory of Harald Edelstam, a Swedish diplomat who gave political asylum to Latin Americans fleeing coup-related violence in the 1970s.

In a statement, the Foundation’s jury demanded transparency surrounding Isaak’s case (until 2020, Isaak was feared dead and his whereabouts remain unknown). The jury also urged the international community to hold Eritrean authorities accountable for systematic torture and enforced disappearances of political prisoners.

Isaak’s daughter, Betlehem, will accept the prize on his behalf when it is presented in Stockholm on November 19.

President Isais Afwerki has ruled Eritrea since 1993, and there have been no elections in the country since its independence.