Independence does not mean freedom. After 35 years, Eritreans are losing hope.

Nine thousand days and nights without contact with the world. Without charges filed, without a trial. Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak has been in prison since September 23, 2001. Just a few years ago, when Sweden attempted to free Dawit, who holds a Swedish passport, it was known that he was alive.

Fifteen years in prison in Asmara was spent by Biniam Solomon, an Eritrean cartoonist known as Cobra. He was also never charged. He was released on March 12, 2026, without any explanation.

In September 2001, Dawit Isaak published an open letter from the so-called G-15 group, calling on the Eritrean authorities, among other things, to implement the constitution and organize elections. All signatories were arrested. Today, it is known that eleven of them are dead. Dawit himself has probably only twice had access to medical help in twenty-five years.

The then Minister of Information Naizghi Kiflu (2001-2003) and a close advisor to the president repeatedly stated that journalists are rodents that the country can easily get rid of. Today, Eritrea has not a single independent newspaper, radio station, or TV station. For a quarter of a century, there has also been not a single foreign correspondent. On May 2, Reporters Without Borders published the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, covering 180 countries. Eritrea ranked last. North Korea is second to last.

The next Minister of Information, Ali Abdu Ahmed, supposedly abolished the bans introduced by his predecessor, but implemented censorship as if it were still in effect. He himself fled the country in 2012 and found refuge in Australia. When his fifteen-year-old daughter Ciham tried to cross the border with Sudan, she was detained. She is still in prison today.

Defense Minister Mesfin Hagos avoided prison only because he was abroad receiving treatment. He did not return to the country. Berhane Abrehe, a former Minister of Finance, was arrested for publishing a book abroad. He died in prison in 2024.

Usually, authorities do not inform families about the fate of detainees. The remains of some have been thrown into the sea or lake.

Independence – and what next?

In September 2001, Seyoum Tsehaye, a veteran of the liberation war, journalist, and director, was also imprisoned. His wife was seven months pregnant. In 2016, prison guards confirmed that Seyoum was alive. Earlier, he left his job and fled the country.

He married in 1989 but did not want to have children during the war (1961-1991). He fought for independence. When it came, for several days he danced with his comrades in the streets of Asmara. “I don’t remember returning home at night during those first four or five days,” he recalled. This was how people celebrated for whom the fight for independence was their whole life. They often had no shoes, wore sandals made from tires. In May 2001, on the tenth anniversary of independence, the sandals even received a six-meter monument in the center of Asmara. After a dozen years, the monument disappeared without warning. But by then, it was no longer allowed to ask about anything.

The first days, weeks, years of independence – it was euphoria. Alcohol flowed in streams. The main street in Asmara – especially in the evening, when it’s not obvious that a bucket of paint might be needed here and there – is perfect for celebrations. Bars, cafes, often still bearing Italian names. Vintage but still functional espresso machines. An Italian film set in the 1940s or 1950s? The scenery is ready.

In the war for independence, women made up 30 percent of the fighters. Since May 24, everyone has celebrated. Including the current president of Eritrea, Isaias. He was one of them. He met his wife in the trenches of Nakfa – a city so important to the course of the war that it gave the name to the current Eritrean currency.

There were no elections. Isaias, as the leader of the independence movement, automatically took power in the country. He then criticized African leaders who had held power for decades. Bill Clinton described him as “a renaissance African leader of the new generation.”

There was freedom of the press. The university operated. It’s hard to find a moment when things started to change. Professor Richard Reid tries to capture this in his 2020 book Shallow Graves. He was then in Asmara. He taught at the university. He educated young Eritreans about their complex history. He wrote about President Isaias: “I dreamed of having a Scotch with him. I envied my journalist colleagues who could arrange interviews with him. We drank a little with his brother – that was all I managed. We were all under his spell. Young, old. Women, men. Him. You didn’t even need to say his name.”

Independence without water and electricity

In 1998, a new war broke out with Ethiopia – as if thirty years (1961-1991) were not enough. So pointless that it was called a war of two bald men fighting over a comb. In this case – over the small market town of Badme. Over one hundred thousand people lost their lives. The number of victims is unknown; estimates ranged around 120,000. Now, estimates reach 300,000.

In a very short time, as Professor Reid recalls, the Spartan genius and Stoic visionary, as the president was perceived, disappeared. Madness appeared. Alcohol and testosterone had already been flowing before. Paranoia set in. Prisons began to fill.

Although the war with Ethiopia officially ended in 2000, Eritrean authorities believed it could restart at any moment. So, they had to be ready. No sleeping now, so that in the future they could sleep peacefully. This slogan is seen by young people brought to the Sawa camp in the desert for their last year of high school. Military discipline, Spartan conditions, a lot of violence, no medical help. Even if someone faints, gets bitten by a snake or scorpion.

After a year in the camp, a young person remains in the system. If they perform well, they may be sent for further education. If not, they face work in quarries, on road construction, or similar. Six days a week, several hours a day. They don’t know when they will see their family again or get a few days off. No laws regulate this.

That’s what young people run away from. They probably won’t leave Eritrea legally; they would need a visa to leave. And that’s almost impossible. A married woman can move around the country – if she has the means – without permission. Everyone else must first obtain one, even for a short trip. Authorities proudly emphasize that, among other things, thanks to such regulations, there are no slums on the outskirts of Asmara. And there are none because there is no influx of people from outside the capital.

However, in all these historic buildings, which have made Asmara a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2017, there is no water either. It is supplied twice a month. Everything that can be filled must be filled. Even a large hotel in the city center has water for two hours in the morning and evening. The same with electricity. Here, a power bank is always a good gift.

Eritrea in alliance with China and Russia

The narrative of the most isolated war in the world is in effect. In Eritrea’s thirty-year war of independence, Libya, Syria, Iraq, and initially China and Cuba supported. Accepting aid after independence would only be a painkiller and a form of slavery – the president repeats.

However, aid from China is possible. It holds a special place in the president’s heart. Between 1967-1969, he received ideological and military training there. The knowledge of the language remained. There are loans and other forms of support, including in healthcare.

Autarky is autarky, but wheat from Russia is also welcome. “The dominance of the USA in the world must be broken. And it is Russia that should lead the countries that see this necessity,” said President Isaias during one of his visits to Moscow, declaring that Eritrea would gladly join such an alliance. In July 2023, he participated in the Russia-Africa Forum in St. Petersburg. Earlier, Sergey Lavrov brought an invitation from Putin himself to Asmara. In Asmara, he laid flowers at the Pushkin monument, whose grandfather came from the territory of present-day Eritrea.

Many discussions focused on utilizing the strategically important port of Massawa – to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia. In spring 2024, two Russian ships entered Massawa, officially to celebrate the thirty years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In April, a Russian military delegation visited Asmara. A year later, talks about media cooperation took place – aiming to unify the narrative about Russia (to match Russia Today).

Independence without freedom

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have their methodology for calculating the debt of countries that do not publish data. Eritrea’s debt relative to GDP is 260 percent, and 80 percent of it is internal debt, originating within the country. With this knowledge, the law allowing withdrawals of up to $300 monthly from bank accounts looks different. It’s not just about restricting citizens’ freedoms. The state simply exploits their resources. The money in accounts usually comes from families abroad. There are no interest payments. Everything is used immediately. For the functioning of a state that does not exist. The National Assembly last convened in 2002. The last government meeting was in 2018. There are a few people around the president, heading government agencies. But he makes all decisions himself. Unchanged since 1993. The only functioning institutions in Eritrea are the army, the church, and the mosque.

The myth of self-sufficiency justifies de facto lifelong military service and authoritarian rule. It also allows looking down on other countries on the continent, which openly benefit from humanitarian aid and loans from international financial institutions.

Someone who takes over this situation will not have an easy time. But who could do it? The last attempt at resistance took place in January 2013. No more than 200 people participated. Tanks entered Asmara. They briefly managed to seize the state television headquarters. The participants demanded the release of political prisoners, the implementation of the constitution, and elections. It was over within 24 hours. The rebel leader shot himself to avoid arrest. The rest were taken by security forces.

The opposition has no chance to operate. For many people – both in the country and abroad – the president remains a visionary and a hero of the independence war. It is easier to form opposition abroad. New movements and initiatives are emerging, but it’s hard to keep up with their divisions.

President Xi sent congratulations to President Isaias. “We regard Eritrea as a pillar of stability in the turbulent region of the Horn of Africa. We admire President Isaias’s wisdom and vision,” he wrote. Similar messages come from Somalia and Kenya. The United States is considering lifting sanctions imposed on Eritrea in 2021 for massacres of civilians during the Tigray war.

High politics and diplomatic language are one thing, people’s lives are something entirely different. Every month, five thousand people attempt to escape the country through Sudan. When the border with Ethiopia was opened for a few months in July 2018, it was even five thousand daily.

There is independence, but no freedom. Where could it come from?

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