Gedab News has learned that Ms. Neema Debesai Garza, a well-known journalist who worked for Eritrea�s state media for twelve years, is now living in the United States.

In October of last year, Neema Debesai was sent by the Ministry of Information to attend a �friendly interview� that Mr. Mohammed Awad, a Sudanese journalist, was conducting with President Isaias Afwerki.   During the course of the interview, the president explained that Eritrea has a problem with the Sudanese government but not the Sudanese people.   When the interview was concluded, President Isaias Afwerki asked Ms. Neema Debesai to assess the interview and she responded that, in her opinion, his statement was not accurate since people-to-people relationships �are governed by and subject to the realities of government-to-government relationships.�

When she reported to work the next day, �I was called to the office of my supervisor and reprimanded for my behavior with the president,� explained Ms. Neema Debesai, �The next day, when I went to work, I found out that my name was not on the list of broadcasters and I had no assignment to work on.�

She eventually secured a visa to the United States where she resides now.

Background

Neema Debesai was a veteran of Eritrea�s armed struggle and a member of the Women�s Organization (mahber deqi anstyo) of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF.)  After Eritrea�s independence, she returned to Eritrea and was employed by the Ministry of Information in July 1992 where she remained employed until October 2004.

In addition to the dozen private press journalists, the Eritrean government has also arrested and/or caused the exile of nearly a dozen journalists that were employed by the state media.

The most recent case was that of Mr. Solomon Abera, a journalist for the state-owned Radio Zara who, on March 22, while on assignment to Paris, France, abandoned his association with the government and applied for political asylum.