![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.360kmh.com\/images\/article\/269\/Facebook-Page-de-fan-1.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In a bid to upend years of secrecy in the country dubbed \u201cAfrica\u2019s North Korea\u201d, a new Facebook page is publishing documents claiming to show how the Eritrean government abuses its citizens.<\/p>\n
In just two months, SACTISM \u2013 Classified Documents of the Dwindling PFDJ has garnered more than 16,000 followers on the social media site by alleging to have new information about human rights violations committed at the hands of president Isaias Afewerki\u2019s ruling party, the People\u2019s Front for Democracy and Justice.<\/p>\n
The name \u201csactism\u201d comes from a colloquial Arabic word that roughly translates as \u201cnothing\u201d, and was coined by the anonymous whistleblower behind the page, who goes by the name Samuel.<\/p>\n
Samuel claims he is an Eritrean underground blogger who once held a \u201ckey post\u201d in the government but who later fled the country. He says he is now sorting through the documents he collected while working in the capital, and says he is determined to expose the regime.<\/p>\n
Over the last decade, the Eritrean government has been branded one of world\u2019s worst human rights abusers, with Amnesty International estimating the country is holding at least 10,000 political prisoners in more than 360 secret prisons.<\/p>\n
As a result, thousands of young men and women are fleeing the country. In 2014, 50,000 Eritreans sought asylum in Europe, with the UN estimating that around 5,000 nationals continue to escape each month.<\/p>\n
With such a severe crackdown on civil liberties, and with little information able to enter to leave the country, Sactism has garnered a significant amount of attention from the Eritrean diaspora, despite the fact that the documents are impossible to verify.
\n‘If we don\u2019t give them a voice, no one will’: Eritrea’s forgotten journalists, still jailed after 14 years
\nRead more
\n\u2018Shaking the status quo\u2019
\nIn early February, posts appeared on Sactism claiming to show new information about the political prisoners and journalists who have been incarcerated for more than 14 years in Eritrea\u2019s secret prisons.<\/p>\n
Samuel also published accompanying notes he claims originate from 2001, which offer information about the security agents who arrested the journalists and their subsequent treatment in the notoriously secretive prison in Eiraeiro.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe page is shaking the status quo,\u201d says Daniel Mekonnen, a prominent Eritrean human rights lawyer living in Geneva. \u201cAlthough it is difficult to ascertain the truthfulness of every information published on the page, some [readers] have already given their own independent opinion confirming the veracity \u2013 in whole or in part \u2013 of some of the information revealed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The allegations have also been read out on popular Eritrean radio stations abroad, such as Radio Assenna, and have been extensively republished on diaspora websites.<\/p>\n
Blocks
\nAdvertisement<\/p>\n
President of PEN Eritrea in exile, Ghirmai Negash, describes Sactism \u201cas a new genre in Eritrean writing, the importance of which lies in its subversive power in the context of a nation under tyranny.\u201d<\/p>\n
But a few prominent figures have criticised the way in which Samuel is releasing the information. Awet Weldemichael, professor of African history at Queen\u2019s University, says he is concerned about the ethics of the way in which the information is being released.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not sure if it helps to family and friends of the disappeared to learn it through Facebook,\u201d he says, adding that he also worries about the authenticity of the documents.<\/p>\n
Facebook initially blocked the page, originally published exclusively in Tigrinya, after a petition emerged claiming that Sactism was \u201cinciting hatred\u201d. Samuel then began publishing certain posts in English, and provided a short blurb to clarify his intentions to readers.<\/p>\n
Though he\u2019s been approached by various outlets, he says he has chosen to stick to publishing on social media to allow him to \u201coperate at an individual level\u201d and to be \u201cpart of the democratisation of information sharing\u201d, he has written.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe regime was surviving mainly through the dread of information sharing,\u201d he explained in a post in February. As a result, he has made it his mission to fight \u201cmisinformation and secrecy\u201d, promising that \u201call the information shared on the page is most accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An anonymous whistleblower claims to have new proof of human rights abuses, galvanising opposition online In a bid to upend years of secrecy in the country dubbed \u201cAfrica\u2019s North Korea\u201d, a new Facebook page is publishing documents claiming to show how the Eritrean government abuses its citizens. In just two months, SACTISM \u2013 Classified Documents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.1359999999999998987476601541857235133647918701171875,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3000000000000000444089209850062616169452667236328125,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.67849999999999999200639422269887290894985198974609375,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92000000000000003996802888650563545525074005126953125,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.84999999999999997779553950749686919152736663818359375,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.1999999999999999555910790149937383830547332763671875,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.90000000000000002220446049250313080847263336181640625,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.270000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.020000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.4699999999999999733546474089962430298328399658203125,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n