Behind the Mask

BEHIND THE MASK a website on gay and lesbian affairs in Africa

eritrea
about eritrea
official name: State of Eritrea
capital: Asmara
head of state: President Isaias Afworki
state: transitional government
population: 4.4 million
independence: after a national referendum in 1993 Eritrea was recognised internationally as an independent state separate from Ethiopia.
languages: Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
religion: Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
currency: nakfa (ERN)
media: NA
legal wise
status of homosexuality: legal
age of consent: 18
laws covering homosexual activity: NA
background information and government attitudes: some contradictory indications regarding Eritrea, despite the fact that ILGA (source La Seminaire Gai) list the status of homosexuality in Eritrea as being legal, two gay men are known to have been granted asylum in 1995 by the US (IGLHRC AP). Eritrea appears to have no sodomy laws.

The overriding problem in Eritrea today is the concentration of power in the hands of one man - Isaias Afwerki. President Isaias and the PFDJ maintain an absolute monopoly on all forms of political and economic power. They control what few media there are in the country and have fenced off the population from the outside world while fostering a xenophobic hostility to foreigners to distract the citizenry from the privations of daily life and the persistent denial of basic rights and liberties.
The complete suppression of civil society precludes the development of a legal opposition within the country - or of any organized public discussion of what such an opposition might look like were it to be permitted. Under these conditions, national elections, if conducted, can only serve to ratify those already in power.
From Freedom House's Countries at the Crossroads: 2005 A Survey of Democratic Governance www.freedomhouse.org/research/crossroads/2005/eritrea2005.pdf
communication
mainline telephones: 23,500 (2000)
cellular telephones: NA
internet country code: .er
internet service providers: 4 (2000)
internet users: 500 (2000)
links and contacts
NA

eritrea to regulate ngos
May 30, 2005: Zimbabwe is not the only country in Africa which seeks to regulate NGOs despite their very nature of being non-government entities. Now Eritrea wants to require international NGOs to have a $2 million operating capital and declare their foreign acquisitions. More...

hotel employees expelled for 'immorality'
October 8, 2004: According to AFP, three Western employees working at a luxury hotel in Asmara were expelled from Eritrea last week over "a question of immorality," Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed said Friday. More...

6 men arrested in asmara
November 6, 2003: Asmara Military Police arrested 6 gay men in October - despite the fact that homosexuality is legal under the interim Eritrean law. Asmara Military Police say those whom they arrested were involved in gay behaviour, gathering in a public bathroom in mid-town Asmara, the county's capital. More...

legal but not accepted
June 19, 2003: Homosexuality is legal in Eritrea but there is still discrimination and imprisonment says an Eritrean gay man studying in Pretoria. Interview by Harrow, BtM correspondent. More...