Sawa, a slavery plantation camp, compelled all #Eritrean youth to undergo what is euphemistically termed “National Service”but is, in reality, a brutal form of military training and enslavement. After finishing a secondary school like every #Eritrean youth, I went to Sawa at age 17 in 2012 for the 26th round, now a decade ago. My year in Sawa was one of the most devastating experiences of my life. Sawa is effectively a concentration camp where severe human rights violations occur regularly. Upon arrival, we faced mentally unstable and sadistic military officers who drugged and divided us into isolated military brigades, units, and divisions. In Sawa not a day passed without beatings or torture. Every activity was dictated by the sound of a whistleblower. I witnessed girls from the female military unit brought in as slaves to serve officers, subjected to rape and torture. These gross violations were perpetrated from the highest-ranking General of Sawa to the lowest-ranking officer. We were coerced into praising and hailing the dictator under threat from military officers. Dictator Isaias' old comrades the key figures of #PFDJ regime like #Eritrea's Ambassador to Japan, Estifanos Afewerki, Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel, Ambassador Sofia Tesfamariam, and other regime cadres deceive the international community with misleading videos and pictures from Sawa. Fearing for our lives, we had no choice but to comply to survive. Many girls aged 16-19 suffered severe distress, with some becoming pregnant after being raped, and others experiencing mental breakdowns. Fortunately, I managed to escape from this nightmarish ordeal and the severe human rights violations perpetrated by the autocratic regime of #Eritrea. I am now in a position to expose the atrocities committed by these criminals both within and outside my country. Since the establishment of Sawa many #Eritrean youths sent to Sawa have lost their lives in the #Ethiopia-#Eritrea border clashes and the recent #Tigray war. Some were shot and killed while attempting to flee the tyranny; others lost their sanity. Some are languishing in prisons, and many perished in the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean Sea, at the hands of human smugglers, or in the Tekezé River. Sadly, the propaganda and enslavement machine continues to operate, perpetuating gross human rights violations, torture, and abuse. In conclusion, my experience at Sawa stands as a stark testament to the brutality and oppression imposed by the totalitarian #Eritrean regime under the guise of national service. It is urgent that the world acknowledges and confronts these grave human rights violations. The regime must be held accountable for its oppression and violence against #Eritrean youth. My story is a call to action for justice and change. Together, we must stand against tyranny, empower our people, and advocate for a future where freedom and dignity prevail in #Eritrea. #Sawa36 #TransnationalRepression #BlueRevolution #NoMorePFDJPropaganda #NoMorePFDJTerror @hrw @UNHumanRights @freedomhouse @citizenlab @DefendDefenders @UN_SPExperts @martinplaut @mvreisen @KjetilTronvoll

Eritreans are reportedly investing 55 million dollars in the Massawa City Mall in Kampala, Uganda. Our people have the capital and the skills to build, yet they invest abroad because Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ have made Eritrea a country where nobody can run a business freely, trust a court or plan a life beyond indefinite national service. We in EBRF have a plan for a democratic transition through regime change, with rule of law, property rights and an open economy, so that this money and this talent can finally come home. We are organizing for that Eritrea every day. @martinplaut @dw_politics @TiborPNagyJr @BereketKahsai1 #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea

Isaias Afwerki has arrived in Moscow for the Russia Africa Summit, where regime media promise talks on trade, energy, food security and security cooperation and a meeting with Vladimir Putin. We in EBRF see a dictator shopping abroad for protection. Eritreans have not voted in over thirty years, the 1997 constitution was never implemented, and our young people are held in indefinite national service. No meeting with Vladimir Putin will feed our people or free our prisoners. Security cooperation with Isaias only means more tools to keep one man in power. We in EBRF have a plan for a democratic transition through regime change, and we are organizing for a free Eritrea that works with the world through law and accountable institutions. @RepJoeWilson @washingtonpost @KjetilTronvoll @afric_insde #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #RedSea

Isaias Afwerki's embassy in London has called Eritreans in the UK to a seminar titled "Country Above All", and regime supporters now boast that more than £275,000 was raised in under two hours. We in EBRF ask which country is placed above all when Eritreans have not voted in over thirty years and our young people are held in indefinite national service. This money will not defend Eritrea's coast or its sovereignty. It will keep the PFDJ in power. Eritrea is best protected by a free government chosen by its people, and we in EBRF have a plan for a democratic transition through regime change. @BBCWorld @_hudsonc @DaeronaC @CmaDawit #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #PFDJ

The leader of our diplomatic missions team, Beyene Gerezgiher, has just met with EBRF representatives and supporters in the United States, and the message from those meetings is clear. Our political and diplomatic network keeps growing across America. We in EBRF are making the case to US policymakers that Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ are not a partner for stability in the Horn of Africa but the main source of its instability. We have a plan for a democratic transition through regime change in Asmara, and we ask our friends in Washington to engage with the Eritrean people who are organizing to deliver it. @EGerasouli35992 @RepJoeWilson @TiborPNagyJr @mrubin1971 #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea

This weekend, from our public meeting in Seattle to chapter discussions in Israel, we in EBRF met openly, debated freely and decided together on the next steps of our struggle. Inside Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ have made exactly this impossible for more than two decades, with no national election, no National Assembly since 2002 and a constitution locked in a drawer. Our town halls show the Eritrea we are building, and we have a clear plan for a peaceful, democratic transition through regime change. We ask our partners to protect Eritreans abroad who join these meetings from intimidation, threats against their families and the coerced 2% tax. @martinplaut @KjetilTronvoll @EGerasouli35992 @dw_politics #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #TransnationalRepression

A new analysis argues that Eritrea's Red Sea coastline and ports could make it Israel's next indispensable ally in the Horn of Africa. We in EBRF agree that Eritrea and Israel share real strategic interests, but no lasting partnership can be built with Isaias Afwerki. For over thirty years he and the PFDJ have traded Eritrea's coast to whichever foreign power helps keep them in power, while Eritreans live without elections, a parliament or the rule of law. EBRF has a strong movement in Israel and a plan for a democratic transition through regime change in Asmara. A free Eritrea with an elected, accountable government will be the stable Red Sea partner Israel and the West need. @mrubin1971 @EGerasouli35992 @BeyeneGerezghe1 @RepJoeWilson #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #RedSea

Yemane Gebremeskel, Isaias Afwerki's minister of disinformation, mocks Ethiopia with talk of an emperor who has no clothes. We in EBRF say the only emperor without clothes sits in Asmara. Isaias Afwerki has ruled for over thirty years without one national election, the National Assembly has not met since 2002, and the 1997 constitution was never implemented. The PFDJ accuses its neighbour of fuelling wars while it keeps Eritreans in indefinite national service on a permanent war footing. Only a democratic Eritrea can be a trusted partner for Red Sea security. EBRF has a plan for a democratic transition through regime change in Asmara. @_hudsonc @RepJoeWilson @washingtonpost @DaeronaC #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #RedSea

A captured fighter paraded by the RSF in Sudan says he was rounded up from his village in Tigray, sent to Eritrea and then pushed into Sudan's war without knowing why. We in EBRF take this account seriously, because it fits what Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ have done for years. They hold Eritrea's own youth in indefinite national service, they meddle in Sudan's war, and they treat young lives from across the region as tools for their own survival. A democratic Eritrea will keep its army at home and out of foreign wars. EBRF has a plan for that transition through regime change, and we are organizing for it now. @_hudsonc @CmaDawit @washingtonpost @KjetilTronvoll #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #PFDJ

On UN Day in Asmara, the PFDJ hosted the UN family while Foreign Minister Osman Saleh spoke about respect for international law and sovereignty. We in EBRF ask where that respect is at home. Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ have never allowed the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea to enter the country. In 2016 a UN Commission of Inquiry found reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity had been committed in Eritrea, and the regime answered with denial instead of reform. Thousands of Eritreans are still detained without charge or trial. Sovereignty belongs to the Eritrean people, not to one man. EBRF has a plan for regime change and a democratic transition, and we are organizing for it every day. @BeyeneGerezghe1 @DaeronaC @RepJoeWilson @washingtonpost #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #PFDJ

The New Arab reports that Yemeni fishermen seized in the Red Sea are being taken to Eritrean facilities, held with little food and forced to build mountain roads under armed guard. We in EBRF know this system well. Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ have run Eritrea on forced labour for decades through indefinite national service, and now they use captured foreign fishermen the same way. A regime that enslaves its own youth will not respect its neighbours or the law of the sea. This is why we are organizing for regime change, and EBRF has a plan for a democratic transition that ends forced labour and opens the prisons. @martinplaut @KjetilTronvoll @BBCWorld @RepJoeWilson #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #RedSea #PFDJ

Reports say Asmara wants the African Union headquarters moved out of Addis Ababa to a neutral country as relations with Ethiopia deteriorate. We in EBRF note the irony. Isaias Afwerki has never held a national election, has kept the 1997 constitution frozen for almost thirty years, and has held journalists without trial since 2001. The PFDJ does not want neutral institutions in Africa. It wants another stage for a regime that allows no neutral institutions at home. Eritrea needs regime change, and we in EBRF have a plan and are organizing for a democratic transition. @TiborPNagyJr @mrubin1971 @afric_insde @dw_politics #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #PFDJ

Martin Plaut calls Yohannes Abraha, known as John Black, a political leader who is important to the Eritrean cause, and we in EBRF agree. For more than 500 days Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ tried to brand a former conscript as a criminal, threatened his family and spread lies about him inside Eritrea. John Black is free today, and he returns to a movement that has grown. EBRF has a political process, a diplomatic team and a plan for a democratic transition through regime change in Asmara. We are organizing to open the prisons, implement a constitution and hold free elections. @BeyeneGerezghe1 @KjetilTronvoll @dw_politics @DaeronaC #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #TransnationalRepression

Reports say President el Sisi called Isaias Afwerki and told him not to attend the Russia Africa Summit in Moscow on October 28 and 29, where Russia had offered a channel for Ethiopia and Eritrea to ease tensions over the Red Sea. If true, the pattern is familiar. Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ settle questions of war and peace through phone calls with foreign capitals, while Eritreans have no parliament, no elections and no free press to speak for them. A country whose fate depends on the mood of one man and his patrons is not truly sovereign. We in EBRF are organizing for a democratic Eritrea, and we have a plan for a democratic transition through regime change so that Eritreans decide our own future. @KjetilTronvoll @mrubin1971 @dw_politics @afric_insde #EBRF #BlueRevolution #RegimeChange #Eritrea #RedSea