3 imprisoned Eritrean reporters confirmed dead

PARIS: Reporters Without Borders says it has confirmed the death in captivity of three Eritrean journalists who’d been imprisoned in the African country since 2001.
The media freedom group says Dawit Habtemichael, the deputy editor of biweekly newspaper Meqaleh, died in the second half of 2010 while detained at the Eiraeiro prison camp.
The group says the date of death of two other journalists — Mattewos Habteab and Sahle Tsegazab — couldn’t be established.
Eritrea is a one-party state on the horn of Africa that international observers accuse of carrying out arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses.
The journalists’ arrests were part of a wider effort in 2001 to repress dissent and critical commentary.
Of 11 reporters arrested at the time, only four are alive.