When I was five years old, my uncle was imprisoned in Eritrea.
As I grew up and grew older, I learned more about his case
and about the fact that nothing was being done to free him.
When I was 16 years old, I decided to start an organization to work for my uncle's release.
I was living in Sweden, where I had the freedom to speak up.
My uncle's name is Seyoum Tsehaye and I decided to call the organization One Day Seyoum.
But I'm not here to simply tell you my uncle's story.
I'm here because my uncle's story represents something bigger. A crisis.
A crisis that has been going on for more than 17 years.
A crisis that we all can and should play our part in ending.
My uncle was imprisoned in 2001, a decade after Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia.
The war for independence had been fought on a premise for justice, equality and democracy
but following independence there were no elections.
The leader of the guerrilla group, Isais Afwerki, became the country's first president.
But he promised the people that the lack of democracy only was temporary.
In 1998 a border war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea that lasted for two years.
And even though the war ended in 2000, Ethiopia refused to withdraw its' troops
and give back the land to Eritrea.
The Eritrean government referred to the situation as a no war, no peace situation.
But with the war practically at an end, the people of Eritrea were expecting domestic reform and
an implementation of the democracy that they had been fighting so hard for during the war of independence.
There was critique and pressure coming from all sides,
and my uncle was one of the key critical voices in the country.
He was known to be a fearless and vocal man and during the war he was a prominent photographer
and a brilliant documentary-maker whose work was known all around the world.
After independence he became a freelance journalist focusing on the wellbeing of the Eritrean people.
In April of 2001, students protesting new policies,
violating the human rights were detained and even killed in prison.
My uncle wrote: "that the leaders of the future are being killed by the leaders of today."
He urged the government to have an open dialogue with the people to ensure the best result for the future.
When warned about the risks of this work, my uncle always replied that
"If we don't give them a voice, no one will."
On the 18th of September, 2001, a week after the terrorist attacks in New York City on 9/11,
the free press was shut down in Eritrea.
When the whole world's eyes were riveted on what was going on in New York
the government took that opportunity and imprisoned 10 journalists, including my uncle
and 11 politicians, who had publicly demanded democracy.
Until this day, no one's been charged, prosecuted, or given an official reason for their imprisonment.
Until this day the only information that we have about our relatives' conditions and whereabouts
are from prison guards who have fled the prisons.
They say that they're held in a maximum security prison where it's burning hot during the day
and freezing cold during the night, and with their hands and legs tied like this 24 hours per day.
Until this day no one has been allowed to visit them. And no one has been released.
Since then, Eritrea's turned into one of the worst dictatorships in the entire world.
And the government's excuse has always been that all the measures that they've taken since 2001
have been necessary because of the border war with Ethiopia and it's threat to national security.
But the standoff at the border cannot justify the fact, that all capable Eritreans
are enlisted indefinitely in the National Service.
Nor does it justify the horrible rape, torture, or crimes committed in that camp.
Crimes that the UN Commission has classified as crimes against humanity.
Ethiopia refusing to withdraw its' troops demarcate the border does not justify the fact that Eritreans
between the ages of 6 and 65 are not allowed to leave the country unless granted an exit visa.
An exit visa that almost never is given.
It does not justify the fact that elections still have not been held, that the country's constitution still has not
been implemented, and that the parliament still has not convened since 2002.
It does not justify the fact that the only university in the country has been shut down,
that the free press still has not been opened, and that tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned
without a trial simply for expressing their opinion, practicing their religion, or attempting to flee the country.
The fact that there was a standoff on the border cannot justify making the country into a living hell where youth
are robbed off their autonomy, potential, and freedom, and over 5,000 people flee the country every month
choosing to rather risk their lives on flight than stay.
What happened in Eritrea following 2001 was never about national security.
It was simply about a government that wanted full control over its' people.
I'm here today because at this point of time, the Eritrean's government plan is working.
With no political institutions to check the government's power
with no constitution to protect the people, with no freedom of expression
no civil society and barely any access to the internet, it is impossible for pressure to come from inside of Eritrea.
Instead it's been up to the outside world to advocate on behalf on the Eritrean people.
But we, the Eritrean diaspora and the rest have failed.
There's practically no significant pressure being put on Eritrea right now.
There's barely any public knowledge about the situation there.
Many of you had probably never heard about Eritrea before,
let alone the human rights abuses being committed there, and you're not an exception.
This is demonstrated by the world's reactions to the peace deal
that happened between Ethiopia and Eritrea this summer.
The war that for 17 years has served as a sole excuse for the government's oppressive politics, was over.
Vanished.
And for the first time in my entire life, Eritrea properly made it to the news.
But there were only celebrations from the world politicians and leaders.
There was extensive talks about trade and business deals, airway reopenings, but there was no critique.
There was no acknowledgment of the dictatorship that had been created in the name of this war
there was no ask or demand for accountability for the disproportionate measures
that had been taken behind the premise of this war.
There was no pressure for change. There was no voice for the Eritrean people.
More than three months after the signing of this peace deal, nothing has changed in the country.
The Eritrean population remains slaves of the government.
More and more Eritreans are leaving the country.
More and more Eritreans are dying on flights.
And still there's no pressure from the outside world.
A month ago Eritrea was elected into the United Nation's Human Rights Council, unopposed.
We have failed. We have failed miserably.
But as much this failure pains me it also motivates me.
We have seen the result of 17 years of silence and it's painfully obvious that we cannot afford to stay silent
indifferent or passive anymore. The fate of a whole nation is at stake.
We have to act now in whatever capacity that we can.
For the past five years, I've been working with One Day Seyoum
the organization I set up in the name of my uncle, to advocate on behalf of the Eritrean people.
We do everything we can to raise awareness about what is going on in Eritrea
gain support and through that support put pressure on the Eritrean government.
One Day Seyoum's advocacy includes putting pressure through different legal mechanisms
available under international and regional law
and law being in political institutions around the world to put pressure on the Eritrean government.
We organize events, protests, and actions. We write articles.
We produce video series and podcasts and we put together campaigns online and offline.
For example this summer when the world blindly was celebrating peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia
we started a campaign called Questions for Isais
where we encouraged Eritreans to raise the issues that the Eritrean president was refusing to address.
The tweets and questions from all around the world would not stop pouring in.
And in September, on the anniversary of the shutdown of the press in Eritrea
and the imprisonment of my uncle and his colleagues,
we had a silent protest all over the world. Seventeen minutes of silence for the 17 years that have passed.
But success of our work is dependent on people like you.
You are the ones that can help us reach more people.
You are the ones who can help us put pressure. And it's easy.
We have an ambassador program where we train and equip people
all over the world to bring Eritrea's story to your community.
The easiest way of course is to help us gather signatures
take a simple picture for our photo campaign, and also support our various campaigns throughout the year.
But there are endless ways that you can help us put pressure on the Eritrean government.
If you're interested in getting involved, you can contact me at any point either on social media,
on my email, or just speaking to me in the break.
But regardless of how much you want to do, I urge you to do something.
The Eritrean government imprisoned my uncle for a reason.
So we need to become the next generation of Seyoums.
We need to advocate. We need to fight. We need to make noise.
Determined by the belief that if we don't give them a voice, no one will, we need to become
the forces that the Eritrean government feared so much that they had to imprison.
Because it is only when we do that, when enough of us come together and take action that the
Eritrean people will have a chance to live a free and dignified life that they so rightfully deserve.
Thank you very much.