Your

Excellency, President Isaias Aferwerki:

We write to convey our most sincere congratulations upon your country’s
normalization of diplomatic relations with Ethiopia. This is a development much
appreciated by all Africans of goodwill.

We write to you in our capacity as citizens of Africa to pledge our unequivocal
solidarity with all the people of Eritrea. This includes the many Eritreans we see
enduring all manner of risk and suffering in search of a better life outside their
homeland. We acknowledge that we too hail from nations with varying
governance and developmental challenges. We write to you, in the spirit of Pan-
African solidarity, to seek common solutions to our shared problems.

Africa’s many disparate nation states have undergone significant and diverse
changes over the course of the last two decades. [Today, many more Africans
live in freedom than under repression]. Importantly, those African countries
that have made the most progress - including attracting investment and tourism
- over the last 25 years have been those whose citizens enjoy greater freedom of
expression, press and movement, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and
political pluralism.

Sadly, in these critical areas, Eritrea has not kept pace with the changes seen
elsewhere. Over the past two decades Eritrea has been described as the most
closed society on our continent, an unfortunate situation for a country with such
rich human capital and potential, with so much to offer not only Africa but also
the world.

We trust that by opening this channel of communication with Your Excellency,
we may be afforded the opportunity to work with you to restore your country
and the great people of Eritrea to their rightful place in the family of African
nations.

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Of particular concern to us is the fate of several journalists and activists who

have been imprisoned for prolonged periods of time in Eritrea, many of whom
have reportedly been denied regular visits from their families and loved ones.

Equally, we are disheartened by the plight of the many thousands of Africans,
including some Eritreans, who feel compelled to flee their home countries in
search of a better life for themselves and their families, risking life and limb and
enduring inhumane deprivations and indignities across deserts and oceans.

Too many of these fellow Africans have found themselves in the rapacious hands
of modern day slave traders and people traffickers even causing some to end up
in slave markets in places such as Libya. Too many of these migrants and
refugees have perished at sea in their quest for a better life.

We Africans are blessed with too much in our home countries to have our
citizens suffer and be devalued this way. This gloomy picture needs to change,
and it is in this spirit that we address this message of solidarity to you, Your
Excellency.

We respectfully call upon Your Excellency to allow a delegation of the signatories
hereunder to visit Eritrea, and to afford us the opportunity to meet with you and
your government as well as with ordinary citizens, including journalists, writers,
and other persons currently in prison.

As with the bold step you have taken to normalize relations with Ethiopia, we
believe a gesture of this kind would go a long way towards ending Eritrea’s
isolation from the larger African family and could help usher in a new era of
prosperity and freedom for your people.

It would be an honour to furnish you with any additional information you might
require of us and we eagerly await your response.

The Signatories,

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1. Rafael Marques de Morais, Angola, leading anti-corruption campaigner and
award winning investigative journalist

2. John Githongo, Kenya, publisher, leading anti-corruption campaigner and
award winning anti-corruption activist

3. Kwasi H. Prempeh, Ghana, Executive Director of Center for Democratic
Development

4. Farida Nabourema, Togo, Executive Director of Togolese Civil League

5. Leyla Hussein, Somalia, Women’s Rights & Health Campaigner,
psychotherapist, writer and founder of the Dahlia Project

6. Maina Kiai, Kenya, founder of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
and former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association

7. Maaza Mengiste, Ethiopia, award-winning writer of Beneath the Lion’s Gaze

8. Iva Cabral, Cape Verde, Chancellor of Lusófona [Lusophone] University and
daughter of Amílcar Cabral

9. Belabbès Benkredda, Algeria, CEO and Founder of the Munathara Initiative,
the Arab world’s largest online and television debate forum highlighting
voices of youth, women and marginalized communities.

10. Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, Uganda, a leading LGBT rights activist,
founder and executive director of the LGBT rights organization Freedom &
Roam Uganda, 2011 recipient of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights
Defenders

11. Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, Uganda, musician, member of
parliament and youth leader recognized throughout East Africa

12. Tundu Lissu, Tanzania, lawyer, CHADEMA politician, member of parliament
and former president of the Tanganyika Law Society

13. Amr Waked, Egypt, award winning actor, best known for his role in Syriana

14. José Eduardo Agualusa, Angola, award winning writer, finalist in the 2016
Man Booker International Prize for his seminal work A General Theory of
Oblivion

15. Nasser Weddady, Mauritania, leading civil rights activist, consultant and co-
editor of Arab Spring Dreams.

16. Chiké Frankie Edozien, Nigeria, writer and professor of journalism at New
York University

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17. Emmanuel Iduma, Nigeria, author

18. Mona Eltahawy, Egypt, author and journalist

19. Mireille Tushiminina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gender & Equality
advocate

20. Felix Agbor Nkhongo, Cameroon, Director of the Centre for Human Rights
and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) and leading human rights defender

21. Boniface Mwangi, Kenya, democracy activist, Ukweli political party founder,
photographer and artist

22. Adeyanju Deji, Nigeria, leading democracy activist and human rights
defender

23. Alieu Bah, The Gambia, leading democracy activist and human rights
defender

24. Tutu Alicante, Equatorial Guinea, leading democracy activist and Executive
Director of Equatorial Guinea Justice (EG Justice)

25. Andrea Ngombet Malewa, Congo Republic, Global Coordinator of the
Sassoufit Collective

26. Roukaya Kasenally, Mauritius, CEO of African Media Initiative

27. Abdelrahman Mansour, Egypt, Executive Director of Open Transformation
Lab, leading human rights defender and journalist

28. Reem Abbas, Sudan, journalist and leading human rights defender

29. Moussa Kondo, Mali, journalist, CEO and founder of the weekly L’Express de
Bamako, anti-corruption crusader, Country Director of Accountability Lab
Mali, 2015 Mandela Washington Fellow, 2018 Obama Foundation Fellow.

30. Ericino de Salema, Mozambique, Director of the Electoral Institute for
Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), academic, lawyer and journalist

31. Jestina Mukoko, Zimbabwe, leading human rights activist and Director of
the Zimbabwe Peace Initiative

32. William Amanzuru, Uganda, environmental rights defender, founder of
Friends of Zoka, winner of the EU Human Rights Defenders’ Award 2019

33. Miguel de Barros, Guinea-Bissau, sociologist and Executive Director of the
environmental NGO Tiniguena

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34. Bheki Makhubu, e-Swatini (formerly Swaziland), Editor of the Nation

Magazine and leading democracy defender

35. Edson da Luz aka Azagaia, Mozambique, rapper and leading activist

36. Charles Onyango-Obbo, Uganda, leading publisher and columnist

37. Rodney Sieh, Liberia, leading newspaper editor of FrontPage Africa and
democracy activist

38. Oludotun Babayemi, Nigeria, democracy activist and monitoring and
evaluation expert,

39. Akin Olaniyan, Nigeria

40. Chanda Chisala, Zambia, founder and president of Zambia Online

41. Dany Ayida, Togo, Resident, Country Director, National Democratic Institute
(DRC)

42. George Sarpong, Ghana

43. Rosemary Mwakitwange, Tanzania, Chief of Party, Freedom House

44. James Smart, Kenya, leading journalist and news anchor

45. Abdulrazaq Alkali, Nigeria, Executive Director Organisation for Community
Civic Engagement (OCCEN) Nigeria

46. Mathatha Tsedu, South Africa, Adjunct professor of journalism, Wits
University and Acting Executive Director of the National Editors Forum
(SANEF)

47. Brenda Zulu, Zambia, journalist and ICT specialist

48. Emanuel Saffa Abdulai, Sierra Leone, Executive Director of Society for
Democracy Initiatives

49. Zecharias Berhe, Ethiopia, Senior Fellow, African Good Governance Network

50. Sylvia Amiani, Kenya, counseling and psychosocial practitioner focused on
refugees in Germany

51. Lamii Kpargoi, Liberia, journalist, democracy activist and lawyer

52. Dr. George Ayittey, Ghana, economist, author and president of the Free
Africa Foundation, Washington DC

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53. Evan Mawarire, Zimbabwe, pastor and democracy activist, founder of

#ThisFlag movement

54. Zineb El Rhazoui, Morocco, journalist and human rights advocate

55. Marc Ona Essangui, Gabon, environmentalist, Executive Secretary of
Brainforest

56. Fred Bauma, Democratic Republic of Congo, democracy and youth activist,
leader of the Lucha Social Movement

57. Dr. Justin Pearce, South Africa, Department of Politics and International
Studies, Cambridge University

58. Asma Khalifa, Libya, activist, cofounder of Tamazight Women Movement

59. Violet Gonda, Zimbabwe, journalist and President of the International
Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT)

60. Fatoumata Camara, The Gambia, journalist, CEO/Founder of the Fatu
Network

61. Jelili Atiku, Nigeria, human rights artist

62. Fred Muvunyi, Rwanda, editor at Deutsche Welle, Op-Ed contributor for
Washington Post and a consultant for Freedom House

63. Aimable Manikrakiza, Burundi, CEO of the Centre for Development and
Enterprises Great Lakes

64. Houssem Aoudi, Tunisia, CEO/Founder of Wasabi and Cogite – co-working
Space, entrepeneur and activist

65. Chouchou Namegabe, Democratic Republic of Congo, journalist and human
rights activist, CEO & Founder Anzafrika

66. Thulani Maseko, e-Swatini (formerly Swaziland), leading human rights
lawyer

67. Samba Dialimpa Badji, Senegal, journalist

68. Mariama Camara, Guinea, fashion designer and humanitarian,
Founder/President of Mariama Fashion Production and the There is No Limit
Foundation

69. Olívio Diogo, São Tomé, sociologist and media commentator, coordinator of
the Civil Society Network

70. Adeola Fayehun, Nigeria, journalist/producer, Keeping it Real with Adeola

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71. Mohamed Soltan, Egypt, Executive Director, the Freedom Initiative

72. Memory Banda, Malawi, children’s rights activist

73. Ali Amar, Morocco, veteran journalist, co-founder and director of online
news outlet Le Desk

74. Ahmed Gatnash, Libya, co-founder & VP Operations, Kawaakibi Foundation

75. Mohamed Keita, Mali, Pan African rights advocate

76. Norman Tjombe, Namibia, human rights lawyer and activist

77. Uyapo Ndadi, Botswana, human rights lawyer, activist, and founder of the
Ndadi Law Firm

78. Phil ya Nangoloh, Namibia, human rights activist, monitor and Executive
Director of NamRights Inc

79. Jacqueline Moudeina, Chad, prominent award-winning lawyer and human
rights activist

80. Rosmon Zokoue, Central African Republic, journalist, blogger and activist

81. Ahmed Gatnash, Libya, co-founder & VP of Operations, Kawaakibi
Foundation

82. Anas Aramayew Anas, Ghana, Africa’s leading investigative journalist and
private investigator

83. Boubacar Dialo, Niger, Editor, Liberation newspaper

84. Abdourahman Waberi, Djibouti, acclaimed novelist, essayist, academic and
short story writer, human rights activist, professor of literature at George
Washington University

85. Doudou Dia, Senegal, Executive Director, Goree Institute, Center for
Democracy, Development and Culture in Africa

86. Alain Mabanckou, Congo, novelist, journalist, poet and academic

87. Francis Kpatindé, Benin, journalist, former editor-in-chief of the
newsweekly Jeune Afrique and former spokesman for the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)

88. Mustafa Haji Abdinur, Somalia, award-winning journalist

89. Thembo Kash, Democratic Republic of Congo, award-winning cartoonist

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90. Damien Glez, Burkina Faso, award-winning editorial cartoonist

91. Ahmed Abdallah, Comoros, journalist

92. Anton Harber, South Africa, former journalist with the Rand Daily Mail until
its closure by the apartheid government, co-founder and editor of the Weekly
Mail (now The Mail & Guardian) and Professor of Journalism at the University
of the Witwatersrand

93. John-Allan Namu, Kenya, award-winning investigative journalist, co-founder
of Africa Uncensored, 2017 Desmond Tutu Fellow

94. Alice Nkom, Cameroon, leading human rights lawyer, defender of rights of
the LGBT community

95. Mouctar Bah, Guinea, veteran journalist

96. Andrew Feinstein, South Africa, former ANC MP, Executive Director of
Corruption Watch UK, author of The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms
Trade

97. William Rasoanaivo, Madagascar, award-winning political cartoonist

98. Claudia Gastrow, South Africa, anthropologist, Univeristy of Johannesburg

99. Motlatsi Thabane, Lesotho, professor of History, University of e-Swatini

100. Cyriac Gbogou, Ivory Coast, blogger, co-founder of O’Village and key
actor in the new technology sector in the country

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