HAW Daily Brief 1/5 HAW Press Release: World’s Longest-detained Journalists Mark 25 Years Behind Bars As Global Coalition Launches Appeal For Dawit Isaak hostageaid.org/press-release… Washington D.C. - Hostage Aid Worldwide The Coalition is urging Swedish and EU officials to secure without further delay: Proof of life; Consular access; Independent medical care; and Dawit Isaak’s immediate release and transfer to Sweden. The Global Appeal for Action for Dawit Isaak is led by @TheRWCHR & endorsed by an international coalition of human rights groups, comprised of: @pressfreedom, @Edelstam, @eritrea_focus, @FreeDawit, @GLALegalDefense, @HostageAid, @HRF, @SolidarityHR, @PEN_Ertra, & @RSF_RUG.

HAW Press Release: World’s Longest-detained Journalists Mark 25 Years Behind Bars As Global Coalition Launches Appeal For Dawit Isaak September 23 marks 25 years since Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak was forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily detained by Eritrean authorities. Arrested alongside several fellow journalists in September 2001, Mr. Isaak and his colleagues are now the world’s longest-detained journalists. For a quarter century, he and his imprisoned colleagues have been held without charge or trial, denied contact with their families, deprived of basic legal protections, and denied basic humanitarian safeguards. Dawit Isaak is a Swedish citizen and the recipient of the 2024 Edelstam Prize. Since then, the Harald Edelstam Foundation has devoted two years to advocating for his release, together with human rights organizations and other actors around the world. The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights along with a broad international coalition of human rights groups is urging Swedish and EU officials to take meaningful action on his case while there is still time. A Test for Europe Dawit Isaak’s case is a test of whether Sweden and the European Union are willing and able to protect their citizens when they are subjected to grave human rights violations abroad. For 25 years, that test has gone unanswered. But it is not too late. For 25 years, Swedish and EU officials responsible for foreign affairs, consular protection, and human rights policy have been unable to secure any meaningful progress in his case. Given the prolonged length of Mr. Isaak’s detention and the severity of the conditions he has been forced to endure, there is no time to lose. The Coalition is urging Swedish and EU officials to secure without further delay: – Proof of life; – Consular access; – Independent medical care; and – Dawit Isaak’s immediate release and transfer to Sweden. The Global Appeal for Action for Dawit Isaak is led by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and endorsed by an international coalition of human rights groups, comprised of: Committee to Protect Journalists, Edelstam Foundation, Eritrea Focus, Free Dawit, Global Liberty Alliance, Hostage Aid Worldwide, Human Rights Foundation, Human Rights Solidarity, Pen Eritrea and Reporters Without Borders (Sweden). Read more in HAW’s full press release on our website: hostageaid.org/press-release… @TheRWCHR @bergersus @RSF_inter @pressfreedom @FreeDawit @HRF @eritrea_focus @Edelstam @CPJAfrica @GLALegalDefense @MariaStenergard @MehariMeng53005 @ErmiLiberty @SwedishPM @SweMFA @kajakallas @EP_President @Europarl_EN @EUCouncil