Vanessa Tsehaye (formerly Vanessa Berhe) is

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

–

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist.

Early life

Vanessa Tsehaye was born to Eritrean parents in 1996 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, where she grew up. In 2001, Vanessa was told about the arrest of her maternal uncle

Seyoum Tsehaye Seyoum Tsehaye (born 1952) is a jailed Eritrean journalist. At independence in 1993, Tsehaye was named to the head of Eri-TV, the Eritrean state broadcaster. He was arrested in September 2001 when President Isaias Afewerki closed all non-governme ...

, a former head of Eritrean public television

Eri-TV Eri-TV (acronym for Eritrean Television) is an Eritrean state-owned television network. Headquartered in the nation's capital Asmara, it broadcasts 24 hours a day. The station offers around-the-clock news bulletins, talk shows, and propaganda p ...

. Vanessa describes being perplexed by the arrest. She started to collect money at her high school, hoping to pay for a rescue flight to Eritrea. These events catalyzed her interest in campaigning for Eritrean human rights.

Education and early career

Vanessa graduated in law from

SOAS University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

c.2019. She served as an assistant producer for

The Listening Post ''The Listening Post'' is a current affairs programme broadcast on Al Jazeera English, filmed and produced from AJE's hub in London at the Shard. History First aired in November 2006, along with Al Jazeera English, the show was an essential p ...

from June 2018 to January 2020.

Human rights activism

In 2013, Vanessa started the ''One Day Seyoum'' campaign to guarantee human rights in Eritrea, and free Eritrean political prisoners, including Sehoum; she continues to serve as the executive director. Vanessa described the aims of her campaign stating, The campaign picked up pace since 2018, after the Eritrea–Ethiopia Peace Summit. In 2021, she launched the ''2001'' Magazine to chronicle life in Eritrea.

Recognition

In 2019, ''

Asmarino ''Asmarino'' or ''Asmarino Independent Media'' is an Eritrean diaspora news website created in 1997. Creation ''Asmarino'' was created in 1997 by Tesfaledet, an Eritrean refugee living in the United States The United States of America (U. ...

'' described Vanessa as "one of the most prominent human rights activists Eritrea has ever known." , Vanessa is a campaigner of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

for the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

Viewpoints

Vanessa has called out the (ab)use of postcolonial rhetoric to deflect criticisms off Eritrea. In February 2021, Vanessa objected to the blocking of humanitarian access in the

Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...

, arguing that bureaucracy was slowing down some requests and refusing others, in violation of the obligations of

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...

. She stated that the communications blockade made it difficult for worldwide attention to focus on the war. In 2018, Vanessa objected to the use of the 1998–2000

Eritrean–Ethiopian War The Eritrean–Ethiopian War, also known as the Badme War, was a major armed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea that took place from May 1998 to June 2000. The war has its origins in a territorial dispute between the two states. After Eritr ...

as a "justification for turning ritreainto a dictatorship". She objected to Eritrean indefinite military service, to systematic rape, torture and other crimes, to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

not convening since 2002, to the non-implementation of the

Constitution of Eritrea The Constitution of Eritrea is the supreme law of Eritrea. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the State and source of legal authority. It sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of government. ...

and to arrest without trial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsehaye, Vanessa 1990s births Living people Amnesty International people Eritrean human rights activists Alumni of SOAS University of London