Isaias Afwerki

In this Eritrean name, the name Afwerki is a patronymic, and the person should be referred by the given name, Isaias.

His Excellency
Isaias Afwerki
ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ
Isaias in 2024
1st President of Eritrea
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 May 1993
Preceded byOffice established
President of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 May 1993
Preceded byOffice established
Chairman of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 February 1994
Preceded byParty established
Secretary-General of the Provisional Government of Eritrea
In office
27 April 1991 – 24 May 1993
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front
In office
12 January 1987 – 16 February 1994
Preceded byRomodan Mohammed Nur
Succeeded byParty dissolved
Personal details
Born (1946-02-02) 2 February 1946 (age 78)
Asmara, British Administration in Eritrea
(present-day Eritrea)
Political partyPeople's Front for Democracy and Justice
SpouseSaba Haile
Children3
EducationAddis Ababa University (dropped out)
Signature
Military service
AllegianceELF (1966–1969)
EPLF (1970–1994)
Years of service1966–1991
Battles/warsEritrean War of Independence
Eritrean Civil Wars

Isaias Afwerki (Tigrinya: ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ,[1] pronounced [isajas afwɐrkʼi] ⓘ; born 2 February 1946)[2] is an Eritrean politician and partisan who has been the first and only president of Eritrea since 1993. In addition to being president, Isaias has been the chairman of Eritrea's sole legal political party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ).

Isaias joined the pro-independence Eritrean Liberation Front in 1966 and quickly rose through the ranks to become its leader in 1970, before defecting to form the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). Having consolidated power within this group, he led pro-independence forces to victory on 24 May 1991, ending the 30-year-old war for independence from Ethiopia,[3] before being elected president of the newly-founded country of Eritrea two years later.

Western scholars and historians have long considered Isaias to be a dictator, with Eritrea's constitution remaining unenforced, electoral institutions effectively being nonexistent as well as a policy of mass conscription.[4][5][6][7][8] The United Nations and Amnesty International have cited him for human rights violations.[9][10] In 2024, Reporters Without Borders ranked Eritrea, under the government of Isaias, last out of 180 countries in its Press Freedom Index.[11]

  1. ^ "ፕረዚደንት ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ፡ ኣብ መልእኽቲ ሓድሽ ዓመት እንታይ ኣመልኪቱ?" (in Tigrinya). BBC World Service. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  2. ^ "President: Isaias Afwerki". BBC News. The BBC. 1 May 2014. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  3. ^ Perlez, Jane (16 June 1991). "Eritreans, Fresh From Victory, Must Now Govern". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. ^ "OHCHR Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea". OHCHR. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  5. ^ Human Rights Watch (12 January 2017), "Eritrea: Events of 2016", English, archived from the original on 23 August 2018, retrieved 20 November 2022
  6. ^ Keane, Fergal (9 July 2018). "Can Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed make peace with 'Africa's North Korea'?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  7. ^ Taylor, Adam (12 June 2015). "The brutal dictatorship the world keeps ignoring". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  8. ^ de Waal, Alex (2 September 2022). "The Despotism of Isaias Afewerki". The Baffler. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  9. ^ Cumming-Bruce, Nick (8 June 2015). "Torture and Other Rights Abuses Are Widespread in Eritrea, U.N. Panel Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2019. has imposed a reign of fear through systematic and extreme abuses of the population that may amount to crimes against humanity
  10. ^ "Eritrea: Rampant repression 20 years after independence". Amnesty International. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  11. ^ "2024 World Press Freedom Index". Reporters Without Borders. 2024. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.