A journalist from Eritrea is one of the awardees of the International Press Freedom Awards 2002. Fesshaye Yohannes is a writer and co-founder of Setit, a popular Eritrean newspaper. He was imprisoned last September with nine other journalists after authorities banned all of Eritrea's independent newspapers for "jeopardizing national unity." He is being held incommunicado without charges.

The US on Monday dismissed allegations it had tried to overthrow the government of Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki. Last Friday, the Eritrean government reacted strongly to a statement by the State Department last week accusing it of human rights violations.

After 30 years of exile in neighbouring Sudan, Eritrean refugees are finally returning back home, but the shock of being uprooted from the relative comfort of the well supplied refugee camps is often very evident. In Gash Barka, a harsh desert region in Western Eritrea, water is worth its weight in gold. The local residents have already raised concerns that the influx of returnees risked overextending the existing water supply.

Thousands of Eritrean refugees in Sudan are in limbo as recent tensions between the two countries have put their repatriation on hold just months before their refugee status comes to an end.

Eritrea has denied backing Sudanese rebel forces which launched an attack in eastern Sudan last week.