With the world's attention focused elsewhere, aid officials in Eritrea say this tiny nation in Africa's Horn is quietly approaching a humanitarian disaster. More than two thirds of Eritrea's 3.3 million people are facing the spectre of famine as the country confronts its worst drought since it officially gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Appeals for international assistance began last summer, but the response so far has not been as swift as aid officials and government representatives had hoped.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has received a response from the U.S. Defense Department to a letter sent on February 5, 2003, to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. CPJ had written to Rumsfeld expressing concern about 18 journalists in Eritrea who are currently being held incommunicado, as well as the Eritrean government's decision to ban all private press in the country. In December 2002, Rumsfeld met with Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki while visiting Eritrea to investigate possible sites for a U.S. military base. When asked at a press conference about the country's abysmal press freedom record Rumsfeld noted that Eritrea "is a sovereign nation, and they arrange themselves and deal with their problems in ways that they feel are appropriate to them."