Villanova student seeks attention for jailed uncle in Eritrea

Vanessa Berhe, 19, is on a mission. It is personal and it is international, involving a country that most Americans know little about.

Berhe, a freshman at Villanova University, has been campaigning for years to draw attention to the plight of her uncle, Seyoum Tsehaye, an Eritrean journalist. At age 5, she tried collecting money on his behalf.

She knows he was jailed 14 years ago, but isn't even sure that he's still alive.

She has produced an online video; founded an organization, One Day Seyoum, seeking Tsehaye's freedom; started a petition drive and website; put the word out on social media; contacted lawyers; filed a writ of habeas corpus with an Eritrean court; demonstrated at the U.N.

She has appealed even to the Vatican, and said she received a personal assurance from Pope Francis.

And last week, her cause got a boost from some of her fellow students, who staged an attention-getting event on her behalf.

With black bands across their mouths, four students took a seat in one of 10 chairs; the six empty chairs represented Eritrean journalists known to have died in captivity in the African nation. Meanwhile Berhe and others gathered signatures on a petition demanding the immediate release of all journalists and political prisoners in Eritrea.

Behre has a particular interest in her uncle. "I want to make sure his struggle is not forgotten."

Berhe was born in Stockholm, Sweden, where her family settled after fleeing Eritrea. She is studying at Villanova on a one-year scholarship for Swedish students. She also serves as a youth ambassador for the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, a scientific research institute located in Vatican City.

While at a conference there last year, she met the pope and asked whether he would be willing to support her campaign. " 'Of course I am,' " she said he told her.

Berhe, who has visited Eritrea twice, first learned about her uncle as a child.

"He is my role model," she said.

Part of her mission includes telling people about Eritrea, an African county of 6.4 million located on the Red Sea and bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.

Calls to the Eritrean embassy in Washington were not returned, and efforts to reach the Eritrean U.N. ambassador were not successful.

"The goal is to spread the story," Berhe said.

"The fight for his release is more than just about him," she said. She hopes to put pressure on other governments who will then push Eritrean leaders.

Tsehaye, now 62, was one of Eritrea's most prominent journalists. He has not been heard from since Sept. 21, 2001, when he was taken off the streets and imprisoned during a roundup of journalists and others who opposed the oppressive government of President Isaias Afwerki, who rose to power in 1993 after the nation gained independence from Ethiopia.

Tsehaye was never formally charged with a crime. He has never had a trial, and has never been allowed visits from family. In 2007, he was named Journalist of the Year by Reporters Without Borders, which lists the state of press freedom in Eritrea as "very serious."

Adotei Akwei, an Amnesty International spokesman, applauds Berhe's efforts.

"The more we see these kind of initiatives, the greater chance we have of enacting change," Akwei said.

Eritrea is a closed police state with no access for human-rights groups. It hasn't yielded to pressure from the United States or European nations for change.

"The consequence is that people like Seyoum are in jail in the thousands," Akwei said.

Berhe hopes to take her message beyond Villanova to other universities.

"I am not going to give up hope," Berhe said.

For more information, visit http://www.onedayseyoum.com

mschaefer@phillynews.com

610-313-8111@MariSchaefer