Trenton, N.J.: Red Sea Press, 2005

Conversations reproduces interviews I conducted in 2000 and 2001 with five top leaders of the liberation front and government who challenged President Isaias Afwerki over his refusal to implement a Constitution ratified in 1997 or to entertain any criticism of his autocratic leadership. Shortly after the last conversation, they were arrested. None has been seen since. Most are presumed dead. The interviews shed light on the nature of the front’s and the state’s leadership and the secret party through which Isaias controlled its members and the wider society. In doing so, it reveals much about his character and methods, then and since.