Eritrean human rights advocate Helen Berhane targeted with threats by YouTuber granted asylum in Canada
Eritrean human rights advocate Helen Berhane has been defamed and threatened by Canada-based YouTuber Selemun Syum, who urged his viewers in the Eritrean diaspora to “deal with her,” according to reports from the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, on whose board she serves.
In a broadcast in Tigrinya on Sept. 15, Syum, creator and presenter of Solo Media, insulted and threatened Berhane after she spoke about difficulties faced by elderly Eritreans at Dubai Airport, CSW reported.
While in transit at Dubai Airport returning to her home in Denmark from a humanitarian visit to Ethiopia, Berhane recorded a video describing how elderly Eritreans were stranded due to their inability to pay transit charges following the suspension of direct flights to Eritrea by Ethiopian Airlines.
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“Our elders are truly suffering, and this must be addressed. Let us not be divided by ethnicity, race, or region, but unite to help our people,” she stated.
In response, Syum accused Berhane of lying about both the plight of the elderly Eritreans and her 32 months of imprisonment in shipping containers at Eritrea’s Mai Serwa prison, despite her ordeal being confirmed by released inmates and documented by several human rights organizations, CSW said.
Syum described Berhane as “snake-like,” “insane,” “a Tigrayan, born and raised in Asmara,” and an “TPLF [Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front] spy.” He falsely accused her of meeting with U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., whom Berhane has never met, and claimed she has been paid to “demonize” Eritrea and lied about her imprisonment and torture to “push for the imposition of sanctions on the government and people of Eritrea,” CSW reported.
“Ominously, he stated that ‘people like this one have been acting freely for too long. [...] We need to deal with her and others like her. [...] The people of Eritrea will not let you get away with this. They will hold you accountable,’” CSW said.
According to CSW’s sources, Syum, based in Calgary, was granted asylum in Canada along with his family on the grounds of having fled persecution. However, since November 2020, he has used his YouTube channel to support the Eritrean regime and insult and threaten its opponents.
Berhane told CSW that Syum has been harassing her for three years, beginning when she spoke against the use of rape as a weapon of war during the Tigray crisis. He accused her of spreading fake news.
Berhane demanded YouTube investigate Syum. On X, she wrote in part, “This person allowed to use @YouTube to threaten a human rights advocate? Investigate now!”
CSW’s CEO Scot Bower said, “Mr. Syum should be held accountable if she is harmed in any way as a result of his falsehoods.”
He added, “Not only does he appear to have claimed asylum on questionable grounds; by inciting his sizeable audience to attack and intimidate members of the diaspora who oppose the Eritrean regime, he is also facilitating its transnational repression.”
Bower also urged YouTube to close down Syum’s channel.
