THREAD: Hello friends.
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So, we know the US has extended an olive branch to Asmara, because of a leaked document seen by Reuters. What we don't know is if there's any effort by the Trump admin to capitalize on an opportunity to learn about Ciham and rescue her.
Is she even on the agenda?
HRW article on the 10th anniversary of her arrest in 2022.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/12/07/eritrea-10-years-behind-bars-ex-ministers-daughter
In the days and weeks to come, what is currently a hush hush behind the scenes diplomatic maneuver by western states to bring Eritrea back from the cold, will become public.
We'll need the scrutiny then.
LA native Ciham Ali Abdu has now been disappeared for 13 years, 5 months, one day and counting. She'd be 29 years old today.
The Eritrean human rights advocacy group One Day Seyoum have been campaigning for her release for years. Their website:
https://onedayseyoum.org/ciham -
In the days and weeks to come, what is currently a hush hush behind the scenes diplomatic maneuver by western states to bring Eritrea back from the cold, will become public.
We'll need the scrutiny then.
LA native Ciham Ali Abdu has now been disappeared for 13 years, 5 months, one day and counting. She'd be 29 years old today.
The Eritrean human rights advocacy group One Day Seyoum have been campaigning for her release for years. Their website:
https://onedayseyoum.org/cihamAs someone of Eritrean descent myself, I can tell you that there is zero expectation in our communities that this diplomatic clamour for Eritrea will result in reform of any kind, that could enable us to visit our families at home.
But the bare minimum is closure about the fate of an American, a child political prisoner who has spent nearly half her life incommunicado.
I wonder if it's too much to expect the US press circle to bring this up as the US prepares for this foreign policy switch up.
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As someone of Eritrean descent myself, I can tell you that there is zero expectation in our communities that this diplomatic clamour for Eritrea will result in reform of any kind, that could enable us to visit our families at home.
But the bare minimum is closure about the fate of an American, a child political prisoner who has spent nearly half her life incommunicado.
I wonder if it's too much to expect the US press circle to bring this up as the US prepares for this foreign policy switch up.
This is Vanessa Tsehaye, among the most amazing people I know.
She is the founder of One Day Seyoum & managed to collect over 440,000 signatures for a petition submitted to the US gov, demanding action on Ciham. This is her when she submitted it, in late 2025.
She's a former Amnesty International researcher, &now journalist at Al Jazeera. She also won the Magnitsky prize in 2025.
Her uncle Seyoum Tsehaye is a journo held incommunicado in Eritrea since 2001.
May the demands of 440k be heard.
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@Zecharias Zelalem
Too many posts to click. Unfortunately, the wrong colour for american media... -
Most of the Gulf and western powers were certain that the IRGC in Tehran would crumble under the weight of the Israeli-American offensive against the country.
As you all know, that hasn't exactly panned out.
Some 4 million barrels of crude per day pass through the Bab El Mandeb. It has always been a strategic oil corridor but even more so now. And now there is a geopolitical race for this strait, with the realization that the reliability of the Hormuz is going to be compromised for a while.
@ZekuZelalem I really don't think most western powers had that opinion, I don't even think that was consensual opinion inside the USA.
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@ZekuZelalem I really don't think most western powers had that opinion, I don't even think that was consensual opinion inside the USA.
@DiogoConstantino ah you're actually right. US intelligence didnt support the move either. But I believe that's what the head honcho in DC believed!
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@DiogoConstantino ah you're actually right. US intelligence didnt support the move either. But I believe that's what the head honcho in DC believed!
@ZekuZelalem All military and defence publications in the world predicted this would happen (Iran blocking the strait), it was clearly one of the most important parts of Iran strategy. Details on how have changed over the time, but this was 100% predicted, and the resilience of the resistance was also predictable.
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@ZekuZelalem All military and defence publications in the world predicted this would happen (Iran blocking the strait), it was clearly one of the most important parts of Iran strategy. Details on how have changed over the time, but this was 100% predicted, and the resilience of the resistance was also predictable.
@DiogoConstantino Well, they tragically don't hold much sway over Netanyahu and Trump. Nor (per WaPost) Mohammed bin Salman, who apparently fervently believed a knockout punch was possible
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THREAD: Hello friends. So depending on your exposure to African news, you may or may not recognize the girl in the photo.
But with the Iran Hormuz deadlock, and global powers looking elsewhere for trade corridors, it is timely to know about her. Especially if you are American. Her story may (should!) become very relevant in the near future.
Her name is Ciham Ali Abdu and she is an American citizen.
She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.
@ZekuZelalem Thanks for the interesting read, most of this information was new to me. Good luck!
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This is Vanessa Tsehaye, among the most amazing people I know.
She is the founder of One Day Seyoum & managed to collect over 440,000 signatures for a petition submitted to the US gov, demanding action on Ciham. This is her when she submitted it, in late 2025.
She's a former Amnesty International researcher, &now journalist at Al Jazeera. She also won the Magnitsky prize in 2025.
Her uncle Seyoum Tsehaye is a journo held incommunicado in Eritrea since 2001.
May the demands of 440k be heard.
@ZekuZelalem I'm still ashamed of the UK gov for asserting that Eritrea was a safe country, and that claims for asylum would be treated with scepticism.
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THREAD: Hello friends. So depending on your exposure to African news, you may or may not recognize the girl in the photo.
But with the Iran Hormuz deadlock, and global powers looking elsewhere for trade corridors, it is timely to know about her. Especially if you are American. Her story may (should!) become very relevant in the near future.
Her name is Ciham Ali Abdu and she is an American citizen.
She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.
recommended thread
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THREAD: Hello friends. So depending on your exposure to African news, you may or may not recognize the girl in the photo.
But with the Iran Hormuz deadlock, and global powers looking elsewhere for trade corridors, it is timely to know about her. Especially if you are American. Her story may (should!) become very relevant in the near future.
Her name is Ciham Ali Abdu and she is an American citizen.
She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.
The story reminds me of another American girl, Nawar (Nora) Al-Alwaki, killed in the US raid on Yakla in Yemen. She was 8 years old. This happened during tRump’s first week as President in 2017, and as far as I can tell no one in the Administration and very few in US society really cared. It’s very sad.
This article is from Feb. 2017, when the tRump Admin was still lying about every aspect of the deadly and useless raid.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/01/yemen-strike-eight-year-old-american-girl-killed-al-awlaki -
THREAD: Hello friends. So depending on your exposure to African news, you may or may not recognize the girl in the photo.
But with the Iran Hormuz deadlock, and global powers looking elsewhere for trade corridors, it is timely to know about her. Especially if you are American. Her story may (should!) become very relevant in the near future.
Her name is Ciham Ali Abdu and she is an American citizen.
She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.
@ZekuZelalem
Sounds like somebody needs a regime change... oh wait you said they are cooperating with the west? In that case, all is forgiven.Great thread btw.
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This is Vanessa Tsehaye, among the most amazing people I know.
She is the founder of One Day Seyoum & managed to collect over 440,000 signatures for a petition submitted to the US gov, demanding action on Ciham. This is her when she submitted it, in late 2025.
She's a former Amnesty International researcher, &now journalist at Al Jazeera. She also won the Magnitsky prize in 2025.
Her uncle Seyoum Tsehaye is a journo held incommunicado in Eritrea since 2001.
May the demands of 440k be heard.
@ZekuZelalem amazing reporting here I hadn't heard any of this story.
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Ali Abdu doesn't appear to have coordinated his defection with his family. Because weeks later, in December 2012, his daughter Ciham, then aged 15, tried to flee from Eritrea by crossing the border on foot into Sudan.
She was caught and taken into custody. She hasn't been seen since. Human rights orgs have slammed the US for the lack of urgency on her case.
The girl who dreamed of being a fashion designer, is paying the price for what Eritrea's President deems to be her father's betrayal.
@ZekuZelalem I had a work colleague years ago who, at 15 managed to escape to Sudan with her teenage brother. They ended up as refugees in the US but it took two years from leaving home to settling in the US. I think most Americans haven’t even heard of Eritrea, let alone know what goes on there.
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