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News this week that the Trump administration has been in secret talks with the Eritrean government to remove existing U.S. sanctions on the country is, on its surface, a head-scratcher. The removal of sanctions would normally signal the end of a path of marked reforms, such as when U.S. President Donald Trump lifted terrorism sanctions on Sudan in 2020, or acknowledge a wholescale change of regime necessitating a fresh start, as was the case in Syria last year. Eritrea has achieved neither of these benchmarks.

In fact, the internal political and human rights situation in the country remains much as it has been since President Isaias Afwerki came to power in 1993. In his more than 30 years at the head of this militarized dictatorship, Isaias has never stood for election and continues to wield absolute power absent a constitution. The national legislature has not met since 2010, and Isaias’s People’s Front for Democracy and Justice remains the only legally allowed political party, guaranteeing no formal checks on his unlimited power.

News this week that the Trump administration has been in secret talks with the Eritrean government to remove existing U.S. sanctions on the country is, on its surface, a head-scratcher. The removal of sanctions would normally signal the end of a path of marked reforms, such as when U.S. President Donald Trump lifted terrorism sanctions on Sudan in 2020, or acknowledge a wholescale change of regime necessitating a fresh start, as was the case in Syria last year. Eritrea has achieved neither of these benchmarks.

In fact, the internal political and human rights situation in the country remains much as it has been since President Isaias Afwerki came to power in 1993. In his more than 30 years at the head of this militarized dictatorship, Isaias has never stood for election and continues to wield absolute power absent a constitution. The national legislature has not met since 2010, and Isaias’s People’s Front for Democracy and Justice remains the only legally allowed political........

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