During the
Eritrean War of Independence Paulos Tesfagiorgis was the head of the Eritrean Relief Association, coordinating international aid for Eritreans, particularly during the
1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. Following Eritrean independence, Tesfagiorgis was appointed to the commission which drafted Eritrea's constitution. The constitution was ratified in 1997. In 2002, Tesfagiorgis and 17 other Eritreans set up the Citizens Initiative for the Salvation of Eritrea (CISE). He believes that only democratically elected governments have legitimacy, because they are always accountable to the people they govern. For this reason he also abstains from violence. He joined the UK-based nonpartisan activist group Eritrea Focus in 2018 to promote nonviolent transition to democratic rule.
Exile Fearing for his safety due to his critical stance against the government's reluctance to democratize, Tesfagiorgis left Eritrea for London in April 2001
. From his exile in London, and later in South Africa, Tesfagiorgis has been working for the advocacy organisation
Justice Africa, and has spent much time working for agreements among other Eritrean dissidents on a nonviolent democratic alternative for Eritrea. In June 2015, a
United Nations Commission on Human Rights of Inquiry accused Eritrean president
Isaias Afwerki of systematic, widespread and gross
human rights violations that may constitute
crimes against humanity. == Honors and awards ==