Eritrea "signed Alexander Strategy Group [3], a firm with strong Republican ties, to a contract worth more than $300K a year to improve its ties with the United States." According to Amnesty International [4], "torture, arbitrary detention, 'disappearances' and ill-treatment of political prisoners" are common [5] in the Horn of Africa nation. Human Rights Watch [6] reports [7], "The Eritrean government has lobbied the United States to use Eritrea's Red Sea ports as military bases in the war against terrorism." The contract "forbids the [Alexander Strategy Group] from discussing its work without the consent of Eritrea." The Alexander Strategy Group's other clients include the Nuclear Energy Institute [8], Blackwater USA [9] and PhRMA [10].