[prisoner-rights] Eritrea: Release Political Prisoners

Eritrea: Release Political Prisoners

(New York, September 17, 2003) - The Eritrean government should release
political prisoners and allow for freedom of the press, Human Rights Watch
said on the second anniversary of a major crackdown against civil society.
Eritrea's practice of arbitrary arrests and detentions continues to this day.

"Eritreans, who struggled valiantly to become free and independent, deserve
to have their human rights respected," said Peter Takirambudde, executive
director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. "Unfortunately, the
government continues to deny them that opportunity."

On September 18, 2001, the Eritrean government arrested eleven leaders of the
ruling party after they sent a letter to President Issayas Afewerki calling
for democratic reforms, including the implementation of the 1997
constitution.

In the roundup that followed, publishers, editors, and reporters were
arrested, and all non-government newspapers and magazines were closed down.
In the two years since, the government has arrested scores more, either
because of their ties to the dissidents or their perceived political views.

President Issayas has referred to the detainees as "traitors" and "spies,"
but formal charges have not been filed. To detain people for more than thirty
days without charges is a violation of Eritrean law.

Arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention without trial has not been limited
to politicians and journalists. In late 2002, the government detained 250
refugees who attempted to flee Eritrea after being involuntarily repatriated
from Malta.  The refugees have been held incommunicado ever since.

Religious minorities are also subject to persecution.  Members of Pentecostal
Christian churches and Jehovah=s Witnesses are frequently arrested for
practicing their faiths. There have been so many arrests that some prisoners
are being incarcerated in empty cargo containers. International human rights
organizations and the International Committee for the Red Cross have been
denied access to prisons.

Eritrea is a one-party state. National elections have not been held since
Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia in 1993.  Elections were canceled
in 1997 because of a border war with Ethiopia.  They were canceled again in
2001, two years after the war ended, and remain unscheduled.

"The Eritrean government continues to withhold the basic freedoms that the
Eritrean people voted for in 1997," Takirambudde said. "In a year in which
Eritrea is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its independence, it is
highly unfortunate that it is also commemorating the second anniversary of
government repression."

To read more on human rights issues in Eritrea, please see:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/eritrea.php