Click HERE to read the full article or HERE
for PDF format.
EHDR-UK
campaign to stop the deportation of Eritreans from Libya
EHDR-UK
- 17 June 2004
EHDR-UK
urges all Eritreans who care about those who are being prepared for
deportation from Libya to print this
petition letter (PDF), sign,
complete the personal details and fax it to your nearest Libyan Mission,
Embassy or Consulate (see list of fax numbers below) as soon as you can.
Print
LETTER (PDF)
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Country |
Libyan
Embassy Fax No. |
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United
Kingdom |
+44
20 7589 6087 |
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Germany |
+49
228 36 42 60; +49 30
20 05 96 99 |
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Austria |
+43
1 367 76 01 |
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United
Nations/USA |
+1
212 593-4787 |
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France |
+33
1 40.67.16.42; +33
1.47.55.96.25 |
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Belgium |
+32
2 640.90.76 |
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Portugal |
+351
1 3012378 |
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Spain |
+34
91 564 39 86 |
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Switzerland |
+41
31 352 52 35 |
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Denmark |
+45
35265606 |
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Canada |
+1
613 230-0683 |
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EHDR-UK
sends a letter of appeal to the Libyan leader
EHDR-UK -
15 June 2004
EHDR-UK sent a letter to the
Libyan leader H.E.
Colonel Mu'ammar Abu-Minyar al-Qadhafi urging him to intervene and
halt the planned deportation of about 15 Eritrean refugees from
Libya. The letter highlighted the abuses Eritrean youth are facing
in their own country and it further cited the plight of those who were
forcibly returned from Malta in 2002......
Click HERE to read the report.
Inter-Parliamentary
Union: Eritrea - Resolution adopted unanimously by
the Governing Council
IPU
- 23 April 2004
......Bearing in mind
that the Constitution of Eritrea, in its Articles 15, 17 and 19,
guarantees the right to liberty and to freedom from arbitrary arrest, the
right for any detained person to be brought before a court of law within
48 hours of arrest and the right to freedom of expression, being rights
also enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, and in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, to both
which Eritrea is a party,
-
Thanks
the Ambassador of the State of Eritrea to the European Union, Belgium,
Luxembourg and Spain for the information and clarifications he
provided;
-
Takes
note of the decision given in November 2003 in this case by the
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, ruling that the human
rights of the former MPs concerned have been violated; deeply regrets
that the authorities have so far not heeded the Commission's decision
and continue to detain them in disregard of their obligations not only
under the Constitution of Eritrea, but also under the African Charter
on Human and Peoples' Rights and the ICCPR;
-
Affirms
that the peace process under way can in no way justify such violation
of human rights, which on the contrary can only harm that process;
-
Urges
therefore the authorities to heed the decision of the African
Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and to release the former MPs
concerned without delay;
-
Reiterates
its decision to carry out an on-site mission to gather from the
competent authorities and the persons concerned as much information as
possible on this case, and stresses in this respect that it is a
well-established doctrine that human rights matters are of
international concern and that ensuring their respect is a duty
incumbent upon the international community;
-
Requests
the Secretary General to contact the authorities again to seek their
agreement to an on-site mission to be carried out as early as
possible;
-
Requests
the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its
next session, to be held on the occasion of the 111th Assembly
(September-October 2004).
Click HERE to read the full report.
Click HERE to read the full article in Tigrinya (pdf).
ERITREA:
'You have no right to ask' – Government resists scrutiny on human rights
AI
- 19 May 2004
 .......Amnesty International has been informed by recently-released prisoners and other sources that some detainees including some who were feared to have "disappeared" have been extrajudicially sentenced to prison terms. Secret committees of security, police and military officers reportedly received statements taken from prisoners after interrogation and assessments by their interrogators, and then made their judgments and delivered sentences. There was no hearing or opportunity for the detainee to present a defence or submit an appeal.
This practice of secret administrative sentencing can have no legitimacy whatsoever. It apparently started with the cases of the "Dergue detainees" – about 150 members of the former Ethiopian administration in Eritrea who were detained at independence in 1991. The government did not want to give them open trials, but instead they were given secret prison sentences of mostly 10-15 years, as in the cases of Isaac Tseggai, former Chief Administrator of Eritrea (reportedly now released), and Tesfaye Ma'asho, his deputy. They have been serving their sentences in official prisons where they were registered by the prison service as if they were court-sentenced prisoners......
Click HERE to read the full report in html or HERE to read in pdf format.
Eritrea: Government resists scrutiny on human rights and calls to end torture and arbitrary detention
AI
- 19 May 2004
Since the crackdown two-and- a-half years ago on peaceful dissent and calls for democratic reform, torture, arbitrary detention, "disappearances" and ill-treatment of political prisoners have become entrenched in Eritrea, Amnesty International said today in a new report, Eritrea:' You have no right to ask' - Government resists scrutiny on human
rights......
Click HERE to read the full Press Release.
World
Press Freedom Day - Significance to Eritrea
EHDR-UK - 3 May 2004
........To
remind the world of what is happening in Eritrea on the issue of press
freedom, the Eritreans for Human and Democratic Rights-UK (EHDR-UK) would
like to list some of the abuses and facts that are currently
underway.
1.
About 15 journalists are still detained, some for 4 years, at undisclosed
places and some are feared dead;
2.
The regime has consistently refused to honour international requests for
the release of journalists and has instead reinforced its monopoly ......
Click HERE to read the full Press Release.
EHDR-UK
sends letters to the Tunisian and South African Governments
EHDR-UK -
April 2004
EHDR-UK
sent a letter to the Tunisian government to alert them about the plight of
Eritrean refugees who were rescued by a Tunisian merchant vessel after their
own was damaged by bad weather and gale force winds. It also sent
another letter to the South African President on the plight of the
Eritrean students who are currently studying in South Africa.
Click HERE to read the report.
Seminar
on Civil Societies - Part 2
EHDR-UK -
April 2004
Dr.
Gaim Kibreab, an External Resource Lecturer and currently doing research
on civil society will be continuing his seminar on "Civil Society and
its relevance to Eritrea". There will also be a discussion on
other matters. All are invited to attend and please be on time.
Venue:
Beethoven Centre, Third Avenue,
Harrow Road, London W10 4JL
Time:
1:30pm - 5pm
Date:
Sunday
18 April 2004
Eritrea:
Attacks on the Press
CPJ
- 12 March 2004
With 17 journalists in prison in 2003, Eritrea was Africa’s leading jailer of journalists. CPJ named the country one of the "World’s Worst Places to Be a Journalist" for the second consecutive year.
Despite jubilant celebrations in the capital, Asmara, honoring the 10-year anniversary of the country’s independence on May 24, Eritrea’s development has been almost completely halted due to the devastating 1998-2000 border war with neighboring Ethiopia, as well as President Isaias Afewerki’s increasingly dictatorial rule.......
Click HERE to read the full report.
Click HERE to read the full article in Tigrinya (pdf).
Decision
of the 34th Session of African Commission on Human &
Peoples' Rights
ACHPR
- 9 March 2004
.........For the above reasons, the African Commission,
Finds the State of Eritrea in violation of Articles 2, 6, 7(1) and 9(2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights;
Urges the State of Eritrea to order the immediate release of the 11 detainees, namely, Petros Solomon, Ogbe Abraha, Haile Woldetensae, Mahmud Ahmed Sheriffo, Berhane Ghebre Eghzabiher, Astier Feshation, Saleh Kekya, Hamid Himid, Estifanos Seyoum, Germano Nati, and Beraki Ghebre Selassie; and
Recommends that the State of Eritrea compensates the abovementioned persons
Click HERE to read the full report.
Eritrea:
Prisoners of Conscience / Torture or ill-treatment
AI
- 9 March 2004
ERITREA
Pastor Mengist Tewelde-Medhin (m); and 55 members of the Hallelujah
Pentecostal Christian church. Police and security officers arrested
Pastor Mengist Tewelde-Medhin, and 55 women, children and men from the
Hallelujah Pentecostal Christian church in the capital Asmara on 12
February. They were arrested at a religious service in a private home and
most are still being held incommunicado, without charge or trial, in
police stations or army camps. They are allegedly being ill-treated or
tortured in order to force them to abandon their faith....
Click HERE to read the full report.
US
State Department's Human Rights Report on Eritrea
State
Department - 25 Feb 2004
......The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit serious abuses. Citizens did not have the ability to change their government. Security forces were responsible for disappearances. There were some reports that police resorted to torture and physical beatings of prisoners, particularly during interrogations, and police severely mistreated army deserters and draft evaders. The Government generally did not permit prison visits by local or international human rights groups. Arbitrary arrests and detentions continued to be problems; an unknown number of persons were detained without charge because of political opinion. The use of a special court system limited due process. The Government infringed on the right to privacy. The Government severely restricted freedom of speech and press, and limited freedom of assembly and association. The Government restricted freedom of religion for non-sanctioned religious groups and restricted freedom of movement.....
Click HERE to read the full report.
Click HERE to read the full article in Tigrinya (pdf).
EHDR-UK
sends an appeal to the Founding Congress of EPLF-DP
EHDR-UK -
20 Feb 2004
The
Board of EHDR-UK sent a congratulatory message to the Founding Congress of
EPLF-DP and appealed to the participants that they put the respect for
human rights at the top of the political agenda. It also urged them
to support and encourage civil societies and play their part in creating
an atmosphere where they can flourish and participate and contribute to
the well being of Eritrean society.
Report
by Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights on his visit to
Malta, 20-21 October 2003
COE
- February 2004
Seminar
on Civic Societies
EHDR-UK -
Feb 2004
Dr.
Gaim Kibreab, an External Resource Lecturer and currently doing research
on civil society will be presenting a seminar on "Civil Society and
its relevance to Eritrea"
Venue:
Stockwell Community Resource Centre
1 Studley Road, Stockwell, London SW4 4RA (Behind Stockwell tube
station)
Time:
2pm - 6pm
Date:
Sunday
8 February 2004
Eritrea's
Violation of Children's Rights
EHDR-UK -
3 Feb 2004
The
report concerns the sending of Eritrean children to Sawa military camp on
the pretext that the regime has no resources to expand secondary schools
around the country.
Unicef believes that this separation of 17/18 year olds from their
parents is a breach of basic human rights and Eritrea is violating the
convention on the rights of the child, of which it became a signatory on 2nd
September 1994
Click HERE to read the full article in English or HERE to read in Tigrinya..
Eritrea,
Human Rights Overview
Human
Rights Watch - 28 Jan 2004
Plagued by recurring famine and heightened tensions with Ethiopia over their joint border, Eritrea has remained a police state in which dissent is ruthlessly suppressed and non-governmental political, civic, and social institutions are largely forbidden to function.
Click HERE to read the full report.
Council
of Europe report expected in February
Times
of Malta - 23 Jan 2004
The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Alvaro Gil-Robles, is expected to conclude his report on the detention of asylum seekers in Malta by the middle of next month, his spokesman said.
Click HERE to read the story.
Freed
immigrants in 'legal limbo'
Times
of Malta - 17 Jan 2004
Peace Lab director Fr Dionysius Mintoff OFM has expressed concern at the situation of Eritreans who were granted freedom on Christmas eve, describing it as a "legal limbo".
Click HERE to read the story.
Children's
party
Times
of Malta - 17 Jan 2004
Members of the Malta Medical Students' Association held a party for a group of displaced children and their families in the open centre at Hal Far.
The event was meant to enable the students to be with the children, mostly form Ethiopia and Eritrea, to celebrate Christmas and their freedom which had been granted by the government some days earlier.
Click HERE to read the story.
2003
ROUND-UP
Reporters
Without Borders (RSF) - Jan, 2004
....As at 1 January 2004, there were at least 124 journalists in prison worldwide either for their opinions or their work. This figure has continued to rise since 2001 (489 journalists arrested in 2001, 692 in 2002, 766 in 2003). The countries that hold most journalists in jail are Cuba (30), Burma (17), Eritrea (14) and Iran (11).....
Click HERE to read the full story in HTML or HERE in PDF.
Please
sign the petition in asmarino.com for the release of the remaining asylum
seekers in Maltese detetion camps. Click here
or at the image above to visit the petition page.
Detainees
end hunger strike
Times
of Malta - 1 Jan, 2004
Fourteen illegal immigrants being detained at Safi Barracks and at Ta' Kandja yesterday ended a hunger strike they started on Monday.
The Eritrean and Ethiopian immigrants were protesting against the long time they had been held in detention since they landed in Malta - over a year and two months ago.
Click HERE to read the full story.
Asylum seekers on hunger strike
Times of Malta -
31 Dec, 2003
Asylum seekers from Eritrea and Ethiopia at Ta' Kandja started a hunger strike on Monday in protest at being kept in detention without being given any information whatsoever about their future.
Click HERE to read the full story.
75
Asylum seekers receive the best Christmas present - Freedom.
The
Independent of Malta, 24 December 2003
The joy on the faces of asylum seekers just minutes after they had been let free is priceless.
There is no way to describe how 75 Eritreans and Ethiopians must have felt to be given their freedom once again, after having been in detention for almost two years.
“We’re free, we’re free,” they shouted, jumping up and down and hugging Father Dijonisju Mintoff, from the Peace Lab, who has long been campaigning for the rights of asylum seekers.
Click HERE to read the full story.
EHDR-UK
Holds its 2nd Annual General Meeting
EHDR-UK,
London 21 December 2003
Eritreans
for human and democratic rights - UK (EHDR-UK) held its 2nd
Annual General Meeting (AGM) on December 21, 2003 in London. The meeting
commenced with a comprehensive report by the Board of Directors. The
report included the activities undertaken by the organisation such as
publishing articles, letter-writing campaigns to influential people, NGOs
and governments, organising demonstrations......
Click HERE to read the full story.
Religious
freedom protest outside Eritrean Embassy (UK) on 10 December 2003
Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), 7 December 2003
CSW and supporters concerned for religious freedom in Eritrea will be holding a silent vigil outside the Eritrean Embassy in London, to protest at the increasing persecution of Christians in that country.
Click HERE to read the full story.
EHDR-UK urges Eritreans living in
the United Kingdom to ask their MP to also support EDM209
London, 5 December 2003
An
EDM entitled Human Rights Abuses in Eritrea (EDM209) has been tabled in
the current session of parliament by David Drew MP. The EDM recognises the achievements of the Government and people of Eritrea in nation-building at the time of independence and subsequently; notes, however, that over recent years the Government of Eritrea has been responsible for
widespread human rights abuses;........
We
urge all Eritreans living in the UK to approach their Member of Parliament
(MP) and ask them to support the above EDM. A free service that
allows you to contact your MP is also included.
Click HERE to read the full EDM and details of how to contact
your MP.
EHDR-UK
sends letter to Foreign Office, UK
London, 2 December 2003
EHDR-UK
sent a letter to the British Foreign Office urging the British government
to do what it can in order to put pressure and persuade the Ethiopian
government to accept EEBC's ruling on the border issue. It also
asked her Majesty's government to press on the Eritrean government to
respect human rights; release all political prisoners, students, elders
and journalists; implement the constitution and introduce political
pluralism.
Click HERE to read the full story.
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