Addis Ababa – An Eritrean human rights NGO on Wednesday welcomed the release of 13 people detained without trial for nearly 18 years, but warned some 10,000 prisoners remained incarcerated.
Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE) welcomed the release last week of 13 people, including an ex-Olympian and former police officers, who had been imprisoned for nearly 18 years without charge, trial, or access to a lawyer.
“Throughout their detention, many of them suffered solitary confinement and conditions amounting to torture,” it said in a statement, describing conditions as “notoriously inhumane”.
It said during their detention in Mai Serwan prison, near the capital Asmara, some had been confined to metal containers where temperatures fluctuated between extreme heat and bitter cold.
While welcoming the release — which it said occurred after considerable delays — the NGO warned Eritrea still held “over 10,000 prisoners of conscience”.
And it noted that the “broader human rights crisis remains unchanged”.
HRCE urged the international community, including the African Union, the United States, and the United Nations, to put pressure on Eritrea to end “its widespread, systematic human rights violations and to establish accountability mechanisms for past and ongoing abuses”.
Dissenting voices in the country, home to around 3.5 million, disappear into prison camps, and civilians face military conscription or forced labour, which the United Nations says amounts to slavery.
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Ghebremeskel did not respond immediately when asked by AFP about the number of prisoners of conscience in the country and their detention conditions.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, X and Instagram
Picture: Pixabay
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Source: AFP
