Government urged to free detainees

The international human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has called on the Eritrean authorities to immediately release a number of political dissidents and journalists who have been in detention for a year. "These arbitrary detentions place Eritrea in contravention of international and regional human rights treaties which the government has only recently ratified," it said. "They also foster a climate of impunity on the part of the authorities." In a 24-page report, entitled 'Eritrea: Arbitrary detentions of government critics and journalists', the organisation on Wednesday described the detainees as "prisoners of conscience". "Critics of the government and journalists from the private press have been held in secret incommunicado detention for one year now, since the authorities started a sudden clampdown on growing public dissent in September 2001," Amnesty International said. On 18 September 2001, a group of 11 government dissidents - who had publicly criticised President Isayas Afewerki and questioned the development of democracy in the country - were detained. They included former vice-president Mahmoud Sherifo and former foreign minister Petros Solomon. The government has accused them of treason. In a recent interview with IRIN, Yemane Gebreab - who heads the political division of the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) - said the issue of the dissidents had been under discussion for some time. "Internally, the feeling is that these people have committed grave crimes and at the same time there is discussion on how we should handle it, and that is to do with our traditions, on how we deal with these sorts of issues and problems," he said. More details On the same day, the private press was closed down and some independent journalists were later arrested. Yemane Gebreab accused the private media of a "lack of professionalism" and of being "hijacked by the internal situation". Amnesty International said the Eritrean authorities had refused to allow its delegation to visit Eritrea and discuss its concerns directly with the government. "Amnesty International is calling on the government of Eritrea to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience," the report said. Report available Meanwhile, the media watchdog Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) on Tuesday called for international sanctions against Eritrea "to force its leaders to lift their year-old ban on all privately-owned media and to free 18 jailed journalists". "It is unacceptable that, with complete impunity, a government can deprive a whole people of their right to be informed," said RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard in a statement.