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Four Eritrean Catholic bishops have published a letter criticising life in the country – a rare move in one of the world’s most tightly controlled states.

Although they were careful not to condemn the government directly, correspondents say the letter-writers are taking a huge risk.

Many of the migrants who drowned off Lampedusa last year were from Eritrea.

The bishops referred to this, saying: ”There is no reason to search for a country of honey if you are in one.”

Human rights groups have called Eritrea a ”giant prison”, with torture widespread.

Amnesty International last year said some 10,000 Eritreans had been imprisoned for political reasons since independence from Ethiopia in 1993. This was denied by the government.

Young men must do national service until the age of 40, prompting an estimated 3,000 to flee the country each month.

Handle detainees ’humanely’

In their letter, the bishops wrote that the country had become ”desolate” because so many people had left, or were ”scattered in [national] service, army, rehabilitation centres, prisons”, leaving no-one to look after the elderly.

They wrote that Eritreans were going to ”peaceful countries, to countries of justice, of work, where one expresses himself loudly, a country where one works and earns”.

The letter was signed by Bishops Mengsteab Tesfamariam of Asmara, Tomas Osman of Barentu, Kidane Yeabio of Keren and Feqremariam Hagos of Segeneiti.

The bishops pointedly said that ”all those who are arrested should first be handled humanely and sympathetically” and then be presented to court for trial.

After the Orthodox, the Roman Catholic Church is the second biggest in Eritrea and correspondents say the bishop of the capital, Asmara, in particular, wields considerable influence in the country.

 BBC

A boat with 450 immigrants on board captured by the Libyan army on Monday, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa while trying to travel to Europe Illegally. Large part of the immigrants are from Eritrea, although some were from Syria and Palestine, including women and children.

Yesterday at least 40 migrants drowned off the coast of Alqrbula Libyan town 50 km east of Tripoli.

Click for more pictures: Libyan army Captured a boat carrying 450 migrants

ክበልዕዋ ዝደለዩ ኣባጉምባሕሲ፡ ኢሰያስን ኣል-በሽርን፡ ትንፈር’በር ኳኽ እያ፡

ከም ዝፍለጥ ንሰለስተ ማዓልታት ምብጻሕ ኢሰያስ ዘገበሮ ዑደት ናብ ሱዳን ምስ ኣል-በሽር ተራኺቡ ናብ ኤርትራ ከም ዝተመልሰ ይፍለጥ። ኣብቲ ክልታኣዊ ዝምድና ርክቦም ዝተማየጥሉ እንተሎ ብዛዕባ ኤኮኖሚያዊ ሓበራዊ ስምምዕ ዝገበርዎ ኤርትራ ካብ ሱዳን ሓይሊ ኤሌትሪክን ነዳዲ ኦሊያን ክትረክብ እቲ ስምምዕ ተበጺሑ ዘሎ፡ ካብ  ኤርትራ ግን ሱዳን እትረኽቦ ምንጭ ዝተፈልጠ ነገር የልቦን። ከም ዝረኤ ዘሎ ምስጢራዊ ኮይኑ እዩ ዝመስል ዘሎ፡ ምኽንያቱ ብዲፕሎማሲያዊ ብዓለማዊ ማዕከናዊ ዜና ካብዞም ክልተ መራሕቲ ሃገር ዝረኸብዎ ምንጪ ካብ ኤርትራ ሱዳን እትረሕቦ መለሳ ናይቲ ስምምዖም ዝተፈልጠ ነገር ጭብጢ የልቦን ምስጢራዊ ኮይኑ እዩ ዝእንፍት ዘሎ።  ልክዕእዩ ካብ ኤርትራ ደኣሞ እንታያ ሱዳን ሃብታዊ ምንጪ ክትረኽቦ፡ ኤርትራ ነብሳ ባዕላ ዘይካኣለት ያኢ ናብ ሰደድ ስምምዓት ዝኣክል እንካን ሃባን ምስ ሱዳን ክትክእል። እቲ ዝርካቡ ማዕድን ሃብቲ ኤርትራ ካብ ዝብኢስያ ዘይተረኽበ ስጋስ ዓጽሚ ክርከብ። ኣዛብእ ሰብ ባሊቃ ሚኒስትሪታት ኤርትራ ዝባሃሉ ዶ ኣይኮኑን ከም ሕምባሻ ተማቒሎሞ ዘለዉ። ግርም ከኣ ካብቲ ዓጽሚ ምስ ሱዳን ክማቐሉ እንተኾይኖም ከኣ መራሕቲ ሱዳን ዓጽሚ ክግህጹ እዮም ማለት እዩ። እምበር ኤርትራሲ ነብሳ ንኸይትኽእል ዶ ኣይኮነን ኢሰያስ ወግሐ ጸብሐ ን24 ዓመት ድፋጫእ ኣውጺኡ ዝድኽድኻ ዘሎ።  ኢሰያስ ብኢድ ኣዝውር ንትግራይ ምዕባሌ፡ ግን ከኣ ጸረ ትግራይ ኣምሲልካ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ እንዳዳኸመ ዶ ኣይኮነን ዝምርሽ ዘሎ።

ስምምዓት ናይዞም ክልተ ሸፋቱ መራሕቲ ሃገር ክበልዕዋ ዝደለዩ ኣባጉምባሕሲ፡ ኢሰያስን ኣል-በሽርን፡ ትንፈር’በር ኳኽ እያ፡ ነገሮምያ ኮይኑ ዘሎ ኤርትራዊ ስደተኛ ኣብ ሱዳን ኣብ ታርገት እዩ ተታሒዙ ኣቲዩ ዘሎ እቲ ምንጪ ሃብቲ።  ኤርትራ ካብ ሱዳን እትረኽቦ ምንጪ  ሓይሊ ኤሌትሪክን ነዳዲ ኦሊያን ተባሂሉ እኳ እንተተገልጸ፡ ሱዳን ካብ ኤርትራ ከኣ መጭወይቲ ናይ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ብሚልሊዮናት ዶላር እዩ ክኸውን። ከም ዝፍለጥ ኩነታት ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ኣብ ሱዳን ካብ ዝኸፍአ ናብ ዝበኣሰ ይኸይድ ከም ዘሎ ኩላትና ክንከታተሎ ጸኒሕና ኣሎናን። ብስርዓት ሱዳን ዝካየድ ዘሎ ኢሰብኣዊ ተግባራት ሎሚ ብዝሓየለ መልክዑ እንዳቀጸለ ብምካዱ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ነዚ ዕድል ተጠቂሞም ኤሌትሪክን ኦሊያን ክረኵቡሉ እኳ እንተሃቀኑ፡ ብዓይኒ ኢሰያስ ግን ዋጋ ሂወት ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ኣብ ሱዳን ኤርትራዊ ዜጋ ተጠፍኤ ኣይንታዮምን እዩ ንሱከኣ እዩ እቲ ዕላምኡ። ስለዚ እዮም ከኣ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ መራሒኦም ካቦ ሽፍታ ኢሰያስ ምስ ሸፋቱ ፖሊስ ሱዳን ብምትሕብባር ብዙሓት ሰባት ካብ ማእከል ገዝኦም ይጨውዩ ከም ዘለዉን ዛጊት ቁጽሮም ዘይተፈልጠ ኤርትራውያን ኣሕዋት ከካብ መደቀሲኦም ተጎቲቶም ይጠፍኡ ከም ዘለዉ እቲ መስርሕ ድሮ ተጀማሚሩ ዝጸንሐን ዝቕጽልን ዘሎን ከምኡውን መንገድታት ምድረ በዳ ሳሀረ ሱዳን ብወታደራት ሱዳን ተኸርዲኑ ኣሎ።

ስለምንታይ እዩ መንግስቲ ሱዳን ምስ ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ዓለም ዝፈንፈሮ ተማሒዙ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ነቲ ፈታው ህዝቢ ሱዳን ዝኾነ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ልዕሊ ስደተኛ ኤርትራዊ ኣረሜናዊ ግፍዒ ተማሻኺሮም ኢሰብኣዊ ዘውርደሉ ዘሎ ምኽንያት ኣብ ሕቶ ምልክት ዘየታሓሳስብ ኣይኮነን። መንግስቲ ሱዳን እንተ ብዕሽነት እንተ ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ፈሪሑ ብዘይ ሓደ ነገር ኣል-በሽር ስቑሉ ኣይኮነን ዝገብሮ ዘሎ በገል ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ። ስርዓት ኣል-በሽርን ተኸተልቲ ሚኒስትሪታቱን ከም ዝኣምንዎ ካብ ምስ ሓደ ጹሉል ሰብ ዝኾነ መራሒ ኢሰያስ ኣፈወርቂ ምብኣስ ሓደገኛዩ ኢሎም ስለ ዝኣመንዎ ከይፈተዉ ይጻጋግዕዎ ኣለዉ። እዚ ከኣ ጊዚኡ ዝሓለፈ ምስዚ ሕጂ እዋን ዘሎ ኩነታት ባህሪያት ኢሰያስ ዘይሳነ ክንሱ ኣብቲ ራዕዲ ናይ ቀደም ቅድሚ 10ዓመት ዝነበረ ኲናት ወረ ኲናት ዝፍጽሞ ዝነበረ ኢሰያስ ካብዚ ስምብራት እዚ ሱዳናውያን ኣይተላቐቑን። መሲልዎም እምበር ከምቀደም ኢመስለክን ዉሑጭ ከይወስደክን ኮይንዎም እዩ ሚኒስትሪታት ሱዳን እንበር፡ ስርዓት ህግደፍሲ ኣብዚ ሎሚ እዋን ኣትኪሉ ዝዋጋእ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ የልቦን። ኮይኑ ተሪፉ ብደምሒት እዩ ክዋጋእ ኵናት ክኸፍት ዝኽእል፡ ንሱ ከኣ ናዓና ንኤርትራውያን ጽቡቕ ዕድል እዩ፡ ምተጓደሉልናኳ። ሱዳናውያን ግን ብያ ኣይትቕረበና ኢሎም ንጉጅለ ህግደፍ ገዲፎም ኣብ ጎኒ እቲ ውጹዕ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ተትኾኑ ምሓሾም። ታሪኻዊ ምሕዝነት ናይዚ ክሊቲኡ ኣህዛብ እዚ ናብ ንቡር ክመልሱ ምተገበኦም። 

ኣብዚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክፈልጦ ዘለዎ ሓደ ነገር ኣሎ።  ሕነሕነ ንማዕጾ ከም ዝባሃል፡ ሱዳናውያን መራሕቲ ብፍላይ ኣል-በሽር፡ ኢሰይስ ዝፈጸሞ ገበን ኣብ ልዕሊ ሱዳን ሕነ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ሱዳናውያን የውርድሉ ኣለዉ። ከምዚ መግበሪኦም ከኣ ሱዳን ናብ ክልተ ሃገር ክትምቀል ዝገበራ እቲ ዕሉል ዝሖነ ዕዋላ ኢሰያስ ኣፈወርቂ እዩ። ሱዳንን፡ ሳውዝ-ሱዳን ተባሒለን ክልተ ሃገር ብሰንኪ ኢሰያስ ይስመያ ኣለዋ። በዝን ወዲ ኸምዝን ከኣዮም ሱዳናውያን ሕነሕነ ተሰሚዕዎም ዘሕምቆ ኣለኒ በትሪ ኣቐብሉኒ ኮይንዎም፡ ነቲ የዕቑቡኒ ኢሉ ዝመጾም ኤርትርታዊ ስደተኛ ናይ ሰብ ርራሄ ገዲፎም፡ ምስቲ ሰብ ዝውሕጥ ዘሎ ኣረሜናዊ ኢሰያስ ኣፈወርቂ ክማሓዘዩ መሪጾም። ዘሕዝን እዩ ብኢሰያስ ዝወረዶም ገበን ናዓና ንኤርትራውያን ሱዳናውያን ሃገሮም ኣብ ክልተ ክትምቀል ዝገበሮ ኢሰያስ ብሰንኩ ከየሕዘነና ናዓናውን  ኣይተረፈ። ስለዚ ሱዳውያን ልቦናዊ ርራሄ ገይሮም ምእንቲ እቲ ተወጺዑ ዘሎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክኾኑ ድልየትናን ትንቢትናን ናይ ኩልና ኤርትራውያን ብምዃኑ ፈሊጦም ኣብዚ ኣጋጣሚ እዚ ኣብ ጎኒ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ደው ክብሉ ንሰላም.ኮም ትምሕጸን።

ንሰላም.ኮም

The Government of Eritrea needs to put an immediate end to the widespread practices of arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and persecution, stressed an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to look into the situation in the country.

”I urge the Eritrean authorities to immediately release, or charge and bring before a court of law, all detainees, including the members of the ’G-15’, the journalists arrested in 2001, as well as those arrested for their opinions or religious beliefs,” Sheila B. Keetharuth, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, said Tuesday.

Keetharuth welcomed the reported release of eight detainees in Eritrea, which took place in April 2014, but which has not been publicly acknowledged by the Eritrean authorities.

”Their release is a positive development, which I hope will be followed by more systematic releases,” she said, expressing the hope that ”Eritrea will abide by its obligations under international human rights law more consistently.”

Since her appointment in November 2012, the Special Rapporteur has made several requests to visit Eritrea, which have so far not been granted. She has repeatedly urged the Eritrean authorities to collaborate with her mandate with a view to addressing its human rights challenges.

Keetharuth traveled to Germany and Switzerland in March to collect first-hand information from Eritrean refugees and migrants on the human rights situation in Eritrea. The Special Rapporteur will submit her second report on the human rights situation in Eritrea to the Human Rights Council in June 2014.

Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

Keetharuth expressed concern about the unknown number of Eritreans who continue to be held in the country’s secret detention centers. Thousands are believed to be detained incommunicado at unknown locations, without charge or trial.

”Those detained incommunicado and in undisclosed locations are at high risk of being tortured or submitted to other forms of ill-treatment,” she said. ”I call on the authorities to disclose the whereabouts of all detainees held incommunicado and provide immediate access to their families, medical doctors and legal representatives.”

Most of those men reportedly released had been arrested in 2005-2006 in Keren, 90 kilometers north-west of the capital, Asmara. Among them were several government officials and two medical doctors. It is unclear whether reasons have been provided for their arrest in the first place, or for their release. None of them has ever been brought before a court of law to review the legality of their detention.

by RTT Staff Writer