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Eritrea POC: Fax Letters to Eritrean Embassies on the Indepdence Day

May 24 is Eritrea's Independence Day. On this occasion, let's send letters and faxes to Eritrean embassies around the world, congratulating Eritrean people and asking the Afewerki government to respect human rights and release all political prisoners. To make our point emphatically, please fax your letter on Friday May 23. A number of AI groups working on behalf of Eritrean POCs have agreed to make this a day of joint actions.

In your letter, make some of the following points:

• Congratulate the people of Eritrea on the achievement of independence in 1991 after 30 years of liberation struggle
• Recognize that Eritrea has experienced many difficulties and hardships in the post-independence years
• Remind Eritrean government of Eritrea's accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and other international human rights treaties
• Remind Eritrean government that its Constitution guarantees “no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law” (Article 15-2) and that “no person may be arrested or detained save pursuant to due process of law” (Article 17-1)
• Call for release men and women who are prisoners of conscience detained without charge, trial or any legal status, because of their political opinions or religious beliefs, or because they or their children have evaded military service
• Describe Mattewos Habteab as an example of a jounalist imprisoned without charge or trial at a secret location since 2001. Ask that the whereabouts of the prisoners be made known immediately.
• Ask Eritrea's President Issayas Afewerki to make the coming 18th year of Eritrea's formal independence a year for the implementation of the human rights improvements urgently awaited by the international community, as well as many Eritreans in the country and abroad 

You can use your own fax machine or modem. Alternatively, you can use any of the Internet fax services. For example, you can send a fax from your computer by going to http://faxzero.com/. To avoid a commercial-ad cover page, the cost is $1.99. Please pay for the amount so that it doesn't appear that Amnesty is endorsing the company on the ad.

Our featured POC Mattewos Habteab was the editor of Meqaleh ("Echo") until June 2000, when he was called up for military service, possibly because of his work as a journalist. A year later he returned to his job in Asmara, but was arrested in Asmara where he was secretly held for approximately six weeks. A few weeks after his release he was arrested again in late September of 2001 as part of the Government's clamp-down on the independent press. He has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed location ever since.

Sample letter (for Eritrean embassy in the US, modify accordingly in other countries):

Ambassador Ghirmai Ghebremariam
Embassy of the State of Eritrea
1708 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington DC 20009
Fax: 1 202 319 1304

Dear Ambassador Ghebremariam,

On the occasion of Eritrea's Independence Day, I wish to congratulate the Eritrean people on the achievement of independence after 30 years of liberation struggle. Over the years, the Eritrean people has experienced and overcome many hardships and difficulties. However, the dream of freedom and justice for all has yet to be realized. 

Eritrea is a party to international treaties and covenants, such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (The African Charter) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), that guarantee freedoms of speech, political assembly, and fair and speedy trials. Eritrea's own constitution guarantees “no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law” (Article 15-2) and that “no person may be arrested or detained save pursuant to due process of law” (Article 17-1). I respectfully call your government to release men and women who are prisoners of conscience detained without charge, trial or any legal status, because of their political opinions or religious beliefs, or because they or their children have evaded military service.

As an example of a prisoner of conscience in Eritrea, I would like to bring your attention to the case of Mattewos Habteab, the former editor of Meqaleh ("Echo"), who has imprisoned without charge or trial at a secret location since 2001. His whereabout should be made public immediately. 

President Issayas Afewerki should make the coming 18th year of Eritrea's formal independence a year for the implementation of the human rights improvements urgently awaited by the international community, as well as many Eritreans in the country and abroad.

Yours sincerely,