Eritrea Online / Dehai Homepage ERINA Update (Eritrean News Agency,Tel: ++291-1-117627, Fax: 127385)
Friday, January 8, 1999
1. The Eritrean government has learned about the death of another of its citizens being held in Ethiopian prison camps. Only a week after the death of two young Eritrans, confirmation of the death in detention of 25-year-old Yosef Gebreab Zecharias has been received. Yosef had been detained for eight months in the notorious Blatten prison camp where thousands of Eritreans continue to languish. Yosef was a civilian working in Addis before he was arrested and thrown into the camp.
Like all of the other Eritreans who remain in detention, Yosef was denied the most basic human rights and died, ultimately as a result of harsh conditions, compounded by a lack of medical attention. The ICRC was not even informed of this latest death. The death toll of Eritreans detained in Ethiopia continues to rise. Recent deportees from Ethiopia have said that they feared for the fate of any Eritrean remaining in Ethiopia and particularly those in the prison camps. Close to 48,000 Eritreans have been deported from Ethiopia since June, with over 1,000 arriving through dangerous border areas every week.
Veronica Rentmeesters, Information Officer
Embassy of Eritrea to the US
1708 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington DC 20009, USA
TEL: 202 588 7587 FAX: 202 319 1304
E-M: veronica@embassyeritrea.org