EPDP Information Office

EPDP Information Office

Mr. Mesfin Hagos, a key member of the G15 movement of 2001 and currently Central Council member of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), on 17 January 2014

met a high official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva and urged the organization to exert more efforts to visit and find out about the fate of 11 former Eritrean government officials and about the thousands of Eritrean prison inmates.

Mr. Mesfin Hagos, a leading figure in the Eritrean liberation struggle and former defense minister, explained to the ICRC official many details about the peaceful and democratic contents of the movement and the multifaceted abuses of the one-man dictatorship in Eritrea. He felt that the ICRC was expected by many Eritreans to do more pressure on the regime especially in regard to knowing the situation of the imprisoned G15 members and many other prisoners in the country who are denied the most elementary rights including family visitations, healthcare, sufficient food and acceptable prison environment.

The ICRC official appreciated the visit to their headquarters for adequate exchange of notes on the human rights situation in Eritrea by the ex-G15 member and his party colleague, Mr. Wolde-Yesus Ammar, and reassured them that the ICRC has been trying ot give due attention to the human rights situation in Eritrea and that it will try to do more in the future as also urged by the EPDP delegation.

The official did not hide the fact that the Eritrean authorities have not been cooperative with ICRC and the rest of the international community in regard to prisoners and human rights situation in the country. He made references to the annual report of ICRC on Eritrea and hoped the authorities in Eritrea change course and start to do good to their own people and country.

The latest ICRC annual report on Eritrea issued in June 2013 states that there always have been “difficulties in the implementation of ICRC’s planned activities” because of the lack of cooperation of Eritrea. Even ICRC finds it difficult to work with the Eritrean Red Cross “owing to government instructions for it to cease receiving support from international organizations”. However, the ICRC continued to do what it can in Eritrea while always “seeking to persuade the authorities that it was in their interest to recognize the applicability of the 1949 Geneva Conventions to the Eritrean context”.

The report also adds that with constraints on its operations, the ICRC pursued dialogue with the Eritrean authorities to gain acceptance of its mandate and activities in the country. Although several of the ICRC’s programmes were delayed or had to be put on hold because of government-imposed limits, civilians in vulnerable areas accessible to the organization benefited from some support in agriculture, health and water supply.

Sadly, ICRC projects to repair water systems and to train local technicians in the management of these systems were put on hold because of difficulties, experienced since September 2011, in importing the necessary materials. Despite the ongoing threat to civilians living in weapon-contaminated border areas, no risk education sessions were carried out owing to the restrictions on cooperation with the “Eritrean Red Cross”

The annual report also states that despite requests from the ICRC, the Eritrean authorities did not give the green light for delegates to resume visits to detainees. Requests to the Eritrean government for any information it had about the 19 Djiboutian soldiers reported by their government as missing after the Djibouti-Eritrea hostilities in June 2008, and for a response to a proposal regarding the possible repatriation of a sick

Eritrean POW held in Djibouti remained unanswered.

Also because of restrictions set by the government, the “Eritrean Red Cross” was not able to cooperate with international entities. The ICRC was thus unable to lend the “Eritrean Red Cross” any support in building.