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News Service No: 329
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21 December 2006
Eritrea: Over 500 parents of conscripts arrested
Resorting to collective
punishment, the Eritrean government has arrested
over 500 relatives, mostly parents, of young men and
women who have either deserted the army or avoided
conscription. Amnesty International strongly
condemns these arbitrary detentions. The
organisation calls upon the Eritrean authorities to
either immediately release the individuals or charge
them with recognisable criminal offences and try
them within a reasonable time in full accordance
with international standards for a fair trial.
The arrests have
taken place in the region of Asmara, the capital
city, in a sweep that started on 6 December. None of
those arrested has been charged with a criminal
offence or taken to court within the 48 hours
stipulated by the Constitution and laws of Eritrea.
The authorities have stated that the detainees must
either produce the missing conscripts or pay a fine
of 50,000 nafka (approximately US$1,200). Relatives
who fail to do so will be forced to serve six months
in the army in place of their missing family member.
The principle of
individual penal responsibility, that no one may be
penalized for an act for which they are not
personally liable, is a fundamental principle of law
which is reflected throughout international human
rights law. These arrests violate this principle,
and specifically the right to liberty and security
of the person and the right not to be subjected to
arbitrary arrest or detention contained in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights, to which Eritrea is a party.
The arrests reflect an
upsurge in the Eritrean government’s use of
arbitrary and punitive sanctions against civil
society, religious groups and human rights
defenders.
Nine journalists from the state-owned media were
arrested in November and eight are still detained in
a police-run complex in Asmara. In October, over 150
members of evangelical churches were arrested –
bringing to over 2,000 the number of people
imprisoned in Eritrea as a result of their religious
beliefs. All those arrested are being held in
incommunicado detention without charge or trial.
Amnesty International considers these individuals to
be prisoners of conscience, imprisoned solely for
peacefully carrying out their work and expressing
their beliefs. This widespread state repression
further violates Eritrea’s treaty obligations under
the ICCPR and the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights to respect the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion and the right to
freedom of expression.
Background
Thousands of young men and women have fled Eritrea
and sought asylum in Sudan and other
countries since Eritrea's war with Ethiopia between
1998 and 2000, in an effort to avoid conscription or
after deserting the army. National service,
compulsory for all men and women aged between 18 and
40, has been extended indefinitely from the
original 18 month term instituted in 1994. It
consists of military service and labour on
army-related construction projects. The right to
conscientious objection to military service is not
recognized by the Eritrean authorities. There are
frequent round-ups to catch evaders and deserters.
Indefinite arbitrary detention and torture or other
ill-treatment are regularly used as punishments for
evasion, desertion and other military offences
International
humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
have faced increasing difficulties in carrying out
their activities as a result of measures taken by
the authorities. In 2006 alone, eleven organisations
have been expelled from Eritrea and forced to cease
their work there.
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