Eritrea Urged to End Arbitrary Detention and Reveal Fate of Missing People

The experts described more than 35 years of arbitrary arrests and detention, leaving families and communities facing prolonged distress.

UN experts have raised grave concerns over arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances in Eritrea, describing patterns of abuse that have continued with impunity since 1991. They said people have been arrested and held without charges or trial, with no access to their families, lawyers or judicial protection. In hundreds of cases, relatives still have no information about where those detained are being held or whether they remain alive.

The experts described more than 35 years of arbitrary arrests and detention, leaving families and communities facing prolonged distress. Those affected include former government officials, journalists, independence movement veterans and religious leaders, with some reportedly detained for decades. The experts called on the Eritrean Government to immediately and unconditionally release everyone being held arbitrarily.

Their appeal also stressed the need to establish what happened to people whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown. Families need access to the truth about their loved ones, alongside investigations that can establish responsibility and deliver justice. The experts warned that widespread or systematic prolonged arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and religious persecution may constitute crimes against humanity.

Former Official's Detention Highlights Decades of Abuse

The experts highlighted the case of Bitweded Abraha, a veteran of Eritrea's independence movement and former senior government official who was first arrested on 6 October 1991. He reportedly remains arbitrarily detained 35 years later, making his case an example of the prolonged detention described in their statement. In 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention arbitrary and called for his immediate release and reparations in Opinion No. 80/2018.

Several former senior government officials known as the G-15 and journalists have been detained since September 2001, according to the experts. They named Seyoum Tsehaye and Dawit Isaak among the journalists whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown more than 25 years later. The continuing lack of information leaves their families without answers about what has happened to them during these decades.

Muslim and Christian Leaders Among Those Detained

Religious persecution forms another part of the concerns, with Muslim and Christian leaders among those detained for their faith. Hundreds of Muslim religious leaders were forcibly disappeared between 1991 and 1997, in 2005–2006 and again in 2013, mainly in the Gash-Barka and Northern Red Sea regions. Those affected include Judge Mohamed Maranet, as well as imams, teachers and other community figures.

Seven Christian leaders have been held without charge and denied contact with the outside world for more than two decades, the experts said. They named Haile Naizge, Kidane Weldou, Kiflu Gebremeskel, Meron Gebreselassie, Futsum Gebrenegus, Tekleab Menghisteab and Gebremedhin Gebregiorgis. Their prolonged detention formed part of the experts' demand for the unconditional release of all people held arbitrarily.

Families Have a Right to Truth and Justice

The experts urged Eritrean authorities to disclose the fate and whereabouts of everyone reported disappeared and allow access for families and legal representatives. They called for thorough, independent, impartial and effective investigations to ensure accountability, alongside proper remedies and adequate reparations for victims. Their demands also included ending these practices and protecting the fundamental rights of victims and their families.

Hundreds of families continue to live with uncertainty about their loved ones, making disclosure an essential part of the response sought by the experts. They stressed that both families and society have a right to know the truth about those who have disappeared. The appeal places release, access to information, justice and accountability at the centre of the action required from Eritrean authorities.