NEWS RELEASE

Thursday, August 5, 1999

ETHIOPIAN PRISONERS MOVED FROM AWESHAIT

It has become apparent that the Eritrean regime has moved many of the 2,000 Ethiopians prisoners incarcerated in Eritrea’s Aweshait prison to an unknown location since the Ethiopian Government report on the prisoners of 27 July.

Other prisoners have been released on to the streets of Asmara where they are forced to live without food or shelter, exposed to continuous harassment from the Eritrean authorities.

The whereabouts of these prisoners and the conditions under which they are being detained is an urgent matter and one of great concern to Ethiopia. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is still not allowed access to Ethiopian prisoners. According to a release from AFP ‘the Eritrean Foreign Ministry has said that it was ‘studying the matter’.

The fact that Eritrea has clearly violated the Geneva Convention is totally unacceptable to the Ethiopian Government and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms by the international community.